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diff --git a/old/62810-0.txt b/old/62810-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a1b7998..0000000 --- a/old/62810-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,18481 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's How to Visit the English Cathedrals, by Esther Singleton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: How to Visit the English Cathedrals - -Author: Esther Singleton - -Release Date: August 1, 2020 [EBook #62810] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO VISIT THE ENGLISH *** - - - - -Produced by Sonya Schermann, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - How to Visit the English Cathedrals - - BOOKS BY MISS SINGLETON - - - TURRETS, TOWERS, AND TEMPLES. Great Buildings of the World - Described by Great Writers. - - GREAT PICTURES. Described by Great Writers. - - WONDERS OF NATURE. Described by Great Writers. - - ROMANTIC CASTLES AND PALACES. Described by Great Writers. - - FAMOUS PAINTINGS. Described by Great Writers. - - HISTORIC BUILDINGS. Described by Great Writers. - - FAMOUS WOMEN. Described by Great Writers. - - GREAT PORTRAITS. Described by Great Writers. - - HISTORIC BUILDINGS OF AMERICA. Described by Great Writers. - - HISTORIC LANDMARKS OF AMERICA. Described by Great Writers. - - GREAT RIVERS OF THE WORLD. Described by Great Writers. - - FAMOUS CATHEDRALS. Described by Great Writers. - - FAMOUS SCULPTURE. Described by Great Writers. - - MODERN PAINTINGS. Described by Great Writers. - - WONDERS OF THE WORLD. Described by Great Writers. - - PARIS. Described by Great Writers. - - LONDON. Described by Great Writers. - - RUSSIA. Described by Great Writers. - - JAPAN. Described by Great Writers. - - VENICE. Described by Great Writers. - - HOLLAND. Described by Great Writers. - - ROME. Described by Great Writers. - - GERMANY. Described by Great Writers. - - SWITZERLAND. Described by Great Writers. - - TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES. Described by Great Writers. - - FLORENCE. Described by Great Writers. - - EGYPT. Described by Great Writers. - - CHINA. Described by Great Writers. - - LOVE IN LITERATURE AND ART. - - THE GOLDEN ROD FAIRY BOOK. - - THE WILD FLOWER FAIRY BOOK. - - A GUIDE TO THE OPERA. - - A GUIDE TO MODERN OPERA. - - DUTCH NEW YORK. Manners and Customs of New Amsterdam in the - Seventeenth Century. - - HOW TO VISIT THE GREAT PICTURE GALLERIES. - - HOW TO VISIT THE ENGLISH CATHEDRALS. - - [Illustration: SALISBURY: CLOISTERS] - - - - - How to Visit - The English Cathedrals - - By - Esther Singleton - Member of the Royal Society of Arts - - _With Numerous Illustrations_ - - [Illustration] - - New York - Dodd, Mead and Company - 1912 - - COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY - DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY - _Published April, 1912_ - - - - -PREFACE - - -This little book is offered to the tourist in the most modest spirit and -with the hope that in this convenient form some gleanings from the works -of specialists may afford help and pleasure to those who run quickly -through the Cathedral towns of England. The subject has been done so -often and so well that an additional book would demand an apology if it -pretended to compete with the labours of those who have spent long years -in the study of special cathedrals, or with the charming recollections -of travel that others have given the world from time to time. - -My plan has been merely to present in a single volume concise -descriptions of the great ecclesiastical buildings of England, together -with the story of their construction and historical associations -supplemented with criticisms from the best authorities of their most -striking architectural and artistic features. These authorities are duly -acknowledged by initials.--E. S. - - NEW YORK, _March, 1912_. - - - - -STYLES OF ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE - - -The cathedral usually grew architecturally from age to age, or rose like -a phœnix from the ashes of an earlier building. - - “Not only is there built into a mediæval cathedral the accumulated - thought of all the men who had occupied themselves with building - during the preceding centuries, but you have the dream and - aspiration of the bishop, abbot, or clergy for whom it was - designed; the master mason’s skilled construction; the work of the - carver, the painter, the glazier, the host of men who, each in his - own craft, knew all that had been done before them, and had spent - their lives in struggling to surpass the works of their - forefathers. It is more than this: there is not one shaft, one - moulding, one carving, not one chisel-mark in such a building, that - was not designed specially for the place where it is found, and - which was not the best that the experience of the age could invent - for the purpose to which it is applied; nothing was borrowed; and - nothing that was designed for one purpose was used for another. A - thought or a motive peeps out through every joint; you may wander - in such a building for weeks or for months together, and never know - it all.”--(Fergusson.) - -Most English cathedrals are built in the form of a Latin cross, the arms -of which are called the transepts. Over their point of intersection the -central tower is usually erected. The part of the church running -westward from this point to the entrance door is the nave and that -running eastward to the high altar is the choir. - -Behind, or east of the choir, is situated the Lady-Chapel, or Chapel of -the Virgin, which sometimes contained additional altars to other -saints. Along the aisles we frequently find side chapels, containing -tombs and chantries of dignitaries, local saints and benefactors. - -The nave usually consists of the main arcade; the _triforium_ (which -opens into a passage or gallery); and the _clerestory_. - -The _triforium_ is the arcaded story between the lower range of piers -and arches and the clerestory. The name is supposed to be derived from -_tres_ and _fores_--three doors or openings, for such is often the -number of arches in each bay. Professor Willis, however, believed that -the word is traced to a monkish Latin word for thoroughfare. - -_Clerestory_, or _clearstory_, is the upper story of the nave of the -church above the aisles and pierced with windows. The windows of the -clerestories of Norman work are less important than in the later styles. -They become larger in the Early English period and more important in the -Decorated, always lengthening as the _triforium_ diminishes. - -Sometimes the choir occupies two bays of the nave, but usually begins -with the screen placed on the east side of the central tower. In olden -days this was the rood-screen, so called because a large crucifix, or -rood, stood on it. All roods were destroyed during the Reformation. At -the present time the organ is frequently placed here; and there is -diversity of opinion about the artistic propriety of its position. - -Entering the choir we see the high altar often with a reredos (French -_l’arrière dos_, i.e., embroidered hangings). Along the sides of the -choir are the seats, or stalls, usually of carved oak, surmounted with -tracery, arches and pinnacles. Among these is the bishop’s seat, or -throne. Frequently the stalls exhibit beautiful tabernacle-work and the -misereres (_miséricorde_), which turn up and afford support to a person -in a position between sitting and standing, are generally carved with -grotesque and quaint figures and caricatures. Vestries for the use of -priests and choristers are often situated near the choir. - -At the back of the choir (the retro-choir) was placed the chief shrine, -where relics of the great saint of the cathedral were kept and to which -the streams of pilgrims passed. In many churches the steps and pavements -are worn away. Near the shrine was a watching-chamber, where a monk -guarded the shrine and its treasures. - -Further east the Lady-Chapel was situated, though in a few cases it is -found on the north side, e. g. Bristol and Ely. - - “In Italy the bones of a saint or martyr were almost invariably - deposited either beneath or immediately in front of the altar. But - in the Gothic nations this original notion of the burial-place of - the Saints became obscured, in the increasing desire to give them a - more honourable place. According to the precise system of - orientation adopted by the German and Celtic nations, the eastern - portion of the church was in those countries regarded as - pre-eminently sacred. Thither the high altar was generally moved, - and to it the eyes of the congregation were specially directed. And - in the eagerness to give a higher and holier even than the highest - and holiest place to any great saint, on whom popular devotion was - fastened, there sprang up in most of the larger churches during the - Thirteenth Century a fashion of throwing out a still further - eastern end, in which the shrine or altar of the saint might be - erected,--and to which, therefore, not merely the gaze of the whole - congregation, but of the officiating priest himself, even as he - stood before the high altar, might be constantly turned. Thus, - according to Fuller’s quaint remark, the superstitious reverence - for the dead reached its highest pitch, ‘the porch saying to the - churchyard, the church to the porch, the chancel to the church, the - east end to all--“Stand further off, I am holier than thou.”’ This - notion happened to coincide in point of time with the burst of - devotion towards the Virgin Mary, which took place under the - Pontificate of Innocent III., during the first years of the - Thirteenth Century; and, therefore, in all cases where there was no - special local saint, this eastern end was dedicated to Our Lady and - the chapel thus formed was called The Lady-Chapel. Such was the - case in the Cathedrals of Salisbury, Norwich, Hereford, Wells, - Gloucester and Chester. But when the popular feeling of any city or - neighbourhood had been directed to some indigenous object of - devotion, this at once took the highest place, and the Lady-Chapel, - if any there were, was thrust down to a less honourable position. - Of this arrangement, the most notable instances in England are, or - were (for in many cases the very sites have perished), the shrines - of St. Alban in Hertfordshire, St. Edmund at Bury, St. Edward in - Westminster Abbey, St. Cuthbert at Durham, and St. Etheldreda at - Ely.”--(A. P. S.) - -_Sedilia_, seats used by the priest, deacon and sub-deacon during the -pauses in the mass, are generally cut into the south walls of churches, -separated by shafts or species of mullions and surmounted by canopies, -pinnacles or other elaborate adornments. The _piscina_ and _aumbry_ are -sometimes attached to them. - -The _piscina_ is a hollowed out niche with drain to carry away the water -used in the ablutions during mass. After the Thirteenth Century there is -scarcely an altar in England without one. Sometimes the _piscina_ is in -the form of a double niche. - -Beneath the cathedral there is often a crypt--in reality a second -church, often of great size. - - “We may be tempted to ask, what is the purpose of a crypt? Some - have said that it was merely meant to give dignity to the church, - or to avoid the damp. It appears, however, to be a custom taken - from the very early Christian churches at Rome, which were in many - cases built over the tomb of a martyr, and had therefore a lower - and an upper church. Indeed if we imagine the central portion of - the choir steps removed so that the nave floor might extend without - interruption to the crypt, and a clear view of the crypt be open to - the nave, we should have an arrangement precisely similar to that - of several Italian churches, notably that of San Zenone, at - Verona.”--(F. and R.) - -As a rule, the monastic buildings, refectory, dormitory, infirmary, -etc., were built on the south side, and here were also the cloisters, -those pleasant walks and seats for exercise and recreation surrounding a -peaceful quadrangle. The slype, or passage on the east side, led to the -monks’ cemetery. - -In the chapter-house the monks transacted their business. - -The chapter-house, often one of the richest and most beautiful portions -of the cathedral, may be of any form. Those of Canterbury, Exeter, -Chester and Gloucester are oblong; those of Salisbury, Wells, Lincoln, -York and Westminster are octagonal; and that of Worcester is circular. -At Salisbury, Wells, Lincoln and Worcester a single massive shaft -supports the vault. - -In examining a cathedral we must remember that many changes have taken -place since the first stone was laid. If the monks were fortunate enough -to have a full treasury, they kept up with the architectural styles. -They would pull down the old nave, or choir, or transepts, and erect new -buildings, lower the pitch of the roof, add a new porch or door, or -insert new windows in the ancient walls. Fires were frequent and -lightning and winds often played havoc with towers and spires. Such -manifestations of the displeasure of the elements or saints necessitated -rebuilding; and, as a rule, this rebuilding was undertaken in the latest -fashion. Therefore, we find in most cathedrals specimens of many styles -of architecture. - - “As we see our cathedrals now, the view that meets us differs much - from that which would have greeted us in mediæval times. Then all - was ablaze with colours. Through the beautiful ancient glass the - light gleamed on tints of gorgeous hues, and rich tapestries and - hangings, on walls bedight with paintings, and every monument, pier - and capital were aglow with coloured decorations. We have lost - much, but still much remains. At the Reformation the avaricious - courtiers of Henry VIII. plundered our sacred shrines, and carried - off under the plea of banishing superstition vast stores of costly - plate and jewels, tapestry and hangings. In the Civil War time - riotous, fanatical soldiers wrought havoc everywhere, hacking - beautifully-carved tombs and canopies, destroying brasses, and - mutilating all that they could find. Ages of neglect have also left - their marks upon our churches; and above all the hand of the - ignorant and injudicious ‘restorer’ has fallen heavily on these - legacies of Gothic art, destroying much that was of singular - beauty, and replacing it by the miserable productions of early - Nineteenth Century fabrication.”--(P. H. D.) - -And now, in order to make our visits more enjoyable, let us refresh our -memories with a slight _résumé_ of the four leading styles of English -Architecture. - -The Pointed Arch appeared almost simultaneously in all the civilized -countries of Europe. It was probably discovered by the Crusaders in the -Holy Land and brought home by them. None of its charming and beautiful -accessories, however, accompanied it; the graceful clusters of pillars, -the tracery and mullions were to be developed by the Europeans. One of -the first to use the word _Gothic_ to define Pointed Architecture was -Sir Henry Wotton; and it seems that the word was finally determined as a -definition by Sir Christopher Wren. An English critic says: - - “The pointed arch was a graft on the Romanesque, Lombard and - Byzantine architecture of Europe, just as the circular arch of the - Romans had been on the columnar ordinances of the Greeks; but with - a widely different result. The amalgamation in the latter case - destroyed the beauty of both the stock and the scion; while in the - former the stock lent itself to the modifying influence of its - parasitical nursling, gradually gave up its heavy, dull and - cheerless forms, and was eventually lost in its beautiful - offspring, as the unlovely caterpillar is in the gay and graceful - butterfly.” - -Although Pointed or Gothic Architecture developed with almost equal -vigour in every country of Europe, it reached its greatest perfection in -France. Many of the finest earliest buildings in England were, to a -great extent, French in their origin, or development; but, in the course -of time, English Gothic Architecture became very original. In this -country - - “Gothic architecture seems to have attained its ultimate perfection - in the Fourteenth Century, at which period everything belonging to - it was conceived and executed in a free and bold spirit, all the - forms were graceful and natural, and all the details of foliage and - other sculptures were copied from living types, with a skill and - truth of drawing which has never been surpassed. Conventional forms - were in a great measure abandoned, and it seems to have been - rightly and truly considered that the fittest monuments for the - House of God were faithful copies of His works; and so long as this - principle continued to be acted on, so long did Gothic architecture - remain pure. But in the succeeding century, under the later Henrys - and Edwards, a gradual decline took place: everything was moulded - to suit a preconceived idea, the foliage lost its freshness, and - was moulded into something of a rectangular form; the arches were - depressed, the windows lowered, the flowing curves of the tracery - converted into straight lines, panelling profusely used, and the - square form everywhere introduced; until at length the prevalence - of the horizontal line led easily and naturally to the Renaissance - of the classic styles, though in an impure and much degraded form. - The mixture of the two styles first appears in the time of Henry - VII.,--a period in which (though remarkable for the beauty and - delicacy of its details) the grand conceptions of form and - proportion of the previous century seem to have been lost. - Heaviness or clumsiness of form, combined with exquisite beauty of - detail, are the characteristics of this era.”--(J. H. P.) - -The styles are generally classified as follows: I. Norman, or -Romanesque; II. Early English; III. Decorated; IV. Perpendicular. - - “Soon after the Norman Conquest a great change took place in the - art of building in England. On consulting the history of our - cathedral churches, we find that in almost every instance the - church was rebuilt from its foundations by the first Norman bishop, - either on the same site or on a new one; sometimes, as at Norwich - and Peterborough, the cathedral was removed to a new town - altogether, and built on a spot where there was no church before; - in other cases, as at Winchester, the new church was built near the - old one, which was not pulled down until after the relics had been - translated with great pomp from the old church to the new. In other - instances, as in York and Canterbury, the new church was erected on - the site of the old one, which was pulled down piecemeal as the new - work progressed. These new churches were in all cases on a much - larger and more magnificent scale than the old. - - “Strictly speaking, the Norman is one of the Romanesque styles, - which succeeded to the old Roman; but the Gothic was so completely - developed from the Norman that it is impossible to draw a line of - distinction between them; it is also convenient to begin with the - Norman, because the earliest complete buildings that we have in - this country are of the Norman period, and the designs of the - Norman architects, at the end of the Eleventh Century and the - beginning of the Twelfth, were on so grand a scale that many of our - finest cathedrals are built on the foundations of the churches of - that period, and a great part of the walls are frequently found to - be really Norman in construction, although their appearance is so - entirely altered that it is difficult at first to realise this; for - instance, in the grand cathedral of Winchester, William of Wykeham - did not rebuild it, but so entirely altered the appearance that it - is now properly considered as one of the earliest examples of the - English Perpendicular style, of which he was the inventor; this - style is entirely confined to England; it is readily distinguished - from any of the Continental styles by the _perpendicular lines_ in - the tracery of the windows, and in the panelling on the walls; in - all the foreign styles these lines are flowing or flame-like, and - for that reason they are called Flamboyant; a few windows with - tracery of that style are met with in England, but they are quite - exceptions.”--(J. H. P.) - -The works of this period were colossal. Peterborough was begun in 1117 -and finished in 1143; the nave of Norwich was built between 1122 and -1145; Canterbury was finished in 1130; and part of Rochester in the same -year. - -In the time of William Rufus all the Saxon cathedrals were being rebuilt -on a larger scale. From this reign date the crypt of Worcester; crypt, -arches of the nave and part of the transepts of Gloucester; the choir -and transepts of Durham; and the choir and transepts of Norwich. - -In the reign of Henry I. the choirs of Ely, Rochester, Norwich and -Canterbury were dedicated; and among the new works begun were the nave -of Durham and the choir of Peterborough. - - “The piers in the earlier period are either square solid masses of - masonry, or recessed in the angles in the same manner as the - arches, or they are plain, round massive pillars, with frequently - only an impost of very simple character, but often with capitals. - - “The capitals in early work are either plain, cubical masses with - the lower angles rounded off, forming a sort of rude cushion shape, - as at Winchester, or they have a sort of rude volute, apparently in - imitation of the Ionic, cut upon the angles; and in the centre of - each face a plain square block in the form of the Tau cross is left - projecting, as if to be afterwards carved. The scalloped capital - belongs to rather a later period than the plain cushion or the rude - Ionic, and does not occur before the time of Henry I. This form of - capital was perhaps the most common of all in the first half of the - Twelfth Century, and continued in use to the end of the Norman - style. The capitals were frequently carved at a period subsequent - to their erection, as in the crypt at Canterbury, where some of the - capitals are finished, others half-finished, with two sides blank - and others not carved at all. In later Norman work the capitals are - frequently ornamented with foliage, animals, groups of figures, - etc., in endless variety. The abacus throughout the style is the - most characteristic member, and will frequently distinguish a - Norman capital when other parts are doubtful. - - “Norman ornaments are of endless variety; the most common is the - chevron, or zigzag, and this is used more and more abundantly as - the work gets later; it is found at all periods even in Roman work - of the Third Century and probably earlier, but in all early work it - is used sparingly, and the profusion with which it is used in late - work is one of the most ready marks by which to distinguish that - the work is late. The sunk star is a very favourite ornament - throughout the style; it occurs on the abacus of the capitals in - the chapel of the White Tower, London, and it seems to have been - the forerunner of the tooth-ornament. The billet is used in the - early part of Peterborough, but discontinued in the later work, - and does not often occur in late work. It is sometimes square, - more frequently rounded. The beak-head, the cat’s-head, the small - medallions with figures and the signs of the zodiac, all belong to - the later Norman period. In the later Norman mouldings a mixture of - Byzantine character is seen on the ornaments as at Durham. It has - also been observed that in the sculpture of the period of the late - Norman style there is frequently a certain mixture of the Byzantine - Greek character brought home from the East by the Crusaders, who - had returned. This is also one of the characteristics of the period - of the Transition.”--(J. H. P.) - -The next period--that of the Transition--in which the science of -vaulting received great impetus and construction became more elegant and -graceful in line, is splendidly exhibited at Canterbury in the work of -the French William of Sens and his successor, the English William. -Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is also a fine example of late Norman -and Transitional work. - -The Early English Style covers the reigns of Richard I., John and Henry -III., from 1189 to 1272. It is known also as the First Pointed, or -Lancet, and is a purely English variety of Gothic Architecture. The -developments were always in the line of greater lightness and elegance. -There was also throughout this period a great use of delicate shafts of -polished Purbeck marble for doorways, windows and arcades. - -Canterbury, Rochester and Lincoln are famous examples. Canterbury was -completed in 1184; Rochester in 1201-1227; and much of Lincoln was -finished (especially the choir and eastern transept with its chapels) -before 1200. - -Salisbury Cathedral, however, is usually considered as _The Type_ of the -Early English style, because it is less mixed than any other building -of the same importance. It was commenced in 1220 and consecrated in -1258. - -The choir and apse of Westminster Abbey and the north transept of York -Minster are also good examples of this period. We may note here that it -was customary to build the west front immediately after the choir and -leave the nave to be filled in afterwards. - - “New ideas and a new life seem to have been given to architecture, - and the builders appear to have revelled in it even to exuberance - and excess, and it was necessary afterwards in some degree to - soften down and subdue it. At no period has ‘the principle of - verticality’ been so completely carried out as in the Early English - style, and even in some of the earliest examples of it.”--(J. H. - P.) - - “The characteristic elegance of the general architectural design - was carried out in all the details. The mouldings were delicately - rounded and alternated with hollows so drawn as to give here - delicate and there most forcible effects of light and shade. Thus - the dark line produced by marble in a pier was continued by means - of a dark shadow in the arch; and without considerable knowledge of - the science of moulding, it is impossible to do justice to this - part of the English Early Pointed work, which has never been - surpassed, if, indeed, it has ever been equalled at any period - elsewhere. The groined roofs were still simple in design, but a - ridge rib was often added to the necessary transverse and diagonal - ribs of the previous period. This gave a certain hardness of line - to the vault; it was the first step to the more elaborate and later - systems of vaulting, and was soon followed by the introduction of - other ribs on the surface of the vaulting cells. Few works are more - admirable than some of the towers and spires of this period.”--(G. - S. S.) - -The characteristic of lancet windows applies only to the early part of -the style from 1190 to about 1220 or 1230. After that time circles in -the head of the windows of two or more lights came in, and the circles -became foliated by about 1230, and continued to 1260 or 1270, when the -Decorated style began to come into fashion. - - “The windows in the earlier examples are plain, lancet-shaped and - generally narrow; sometimes they are richly moulded within and - without, but frequently have nothing but a plain chamfer outside - and a wide splay within. In the Early English style we have, in the - later examples, tracery in the heads of the windows, but it is - almost invariably in the form of circles, either plain or foliated, - and is constructed in a different manner from genuine Decorated - tracery. - - “At first the windows have merely openings pierced through the - solid masonry of the head, the solid portions thus left gradually - becoming smaller and the openings larger, until the solid parts are - reduced to nearly the same thickness as the mullions; but they are - not moulded, and do not form continuations of the mullions until we - arrive at real Decorated tracery. This kind of tracery was called - by Professor Willis plate tracery; being in fact, a plate of stone - pierced with holes: it is extensively used in early French work. - The more usual kind of tracery is called _bar_ tracery, to - distinguish it from the earlier kind.”--(J. H. P.) - -Doorways are generally pointed or trefoiled, but sometimes round-headed, -and small doorways are frequently flat-headed, with the angles corbelled -in the form called the square-headed trefoil, or the shouldered arch. -Trefoiled arches are characteristic of this style. Arches are -frequently, but not always, acutely pointed; and in the more important -buildings are generally richly moulded, as in Westminster Abbey, either -with or without the tooth-ornament, as the arches at York Minster. The -pillars are of various forms, frequently clustered; but the most -characteristic pillar of the style is the one with detached shafts, -which are generally of Purbeck marble. These are frequently very long -and slender and only connected with the central shaft by the capital and -base, with or without one or two bands at intervals. These bands -sometimes consist of rings of copper gilt, as in the choir of Worcester -Cathedral, and are sometimes necessary for holding together the slender -shafts of Purbeck marble. The bases generally consist of two rounds, the -lowest one the largest, both frequently filleted, with a deep hollow -between, placed horizontally, as at Canterbury. In pure Early English -work, the upper member of the capital, called the abacus, is circular -and consists, in the earlier examples, simply of two rounds, the upper -one the largest, with a hollow between them; but in later examples the -mouldings are frequently increased in number and filleted. - -Mouldings are chiefly bold rounds, with equally bold and deeply cut -hollows, which produce a strong effect of light and shade. Vaults are -bolder than during the Norman period and differ from succeeding styles -by their greater simplicity, as at Salisbury. In the earlier examples -there are ribs on the angles of the groins only; at a later period the -vaulting becomes more complicated, as at Westminster. There is a -longitudinal rib, and a cross rib along the ridge of the cross vaults, -and frequently also an intermediate rib on the surface of the vault. The -bosses are rare at first, more abundant afterwards: they are generally -well worked and enriched with foliage. English vaults are sometimes of -wood only, as in York Minster, and the cloisters at Lincoln. A vault is, -in fact, a ceiling, having always an outer roof over it. There is a -marked distinction in the construction of Gothic vaults in England and -France. In England, from the earliest period, each stone is cut to fit -its place; in France the stones are cut square or rather oblong, as in -the walls, and only wedged out by the thickness of the mortar at the -back in the joints. Fan-tracery vaulting is peculiar to England, and it -begins, in principle, as early as in the cloister of Lincoln about 1220, -where the vault is of wood, but the springings are of stone, and cut to -fit the ribs of the wooden vault. - -Buttresses project boldly, and flying-buttresses become a prominent -feature. There is a fine example of a compound flying-buttress at -Westminster Abbey, which supports the vaults of the choir, the triforium -and the aisles and carries the thrust of the whole over the cloister to -the ground. Early English towers are generally more lofty than the -Norman, and their buttresses have a greater projection. The spire is -usually a noticeable feature. The East End is usually square; but -sometimes terminates with the apse, generally a half-octagon or a -half-hexagon, as at Westminster Abbey. - - “Throughout the Early English period there is an ornament used in - the hollow mouldings which is as characteristic of this style as - the zigzag is of the Norman; this consists of a small pyramid, more - or less acute, cut into four leaves or petals meeting in the point, - but separate below as in Chester Cathedral. When very acute, and - seen in profile, it may be imagined to have somewhat the appearance - of a row of dog’s-teeth, and from this it has been called the - ‘dog-tooth[1] ornament,’ or, by some, the shark’s tooth ornament, - more commonly the tooth-ornament. It is used with the greatest - profusion on arches, between clustered shafts, on the architraves - and jambs of doors, windows, piscinas and indeed in every place - where such ornament can be introduced. It is very characteristic of - this style, and begins quite at the commencement of the style, as - in St. Hugh’s work at Lincoln; for though in the Norman we find an - approach to it, in the Decorated various modifications of it occur; - still the genuine tooth-ornament may be considered to belong - exclusively to the Early English. - - “Another peculiarity consists of the _foliage_, which differs - considerably from the Norman: in the latter it has more or less the - appearance of being imitated from that of the Classic orders, while - in this it is entirely original. Its essential form seems to be - that of a trefoil leaf, but this is varied in such a number of ways - that the greatest variety is produced. It is used in cornices, the - bosses of groining, the mouldings of windows and doorways, and - various other places, but particularly in capitals to which it - gives a peculiar and distinctive character. The foliage of these - capitals is technically called ‘stiff-leaf foliage,’ but this - alludes only to the stiff stem or stalk of the leaf, which rises - from the ring of the capital; the foliage itself is frequently as - far removed from stiffness as any can be, as for instance in the - capitals of Lincoln. The stiff stalk is, however, a ready mark to - distinguish the Early English capital from that of the succeeding - style. We must bear in mind, however, that foliage is by no means - an essential feature of the Early English style; many of our finest - buildings, such as Westminster Abbey, have their capitals formed of - a plain bell reversed, with mouldings round the abacus like rings - put upon it, and round the neck. - - “The ornaments so well known by the name of crockets were first - introduced in this style. The name is taken from the shepherd’s - crook, adopted by the bishops as emblematical of their office. They - occur at Lincoln, in St. Hugh’s work, the earliest example of this - style, and are there used in the unusual position of being in a - vertical line between the detached shafts. They are found in the - same position also in the beautiful work of the west front of - Wells. Afterwards they were used entirely on the outside of - pediments, or in similar situations, projecting from the face of - the work, or the outer surface of the moulding, as in the very - beautiful tomb of Archbishop Walter Grey in York Cathedral; and - they continued in use in the subsequent styles, although their form - and character gradually change with the style.”--(J. H. P.) - -The transition from the Early English to the Decorated was very gradual. -It took place during the reign of Edward I. The transepts of Westminster -Abbey are held up as models of this transition and contain some of the -most beautiful work that can be found anywhere. The crosses erected by -Edward I. at all places where the body of Queen Eleanor had rested, on -the march from Lincolnshire to Westminster Abbey, where she was buried, -are usually regarded as fine early examples of the Decorated style. Easy -attitudes and graceful draperies characterise the sculpture of human -figures. - -The Decorated Period dates from 1300 to 1377. It is also called the -Middle Pointed, Geometrical Pointed and the Flowing, or Curvilinear, and -also the Edwardian, because it covers the reigns of Edward I., II. and -III. - -Exeter Cathedral is a superb example of this style. The nave of York -Minster and the lantern of Ely are also noteworthy illustrations. - - “The general appearance of Decorated buildings is at once simple - and magnificent; simple from the small number of parts, and - magnificent from the size of the windows, and the easy flow of the - lines of tracery. In the interior of large buildings we find great - breadth, and an enlargement of the _clerestory_ windows, with a - corresponding diminution of the _triforium_, which is now rather a - part of the _clerestory_ opening than a distinct member of the - division. The roofing, from the increased richness of the groining, - becomes an object of more attention. On the whole the nave of York, - from the uncommon grandeur and simplicity of the design, is - certainly the finest example; ornament is nowhere spared, yet there - is a simplicity which is peculiarly pleasing.”--(Rickman.) - - “The Decorated style is distinguished by its large windows divided - by mullions, and the tracery either in flowing lines, or forming - circles, trefoils and other geometrical figures, and not running - perpendicularly; its ornaments are numerous and very delicately - carved, more strictly faithful to nature and more essentially parts - of the structure than in any other style. There is a very fine - window with reticulated tracery and richly moulded in the south - walk of the cloisters at Westminster. No rule whatever is followed - in the form of the arch over windows in this style; some are very - obtuse, others very acute and the ogee arch is not uncommon. - Decorated tracery is usually divided into three general - classes--geometrical, flowing and flamboyant; the variety is so - great that many sub-divisions may be made, but they were all used - simultaneously for a considerable period. The earliest Decorated - windows have geometrical tracery; Exeter Cathedral is, perhaps, on - the whole, the best typical example of the early part of this - style. The fabric rolls are preserved, and it is now evident that - the existing windows are, for the most part, of the time of Bishop - Quivil, from 1279 to 1291. In some instances windows with - geometrical tracery have the mouldings and the mullions covered - with the ball-flower ornament in great profusion, even to excess; - these examples occur chiefly in Herefordshire, as at Leominster; - and in Gloucestershire, as in the south aisle of the nave of the - Cathedral at Gloucester: they are for the most part, if not - entirely, of the time of Edward II. What is called the netlike - character of tracery, from its general resemblance to a fisherman’s - net, is very characteristic of this style at its best period, about - the middle of the Fourteenth Century. Square-headed windows are - very common. Windows in towers are usually different from those in - other parts of the church. In the upper story, where the bells are, - there is no glass; in some parts of the country there is pierced - stonework for keeping out the birds, but more usually they are of - wood only. These are called sound-holes. Clerestory windows of this - style are often small, and either circular with quatrefoil cusps, - or trefoils or quatrefoils; or the spherical triangle with cusps, - which forms an elegant window. The clever manner in which these - windows are splayed within and especially below, to throw down the - light, should be noticed.”--(J. H. P.) - -The large rose-window, so conspicuous a feature on the Continent, is -rarely seen in England. When it does occur it is usually found in the -transept ends. - -The East Front generally consists of one large window at the end of the -choir, flanked by tall buttresses. A smaller buttress appears at the end -of each aisle. The arrangement of the West Front is the same, with a -doorway beneath the central window. The towers of the Decorated style -are usually placed at the west end and are, as a rule, similar to the -Early English. The spires differ slightly from those of the Early -English, except that there are generally more spire-lights and small -windows at the bases and sides of the spire. Lichfield Cathedral is one -of the best examples of the exterior of a perfect church of the -Decorated style. Its three spires are perfect. - -The ogee arch is frequently used in small arcades and in the heads of -windows. The dripstones, or hood moulds, are generally supported by -heads and are frequently enriched with crockets and finials. The arcades -that ornament the walls and those over the _sedilia_ are characteristic -features of the style. Pillars are clustered and arches richly moulded; -they often have the hood-moulding over them. Very often they have what -is called a stilted base. The capitals are ornamented with beautiful -foliage: each leaf is copied from nature and often arranged round the -bell of the capital. The ornamental sculptures in the hollow mouldings -are numerous, but there are two which require more particular notice; -they are nearly as characteristic of the Decorated style as the zigzag -is of the Norman, or the tooth-ornament of the Early English. The first -is the ball-flower, which is a globular flower half opened, and showing -within a small round ball. It is used with the utmost profusion in the -mouldings of windows, doorways, canopies, cornices, arches, etc. The -other ornament is the four-leaved flower. This has a raised centre, and -four petals cut in high relief; it is frequently much varied, but may be -distinguished by its being cut distinctly into four petals, and by its -boldness: it is sometimes used abundantly, though not quite so profusely -as the ball-flower. In some instances the centre is sunk instead of -being raised. The battlement, as an ornamental feature in the interior -of buildings, is frequently used in this style, although it is more -common in the Perpendicular. - -The foliage in this style is more faithfully copied from nature than in -any other: the vine-leaf, the maple and the oak with the acorn, are the -most usual. The surface of the wall is often covered with flat foliage, -arranged in small squares called diaper-work, which is believed to have -originated in an imitation of the rich hangings then in general use, and -which bore the same name. - -The groined roofs or vaults are distinguished from those of the -preceding style, chiefly by an additional number of ribs, and by the -natural foliage on the bosses. Many fine examples of these remain, as in -the Cathedral of Exeter and at York in the chapter-house; at Norwich in -the cloisters; at Chester the vault is of wood with stone springers. - -After culminating in the Decorated style, Gothic Architecture began to -decline in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. The transition from -the Decorated to the Perpendicular took place from 1360 to 1399: - - “This change began to show itself in the choir and transepts of - Gloucester Cathedral before the middle of the Fourteenth Century. - The panelling and the window-tracery have so much the appearance of - the Perpendicular Style, that they have been commonly supposed to - have been rebuilt or altered at a late period; but the vaultings - and the mouldings are pure Decorated, and the painted glass of the - Fourteenth Century is evidently made for the places which it now - occupies in the heads of the windows with Perpendicular tracery; it - must therefore be considered as the earliest known example of this - great change of style. In this work of alteration the walls and - arches of the Norman church were not rebuilt but cased with - panelling over the inner surface, so as to give the effect of the - latter style to the interior. This was just the same process as was - afterwards followed at Winchester by William of Wykeham, in - changing the Norman to the Perpendicular style without any actual - rebuilding.”--(J. H. P.) - -The work at Gloucester was begun as early as 1337. Another fine example -is the nave of Winchester Cathedral. - -Bishop Edington, who died in 1366, began to alter Winchester into the -Perpendicular style. His work was continued by William of Wykeham. - - “Before the death of Bishop Edington the great principles of the - Perpendicular style were fully established. These chiefly consist - of the Perpendicular lines through the head of the window, and in - covering the surface of the wall with panelling of the same kind. - These features are as distinctly marked at Winchester as in any - subsequent building, or as they well could be.”--(J. H. P.) - -The cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral are decidedly Perpendicular in the -fan-tracery of the vaults, but are partly of earlier date and character. -Another example of the transition from Decorated to Perpendicular is the -choir of York Minster, begun in 1361 and finished in 1408. Its general -appearance is Perpendicular. - - “This style is exclusively English, _it is never found_ on the - Continent, and it has the advantage of being more _economical_ in - execution than the earlier styles. It remains to describe its - characteristic features. The broad distinction of the Perpendicular - style lies in the form of the tracery in the head of the windows; - and in fully developed examples the distinction is sufficiently - obvious. We have no longer the head of the window filled with the - gracefully flowing lines of the Decorated tracery, but their place - is supplied by the rigid lines of the mullions, which are carried - through to the architrave mouldings, the spaces between being - frequently divided and subdivided by similar Perpendicular lines; - so that _Perpendicularity_ is so clearly the characteristic of - these windows that no other word could have been found which would - at once so well express the predominating feature. The same - character prevails throughout the buildings of this period: the - whole surface of a building, including its buttresses, parapets, - basements, and every part of the flat surface, is frequently - covered with panelling in which the Perpendicular line clearly - predominates; and to such an excess is this carried that the - windows frequently appear to be only openings in the panel-work. - Panelling, indeed, now forms an important feature of the style; for - though it was used in the earlier styles, it was not to the same - extent, and was of very different character, the plain surfaces in - those styles being relieved chiefly by diaper-work.”--(J. H. P.) - -The great idea of the architect was to correct and restrain the -exuberant tracery by introducing vigorous straight vertical and -horizontal lines. Another feature of the Perpendicular style was the -groined roof. The ribs of the vaulting were now enriched by cross ribs, -which were intersected by more ribs into small panels, which were filled -in with tracery. The key-stones were formed into pendants. This network -of ribs is called fan-tracery because the ribs spread out like the -sticks of a fan. Very beautiful examples occur in Henry VII.’s Chapel, -Westminster Abbey, and in the cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral. - - “The light and elegant style of vaulting known as fan-tracery, - which is peculiar to this style, with its delicate pendants and - lace-like ornaments, harmonises finely with the elaborate ornament - of the tabernacle-work ornament. Fan-tracery vaulting is - _peculiarly English_. The principle of it began with the earliest - English Gothic style, as in the cloisters of Lincoln Cathedral, - each stone of the vaulting being cut to fit its place. In France - this is never done, each block of stone is oblong, as in those for - the walls, and is only made to curve over in a vault by the mortar - between the joints. - - “Arches are not so acute as in the earlier periods; capitals and - bases of columns are distinguished by the shallowness of the - mouldings; mullions are carried straight through the arch of the - windows; doorways consist of a depressed arch within a square frame - with a label above; the label moulding is frequently filled with - foliage and the space round the arch parallel; towers are often - extremely rich and elaborately ornamented with four or five stories - of windows, canopies, pinnacles and tabernacles; porches are also - fine, highly enriched with panel-work, buttresses and pinnacles, - and often with a richly-groined vault in the interior; and - mouldings are generally more shallow than the earlier ones. - - “There is an ornament which was introduced in this style and which - is very characteristic. This is called the ‘Tudor-flower,’ not - because it was introduced in the time of the Tudors, but because it - was so much used at that period. It generally consists of some - modification of the fleur-de-lis alternately with a small trefoil - or ball, and is much used as a crest for screens on fonts, niches, - capitals and in almost all places where such ornament can be used. - The foliage of this style is frequently very beautifully executed, - almost as faithful to nature as in the Decorated style, in which - the fidelity to nature is one of the characteristic features. There - is comparatively a squareness about the Perpendicular foliage, - which takes from the freshness and beauty which distinguished that - of the Decorated style. Indeed, the use of square and angular forms - is one of the characteristics of the style; we have square panels, - square foliage, square crockets and finials, square forms in the - windows--caused by the introduction of so many transoms--and an - approach to squareness in the depressed and low pitch of the roofs - in late examples.”--(J. H. P.) - -The woodwork of the Perpendicular period is very beautiful: open timber -roofs (met with in the eastern counties), screens and lofts across the -chancel-arch and richly carved bench ends exist in considerable numbers. - - “The frequent use of figures, simply as corbels between the windows - of the clerestory to carry the roof, is a good characteristic of - the late Perpendicular style; they are generally of the time of - Henry the Seventh or Eighth. The figure used is generally that of - an angel, and each angel is sometimes represented as carrying a - different musical instrument so as to make up a heavenly - choir.”--(J. H. P.) - -Among the best examples of late Perpendicular are Henry VII.’s Chapel, -Westminster Abbey; St. George’s Chapel, Windsor; King’s College Chapel, -Cambridge; and Bath Abbey Church. - -In writing of the latter W. D. Howells so beautifully describes this -style that no excuse is needed for bringing his definition into this -place. He says: - - “It is mostly of that Perpendicular Gothic which I suppose more - mystically lifts the soul than any other form of architecture, and - it is in a gracious harmony with itself through its lovely - proportions; from the stems of its clustered column, the tracery of - their fans spreads and delicately feels its way over the vaulted - roof as if it were a living growth of something rooted in the earth - beneath.” - - - - -ABBREVIATIONS OF AUTHORS QUOTED - - A. A.--Alexander Ansted - - F. B.--Frederic Bond - J. E. B.--J. E. Bygate - - A. B. C.--A. B. Clifton - A. C.-B.--A. Clutton-Brock - J. C.-B.--J. Cavis-Brown - H. C. C.--Hubert C. Corlette - - A. D.--Arthur Dimock - C. D.--Charles Dickens, Jr. - P. D.--Percy Dearmer - P. H. D.--P. H. Ditchfield - T. F. D.--Thomas Frognall Dibdin - - A. H. F.--A. Hugh Fisher - E. A. F.--E. A. Freeman - F. W. F.--F. W. Farrar - W. H. F.--W. H. Fremantle - - H.--Hope - C. H.--Cecil Hallet - L. H.--Leigh Hunt - W. H. H.--W. H. Hart - - A. F. K.--A. F. Kendrick - G. W. K.--Dean Kitchin - R. J. K.--Richard J. Knight - - L.--Dr. Luckock - W. J. L.--W. J. Loftie - - M.--Dean Milman - J. McC.--Justin McCarthy - H. J. L. J. M.--H. J. L. J. Massé - - P.--Dean Patrick - P.-C.--Dean Pury-Cust - F. A. P.--F. A. Paley - G. H. P.--G. H. Palmer - J. H. P.--J. H. Parker - T. P.--T. Perkins - - C. H. B. Q.--C. H. B. Quennell - - R.--Rickman - F. and R.--Field and Routledge - - S.--Dean Spence - A. P. S.--Dean Stanley - E. F. S.--Edward F. Strange - G. G. S.--G. G. Scott - W. D. S.--W. D. Sweeting - - T.--Canon Talbot - - W.--Willis - Wal.--Walcott - A.-à-W.--Anthony-à-Wood - C. W.--Winston - E. W.--Edward Walford - F. S. W.--F. S. Waller - G. W.--Gleeson White - Geo. W.--George Worley - H. W.--Hartley Wither - - - - -CONTENTS - - PAGE - -CANTERBURY 1 - -ROCHESTER 33 - -WINCHESTER 46 - -CHICHESTER 66 - -SALISBURY 76 - -EXETER 90 - -WELLS 107 - -BATH ABBEY 134 - -BRISTOL 140 - -GLOUCESTER 151 - -HEREFORD 174 - -WORCESTER 188 - -LICHFIELD 200 - -CHESTER 215 - -MANCHESTER 222 - -CARLISLE 227 - -DURHAM 233 - -RIPON 249 - -YORK MINSTER 260 - -LINCOLN 284 - -SOUTHWELL 313 - -PETERBOROUGH 319 - -ELY 334 - -NORWICH 349 - -ST. ALBANS 360 - -OXFORD 375 - -ST. PAUL’S, LONDON 393 - -ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK 415 - -WESTMINSTER ABBEY 425 - -INDEX 445 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - -Salisbury: Cloisters _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - -Canterbury: South Porch 12 - -Canterbury: Nave, east 13 - -Canterbury: Choir, east 24 - -Rochester: West front 25 - -Rochester: Nave, east 40 - -Rochester: Choir, west 41 - -Winchester: Nave, west 52 - -Winchester: Font 53 - -Winchester: Choir, east 64 - -Winchester: West front 65 - -Chichester 72 - -Chichester: Nave, east 73 - -Chichester: Screen 76 - -Salisbury: North 77 - -Salisbury: Nave, east 88 - -Exeter: South-west 89 - -Exeter: Nave, east 98 - -Exeter: Choir, east 99 - -Wells: West front 114 - -Wells: North Porch 115 - -Wells: Nave, east 128 - -Wells: South-west 129 - -Bath Abbey: West front 136 - -Bath Abbey: Choir, west 137 - -Bristol: North 144 - -Bristol: Nave, east 145 - -Gloucester: East 154 - -Gloucester: Tomb of Edward II 155 - -Gloucester: Choir, east 164 - -Gloucester: Cloisters 165 - -Hereford: Nave, east 176 - -Hereford: North-east 177 - -Hereford: Choir 186 - -Worcester: South-west 187 - -Worcester: Nave, east 192 - -Worcester: Choir, east 193 - -Lichfield: West front 200 - -Lichfield: Nave, east 201 - -Lichfield: from East window 212 - -Chester: North 213 - -Chester: Choir, west 218 - -Chester: Choir-stalls 219 - -Manchester: South 224 - -Manchester: Nave, east 225 - -Carlisle: South-west 228 - -Carlisle: Choir 229 - -Carlisle: East End 232 - -Durham: West front 233 - -Durham: Nave, east 240 - -Durham: Galilee Chapel 241 - -Durham: Neville Screen 248 - -Ripon: South 249 - -Ripon: Nave, east 254 - -Ripon: Choir, east 255 - -York Minster: West front 268 - -York Minster: South 269 - -York Minster: Choir, east 278 - -York Minster: Choir, west 279 - -Lincoln: West front 288 - -Lincoln: Great West Door 289 - -Lincoln: Angel Choir 298 - -Lincoln: Choir, east 299 - -Lincoln: East Window 306 - -Southwell: North-west 307 - -Southwell: Chapter-House 316 - -Peterborough: West front 317 - -Peterborough: Choir, east 328 - -Peterborough: South 329 - -Ely: West Towers 336 - -Ely: Choir, east 337 - -Ely: East End and Lady-Chapel 346 - -Ely: Lady-Chapel 347 - -Norwich: East 356 - -Norwich: Choir 357 - -St. Albans: North 366 - -St. Albans: Nave, east 367 - -Oxford: Tower and Entrance 382 - -Oxford: Choir, east 383 - -Oxford: Latin Chapel 392 - -St. Paul’s: West front 393 - -St. Paul’s: Choir, east 414 - -St. Saviour’s, Southwark 415 - -St. Saviour’s, Southwark: Nave, east 424 - -Westminster Abbey: West front 425 - -Westminster Abbey: Poets’ Corner 432 - -Westminster Abbey: Choir, east 433 - -Westminster Abbey: Chapel and Shrine of - Edward the Confessor 436 - -Westminster Abbey: Henry VII.’s Chapel 437 - -Westminster Abbey: Cloisters 440 - -Westminster Abbey: South-west 441 - - - - -CANTERBURY - - DEDICATION: CHRIST CHURCH. FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE - MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: BECKET’S CROWN; DOOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE; WEST - DOORWAY; CRYPT. - - -Canterbury Cathedral presents a beautiful effect when seen from a -distance, keeping watch over the city that lies in the valley of the -Stour, girdled by hills. On one of these hills stands the village of -Harbledown, the “Bob Up and Down,” where Chaucer’s Pilgrims halted, and -from which a charming view of the ancient Cathedral is to be enjoyed. - -Another fine prospect is gained from St. Martin’s: - - “Let any one sit on the hill of the little church of St. Martin, - and look on the view which is there spread before his eyes. - Immediately below are the towers of the great Abbey of St. - Augustine, where Christian learning and civilisation first struck - root in the Anglo-Saxon race; and within which now, after a lapse - of many centuries, a new institution has arisen, intended to carry - far and wide to countries of which Gregory and Augustine never - heard, the blessings which they gave to us. Carry your view - on,--and there rises high above all the magnificent pile of our - Cathedral equal in splendour and state to any, the noblest temple - or church, that Augustine could have seen in ancient Rome, rising - on the very ground which derives its consecration from him. And - still more than the grandeur of the outward buildings that rose - from the little church of St. Augustine, and the little palace of - Ethelbert, have been the institutions of all kinds, of which these - are the earliest cradle. From Canterbury, the first English - Christian city--from Kent, the first English Christian - kingdom--has, by degrees, arisen the whole constitution of Church - and State in England, which now binds together the whole British - Empire.”--(A. P. S.) - -This great Cathedral stands on the site of the primitive Roman, or -British, Church, attributed to King Lucius and granted by Ethelbert, -King of Kent, to St. Augustine (who had converted him in 597). It is, -therefore, the earliest monument of the English union of Church and -State, and the cradle of English Christianity. Pope Gregory had intended -to fix the Primacy in London and York alternately; but the sentiment of -St. Augustine’s landing in Kent prevailed; and, therefore, the -Archbishop of Canterbury, the See of which was founded in 597, is still -Primate of England. He crowns the King and ranks next to royalty. - -The first Cathedral was injured by the Danes in 1011 and it was burned -down during the Norman Conquest in 1067. Lanfranc, the first Archbishop -after the Conquest (1070-1089), reconstructed both church and monastery -from their foundations. Anselm (1093-1109), took down the eastern part -of the church and reërected it with far greater magnificence. Ernulf, -Prior of the monastery, was responsible for the architecture; but the -chancel being finished by his successor, Prior Conrad, and beautifully -decorated, became known as the “glorious Choir of Conrad.” Canterbury -Cathedral was dedicated by Archbishop William in 1130. Henry I., King of -England, David, King of Scotland, and all the Bishops of England were -present at what Gervase calls “the most famous dedication that had ever -been heard of on the earth since that of the temple of Solomon.” In -1170, Thomas à Becket was murdered here, having fled for protection to -the church after a violent scene in his chamber with Henry’s knights. -Becket was buried at the east end of the Crypt and remained there -forty-six years. - - “Most men were persuaded that a new burst of miraculous powers, - such as had been suspended for many generations, had broken out at - the tomb; and the contemporary monk, Benedict, fills a volume with - extraordinary cures, wrought within a very few years after the - ‘Martyrdom.’ Far and wide the fame of ‘St. Thomas of Canterbury’ - spread. The very name of Christ Church, or of the Holy Trinity, by - which the Cathedral was properly designated, was in popular usage - merged in that of The Church of St. Thomas. For the few years - immediately succeeding his death there was no regular shrine. The - popular enthusiasm still clung to the two spots immediately - connected with the murder. The Transept in which he died, within - five years from that time acquired the name by which it has ever - since been known, ‘The Martyrdom.’ The flagstone on which his skull - was fractured and the solid corner of the masonry in front of which - he fell, are probably the only parts which remain unchanged. But - against that corner may still be seen the marks of the space - occupied by a wooden altar, which continued in its original - simplicity through all the subsequent magnificence of the church - till the time of the Reformation. It was probably the identical - memorial erected in the first haste of enthusiasm after the - reopening of the Cathedral for worship in 1172. It was called the - Altar of the Martyrdom or more commonly the Altar of the Sword’s - Point (_Altare ad Punctum Ensis_) from the circumstance that in a - wooden shed placed upon it was preserved the fragment of Le Bret’s - sword, which had been left on the pavement after accomplishing its - bloody work. Under a piece of rock crystal surmounting the chest, - was kept a portion of the brains. To this altar a regular keeper - was appointed from among the monks, under the name of ‘_Custos - Martyrii_.’ In the first frenzy of desire for relics of St. Thomas, - even this guarantee was inadequate. - - “Next to the actual scene of the murder, the object which this - event invested with especial sanctity was the tomb in which his - remains were deposited in the Crypt behind the Altar of the Virgin. - It was to this spot that the first great rush of pilgrims was made - when the church was reopened in 1172, and it was here that Henry - performed his penance. Hither on the 21st of August, 1179, came the - first King of France who ever set foot on the shores of England, - Louis VII., warned by St. Thomas in dreams, and, afterwards, as he - believed, receiving his son back from a dangerous illness through - the Saint’s intercession. He knelt by the tomb and offered upon it - the celebrated jewel,[2] as also his own rich cup of gold.”--(A. P. - S.) - -In 1174 a fire destroyed “Conrad’s Glorious Choir.” Rebuilding was -immediately begun under a French architect, William of Sens, who fell -from a scaffolding and had to relinquish the work to another William, -who completed the Choir and eastern buildings in 1184. - -Everything was now in readiness for the removal of the Martyr’s remains. -Stephen Langton gave two years’ notice of the intended “Translation”; -and a marvellous assemblage gathered from all parts of Europe on July 7, -1220. The Archbishop opened the tomb the night before the coffin was -carried to the Shrine above in Trinity Chapel, and the “Vigil of the -Translation,” July 6, was kept in the English church until 1537. The -great procession to the Shrine was led by Henry III., then aged -thirteen. Pilgrims came to the new Shrine, as they had done to the one -below, in thousands. Seven great “jubilees” were held before 1530. - - “The outer aspect of the Cathedral can be imagined without much - difficulty. A wide cemetery, which, with its numerous gravestones, - such as that on the south side of Petersborough Cathedral, occupied - the vacant space still called the Churchyard, divided from the - garden beyond by the old Norman arch since removed to a more - convenient spot. In the cemetery were interred such pilgrims as - died during their stay in Canterbury. The external aspect of the - Cathedral itself, with the exception of the numerous statues which - then filled its now vacant niches, must have been much what it is - now. Not so its interior. Bright colours on the roof, on the - windows, on the monuments; hangings suspended from the rods which - may still be seen running from pillar to pillar; chapels and - altars, and chantries intercepting the view, where now all is - clear, must have rendered it so different, that at first we should - hardly recognise it to be the same building.”--(A. P. S.) - -At the church door the company of pilgrims arranged themselves “every -one after his degree,” and a monk sprinkled their heads with holy water -with the “Sprengel.” The great tide of pilgrims then passed through the -Cathedral. Sometimes they paid their devotions to the Shrine first, and -sometimes they visited the lesser objects first and the Shrine last. In -this case, they entered the Transept of the Martyrdom, through the dark -passage under the steps leading to the Choir. Before the wooden altar -and in the soft radiance of the glorious representation of the Martyr in -the transept window (of which there remains only the central band with -the donors, Edward IV., his Queen, with their daughters and the two sons -who perished in the Tower), while the priest showed them the relics of -which he had charge, including the rusty fragment of Le Bret’s sword, -which all kissed in turn. Proceeding down the steps on the way to the -Crypt, new guardians exhibited in the dim light of a row of lamps -suspended from rings in the roof, the actual relics of St. Thomas,--part -of his skull cased in silver, which all kissed devoutly, and his shirt -and drawers of haircloth. - -Mounting the steps of the Choir, the pilgrims were then shown the great -array of about four hundred relics preserved in ivory, gilt or silver -coffers, including the arm of St. George. And now, passing behind the -altar and up the steps, which many ascended on their knees, chanting the -hymn to St. Thomas, they entered Trinity Chapel. They were first led -beyond the Shrine to the easternmost apse to see a golden head of the -Saint studded with gems, in which the scalp or crown of the Saint was -preserved. - - “The Shrine occupied the central part of the upper platform, and - the extent of the railed space round it may be readily perceived by - examining the floor on which the depression made by the feet of the - pilgrims is plainly visible. The pavement inside this limit is - composed of the original steps and platform of the Shrine, and - consists in part of rich African marbles, as do also two whole - pillars to north and south, and two half pillars to the east. These - are said to have been the gift of a Pope to the Shrine, and, - indeed, to have once formed part of a Roman Temple. The Shrine - itself was simply the coffin of the Saint, richly adorned and cased - with gold and precious stones. It rested on a structure of stone - arches some five or six feet high, and was, as a rule, concealed - under a wooden cover, working on pulleys, like many covers of fonts - in our churches now. When raised the cover would reveal to the - venerating gaze of the pilgrims, plates of precious metal studded - with jewels of fabulous value, the most remarkable of which would - be pointed out by the attendant with a white wand. When the Shrine - was destroyed, by order of Henry VIII., these treasures filled two - great chests ‘such as six or seven strong men could no more than - convey one of them out of the church.’ West of the Shrine stood an - altar, and west of the altar a gate in the railings, in fact just - between the altar and the beautiful fragment of Italian marble - pavement.”--(F. and R.) - -We can imagine the long line of kneeling pilgrims and those who were -allowed behind the iron gates rubbing themselves against the marble, so -that the wonder-working body within could effect a cure in anticipation -of the moment when the wooden canopy would be lifted. - - “At a given signal this canopy was drawn up by ropes, and the - Shrine then appeared blazing with gold and jewels; the wooden sides - were plated with gold and damasked with gold wire; cramped together - on this gold ground were innumerable jewels, pearls, sapphires, - blassas, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, and ‘in the midst of the - gold’ rings or cameos of sculptured agates, cornelians and onyx - stones. - - “As soon as this magnificent sight was disclosed, every one dropped - on his knees, and probably the tinkling of the silver bells - attached to the canopy would indicate the moment to all the - hundreds of pilgrims in whatever part of the Cathedral they might - be. The body of the Saint in the inner iron chest was not to be - seen except by mounting a ladder, which would be but rarely - allowed. But whilst the votaries knelt around, the Prior, or some - other great officer of the monastery, came forward, and with a - white wand touched the several jewels, naming the giver of each, - and for the benefit of foreigners, adding the French name of each, - with a description of its value and marvellous qualities. A - complete list of them has been preserved to us, curious, but devoid - of general interest. There was one, however, which far outshone the - rest, and indeed was supposed to be the finest in Europe. It was - the great carbuncle, ruby, or diamond, said to be as large as a - hen’s egg or a thumb-nail, and commonly called ‘The Regale of - France.’ The attention of the spectators was riveted by the figure - of an angel pointing to it. It had been given to the original tomb - in the Crypt by Louis VII. of France, when here on his - pilgrimage.[3] - - “The lid once more descended on the golden ark; the pilgrims - - ‘telling heartily their beads - Prayed to St. Thomas in such wise as they could,’ - - and then withdrew, down the opposite flight of steps from which - they had ascended.”--(A. P. S.) - -Next the pilgrims received the small leaden bottles, or _ampulles_, -filled with water mixed with the Martyr’s blood; and in the numerous -booths and stalls that lined Mercery Lane, the narrow street running -from the Cathedral to the Chequers Inn, bought other memorials of the -Pilgrimage, particularly the leaden brooches representing the mitred -head of the saint with the legend, _Caput Thomæ_. - -From the middle of the Fourteenth to the end of the Fifteenth Century a -wonder-working well was shown to pilgrims in the Precincts. - -Among the great visitors to the shrine of the “holy blissful Martyr” -were all the English kings from Henry II. to Henry VIII.; Edward I. -(1299), who presented the golden crown of Scotland, the crown given by -Edward to John Balliol and carried off by him, but recaptured at Dover; -Richard and John of England; Louis VII. of France; Isabella, wife of -Edward II.; John, the captive king of France; Henry V. on his return -from Agincourt; Emmanuel, Emperor of the East in 1400, and Sigismund, -Emperor of the West in 1417; and great lords and ladies from England, -France and Scotland. The barons of the Cinque Ports, after every -coronation, presented the canopies of silk and gold which they held and -still hold over the head of the king. - -In 1538 Henry VIII. issued a writ of summons against Thomas à Becket -accusing him of treason, contumacy and rebellion and had the document -read before the Martyr’s tomb. The suit was tried in Westminster, and -the long defunct Archbishop condemned. His bones were ordered to be -burnt and all his offerings handed over to the Crown. Becket’s body, -however, escaped burning and was re-buried. The Shrine was destroyed and -all the offerings of jewels and gold carried off. They filled twenty-six -carts. Becket was deprived of the name of Saint and his images destroyed -throughout the country. - -Returning now to the architectural history of the Cathedral, Prior -Chillenden (1378-1410) took down Lanfranc’s Nave and Transepts. About -1473 Prior Goldstone II. added the splendid Angel Tower that rises from -the centre of the roof, and upon which the figure of a golden angel -welcomed the pilgrims to Canterbury. - -In 1642, the Puritans battered the windows, hacked and hewed the altars -and monuments and committed ravages of all kinds under a ringleader, -Richard Culmer, known as “Blue Dick.” - -After the Restoration, £10,000 was devoted to repairs. At a later period -the Choir-stalls, said to be carved by Grinling Gibbons, were replaced. - -In 1834, the northwest (Arundel) tower had to be pulled down. It was -rebuilt on a different plan. - -Nothing of importance happened until 1872, when a fire broke out on the -roof of Trinity Chapel at half-past ten in the morning. Little damage -was done, however; but the Black Prince’s Tomb was in danger and the -relics above it were temporarily removed. - -Canterbury was four centuries in building. It, therefore, exhibits -specimens of nearly all the classes of Pointed Architecture. It is -chiefly, however, Transitional Norman and Perpendicular. - - “The existing cathedral, although of such various dates, covers, as - nearly as can be ascertained, the same ground as the original - building of Lanfranc, with the exception of the Nave, which is of - greater length westward, and of the Retro-Choir, or extreme eastern - portion, which is also longer.”--(R. J. K.) - -Passing the traditional site of the Chequers Inn, where Chaucer’s -Pilgrims were housed, we walk up Mercery Lane to =Christ Church Gate=, -built by Prior Goldstone in 1517. It is a fine example of late -Perpendicular and once contained a figure of Christ in the central -niche. - -This gate leads into the =Precincts= of the Cathedral. The close is -surrounded by the gardens of the Canons’ houses. We now look upon the -beautiful south side of the Cathedral. - - “In the immediate Precincts, a delightful picture is presented from - the Green Court, which was once the main outer court of the - monastery. Here are noble trees and beautifully kept turf, at once - in perfect harmony and agreeable contrast with the rugged walls of - the weather-beaten Cathedral: the quiet, soft colouring of the - ancient buildings and that look of cloistered seclusion only to be - found in the peaceful nooks of cathedral cities are seen here at - their very best. - - “The chief glory of the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral is the - central Angel, or Bell, Tower. This is one of the most perfect - structures that Gothic architecture inspired by the loftiest - purpose that ever stimulated the work of any art, has produced. It - was completed by Prior Selling, who held office in 1472, and has - been variously called the Bell Harry Tower from the mighty Dunstan - bell, weighing three tons and three hundredweight, and the Angel - Tower from the gilded figure of an angel poised on one of the - pinnacles, which has long ago disappeared. The tower itself is of - two stages, with two-light windows in each stage; the windows are - transomed in each face, and the lower tier is canopied; each angle - is rounded off with an octagonal turret; and the whole structure is - a marvellous example of architectural harmony and in every way a - work of transcendent beauty.”--(H. W.) - -The =South-west=, or =Chichele, Tower=, (formerly St. Dunstan’s Tower) was -completed by Prior Goldstone (1449-1468). It is now the Bell Tower. The -=Northern=, or Arundel, steeple was rebuilt by Austen in 1840 in place of -the old Norman Tower, which had become dangerous. - - “The western towers are built each of six stages: each of the two - upper tiers contains two two-light windows, while below there is a - large four-light window uniform with the windows of the aisles. The - base tier is ornamented with rich panelling. The parapet is - battlemented and the angles are finished with fine double - pinnacles. At the west end there is a large window of seven-light - transoms. The gable contains a window of very curious shape, filled - with intricate tracery. The space above the aisle windows is - ornamented with quatrefoiled squares, and the clerestory is pierced - by windows of three lights.”--(H. W.) - -Above the aisle windows are quatrefoiled squares. The clerestory, Choir -and Becket’s Crown contain lancet windows. In the main transept there is -a fine Perpendicular window of eight lights. - -The South side of the Cathedral is the one most generally admired. - - “On the south side is seen the porch; the nave (a beautiful - design); and the charming pinnacle of the south-west transept. East - of the Warrior’s Chapel is the projecting end of Stephen Langton’s - tomb. East of this, the two lower rows of windows are those of - Conrad’s Choir; the upper row that of William of Sens. The middle - windows in the south-east transept were the clerestory windows of - Conrad; the windows above them are those of William of Sens. The - three upper stages of the tower on the south of this transept are - late Norman work; one of the prettiest bits in Canterbury. Farther - east we have French design, pure and simple; here, for the first - time in English architecture, the flying-buttresses are openly - displayed; notice how flat and plain they are; it had not yet - occurred to architects to make them decorative. The grand sweep of - apse and ambulatory seems to send one straight back to France. Then - comes the broken rocky outline of the _corona_--the great puzzle of - Canterbury. North-east of the _corona_ are two groups of ruined - Norman pillars and arches discoloured by fire; once they were - continuous, forming one very long building, the Monk’s Infirmary, - of which the west end was originally an open dormitory, open to the - roof, and the east end, separated off by a screen, the Chapel; - which has a late Geometrical window. On the north side of Trinity - Chapel is seen the Chantry of Henry IV.; then St. Andrew’s Tower - and the barred Treasury; the lower part of the latter is late - Norman work, largely rebuilt.”--(F. B.) - -The =Porch= on the south side of Chichele Tower is the work of Prior -Chillenden. It has a central niche on which the _Martyrdom of Becket_ -was represented on a panel of the Fifteenth Century. The niches are -filled with statues. Through it we now pass into the Cathedral. - -The =Nave= (Perpendicular) resembles the bolder nave of Winchester, built -at the same period. The most striking feature is the manner in which the -Choir is raised above the level of the floor, owing to the fact that it -stands over the crypt. The - -[Illustration: CANTERBURY: SOUTH PORCH] - -[Illustration: CANTERBURY: NAVE, EAST] - -flight of steps placed between the Nave and the Choir adds to the -effect. - - “The nave, of eight bays, has no triforium. Each bay consists of a - huge arch resting on filleted pillars, and is subdivided into the - pier-arch, with the clerestory and panelling reaching to the - string-course above. It is paved with Portland stone. The vaulting - and vaulting-shafts are the prominent features of the nave, and the - pier-arches are quite subordinate; these shafts are banded, as at - Bath, like Early English. The main transept has no aisles.”--(W. J. - L.) - -Of the Nave windows none remain entire. The great =West Window= is made up -of fragments from the others. It contains the arms of Richard II. -impaling the Confessor’s; and those of Anne of Bohemia (north); and -Isabella of France (south). - -The beautifully carved =Screen= of solid stone, separating the Nave from -the Choir, was placed there in the Fifteenth Century. Of the six crowned -figures in the lower niches, the one holding the church is supposed to -be Ethelbert; and the one on the extreme right, Richard II. The figures -of Christ and the Twelve Apostles, which filled the thirteen mitred -niches around the arch, were destroyed by “Blue Dick” and his -companions. A staircase leads to the top of the Screen. - -Another Screen partly fills the space between the two western piers of -the central, or Angel, Tower. - - “The piers which support the central tower are probably the - original piers of Lanfranc’s erection, cased with Perpendicular - work by Prior Chillenden at the same time with the building of the - nave. To this Prior Goldstone II. (1495-1517) added the vaulting of - the tower, and all the portion above the roof, together with the - remarkable buttressing-arches supporting the piers below, which had - perhaps shown some signs of weakness. These arches have on them - the Prior’s rebus, a shield with three golden bars, or stones. The - central arch occupies the place of the ancient roodloft, and - probably the great rood was placed on it until the - Reformation.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =Choir= of five bays shows the earliest instance of the Pointed Arch -in England and groining on a large scale. The clerestory of the Choir is -filled with windows representing the genealogy of the Saviour. The -carvings on the stalls are said to be by Grinling Gibbons. - -In 1096, Prior Ernulf began a longer and wider Choir than originally -existed; and this was dedicated in 1114, before he left Canterbury to -become Bishop of Rochester. Prior Conrad, his successor, finished the -decoration of it and “the glorious Choir of Conrad,” as it was somewhat -unjustly called, was consecrated in 1130. In 1174 it was destroyed by -fire to the great distress of everybody. All that remains is a portion -of the pavement consisting of large slabs of “stone or veined marble of -a delicate brown colour,” between the two Transepts. - - “About four years after the murder on the 5th of September, 1174, a - fire broke out in the Cathedral which reduced the Choir--hitherto - its chief architectural glory--to ashes. The grief of the people is - described in terms which show how closely the expression of - Mediæval feeling resembled what can now only be seen in Italy or - the East--‘They tore their hair; they beat the walls and pavements - of the church with their shoulders and the palms of their hands; - they uttered tremendous curses against God and his saints--even to - the patron saint of the church; they wished they had rather have - died than seen such a day.’ How far more like the description of a - Neapolitan mob in disappointment at the slow liquefaction of the - blood of St. Januarius than of the citizens of a quiet cathedral - town in the county of Kent! The monks, though appalled by the - calamity for a time, soon recovered themselves; workmen and - architects, French and English, were procured; and among the - former, William, from the city of Sens, so familiar to all - Canterbury at that period as the scene of Becket’s exile. No - observant traveller can have seen the two Cathedrals without - remarking how closely the details of William’s workmanship at - Canterbury were suggested by his recollections of his own church at - Sens, built a short time before. The forms of the pillars, the - vaulting of the roof, even the very bars and patterns of the - windows are almost identical.... The French architect unfortunately - met with an accident which disabled him from continuing his - operations. After a vain struggle to superintend the works by being - carried round the church in a litter, he was compelled to surrender - the task to a namesake, an Englishman, and it is to him that we owe - the design of that part of the Cathedral which was destined to - receive the sacred Shrine.”--(A. P. S.) - - “On entering the choir, the visitor is immediately struck by the - singular bend with which the walls approach each other at the - eastern end. By this remarkable feature, together with the great - length of the Choir (180 feet; it is the longest in England) and - the lowness of the vaulting; the antique character of the - architecture enforced by the strongly contrasted Purbeck and Caen - stone, and the consequent fine effects of light and shadow. The - style is throughout Transition, having Norman and Early English - characteristics, curiously intermixed. The pillars with their - pier-arches, the clerestory wall above and the great vault up to - the Transepts, were entirely finished by William of Sens. The whole - work differed greatly from that of the former choir. The richly - foliated and varied capitals of the pillars, the great vault with - its ribs of stone, and the numerous slender shafts of marble in the - triforia, were all novelties exciting the great admiration of the - monks.”--(R. J. K.) - -William of Sens, however, retained the second or Eastern Transepts, -which had existed in the former church. - -Before the Reformation the Choir contained the high altar and the -altar-shrines of St. Alphege and St. Dunstan. No trace of the former -remains; but on the south wall of the Choir, between the monuments of -Archbishops Stratford and Sudbury, there is some diaper-work of open -lilies that adorned St. Dunstan’s altar. - -The =High Altar= is on a higher level than the floor of the choir. It is -approached by two flights of steps (one on either side) in the -Presbytery, about 25 feet higher than the floor of the Nave. The Altar -was placed over the new Crypt, which is a good deal higher than the -older, or western, Crypt. The =Reredos=, erected in 1870, was designed in -the style of the screen-work in the Lady-Chapel in the Crypt. The -crimson velvet altar-coverings, now in use, were presented by Queen -Mary, wife of William III., and the gold chalice by the Earl of Arundell -in 1636. The =Archbishop’s Throne=, a gift of Archbishop Howley (£1200), -was carved by Flemish workmen from designs by Austen. The stone-pulpit, -by Butterfield, was erected in 1846. The eagle used as a Litany desk is -dated 1663. - -The organ, built by Samuel Green, is believed to be the one used at the -Händel Festival in Westminster Abbey in 1784. It was remodelled in 1886. -Among the tombs and monuments of Archbishops and Cardinals are: Cardinal -Bourchier, who crowned Edward IV., Richard III. and Henry VII.; -Archbishop Howley, who crowned Queen Victoria; Stratford, Grand -Judiciary to Edward III.; Simon of Sudbury, whose head was cut off -during Wat Tyler’s rebellion; and Cardinal Kemp, who was present at -Agincourt. - -In the north aisle, in a coloured and gilt altar-tomb, lies Archbishop -Chichele (died 1443), according to Shakespeare, the instigator of the -war with France (see _Henry V._, Act I., Sc. I.). Here also lies Orlando -Gibbons, Charles I.’s organist. - -Of the six splendid =windows= in the north aisle of the Choir described by -the old authorities, only two remain. - - “They should not be overlooked by the visitor, as they are full of - curious symbolism. The birth of Christ and His early life are - depicted in the central panels and the types from the Old Testament - with them. Observe the Magi all asleep in one bed; Shem, Ham and - Japhet, dividing the earth, which one of them holds in his hands, - like a gorgeously painted map; and in the sixth panel of the first - window a very curious scene, in which we see depicted a bronze idol - or statue, similar, no doubt, to some the artist had seen as of - Roman work. Whoever he was who designed the work, he knew what was - classical art. The exaggerated muscular development which came in - again under Michael Angelo and his contemporaries in Italy, is seen - here quite plainly.”--(W. J. L.) - -The same fire that destroyed the Choir also damaged the Transepts. The -windows and arcades in them are more completely reconstructed than those -in the side aisles. One feature here is the double range of triforia, or -open galleries. The lower triforium belongs to Ernulf’s time: the -windows in the upper one were his clerestory. - -The pilgrims were usually conducted into the =North Transept=, or =Transept -of the Martyrdom= through the dark passage under the choir steps. In the -west wall here, a door opened into the cloister, through which Becket -passed to his tragic death. - -Directly opposite, on the other side of the Choir, the =Warriors’ Chapel= -is situated. - -The apse, approached by a broad flight of steps, is entirely occupied by -the =Chapel of the Holy Trinity=, which contained the =Martyr’s Shrine=. The -work here shows the influence of the French. From the =Transept of the -Martyrdom= the pilgrims were conducted through the North Aisle of the -Choir on their way to the great Shrine; and, at the end of the aisle, -close to the steps ascending to the =Retro-Choir=, we find the door of =St. -Andrew’s Tower=. This is part of Lanfranc’s building and now used as a -vestry; but it was once the sacristy, where the rich offerings and -precious relics connected with Becket were exhibited to privileged -pilgrims. - -The =Retro-Choir= is reached by steep flights of steps necessitated by the -height of the Crypt below. Up these steps the pilgrims climbed on their -knees, chanting the hymn to St. Thomas: - - “Tu per Thomæ sanguinem - Quem pro te impendit, - Fac nos Christo scandere - Quo Thomas ascendit.” - -All this part of the Cathedral is the work of English William, which is -lighter, in general character, than that of William of Sens. - -The =Chapel of the Holy Trinity= (or that of =St. Thomas=) occupies the -central portion of the Retro-Choir between the piers formed by double -columns. In the old Chapel of the Trinity (destroyed by fire at the same -time as Conrad’s Choir) Becket celebrated his first Mass as Archbishop. -His body lay in the Crypt immediately below this spot. - - “In earlier times the easternmost chapel had contained an altar of - the Holy Trinity, where Becket had been accustomed to say mass. - Partly for the sake of preserving the two old Norman towers of St. - Anselm and St. Andrew, which stood on the north and south side of - this part of the church--but chiefly for the sake of fitly uniting - to the church this eastern chapel on an enlarged scale, the pillars - of the choir were contracted with that singular curve which - attracts the eye of every spectator, as Gervase foretold that it - would, when, in order to explain this peculiarity, he stated the - two aforesaid reasons. The eastern end of the Cathedral, thus - enlarged, formed, as at Ely, a more spacious receptacle for the - honoured remains; the new Trinity Chapel, reaching considerably - beyond the extreme limit of its predecessor, and opening beyond - into a yet further chapel, popularly called Becket’s Crown. The - windows were duly filled with the richest painted glass of the - period, and amongst those on the northern side may still be traced - elaborate representations of the miracles wrought at the - subterranean tomb, or by visions and intercessions of the mighty - Saint. High in the tower of St. Anselm, on the south side of the - destined site of so great a treasure, was prepared--a usual - accompaniment of costly shrines--the Watching Chamber. It is a rude - apartment with a fireplace where the watcher could warm himself - during the long winter nights, and a narrow gallery between the - pillars, whence he could overlook the whole platform of the shrine, - and at once detect any sacrilegious robber who was attracted by the - immense treasures there collected. On the occasion of fires the - Shrine was additionally guarded by a troop of fierce ban-dogs. - - “When the Cathedral was thus duly prepared, the time came for what, - in the language of those days, was termed the ‘Translation’ of the - relics.”--(A. P. S.) - -Becket’s body was removed here on July 7, 1220 (See page 4), and -remained the only occupant of this chapel for more than a hundred -years. - -It only proves in what deep affection the English nation held the Black -Prince to have placed his remains by the side of Becket. His body lay in -state in Westminster from June 8, 1376, to September 29; and on the -Feast of Michaelmas it was taken to Canterbury, which he had selected -for his resting-place. The procession from London to Canterbury was -magnificent; and the idol of the nation was laid not in the Crypt, as he -had expected, but in Trinity Chapel. - - “In this sacred spot--believed at that time to be the most sacred - spot in England--the tomb stood in which ‘alone in his glory,’ the - Prince was to be deposited, to be seen and admired by all the - countless pilgrims who crawled up the stone steps beneath it on - their way to the shrine of the saint. - - “Let us turn to that tomb, and see how it sums up his whole life. - Its bright colours have long since faded, but enough still remains - to show us what it was as it stood after the sacred remains of him - had been placed within it. There he lies; no other memorial of him - exists in the world so authentic. There he lies, as he had - directed, in full armour, his head resting on his helmet, his feet - with the likeness of ‘the spurs he won’ at Cressy, his hands joined - as in that last prayer which he had offered up on his deathbed. - There you can see his fine face with the Plantagenet features, the - flat cheeks and the well-chiselled nose, to be traced perhaps in - the effigy of his father in Westminster Abbey, and his grandfather - in Gloucester Cathedral. On his armour you can still see the marks - of the bright gilding with which the figure was covered from head - to foot, so as to make it look like an image of pure gold. High - above are suspended the brazen gauntlets, the helmet, with what was - once its gilded leopard-crest, and the wooden shield, the velvet - coat also, embroidered with the arms of France and England, now - tattered and colourless, but then blazing with blue and scarlet. - There, too, still hangs the empty scabbard of the sword, wielded - perhaps at his three great battles, and which Oliver Cromwell, it - is said, carried away. On the canopy, over the tomb, there is the - faded representation--painted after the strange fashion of those - times--of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, according to the - peculiar devotion which he had entertained. In the pillars you can - see the hooks to which was fastened the black tapestry, with its - crimson border and curious embroidery, which he directed in his - will should be hung round his tomb and the shrine of Becket. Round - about the tomb, too, you will see the ostrich feathers, which, - according to the old, but doubtful tradition, we are told he won at - Cressy from the blind King of Bohemia, who perished in the thick of - the fight; and interwoven with them the famous motto, with which he - used to sign his name, ‘Houmout,’ ‘Ich diene.’ If, as seems most - likely, they are German words, they exactly express what we have - seen so often in his life, the union of _Hoch muth_ that is _high - spirit_, with _Ich dien_, _I serve_. They bring before us the very - scene itself after the battle of Poitiers, where, after having - vanquished the whole French nation, he stood behind the captive - king, and served him like an attendant. - - “And, lastly, carved about the tomb, is the long inscription, - selected by himself before his death, in Norman French, and still - the language of the court, written, as he begged, clearly and - plainly, that all might read it. Its purport is to contrast his - former splendour and vigour and beauty with the wasted body which - is now all that is left.”--(A. P. S.) - -The Black Prince’s effigy of brass was once entirely gilt. Round the -tomb are escutcheons of arms, and on the canopy there is a -representation of the Holy Trinity with emblems of the Evangelists at -the corners. - -At the foot of the Black Prince’s Tomb is the monument of =Archbishop -Courtenay= (1381-1396), the great opponent of the Wycliffites; and -directly opposite is the =Tomb of Henry IV.= and his Queen, =Joan of -Navarre=, whose effigies lie under a most elaborate and beautiful -canopy. - - “In spite of some damage they remain the most interesting - representations, not only of the costume of the time, but also, we - cannot doubt, of the actual features of the persons. When the tomb - was opened some time ago the features of the king were seen for a - moment and corresponded closely with the representation on the - tomb. The figures at the foot of the Queen, known in heraldry as - genets, and to the ordinary person perhaps as weasels, appear also - in the canopy combined with eagles and the motto ‘Soverayne and - Atemperance.’ The defaced painting on wood at the foot of the tomb - represented the Martyrdom of St. Thomas.”--(F. and R.) - -Adjoining this tomb is the =Chapel of Henry IV.’s Chantry=, built, as -directed in the will of King Henry, who died in 1413, “a chauntrie -perpetual with twey prestis for to sing and pray for my soul.” It -contains the first example in Canterbury of the “fan-vaulting,” so -splendidly represented in the =Dean’s Chapel=. - -The windows here and in the Corona should be studied. - - “They are of the Thirteenth Century, and among the finest of this - date in Europe, excelling in many respects those of Bourges, Troyes - and Chartres; ‘for excellence of drawing, harmony of colouring and - purity of design they are justly considered unequalled. The skill - with which the minute figures are represented, cannot even at this - day be surpassed’ (Stanley). Remark especially the great value - given to the brilliant colours by the profusion of white and - neutral tints. The scrolls and borders surrounding the medallions - are also of beauty. - - “The three windows remaining in the aisles surrounding the Trinity - Chapel are entirely devoted, as were all the rest, to the miracles - of Becket, which commenced immediately on the death of the great - martyr. The miracles represented in the medallions are of various - characters. The Lucerna Angliæ, a true St. Thomas of Kandelberg, as - the Germans called him, restores sight to the blind. Loss of smell - is recovered at the shrine of this _Arbor Aromatica_. Frequently - he assists sailors, the rude crews of the Cinque Ports in his own - immediate neighbourhood. At the Norway fishing his figure came - gliding over the seas in the dusk, and descended, burning like - fire, to the imperilled ships of the Crusaders. In the window - toward the east, on the north of the Shrine, is represented a - remarkable series of miracles, occurring in the household of a - knight named Jordan, son of Eisulf, whose son is restored to life - by the water from St. Thomas’s well, which, mixed with his blood, - was always carried off by the pilgrims. The father vows an offering - to the martyr before Mid-Lent. This is neglected; the whole - household again suffer, and the son dies once more. The knight and - his wife, both sick, drag themselves to Canterbury, perform their - vow and the son is finally restored. On a medallion in one of the - windows on the north side is a representation of Becket’s Shrine, - with the martyr issuing from it in full pontificals to say Mass at - the altar.”--(R. J. K.) - -At the extreme east end, just behind Trinity Chapel, is the circular -apse called =Becket’s Crown=, or the =Corona=. On the north side lies -Cardinal Pole, Bloody Mary’s cousin, who died the day after she did. - - “The great lightness and beauty of the Corona, the extreme east end - of the Cathedral, are remarkable. It is English William’s work. - When Archbishop Anselm was at Rome in the early part of his - episcopate and attending a council in the Lateran, a question arose - as to his proper place, since no Archbishop of Canterbury had as - yet been present at a Roman council. Pope Pascal II. decided it by - assigning to the ‘_alterius orbis papa_,’ a seat in the ‘corona,’ - the most honourable position. It is possible that this fact may - have led the architects, on the rebuilding of the choir, to make - the addition of an eastern apse, or corona, which did not exist in - the earlier church. In it were the shrines of Archbishop Odo and - Wilfrid of York, and a golden reliquary in the form of a head, - containing some relic of Becket, perhaps the severed scalp. By a - confusion of its proper name with this relic the eastern apse came - to be generally known as Becket’s Crown. On the north side is the - tomb of Cardinal Pole, Queen Mary’s Archbishop (1556-1558) and the - last Archbishop buried at Canterbury. His royal blood gave him a - title to so distinguished a place of sepulture.”--(R. J. K.) - -From here one gains the best view of the Cathedral as a whole. -Canterbury is one of the longest of cathedrals (514 feet). - -The central window (Thirteenth Century) in =Becket’s Crown= is very -ornate. - - “It is very complete and an admirable example of the intricate - symbolism of the time. The subjects are arranged in three - quatrefoils and two lozenges: the Crucifixion occupying a square - panel at the foot, surrounded by representations of the spies - carrying the great bunch of grapes; of Moses striking the rock; of - the sacrifice of a lamb in the Temple, and of Abraham offering up - Isaac on Mount Moriah. Next above is a lozenge-shaped panel, - painted with the Entombment, adjoining which we have Joseph’s - brethren putting him in the pit; Samson shorn in his sleep by - Delilah; Daniel in a walled city, labelled Babilonia, and Jonah let - down into the jaws of the whale by two men in a ship. Above these - scenes is a quatrefoil, in the centre of which we see the - Resurrection, surrounded by representations of Moses and the - burning bush; Noah in the Ark; Rahab letting the spies down by the - wall, and Jonah landing near Nineveh from the mouth of a great - whale. Then another lozenge represents the Ascension and the scenes - surrounding it are the Ark of the Mercy-Seat; Elijah ascending in a - chariot of fire; the burial of Moses, and Hezekiah sick, while an - angel gives him the sign of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz. The - last of the series is at the top. In a square panel we see the - great event of the Day of Pentecost. Above it Christ sits enthroned - in glory. Moses receiving the Two Tables of the Law is below. On - one side is the first ordination of deacons, and on the other the - descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. The whole style of - this window is later than that of the Becket series.”--(W. J. L.) - -[Illustration: CANTERBURY: CHOIR, EAST] - -[Illustration: ROCHESTER: WEST FRONT] - -Passing west, down the steps worn by the pious pilgrims we reach =St. -Anselm’s Tower= and =Chapel=. Anselm’s Tower (like St. Andrew’s opposite) -is Prior Ernulf’s work. The elaborate south window (1336) is Decorated -of five lights. - -St. Anselm’s Tower is entered through splendid gates of ancient wrought -iron. - -At the east end behind the Altar of SS. Peter and Paul, the great Anselm -(1093-1109) was buried. Over the chapel is a small room with a window -looking into the Cathedral. This was the =Watching Chamber=, in which, as -we have seen, a monk was stationed at night to keep watch over the -Shrine of St. Thomas. There is a tradition that King John of France was -imprisoned here. - -We now reach the =South-east Transept=, the work of both William of Sens -and English William on Ernulf’s walls. - -At the corner of the =South-west choir-aisle= architects love to notice -the round arch and double zigzag of the Norman style fitted into the -Pointed Arch and dogtooth of the restoration of 1180. Under the windows -are the tomb of =Archbishop Reynolds= and the monument to =Hubert Walter=, -the latter the warrior-prelate and Crusader who kept the Realm for -Richard Cœur de Lion and raised the ransom for his release. - -The steps leading down into the great =South Transept= are similar to -those of the opposite Transept of the Martyrdom. - -Opening east from this Transept is =St. Michael’s=, or =The Warriors’ -Chapel=, so named because of the martial monuments and tombs contained in -it. - -The famous East Kent Regiment “The Buffs” place their memorials here. -This Chapel is particularly notable for containing the tomb of =Stephen -Langton=, the author of the Magna Charta, which is of earlier date than -the chapel. A very beautiful alabaster monument of =Lady Margaret Holland= -with her two husbands, John Beaufort, son of John of Gaunt, and the Duke -of Clarence, son of Henry IV., beautifully represents the armour and -dress of the Fifteenth Century. - -The Warriors’ Chapel is Perpendicular (about 1370), with a complex -lierne vault. The architect is unknown. - -Directly opposite, on the other side of the Choir, is the =Transept of -the Martyrdom=. Here was erected a wooden altar to the Virgin, where a -portion of the Martyr’s brains were exhibited under a piece of -rock-crystal and fragments of Le Bret’s sword. - -Before this altar Edward I. was married to Queen Margaret in 1299. A -rude representation of the altar may be seen over the south-west door of -the Cathedral. - -Returning to the =North-west Transept=, we visit the scene of the -Martyrdom which took place near St. Benedict’s apsidal chapel (now -occupied by the Dean’s Chapel) Dec. 29, 1170, during vespers. The west -door from the cloisters by which Becket entered and the pavement by the -wall, where he fell, remain. He was mounting the stairs to the north -aisle (now removed) when the knights attacked him. - -We have already noticed the great =Window= here, which was the gift, in -1465, of Edward IV. and his Queen, whose - “figures still remain in it, together with those of his daughters - and of the two Princes murdered in the Tower. The ‘remarkably soft - and silvery appearance’ of this window has been noticed by Mr. - Winston. In its original state the Virgin was pictured in it ‘in - seven several glorious appearances’ and in the centre was Becket - himself at full length, robed and mitred. This part was demolished - in 1642 by Richard Culmer, called Blue Dick, the great iconoclast - of Canterbury, who ‘rattled down proud Becket’s glassie bones’ with - a pike, and who, when thus engaged, narrowly escaped martyrdom - himself at the hands of a malignant fellow-townsman.”--(R. J. K.) - -In this transept stands the monument of =Archbishop Peckham= (1279-1292) -with his effigy in Irish oak. This is the earliest complete monument in -the Cathedral. - -We now pass into the =Dean’s Chapel=, occupying the site of St. Benedict’s -Chapel. It was formerly the Lady-Chapel, built by Prior Goldstone in -1460 and dedicated to the Virgin. The beautiful fan-vault is similar to -that in Henry VII.’s Chapel in Westminster Abbey and to the roof of the -staircase leading to the dining-hall of Christ Church College, Oxford. -The Dean’s Chapel received its present name from the number of tombs and -monuments to deans here, one of the most curious of which is that of -=Dean Boys=, who died in 1625. He is represented as he was found dead in -his Library, and the arrangement of the books with the edges turned -outward from the shelves strikes every one as singular. - -=Archbishop Warham=, the last Archbishop before the Reformation, also lies -here, his heavy tomb in great contrast to that of Archbishop Peckham, -already mentioned, near it,--good examples of the styles between 1292 -and 1533. - -The =East Window= is also notable. - - “The figures of Dean Neville and his brother, against the eastern - wall, were transferred to this place on the destruction of the - chapel which formerly projected from the south side of the nave, - and of which the marks in the wall are clearly visible. In the east - window some points may be noted. We see the Neville arms, and a red - shield with white saltire, and also the elaborate Bouchier arms, - the most distinguishable features of which are the water ‘budgets,’ - two curious red skins joined together at the top, sometimes given - as an honourable blazon to those who supplied an army with water. - We also see the Bouchier knot alternating in most of the panes with - the oak leaf and acorn. This is the mark of Woodstock.”--(F. and - R.) - -A door here leads into the Great Cloister. - -Opposite to St. Anselm’s, =St. Andrew’s Chapel=, now used as the Choir -Vestry, contains interesting remains of coloured decorations. In olden -days St. Andrew’s was a sacristy, where, as we have seen, were kept the -very precious offerings to the Shrine. On the inner side is a building -of late Norman work--this was originally the Treasury. - -The =North-east Transept= is a repetition of the South-east Transept. It, -however, contains a monument to Archbishop Tait, designed by Boehm; and -in the north wall are three slits called hagiscopes. Through these “holy -spy holes,” the Prior could see Mass being celebrated at the High Altar -and in the altars in the Chapels of St. Martin and St. Stephen in the -Transept below. - -Before descending into the Crypt we must stop to look at =St. Augustine’s -Chair=, by tradition the throne on which the kings of Kent were crowned -and given by Ethelbert to St. Augustine. All the Archbishops of -Canterbury have taken office in it. - - “This chair, which is sometimes called the chair of St. Augustine, - but which belongs to the Thirteenth Century, is composed of Purbeck - marble. In it each successive archbishop for the last six hundred - years has sat when he has been admitted to his metropolitan - functions.”--(W. H. F.) - -The famous =Crypt= is usually entered from the South Transept. It is the -oldest part of the Church, having been built between 1093 and 1107 in -the reigns of William II. and Henry I. It is heavy, massive, dark and -low, like all Norman work. The capitals of the pillars are quaintly and -sometimes harmoniously carved; one under St. Anselm’s Chapel, for -instance, represents a concert of beasts playing on musical instruments. -The whole crypt was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and in the centre -stood her altar and chapel. “The Virgin Mother,” Erasmus wrote, “has -there an habitation, but somewhat dark, enclosed with a double iron -rail, for fear of thieves; for indeed I never saw anything more loaded -with riches. Lights being brought we saw a more than royal spectacle. -This chapel is not shown but to noblemen and particular friends.” - -The beautiful =Screen=, which resembles the screen behind the High Altar -of the choir, is thought to have been added with other decorations of -the Crypt at the time of the Black Prince’s marriage to the Fair Maid of -Kent (1363), when he founded two chantries in the Crypt. These now form -the entrance to the =French Church=, where the descendants of the Huguenot -and Walloon refugees still hold service in the ritual of their -ancestors. - -Queen Elizabeth gave up the whole of the Crypt in 1561 to the Flemish -and French refugees “whom the rod of Alva bruised.” The silk-weavers -set up their looms here. - -Before the magnificent shrine of the Virgin lies Henry VII.’s minister, -=Cardinal Morton=, whose tomb is enriched with the crown and roses of York -and Lancaster, the Cardinal’s hat, the Tudor portcullis and a passing -allusion to his name--Mort (hawk) and Ton or Tun (a barrel). He assisted -in building Bell Harry (or the Angel) Tower. - -Another famous tomb in the Crypt is that of =Isabel, Countess of Atholl=, -granddaughter of King John and sister-in-law of John Balliol, King of -Scotland. She owned the castle of Chilham near Canterbury and died in -1292. Her tomb stands at the entrance to the =Chapel of St. Gabriel=. The -latter is extremely dark, but shows, when lighted up, some remarkable -frescoes of the Twelfth Century, representing the _Nativity of Christ_ -and of _John the Baptist_. - - “Further beyond the Duchess of Atholl’s tomb the crypt is much - loftier and becomes almost a church in itself. This is the part - beyond the apse of the original Cathedral, the place of Becket’s - first burial, where Henry II. did penance, passing the night in - fasting and in the morning baring his back and receiving three - lashes from each of the monks. Here the miracles began to be - wrought and the Tumba, even after its contents were removed, was - still reckoned a holy place. The present lofty crypt was built over - and round the Tumba after the great fire of 1174; and, some forty - years after its completion and that of the Trinity Chapel above it, - the remains of Becket were translated by Stephen Langton, with - great pomp, to the shrine prepared for them in the sanctuary - above.”--(W. H. F.) - -The Crypt is largely the work of Ernulf; and the diaper pattern and -marble shaft by the door that leads from the S. E. corner of the -Martyrdom, occur again in Rochester, where Ernulf became bishop (See -page 34). A statue of Ernulf, intended for the west front of the -Cathedral, is now in his Crypt. - -The lower part of the Crypt ends towards the east in a semi-circular -sweep of pillars. The end of the Crypt was built by Ernulf in 1096. - -The old Benedictine Convent of Christ’s Church that St. Augustine -established grew to be of the utmost importance. Portions of the massive -wall by which they were surrounded still remain. The monastic buildings -were numerous and extensive. The Prior, who had the right of wearing the -mitre and carrying the episcopal staff, lived in great dignity. In a set -of state chambers, known as the Meist’ Omers and belonging to the Prior, -pilgrims of high rank were lodged. Somewhere in the vicinity of the -Infirmary and its chapel was the miraculous =Well of St. Thomas=, which -appeared in the Fourteenth Century. A passage and the =Dark Entry=, -haunted by the ghost of Nell Cook of the _Ingoldsby Legends_, takes us -into the =Priors’=, or =Green Court=, planted with linden trees, or limes, -as the English call them. Here we find remains of the great Dormitory, -the Guest House, built by Prior Goldstone, the Norman Almonry Gate and -the =Norman Staircase=, the only construction of its kind existing. The -Hall above was built in 1855. - -The beautiful =Cloisters=, the work of Prior Chillenden (about 1400), are -decorated on the roof with the arms of Kentish families. In the -northwest corner is the doorway through which Becket passed to his -doom. - - “The cloister occupies the same space as the Norman cloister built - by Lanfranc, but of the Norman work only a doorway remains at the - north-east corner; there is some Early English arcading on the - north side, but the present tracery and fan-worked roof belong to - the end of the Fourteenth Century, when Archbishops Sudbury, - Arundell and Courtenay, and Prior Chillenden (1390-1411) rebuilt - the nave, the cloister and the chapter-house. The latter work cuts - across the older in the most unceremonious way, as is seen - especially in the square doorway by which we shall presently enter - the Martyrdom, which cuts into a far more beautiful portal of the - Decorated period. If we take our stand at the north-west corner of - the cloister, from which a very fine view is gained of the - Cathedral, especially about sunset, we may picture to ourselves the - life of the monks. Above the north-eastern side of the cloister are - the old Norman arches of their dormitory, now taken in to the new - library; on the eastern side is the chapter-house, with its fine - geometrical ceiling, where they transacted their business; on the - south the great church, the services of which occupied so many - hours of the day.”--(W. H. F.) - - - - -ROCHESTER - - DEDICATION: ST. ANDREW. FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE - MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: DOOR OF CHAPTER-HOUSE; WEST DOORWAY; CRYPT. - - -After landing in 567, St. Augustine preached in Rochester, where -Ethelbert soon founded the church of St. Andrew for secular canons. In -604, a bishop was appointed,--St. Augustine’s companion, Justus. Justus -became Archbishop of Canterbury in 624, and was succeeded in Rochester -by Paulinus; and he, in his turn, by the first English bishop, St. -Ythamar (644-655). Rochester’s three chief saints in early days were, -therefore, Justus, Paulinus and Ythamar. - -Gundulf, a monk of Bec in Normandy, was appointed to Rochester in 1076. -He immediately turned it into a Benedictine monastery and built a church -for his monks. Gundulf was one of the greatest architects of his day: he -also built the great Keep of Rochester Castle, portions of the Tower of -London and the Castle of Dover. The Saxon Cathedral had suffered from -the ravages of the Danes and upon the ruins, Gundulf, with assistance -from Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, completed a larger cathedral -between 1080 and 1089. The plan was peculiar: it was neither English nor -Norman. - - “All this work of Gundulf’s is now gone except portions of the - crypt, the keep and the nave. Of Gundulf’s nave there remain on the - south side five arches, together with the lower parts of the walls - of both aisles. It is very doubtful whether he built any part of - the triforium or clerestory. At present his work can only be seen - in its original condition from the side of the aisles. The - pierarches had originally two square orders, which remain unaltered - on the side of the aisle (cf. Winchester transept). Gundulf’s - masonry was in rough tufa.”--(F. B.) - -Gundulf placed the relics of St. Paulinus in a silver shrine at the -eastern end of his new cathedral. - -Ernulf, Prior of Canterbury, began the second Norman church about 1120. -This was continued by his successor, John of Canterbury. - - “Subsequently the choir was re-arranged and the nave partly - rebuilt, partly re-faced, added to, and finished with the west - front, which, to a great extent, still remains. This later Norman - work was carried out from east to west during the episcopate of - Ernulf (1115-24) and John of Canterbury (1125-37). The upper part - of the west front and some of the carving may not have been - completed within even that period. What seems certain is, that we - are indebted to later Norman builders for the re-casing of the - piers of the nave arcade, the greater richness of their capitals, - the outer decorated order of the arches, the triforium with its - richly diapered tympana, and the west front. Assigning most of - these works to the time of Bishop John, as seems best, we can point - to others that testify to Ernulf’s architectural skill. He is - recorded to have built the refectory, dormitory and chapter-house. - Portions of these still remain, and one feature, in the - ornamentation of the chapter-house, especially, marks it as his - work. This is a peculiar lattice-like diaper, which occurs - elsewhere at Rochester--in fragments that belonged probably to a - beginning by him of the renovation of the choir--but has only been - noticed at one other place: by the entrance to the crypt at - Canterbury, where also it is due to him.”--(G. H. P.) - -The Cathedral was dedicated in 1130; but while King Henry I., the -Archbishop of Canterbury and many of the nobility were still in the -city a fire broke out “without any regard to the majesty of the King, -grandeur of the church or solemnity of the occasion,” as an old -chronicle quaintly observes, and greatly damaged the new church. - -Two other fires occurred in the same century, and in 1179 the monks set -to work to rebuild the whole cathedral. - - “As usual they arranged their building operations so as to avoid - interfering with the services in the choir as long as possible. - First they rebuilt the north aisle of the choir, but not so high as - it is at present. The aisle remained narrow because Gundulf’s tower - was in the way. But the south aisle of the choir they doubled in - width. Next they set to work at the east end, planning it, as at - Hereford, as an eastern transept with an eastern aisle and - projecting eastward an oblong sanctuary (cf. Southwell). The new - transept was lofty and broad; and it is quite possible that it was - built over the top of Gundulf’s east end without disturbing daily - services within it. Then when all was finished Gundulf’s east end - was pulled down. Unlike the Worcester monks they preserved the - level of the Eleventh Century choir, and consequently had to - continue Gundulf’s crypt eastward. In the new presbytery is seen - the same curious mixture of quadripartite and sexpartite vaulting - as in St. Hugh’s eastern transept at Lincoln. All this work was - finished in 1227.”--(G. H. P.) - -The monks were enabled to undertake rebuilding on this large scale -because in 1201 they acquired a new saint. A baker of Perth, named -William, famed for his piety, started to the Holy Land. He got as far as -the road to Canterbury, where his servant killed him for his money. The -monks found the body and buried it in the choir of St. Andrew’s. St. -William soon began to work miracles and attracted many of the pilgrims -on their way to the Shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury. The choir, -rebuilt by means of the offerings, was first used for service in 1227. - - “The choir and transepts of Rochester Cathedral are a very - beautiful and remarkable example of Early English. The architect - was William de Hoo, first sacristan, then prior, and there is some - reason to believe that he is the same person as William the young - Englishman, who assisted William of Sens after his fall from the - scaffold at Canterbury, and completed the work there. A young man - at Canterbury in 1185, able to carry on and complete such a work, - may very well have become the architect on his own account of the - daughter church of Rochester in 1201-1227, and there is great - resemblance in style between Rochester and the later work at - Canterbury.”--(J. H. P.) - -About this time the monks resolved to have a central tower and to -rebuild the nave. While all this work was going on, the church was -desecrated by the troops of Simon de Montfort. A chronicler relates that - - “They entered the church of St. Andrew on the day on which the Lord - hung on the cross for sinners. Armed knights on their horses, - coursing around the altars, dragged away with impious hands some - who fled for refuge thither, the gold and silver and other precious - things being with violence carried off thence. The buildings were - turned into horses’ stables, and everywhere filled with the dung of - animals and the defilement of dead bodies.” - -In 1343 the central tower was completed by Bishop Hamo de Hythe, who -hung in its wooden spire four bells, named Dunstan, Paulinus, Ythamar -and Lanfranc. Bishop Hamo is said to have reconstructed in alabaster and -marble the shrines of Paulinus and Ythamar. To the middle of the -Fourteenth Century belongs also the beautiful doorway leading into the -Chapter-House and Library. - -In the Fifteenth Century, the clerestory and vaulting of the -north-choir-aisle were finished and Perpendicular windows were placed in -the nave aisles. The great west window was inserted about 1470, and the -whole of the Norman clerestory was taken off and a new clerestory and a -new wooden roof were put up. The northern pinnacle of the west gable was -also rebuilt. About 1490, the Lady-Chapel was erected in the corner -between the south transept and the nave. - -In 1540 the Cathedral surrendered to the King; and became known as the -Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1558 the body -of Cardinal Pole rested here one night on its way to Canterbury. An -eyewitness speaks of - - “the funeral pompe which trulie was great and answerable both to - his birth and calling, with store of burning torches and mourning - weedes. At what time his coffin, being brought into the church, was - covered with a cloth of black velvet, with a great cross of white - satten over all the length and bredth of the same, in the midst of - which cross his Cardinal’s hat was placed.” - -The church suffered from the Puritans in 1642. - -Samuel Pepys speaks of repairs in 1661. More were made in 1742-43. In -1749, the steeple was rebuilt. A new organ was acquired in 1791; and at -the close of the Eighteenth Century the upper part of Gundulf’s tower -was taken down. - -Throughout the Nineteenth Century repairs and restorations were -constantly made. The glass chiefly consists of memorials to heroes of -the wars of the Nineteenth Century. - -The best approach is from the High Street through the =College Gate=, -which marks the entrance to the Precincts, or Green Church Haw. This is -also known as Chertseys, or Cemetery Gate, which lovers of Dickens -remember as Jasper’s Gateway; for Cloisterham of _Edwin Drood_ is -Rochester. The =Deanery Gate= dating from the reign of Edward III. was -formerly the Sacristy Gate. The =Priors’ Gate= dates from the Fourteenth -Century. - -The north side of the nave shows two-lighted Perpendicular windows with -irregular quatrefoils in their heads; the north transept (Early English) -a high gable with three circular windows and pinnacles. And on the north -side of the choir =Gundulf’s Tower= to which there are two entrances,--one -through an opening in the north wall, the other through a doorway in the -south-west corner. In the angle between the south aisle and transept we -note the Lady-Chapel (Perpendicular) with three-lighted windows three -bays long from east to west and well-buttressed; the south side of the -choir contains three lancet windows and a fine doorway that used to open -into the cloisters. The south transept (Early Decorated) is well -buttressed and its gable adorned with pinnacles and gargoyles. The -lowest row of windows belongs to the crypt. - -=The West Front= has been restored. The great central window, and the flat -gable above, are Perpendicular (restored), but all the rest is either -original Norman work, or as accurate a reproduction of this as possible. - -The great =West Doorway= (late Norman) dates from the first half of the -Twelfth Century. - - “It is formed by five receding arches and every stone of each of - these is carved with varying ornamental designs. Between the second - and third of them runs a line of cable moulding, an ornament which - occurs also inside the door. Each arch has its own shaft and the - groups of five on each side are elaborately banded. The shafts have - richly sculptured capitals, and in those on the south side, as well - as in the tympanum, the signs of the Evangelists appear. The shafts - second from the door on either side are carved with statues, two of - the oldest in England. These are much mutilated, but they were - thought worthy of great praise by Flaxman. That on the spectator’s - left is said to represent King Henry I. and the other his wife, the - ‘good Queen Maud.’ This attribution is probably correct, as these - sovereigns were both great benefactors to the Cathedral and were - living when the front was being built. The figure of the Queen has - suffered the more; it is recorded to have been especially ill-used - by the Parliamentarians in the days of the great Civil War. The - tympanum contains a figure of Our Lord, seated in Glory, within an - aureole supported by two angels. His right hand is raised in - benediction and his left hand holds a book. Outside the aureole are - the symbols of the four Evangelists: the Angel of St. Matthew and - the Eagle of St. John, one on each side above the Winged Lion of - St. Mark and the Ox of St. Luke similarly placed below. A straight - band of masonry crosses beneath the lunette, and has carved on it - twelve figures, now much mutilated, but supposed to have - represented the twelve Apostles. All the sculptured work of the - portal has suffered greatly from age and exposure and from the hand - of man. In the recent restoration the coping has been renewed, the - shafts have been given separate bases once more and many of the - most worn stones have been replaced by new ones carved in - facsimile.”--(G. H. P.) - -This doorway resembles those on the Continent and shows the influence of -the East. Freeman says: “The superb western portal at Rochester -Cathedral is by far the finest example of this kind, if not the finest -of all Norman doorways.” - -The Mayor and Corporation of Rochester still have the right of entry in -their robes by this door, through which we now pass. Immediately we -descend four steps into the =Nave=: - - “The nave, 150 feet long to the cross of the lantern, is Norman, as - far as the last two bays eastward. If, as is most probable, it is a - part of Gundulf’s work, it was, no doubt, a copy of the Norman nave - at Canterbury; and we are thus enabled to judge fairly what the - appearance of the metropolitan cathedral was in this part of it. - Its architecture is plainer than that of the contemporary examples - in France, though owing to its having been always destined for a - wooden roof, the piers and the design generally are lighter than - where preparation was made for a stone vault. The triforium is - richly ornamented; and the arches open to the space above the - side-aisles as well as to the nave, a peculiarity which both - Rochester and Canterbury may have received from the church of St. - Stephen’s at Caen, where the same arrangement may still be seen. - Lanfranc, the builder of the Norman church at Canterbury, had been - Abbot of St. Stephen’s. The clerestory windows above, like those of - the aisles, are Perpendicular; and the roof seems to have been - raised at the time of their insertion. This is of timber and quite - plain. - - “In passing beyond the Norman portion of the nave to the Early - English, of which nearly all the rest of the Cathedral consists, - the strong influence of Canterbury is at once apparent. The double - transepts, the numberless shafts of Petworth marble, and perhaps - the flights of stairs ascending from either side of the crypt, - recall immediately the works of the two Williams in the - metropolitan church, which always maintained the closest connection - with Rochester, her earliest daughter.”--(R. J. K.) - -At the end of the northern aisle we note the early Fourteenth Century -doorway for the use of the parishioners of St. Nicholas’s altar. The -lower end of the southern aisle terminates in a blind arcade of three -arches. Each aisle end has also a round-headed Norman window. The great -=West Window= is divided into eight lights separated into - -[Illustration: ROCHESTER: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: ROCHESTER: CHOIR, WEST] - -two rows by a horizontal mullion. The glass commemorates the officers -and men of the Royal Engineers who fell in the South African and Afghan -campaigns. The subjects are Biblical scenes and heroes. - -In the south-west corner of the Nave, a charming little Norman doorway -opens into the tower. A fine embattled moulding runs round the arch. - -The crossing is noticeable for the finely clustered shafts of the -tower-piers. - -The =North Transept= (Early English) dates from about 1235. The =South -Transept= (Early Decorated) is later. The north transept is the richer of -the two. The corbels of monastic heads of great excellence deserve -notice. - -In the east wall, opposite the entrance to the Perpendicular -Lady-Chapel, two bays were included under one arch to form a recess for -the altar of the Virgin Mary, about 1320. - -The south transept underwent some alteration when the Lady-Chapel was -built. On the wall under the central window a monument to Richard Watts -was erected in 1736. Watts, a member of Queen Elizabeth’s second -Parliament, entertained her at “Satis House” in 1573. He also left -provisions in his will for the poor and founded in 1579 the “House of -the Six Poor Travellers,” where nightly six poor wayfarers are provided -with supper, bed and breakfast and presented with fourpence when they -leave. - -Near the Watts monument a brass tablet to Charles Dickens, who made the -House of the Six Poor Travellers famous, connects “his memory with the -scenes in which his earliest and latest years were passed and with the -associations of Rochester Cathedral and its neighbourhood, which -extended over all his life.” - -The =Choir=, reached by a flight of ten steps, is higher than the nave. It -is entered through iron gates in the central doorway of the screen, -which represent St. Andrew, King Ethelbert, St. Justus, St. Paulinus, -Bishop Gundulf, William de Hoo, Bishop Walter de Merton and Cardinal -John Fisher, designed by Mr. John Pearson. - -The organ is on the screen beneath the choir-arch. The Choir, remodelled -in 1825-1830, - - “is entered by a flight of steps rendered necessary, as at - Canterbury, by the height of the crypt below. It was completed - sufficiently for use in 1127. It is thoroughly developed Early - English, although much has evidently been borrowed, even in detail, - from the Canterbury transition work. It is narrow and somewhat - heavy; defects not lightened by the woodwork of the stalls, which - is indifferent, or by the use of colour,--a single line of which, - however, is carried along the ribs of the vaulting with very good - effect. - - “The brackets of Early English foliage, from which the blind - wall-arches spring, should be noticed. Two large ones especially, - at the angles of the eastern transept, are excellent specimens of - this period, before the naturalism of the Decorated had begun to - develop itself. A fragment of mural painting, apparently of the - same date as the choir itself, remains on the wall, close above the - pulpit. The painting, when entire, is said to have represented a - subject not uncommon in early churches--the Wheel of Fortune with - various figures--king, priest, husbandman and others--climbing - it.”--(R. J. K.) - -This painting (5 feet 10 inches high and 2 feet 2 inches wide) dates -from the Thirteenth Century. Fortune dressed as a queen, and in yellow, -moves the wheel with her right hand. - -Passing into the =North-choir-transept=, still Early English and a part -of William de Hoo’s work, the first point of interest is =St. William’s -Tomb=, at the north-east corner, of Purbeck marble, with a floriated -cross. - -Towards the centre of the transept is a flat stone marked with six -crosses, upon which =St. William’s Shrine= is said to have rested. The -steps which descend into the north aisle of the Choir are, as at -Canterbury, deeply worn by the constant ascent of pilgrims. - -West of the Saint’s tomb lies =Walter de Merton=, founder of Merton -College, Oxford, and Bishop of Rochester from 1274 to 1277. His tomb is -a very beautiful example of Early Decorated. - -The present arrangement of the east end is the work of Sir G. Scott. The -=Choir-stalls= were designed by Sir G. Scott, who incorporated as much of -the old work as possible. - -Just behind the =Altar=, above which is a picture of _The Angels appearing -to the Shepherds_, by Benjamin West (placed there in 1788), is a fine -=Piscina=. Opposite three stone =Sedilia= (late Perpendicular) deserve -notice. - -In the railed-off transept aisle, known as =St. John the Baptist’s -Chapel=, or =Warner Chapel=, because of the monuments to members of the -Warner family (“Palladian” in style, 1666-1698), there is an old -weather-worn =statue= which tradition says is a portrait of =Gundulf=. - -In the eastern aisle of the north-east transept is the =Tomb of Bishop -John De Sheppy= (1353-1360). It is - - “probably the most perfect specimen of ancient colour-work now - existing in England. It had been bricked up within the arch where - it still remains, and was discovered during the repairs in 1825. - The colours and monuments deserve the most careful attention, as - well for their own beauty as for their great value as authorities. - In the maniple held over the left arm, some of the crystals with - which it was studded still remain. Remark the couchant dogs at the - feet. About their necks are scarlet collars, hung with bells. An - inscription with the Bishop’s name surrounds the effigy.”--(R. J. - K.) - -The short =sacrarium=, or chancel, east of the transepts, probably formed -part of William de Hoo’s work. The beautiful =windows= at the east end are -Decorated. In the south side of the sacrarium, next the altar, a tomb of -plain marble is thought to be that of =Gundulf=. - -In the east wall of the south-choir-transept we come to one of the -finest pieces of English Decorated in existence,--the =Chapter-House -Doorway=. It dates from the middle of the Fourteenth Century. - - “The full-length figures, one on each side of the door, symbolising - the Church and the Synagogue, were both headless when Mr. - Cottingham restored the doorway, between 1825 and 1830. Much fault - has been found with him for turning the first, which is thought to - have been like the other, a female figure, into a mitred, bearded - bishop holding a cross in his right hand and the model of a church - in his left. The blindfolded ‘Synagogue,’ by her broken staff and - the tables of the law held reversed in her right hand, typifies the - overthrow of the Mosaic dispensation. Above are figures, two on - each side, seated at book-desks under canopies. These are supposed - to be the four great Doctors of the Church: Saints Augustine, - Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose. Quite at the head of the arch, under a - lofty pyramidal canopy, we see a tiny nude figure which represents, - probably, a pure soul just released from Purgatory. If this is so, - it would account for the flames from which the angels, on each - side, bearing scrolls, seem to be rising. It has been suggested - likewise that the distorted heads, which alternate with squares of - foliage in the wider inside moulding of the doorway, typify the - sufferings of the soul in its passage. The outside moulding is also - interesting, being a wide hollow in the bottom of which circular - holes are cut at intervals. Through these can be seen the broad - stem from which spring the leaves that ornament the intervening - spaces. The arch-head is ogee-shaped outside, with large external - and smaller, but not less rich, internal crockets. The square back - to it, and the spaces beneath the corbels, on which the Church and - Synagogue figures stand, are filled with noteworthy diapers. The - first is divided diagonally into sunken squares, each containing a - flower; and the others have lion masks in quatrefoils, with - five-petalled roses in the alternate spaces.”--(G. H. P.) - -A steep flight of stairs leads from this Transept to =St. Edmund’s -Chapel=, south of the Choir. From this we enter the =Crypt=, - - “which extends under the whole of the choir and is one of the best - specimens of its class to be found in England. The west and east - parts are evidently of a much earlier date than the central, which - is Early English, and of the same period as the choir above. In - building this, the ancient crypt was probably broken through, and - in part reconstructed. The earlier portions are distinguished by - very massive piers and circular arches. Between the piers are small - pillars, with plain broad capitals. It is not impossible that this - part of the crypt may date from before the Conquest. At all events, - it is the earliest portion of the existing cathedral, and cannot be - later than the work of Bishop Gundulf.”--(R. J. K.) - - - - -WINCHESTER - - DEDICATION: THE HOLY AND INDIVISIBLE TRINITY. FORMERLY THE CHURCH - OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: NORMAN NAVE; TOWER; WEST WINDOW; CHOIR-STALLS; - FONT; REREDOS. - - -Winchester is the largest cathedral in England and affords good examples -of every style from pure Norman to early Renaissance. It is the fifth -cathedral that has occupied this site, for tradition says that a British -church was founded here by Lucius, King of the Britons. - -This first church was destroyed in 266 and the clergy martyred during -the persecutions of the Christians by Diocletian. The second church, -erected under Constantine, was in 515 transformed by Cerdic, founder of -the Kingdom of Wessex, into a Temple of Dagon, in which he was crowned -in 519 and buried in 534. Cerdic’s great grandson, Kynegils, converted -by St. Birinus, the first of Saxon bishops, began the third church which -his son, Kenwalk, completed in 648. Kenwalk’s buildings were, in their -turn, enlarged and repaired by Swithun, a prior of the Benedictine -monastery established here. Swithun, who became Bishop of Winchester and -tutor to King Alfred and Ethelwold, was, according to the chroniclers, -“a diligent builder of churches in places where there were none before, -and a repairer of those that had been destroyed or ruined.” When he died -in 862, he was buried, according to his own desire, in the churchyard of -Winchester, where “passersby might tread on his grave, and where the -rain from the eaves might fall on it.” - -When this third church was destroyed by the Danes in 867, portions were -restored by Alfred the Great, St. Ethelwold and St. Alphege. St. -Ethelwold removed the body of St. Swithun to the golden shrine within -the cathedral, now dedicated to St. Swithun, St. Peter and St. Paul; but -the Translation being delayed by rain, gave the saint reputation as a -weather prophet. Hence the weather on the anniversary (July 15) is -foretold by the old rhyme: - - “St. Swithun’s Day, if thou dost rain, - For forty days it will remain; - St. Swithun’s Day, if thou be fair, - Forty days ’twill rain na mair.” - -One of the features of St. Ethelwold’s cathedral was a magnificent “pair -of organs,” of tremendous size and power, with twelve bellows above and -fourteen below and seventy strong men as blowers to fill the four -hundred pipes. Below, at two keyboards, sat two brethren in “unity of -spirit.” - -Ethelwold was buried in the southern crypt. - -This Saxon church was succeeded by the present cathedral, begun in 1079, -by Walkelyn, the first Norman bishop. - -Walkelyn was of noble birth and related to William Rufus, who granted -him license to search for stone in the Isle of Wight and as much wood -from the forest of Hanepinges (on the Alresford road) as his carpenters -could take in four days and nights. The wily Bishop collected a large -force of men and within the assigned time cut down the whole forest. The -King was furious. The new Cathedral was finished in 1093, having been -rebuilt by Walkelyn, from the west front to the great tower, including -the transepts. He also removed, and with great pomp, St. Swithun’s -shrine from the old altar to the new one. Walkelyn died in 1098 and was -buried in the nave. - -Bishop Lucy, Bishop William of Edington and William of Wykeham are the -next three great architects of Winchester. - - “It was Bishop Edington who commenced the alteration of Winchester - Cathedral into the Perpendicular style; he died in 1366, and the - work was continued by William of Wykeham, who mentions in his will - that Edington had finished the west end, with two windows on the - north side and one on the south: the change in the character of the - work is very distinctly marked. Bishop Edington’s work at - Winchester was executed at a later period than that at Edington, - and, as might be expected, the new idea is more fully developed; - but on a comparison between the west window of Winchester and the - east window of Edington, it will at once be seen that the principle - of construction is the same; there is a central division carried up - to the head of the window, and sub-arches springing from each side: - it may be observed that whenever this arrangement of the sub-arches - occurs in Decorated work, it is a sign that the work is late in the - style. Before the death of Bishop Edington the great principles of - the Perpendicular Style were fully established. These chiefly - consist of the Perpendicular lines through the head of the window, - and in covering the surface of the wall with panelling of the same - kind. These features are as distinctly marked at Winchester as in - any subsequent building, or as they well could be.”--(J. H. P.) - -In the eastern part of the Crypt there is ancient masonry undoubtedly -belonging to the time of St. Ethelwold; then we find above it the -massive Norman work of Bishop Walkelyn; then, to the east, the graceful -Early English of Bishop Lucy; along the nave, the Perpendicular columns -of Bishop Edington and William of Wykeham, on which rests the exquisite -groined roof. Above this roof the great rough-hewn beams cut from the -King’s forest by Walkelyn more than eight hundred years ago can still be -seen and in a perfect state of soundness. - - “In this great church many stirring scenes of English history have - been enacted. The early kings made Winchester their home and the - Cathedral their chapel. Here it was that Egbert, after being - crowned _in regem totius Britanniæ_, with assent of all parties, - issued an edict in 828, ordering that the island should thereafter - be always styled England and its people Englishmen. Here King - Alfred was crowned and lived and died. Here, in 1035, Cnut’s body - lay in state before the high altar, over which was hung henceforth - for many a year, a most precious relic, the great Norseman’s crown. - Here William the Conqueror often came, and wore his crown at the - Easter Gemôt; here, too, clustered many of the national legends: - St. Swithun here did his mighty works, and here were the forty - dismal days of rain; hard by is the scene of the great fight - between Colbrand the Dane and Guy of Warwick; in the nave of the - church Queen Emma trod triumphant on the red-hot plough-shares as - on a bed of roses; hither came Earl Godwin’s body after his - marvellous and terrible death, one of the well-known group of - malignant Norman tales. It was in Winchester Cathedral that Henry - Beauclerk took to wife his queen, Matilda, to the great joy of all - English-speaking folk. Here Stephen of Blois was crowned King; and - here, on the other hand, the Empress Maud was welcomed by city and - people with high rejoicings; here, too, was drawn up and issued the - final compact, in 1153, which closed the civil war of that weary - reign and secured the crown to the young Prince Henry. He in his - turn often sojourned in Winchester, and befriended in his strong - way the growing city. The Cathedral witnessed another compact in - the dark days of King John: the King was here reconciled to the - English Church in the person of Stephen Langton; Henry III. and - his Queen Eleanor, were here in 1242; and on May-day of that year - ‘came the Queen into the Chapter-house to receive society.’ In 1275 - Edward I., with his Queen, was welcomed with great honour by the - prior and brethren of St. Swithun, and attended service in the - church. The christening of Arthur, Prince of Wales, elder brother - of Henry VIII., was here; and here Henry VIII. met his astute - rival, the Emperor Charles V. It was in Winchester Cathedral that - the marriage of Philip and Mary took place, and the chair in which - she sat is still to be seen in the church. The Stuart Kings loved - the place. Here in the great rebellion was enacted that strange - scene when, after the capture of the city, the mob rushed into the - Cathedral, wild for booty and mischief, and finding in the chests - nothing but bones, amused themselves by throwing them at the - stained windows of the choir. It was at this time that Colonel - Nathaniel Fiennes, a Parliamentary officer and an old Wykehamist, - stood with drawn sword at the door of Wykeham’s chantry to protect - it from violence. Since the days of the Merry Monarch, who was - often at Winchester, and loved it so well that he built his palace - here, no striking historical events have been enacted within its - walls. The church by degrees recovered from the ruin of the - Commonwealth time, and has had a quiet, happy life from that time - onward, a tranquil grey building sleeping amidst its trees, in the - heart of the most charming of all south English cities.”--(G. W. - K.) - -The best view of Winchester Cathedral is from the top of St. Catherine’s -hill, where the great mass rises solemnly over the distant city. Its -enormous length is broken by the bold transepts, which extend three bays -beyond the aisles. People are, as a rule, disappointed with their first -view of the exterior, because of its lack of decoration and the lowness -of the heavy Norman tower in the centre. The bright-green turf of the -Precincts and the trees, however, make with the grey walls an impressive -picture. A short avenue of trees leads through the Close to the western -door. - -The =West Front= was originally the work of Edington (1345-1366). It is -118 feet in breadth and composed of a panelled gable of Perpendicular -style with hexagonal turrets. Immediately under the window in a gallery -over the entrance, the bishop used to give his benediction to the -people. The figure of William of Wykeham stands in the gable, replacing -an ancient bishop removed in 1860. No one seems to know whether it -represented William of Wykeham, Bishop Edington, or St. Swithun. Very -probably it was the latter, as its companions on the gable were St. -Peter and St. Paul, the three patron saints of the Saxon Cathedral. - -The great =West Window= is divided by cross mullions into three -perpendicular and six horizontal compartments. It is said to be filled -with glass, collected from different parts of the building, after the -general smashing by the Parliamentary soldiers in 1646. Winston says -these pieces are very early Perpendicular glass, and may have been -placed together in the window, as we now see them, in Bishop Edington’s -time. - - “Before entering, the visitor should remark the grand view of the - interior obtained through the open central door. The length of - Winchester (520 feet from this entrance to the extreme eastern - buttresses) exceeds that of any other cathedral on this side of the - Alps, with the exception of Ely (560 feet) and of Canterbury, which - is about five feet longer than Winchester. A certain coldness, - arising from want of colour, is perhaps felt at first; but the eye - soon learns to dwell contentedly on the magnificent forest of - piers, and on all the graceful details above and around them. The - string-course of corbel-heads and the light balustrade of the - triforium in the nave should here be noticed as remarkably aiding - the general effect.”--(R. J. K.) - -The ground-plan shows a nave of eleven bays, a transept of three, a -choir of five, a presbytery of three and a Lady-Chapel at the east end -of three. All are furnished with side aisles. - -Winchester is the longest cathedral in England, and the =Nave= is one of -the longest in the world. Fergusson says it is “perhaps the most -beautiful nave in England or elsewhere.” The view is overwhelmingly -grand and noble and the groining of the roof is striking in the extreme. - -The triforium was sacrificed and the old Norman piers, recased, were -left to carry the lofty Perpendicular arches and exquisitely vaulted -roof. The Perpendicular lining and panelling disguise the fact that the -interior is really Norman. - - “The nave gains a special grandeur by the vaulting shafts rising - from the very floor so that the eye follows them upwards tardily, - as if they were more lofty than they actually are, to the capitals - whence the groined roof springs. The aisle windows have a beauty - worthy of careful notice. - - “A striking yet beautiful peculiarity is that Winchester nave, - setting an example followed generally in Perpendicular churches, - has no proper triforium--a balcony close above the nave arches - taking its place. Owing to the thickness of the Norman masonry this - arrangement was unavoidable. - - “The seven westerly piers on the south side retain the Norman - stone-work faced with new mouldings. Norman arches remain behind - the triforium wall; Norman shafts may be seen above the vaulting; - and Norman flat buttresses are traceable outside between the - southerly clerestory windows.”--(G. W. K.) - -The Nave of Winchester, therefore, presents one of the most curious -examples of transformation from one style of architecture to another; -for here we have a perfect specimen of the Fourteenth and - -[Illustration: WINCHESTER: NAVE, WEST] - -[Illustration: WINCHESTER: FONT] - -Fifteenth Centuries, yet it is from the ground to the roof the original -Norman building begun by Walkelyn. The extreme western part was rebuilt -by Edington, who began the transformation of the Nave from the Norman to -the Perpendicular, and continued by his successor William of Wykeham -(1366-1404). - -At Wykeham’s death in 1404 the south side of the Nave was finished and -the north begun. The work was continued and finished by his successors, -Cardinal Beaufort and Bishop Waynflete (1404-1486). The arms on the -bosses of the vault of the nave are those of Wykeham, Cardinal Beaufort -and John of Gaunt (the latter’s father); the chained white hart is the -device of Richard II. and the lily that of Bishop Waynflete. - -Students may compare the Nave of Winchester with the Choir of -Gloucester, which is also Norman in plan, “overlaid with a veneer of -masonry in the Pointed Style.” The Gloucester Choir is, however, of -later date, and instead of showing an amalgamation of the two styles, as -at Winchester, the Pointed is added to the Round-arched style. - -The curious black basaltic stone =Font= was probably the gift of Bishop -Henry de Blois (1129-71), and some antiquarians think that it was -brought from Constantinople during the Second Crusade. The carvings -represent St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of children, and much -honoured by the Normans. - - “Within the walls the most striking object of interest is - undoubtedly the famous Norman font of black basaltic stone, which - was probably placed in the church in the days of Walkelyn; it - portrays in bold if rude relief the life and miracles of St. - Nicholas of Myra. Next after the font may perhaps be noted the - fine carved spandrels, Fourteenth Century work, of the - choir-stalls, with the quaint _misereres_ of the seats; then Prior - Silkstede’s richly carved pulpit of the Fifteenth Century, and the - very interesting and valuable Renaissance panels of the pews, put - in by William Kingsmill, last prior and first dean, in 1540. The - chantries and tombs in this church are of unusual beauty and - interest.”--(G. W. K.) - -At the west end of the north aisle a square stone gallery called the -tribune is part of Edington’s work. It was used as a =Minstrels’ Gallery= -on great occasions. - -The nave =Pulpit= was a gift from New College, Oxford, in 1885. - -In the north aisle there is a monumental brass in memory of =Jane Austen=, -the authoress, and near the south-west door are fixed the flags of the -97th Regiment and memorials of the Crimean War. The west window of the -south aisle is filled with stained glass to their memory. - -On the south side of the Nave and in the second bay from the Choir is -=Bishop Edington’s Chantry=. It was somewhat altered when the piers -against which it stands were transformed from Norman to Perpendicular. -This is the first of a number of very fine chantries, the most -interesting of which is that of =William of Wykeham=, which occupies the -entire space between two piers of the Nave on the south side in the -fifth bay from the west end. - -This chapel was built by Wykeham on the site of an altar dedicated to -the Virgin, where he used to worship when a boy. - - “The design of William’s chantry is very beautiful; and it is one - of the best remaining specimens of a Fourteenth Century monumental - chapel. The foundation of the altar is still visible. The Bishop’s - effigy, the comeliness of which, it has been suggested, may have - induced Anthony Wood to describe him as having been of ‘a courtly - presence,’ reposes on an altar-tomb in the centre, arrayed in cope - and mitre. The pillow at the head is supported by two angels. At - the feet three monks are represented offering up prayers for the - repose of the departed soul. They are said, but questionably, to - represent Wykeham’s three assistants in the cathedral - works--William Wynford, his architect; Simon de Membury, his - surveyor of the works; and John Wayte, controller.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =Choir= is entered through a screen of stonework, by Garbett, -decorated with figures of James I. and Charles I., taken from an older -screen by Inigo Jones. The figure of Charles I. was much injured by the -Parliamentary troops who stabled their horses in the cathedral. It was -made by Hubert Le Seur, a pupil of John of Bologna and much employed by -Charles I. - -The Choir consists of the old choir of the monks under the tower and of -the presbytery beyond it. This portion of the cathedral is of various -dates: the tower is late Norman; the piers, arches and clerestory of the -presbytery are Decorated (about 1350); the screen enclosing it is -Perpendicular (the work of Bishop Fox about 1524); the vaulting of the -presbytery (also the work of Bishop Fox); and the ceiling under the -tower, dates from 1634. - -The visitor is struck by the enormous piers of the =Tower=, rebuilt after -1107 when Walkelyn’s tower, under which William Rufus was buried, fell. -Many thought “that the fall of the tower was a judgment for his sins.” - - “Early in the Twelfth Century occurred the fall of the tower of - this Cathedral, celebrated from the peculiar circumstances with - which it was accompanied, which are thus described by William of - Malmsbury, who was living at the time:--‘A few country men conveyed - the body [of the King, William Rufus], placed on a cart, to the - cathedral of Winchester, the blood dripping all the way. Here it - was committed to the ground _within the tower_, attended by many of - the nobility, but lamented by few. The next year (1097) the tower - fell; though I forbear to mention the different opinions on this - subject, lest I should seem to assent too readily to unsupported - trifles; most especially that the building might have fallen - _through imperfect construction_, even though he had never been - buried there.’ That this was really the case, the building itself - affords us abundant evidence, and proves that even the Normans at - this period were still bad masons and very imperfectly acquainted - with the principles of construction. The tower which was rebuilt - soon after the fall is still standing, and the enormous masses of - masonry which were piled together to support it, and prevent it - from falling again, show such an amazing waste of labour and - material as clearly to prove that it was the work of very unskilful - builders.”--(J. H. P.) - -The tower was originally intended to serve as a lantern; but was ceiled -over in the reign of Charles I. In the centre is a medallion of the Holy -Family, the date 1634, and medallions of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria. - -The very narrow arches opening to the transepts should be noticed. - -The =Choir Stalls= are magnificent. - - “The stalls which extend from the eastern tower-piers to the first - pier of the nave, are of oak, as black as ebony, and probably - exhibit the very finest woodwork of their date and style (which is - the best) in the Kingdom. They are early Decorated (Geometrical) - work and their canopies and gables bear considerable resemblance to - those of the tomb of Edmund Crouchback in Westminster Abbey. This - would place their date about 1296. The beauty and variety of the - carvings are wonderful. There is no repetition; and the grace and - elegance, as well as the fidelity, with which the foliage is - represented, are nowhere to be surpassed. The human heads are full - of expression; and the monkeys and other animals sporting among the - branches have all the same exquisite finish. The mode in which the - cusps of the circles in the canopies are terminated, is worthy of - attention; and in short, at this period of the revival of - wood-carving, no better examples could be found for study and - imitation. The _misereres_ below are of early character and - interesting. Their date is rather later than those (Early English) - in Exeter Cathedral--the most ancient in the Kingdom. The desks and - stools in front of the upper range bear the initials of Henry - VIII., Bishop Stephen Gardiner, and Dean Kingsmill and the date - 1540. The rich pulpit on the north side bears the name of its donor - ‘Thomas Silkstede, prior’ on different parts of it.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =Presbytery= is Early English, the work of Bishop Lucy (1189-1204). It -has a central alley of three bays. The arcading is very graceful. The -presbytery is closed at the sides by screens of stone tracery, most of -them erected by Bishop Fox, and bear his motto, _Est Deo Gratia_. Upon -these screens stand six mortuary chests (also the work of Bishop Fox) -containing the bones of the West Saxon Kings and bishops removed from -the crypt of the old Saxon cathedral into Walkelyn’s church by Bishop -Henry de Blois and placed in leaden sarcophagi. The chests are of wood, -carved, painted and gilded in the Renaissance Style, which was being -introduced into England in Fox’s time. - - “The vaulting of the presbytery (of wood) is the work of Bishop Fox - (1500-1520), and displays on its bosses, a mass of heraldry besides - (at the east end) the various emblems of the Passion together with - a number of faces representing Pilate and his wife, Herod, Annas - and Caiaphas, Judas, Malchus with the sword of Peter dividing his - ear, Peter himself and many others. All are curious and are best - seen from the gallery below the east window. - - “The east window of the choir is filled with Perpendicular glass, a - little earlier than 1525, the work of Bishop Fox, whose arms - impaled with those of the sees he held (Exeter, Bath and Wells, - Durham and Winchester) and his motto _Est Deo Gratia_ are - introduced in it.”--(R. J. K.) - -Winston thinks that the only part of the glass in its original position -consists of the two figures occupying the two southernmost of the lower -lights and all the tracery lights except the top central one and the -three immediately below it. - - “The top central light is filled principally with some glass of - Wykeham’s time and all the rest of the window with glass of Fox’s - time, removed from other windows. In point of execution it is as - nearly as perfect as painted glass can be. In it the shadows have - attained their proper limit. It was at this period that glass - painting attained its highest perfection as an art.”--(C. W.) - -Beyond the tower-piers in the presbytery a plain tomb of Purbeck marble -was once the resting-place of =William Rufus=, killed in the New Forest in -1100 and first buried, as we have seen, under the Tower. His bones were -removed in the Twelfth Century by his nephew Bishop Henry de Blois and -are now mingled with those of Canute, Queen Emma and two Saxon bishops -in one of the mortuary chests on the screen of the Presbytery. - -The piers and arches of the Presbytery are Decorated, dating from 1320 -and 1350. - -At the High Altar of the Choir Queen Mary was married to Philip of Spain -in July, 1554, by Bishop Gardiner. In Philip’s train were Alva, the -future scourge of the Low Countries, and Egmont, his famous victim. The -chair in which the bride sat is preserved in the Chapel of the Guardian -Angels. - -At the back of the altar rises the magnificent =Reredos=, dating from the -latter end of the Fifteenth Century. In 1899 the final restoration of -the screen was completed by filling a niche that had been vacant for -three centuries. The altar-rails are of the time of Charles I. A -representation of the _Incarnation_ hangs over the altar placed there in -1899, when Benjamin West’s _Raising of Lazarus_ was removed to the South -Transept. - - “The Reredos is said to have been commenced by Cardinal Beaufort - and completed by Bishop Fox and Prior Silkstede. It is an excellent - specimen of Perpendicular work, executed in a fine, white soft - stone; its elaborately canopied niches, pierced and crocketted - pinnacles, pilaster buttresses, and centre projecting canopy, are - surmounted at a height reaching nearly to the corbels, with a - triple frieze of running leaves, Tudor flowers and quatrefoils. - This Reredos is of the same type as those at Christ Church Priory - and St. Alban’s, but its dimensions are greater and better - proportioned. Its restoration is carried out with remarkable - fidelity to the original work. The back is closely panelled in the - upper part, and the lower part is richly decorated. No description - could do justice to the beauty and effect of the whole work. Milner - describes its exquisite workmanship as being as magnificent as this - or any other nation can exhibit. The central part was restored as a - memorial to the late Archdeacon Jacob.”--(G. W. K.) - -On either side of the altar a door opens to the space behind the -Reredos, which in early days was the =Feretory=, a place for the =feretra=, -or shrines of the patron saints. - - “The Feretory, or Capitular Chapel, is immediately behind the altar - and communicates with the sanctuary. Here the magnificent shrine of - St. Swithun, of solid silver gilt and garnished with precious - stones, the gift of King Edgar, used to be kept except on the - festivals of the saint, when it was exposed to view on the Altar, - or before it. - - “Many portions of statuary formerly belonging to the Great Screen - and other parts of the building are here carefully preserved. From - the platform behind the reredos may be observed the admirable - connection of Fox’s new with De Lucy’s earlier work.”--(G. W. K.) - -The old statue of the bishop, taken from the west front, may also be -seen here. - -Back of the Reredos again stands the famous Edwardian =Arcade=, with nine -canopies (or tabernacles). Beneath it is the ancient entrance, the “=Holy -Hole=,” leading into the Crypt. - -The presbytery aisles are greatly admired. Here we find beautiful -examples of Early English work and many splendid monuments and -chantries. Beyond lies the =Lady-Chapel=, with the =Chapel of the Guardian -Angels= on the north side and the =Bishop de Langton’s Chantry= on the -south. - -The Lady-Chapel (1470) was founded by Elizabeth of York, Queen of Henry -VII., after the birth of her son, Arthur, as a testimony of her -gratitude. The arms of Henry VII., Elizabeth and the Prince of -Wales--the feathers divided by roses--are among the ornaments. - -A plain slab of grey marble in front of the Lady-Chapel is supposed to -mark the =Tomb of Bishop de Lucy=, the builder of all this part of the -Cathedral. At the back of the Lady-Chapel a Reredos was placed by Dean -Branston in 1876. - -Ascending the steps from the transept, we reach the north aisle of the -presbytery, and gain a fine view beyond this of the eastern portion of -the church, with its splendid chantries and chapels. - -With the exception of the extreme east end of the Lady-Chapel, it is -all the work of Bishop Godfrey de Lucy (1189-1204), and consequently a -very early example of Early English. The design and details are of great -beauty. The three aisles or alleys (called procession paths or the _via -processionum_) are separated from each other by three arches on each -side and terminate eastward in chapels. These aisles were formed in -order to facilitate the circulation of processions. - -The north chapel (part of De Lucy’s work) is called that of the =Guardian -Angels=, from the figures of angels still remaining on the vaulting; the -south chapel (De Lucy’s work) was fitted up as a chantry by Bishop -Langton, who died in 1500. The woodwork is rich and beautiful and the -vault elaborate with carved rebuses on his name. - - “The north and south walls, as far as the east walls of the two - side chapels, are De Lucy’s work, and retain his rich Early English - arcade. The eastern compartment on each side, as well as the east - wall, have respectively a large Perpendicular window of seven - lights with transom and tracery of a peculiar kind of - subordination, or rather interpretation of patterns well worth a - careful study. The vault is a complex and beautiful specimen of - lierne-work. The capitals and bases of the vaulting-shafts are - unusual and very beautiful. The carved panelling of the western - half of this chapel, the seats, desk and screen of separation, are - all excellent, and should be noticed. All this Perpendicular work - is due to Prior Hunton (1470-1498) and his successor, Prior - Silkstede (1498-1524). On the vault round the two central keys--one - representing the Almighty, the other the Blessed Virgin--are the - rebuses of the two priors: the letter T, the syllable Hun, the - figure of a ton for Thomas Hunton; the figure 1 and the letters Por - for Prior: the letter T, the syllable silk, the word sted with a - horse below it, the figure 1 with letters as before, for Thomas - Silkstede, prior. The walls of this chapel are covered with the - remains of some very curious paintings illustrating the legendary - history of the Virgin. - - “These are all the work of Prior Silkstede, whose portrait, with an - inscription, is still faintly visible over the piscina.”--(R. J. - K.) - -Between the pillars of the central aisle are the =Chantries= of =Waynflete= -and =Beaufort=. Both were much injured by Cromwell’s troops and have been -restored. The delicacy and beauty of Waynflete’s canopy should be noted. -The lily, his device, constantly appears. His effigy lies here. - -Beaufort appears in his Cardinal’s robes. He was half-brother to Henry -IV. and was bishop, statesman, soldier and banker to the royal family. -He is said to have burst into tears at the burning of Joan of Arc at -Rouen and to have left the scene. However, he persecuted the Lollards. -Between these two chantries lies the effigy of a =Thirteenth Century -Knight= in chain-mail and cross-legged. It is the only ancient military -figure in the cathedral. He is either Sir W. de Foix or Sir Arnold de -Gavaston. - -Beyond the pier which connects De Lucy’s work with the Presbytery on the -north side is the =Chantry of Bishop Gardiner= (1531-1555), the “hammer of -heretics,” secretary to Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII.’s ambassador to -the Pope regarding his marriage. Bishop Gardiner also married “Bloody -Mary” to the King of Spain. - -Opposite is =Bishop Fox’s Chantry=, built by Fox himself. It is the most -elaborate chantry in the Cathedral. The arches were once filled with -stained glass. The Bishop’s emblem, the pelican, appears everywhere. Fox -was secretary and Lord Privy Seal to Henry VII. and founder of Corpus -Christi, Oxford. This college restored the Bishop’s chantry. Blind -several years before his death, Fox used to be led every day to the -small oratory attached to his Chantry. - -The visitor should study these chantries, beginning with Edington’s in -the Nave and ending with Gardiner’s, for they form a continuous record -of the growth and development of Perpendicular and Tudor architecture -from 1366 to 1555. - - “In no English church except Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s, lie - so many men of name. For just as the features of the Cathedral - represent all the successive phases and changes of the art of - building, until it has been styled a ‘School of English - Architecture,’ so it may be said to be the home and centre of our - early history. Long is the roll of kings and statesmen who came - hither and whose bones here lie at rest. Cynegils and Cenwalh, West - Saxon Kings, founders of the church, are here; Egbert was buried - here in 838; Ethelwulf also and Edward the Elder and Edred. The - body of Alfred the Great lay a while in the church, then was - transferred to the new minster he had built, and finally rested at - Hyde Abbey. And, most splendid name of all, the great Cnut was - buried here, as was also his son, Harthacnut, as bad and mean as - his father was great. The roll of kings was closed when Red - William’s blood-dripping corpse came jolting hither in the country - cart from New Forest.”--(G. W. K.) - -The two =Transepts= are similar. Both have east and west aisles and both -are of two periods. The earlier parts are plain rude Norman, massive and -grand in effect. The arches, both of triforium and clerestory, are -square-edged like the pier-arches below them. They should be compared -with Ely Cathedral, the work of Walkelyn’s brother, Simeon. It is -interesting to note that the central towers of both fell,--Walkelyn’s -in 1107 and Simeon’s in 1321. - -The =North Transept= contains five altars. On the south side against the -organ screen is the =Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre=, the walls of which are -covered with rude wall-paintings illustrative of the passion of our -Saviour. - -The =South Transept= is similar to the North transept. In its eastern -aisles are two chapels formed by screens of stone tracery work. The -south chapel is called =Silkstede’s Chapel=, from Prior Silkstede, whose -name, Thomas, is carved on the screen with the monogram M. A. of the -Virgin and a skein of silk, his rebus. The beautiful iron-work is of a -later period. A plain black marble slab in Prior Silkstede’s Chapel -marks the =Tomb of Izaak Walton=, “the prince of fishermen,” who died in -1683. - -Entrances from both transepts lead to the crypt. - -In the west aisle of the south transept is the =Chapter-House= (formerly -the sacristy), above which is the Library. The doorway in the south wall -led to the domestic buildings of the monastery. - -The =Crypt= is entered from the north transept. It is Norman, dark and -massive, and suggestive of a remote age. It is frequently flooded; for -the level of the river seems to have risen since the Eleventh Century. -Like other crypts, it serves to show the original plan of the Norman -Church. It is in three parts: the western, consisting of the -substructure of the original choir; a long aisleless chapel of three -bays beneath the present retro-choir; and the substructure of -Courtenay’s Lady-Chapel built between 1486 and 1492. Beneath the - -[Illustration: WINCHESTER: CHOIR, EAST] - -[Illustration: WINCHESTER: WEST FRONT] - -high altar is the sacred well, the centre of Saxon worship before the -Cathedral had an existence. - -The =Roofs= of this cathedral also deserve a visit. - - “In the roof of the nave may be seen the original Norman shafts - running up above Wykeham’s vault, and in those of the aisles the - Norman arches of the triforium, best developed at the east end of - the nave aisle-roof. The transept roofs show to this day what - Bishop Walkelyn did with Hempage-wood. From the leads of the tower - there is a very striking view over the city and its environs.”--(R. - J. K.) - -The =Bells= hang in the great central tower: three are dated 1734, the -others 1737, 1742, 1772, 1804 and 1814. The tenor bell was recast in -1892. - -Within the Precincts stood the Royal Castle at the time of the Norman -Conquest. This was pulled down by Henry de Blois in the Twelfth -Century. - - - - -CHICHESTER - - DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: FIVE AISLES; SPIRE; CAMPANILE. - - -Chichester (the camp of Cissa) stands at the head of an arm of the -English Channel. Its Cathedral is the only one in England that can be -seen from the sea. - -In 1082 the South Saxon See was removed from Selsey to Chichester. The -church of the monastery, dedicated to St. Peter, seems to have been used -until Bishop Ralph Luffa (about whom little or nothing is known) founded -the existing Cathedral. This was completed in 1108, partly destroyed by -fire in 1114 and partly restored by the same Ralph, who died in 1123. - - “Chichester Cathedral, though one of the smallest, is to the - student of Mediæval architecture one of the most interesting and - important of our cathedrals. At Salisbury one or two styles of - architecture are represented; at Canterbury two or three; at - Chichester every single style is to be seen without a break from - the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century. It is an epitome of English - architectural history for five hundred years. Early Norman, late - Norman, late Transitional, early Lancet, late Lancet, early - Geometrical, late Geometrical, Curvilinear, Perpendicular and Tudor - work all appear in the structure side by side. We have many other - heterogeneous and composite cathedrals, but nowhere, except perhaps - at Hereford, can the whole sequence of Mediæval styles be read so - well as at Chichester.”--(F. B.) - -Chichester was consecrated in 1148, again suffered from fire in -1186-1187 and was restored and enlarged by Bishop Seffrid II. -(1180-1204). - - “The fire of 1186 was not as serious as that of Canterbury in 1182, - so that there was no need of rebuilding. Bishop Seffrid, however, - covered the Cathedral with a stone vault and added the necessary - buttresses and flying-buttresses. He also built the Choir, making - great use of Purbeck marble. He removed the Norman apse and built - the aisled retro-choir of two bays. - - “This is the architectural gem of the Cathedral. The idea of it - probably came from Hereford, where the retro-choir is a few years - earlier. At Hereford, however, the retro-choir projects - picturesquely and forms an eastern transept. The central piers of - the Chichester retro-choir are remarkably beautiful. They consist - of a central column surrounded by four shafts very widely detached; - columns and shafts are of Purbeck marble. The capitals are - Corinthianesque; their height is proportioned to the diameters of - the column and shafts. This beautiful capital was reproduced a few - years later by St. Hugh at Lincoln. The triforium is of quite - exceptional beauty, as indeed is the whole design. Semicircular - arches occur in the pier arcade and triforium, and some of the - abaci are square; otherwise the design is pure Gothic. Here, as at - Abbey Dore, St. Thomas’s, Portsmouth, Boxgrove and Wells, we see - the transition to the ‘pure and undefiled Gothic’ of St. Hugh’s - choir at Lincoln. In these beautiful churches the ancient - Romanesque style breathed its last. - - “The aisles of the new retro-choir were continued on either side of - the first bay of the Norman Lady-Chapel whose three bays had - probably been remodelled before the fire in Transitional fashion. - The capitals of the Lady-Chapel are of exceptional interest and - importance, as showing experimental foliation which had not yet - settled down into the conventional leafage of early Gothic. The - apse also of the south transept was replaced by a square chapel, - now used as a Library, in the vaulting of which the Norman zigzag - occurs. - - “A little later in the Lancet period was built (1199-1245) the - lovely south porch, with small exquisite mouldings, and the - charming foliated capitals and corbels. The difference between - early Transitional, late Transitional and Lancet foliation may be - well seen by examining successively the capitals of the - Lady-Chapel, the triforium of the retro-choir and the south porch. - The north porch is almost equally fine. The vaulting ribs, square - in section, show that the two porches both belong to the very first - years of the Thirteenth Century. Rather later, the sacristy was - built on to the south porch, with a massive vault supported by - foliated corbels.”--(F. B.) - -Chichester’s saint was one of its own bishops--Richard de la Wych--who -died in 1253. He was canonized in 1261. In 1276, his remains were -removed from their first resting-place to the shrine in the south -transept opposite the beautiful Early Decorated window (one of the -loveliest examples of this style in England). Edward I., his Queen and -the Court were present at the Translation. From that time the shrine -received many visits from pilgrims. - -The central tower was built during the first half of the Fourteenth -Century, and the spire was completed at the end of the Fourteenth -Century. The campanile was built by Bishop John de Langton (1305-1336). -Bishop Sherborne (1507-1536) added the upper portion of the choir-stalls -and the decorations of the south transept. These are the ornamentations -referred to by Fuller, who quaintly says Bishop Seffrid “bestowed the -cloth and making on the church, while Bishop Sherborne gave the trimming -and best lace thereto, in the reign of Henry VII.” - -In 1643, the Parliamentarian troops broke the organ, defaced the -monuments and hacked the seats and stalls, which, of course, -necessitated restorations and repairs. Repairs, restorations and -alterations were also made from 1843 to 1856, the most important of -which was the reconstruction of the central tower and spire under Sir -Gilbert Scott. In 1867 the floor of the Lady-Chapel was lowered to its -original level and the Gilbert Chapel restored; and during the last half -of the Nineteenth Century, the cloister was restored and the roof of the -Lady-Chapel, and a new north-western tower designed by Mr. J. L. -Pearson. - - “The Cathedral stands on the south of West Street, where a fine - view may be had of the whole of the north side of the building and - of the detached Campanile. The Close occupies entirely the - south-west quadrant of the city, being bounded by South and West - Streets and the City Wall. The central tower and spire, rising to a - height of 277 feet, are conspicuous for many miles around, but the - west front is much shut in. Perhaps the most pleasing view is that - seen from the meadows on the south of the city, from which point - the Campanile fits in admirably with the general mass of the - building.”--(J. C.-B.) - -This =Campanile=, in which eight bells hang, stands on the north side of -the Cathedral, and was built in the Fourteenth Century. It covers a -square of 50 feet and consists of two cubes with an octagonal lantern (8 -feet). - -The =Central Tower= and its delicate =Spire= have had a peculiar history. -Exposed to the south-west gales from the Channel, the authorities in the -Seventeenth Century had fears for its safety; and, consequently the -upper part was taken down and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, who -placed within it a pendulum-stage of wood and iron to steady it. This -ingenious invention lasted until 1861; and it is said that Wren’s -contrivance prevented the spire from toppling over when the collapse -occurred. - -About 1859 this spire showed signs of weakness, and underpinning was of -no avail. On the 21st of February it inclined slightly to the -south-west, then seemed to right itself; and then, amid a great cloud of -dust, descended perpendicularly into the walls of the tower, doing no -harm to the roof of the church. The fall only lasted a few seconds. As -this happened in Queen Victoria’s reign, the old Sussex prophecy was -fulfiled: - - “If Chichester Church steeple fall - In England there’s no King at all.” - -The rebuilding was entrusted to Sir Gilbert Scott with a stipulation -that the new tower and spire should be exact reproductions of the -originals. Scott, however, added six feet to the height. - - “The central tower, which is battlemented, with octagonal turrets - at the angles, also battlemented, has in its principal or second - story, two couplets in each face, with a quatrefoil in the head, - each under a pointed arch. The spire is of beautiful design, - octagonal; in each face is a window of two lights, flanked by - pinnacled turrets, crocketed and canopied. Its elegance has - constantly led to its being compared with that of Salisbury, which, - however, differs from it in age and many other particulars, as well - as size. It forms not only the central but the principal feature of - the church, all whose lines are designed to work in with it, a very - perfect effect of unity, as at Salisbury, being attained. It is - locally said that the master built Salisbury and the man, - Chichester.”--(W. J. L.) - -The =West Front= is composed of three stories, a gable, porch and two -towers. The northern tower is modern, copied from its twin, which is -Early English above the third story. The great =West Window= is modern, -copied from Fourteenth Century examples. The central porch (Early -English) is of the same date and character as the south porch, which -opens into the cloisters. The north porch (Early English) lies between -the aisle and the north-west tower. - -The north wall of the nave has some curious buttresses. In the south -transept notice a richly traceried window (Decorated), of seven lights, -with a beautiful rose window above. A trefoiled string-course ornaments -the parapet in the transept and choir. The =East Window= consists of three -lancet windows, with a rose window of seven foliated circles of the -choir in the gable; it is flanked by arcaded pinnacles with small -spires. - -The first view of the interior of Chichester is somewhat severe. - - “On entering the nave the eye is at once caught by the five aisles, - a peculiarity shared by no other English cathedral but that of - Manchester, although some parish churches have it on a smaller - scale, as Taunton and Coventry. On the Continent the increased - number of aisles is common, witness Beauvais, Cologne, Milan, - Seville, and seven-aisled Antwerp. Grand effects of light and shade - are produced by these five aisles: remark especially the view from - the extreme north-east corner of the north aisle, looking across - the cathedral. The great depth of the triforium shadows is owing to - the unusual width of this wall passage. The breadth of the nave (91 - feet) is greater than that of any English cathedral except York - (103 feet). - - “The first two stories of the south-west tower at the end of the - nave deserve examination. The rude, long capitals, and plain - circular arches, probably indicate that it formed a part of the - first church completed by Bishop Ralph in 1108. The nave itself, as - far as the top of the triforium, and the two aisles immediately - adjoining, are the work of the same Bishop (died 1123),--or should - perhaps be described as having formed part of the Norman cathedral - completed in 1148. The clerestory above, and the shafts of Purbeck - marble which lighten the piers, are Seffrid’s additions (died - 1204). The vaulting is perhaps somewhat later; and it was because - it was determined, after the burning of 1187, to replace with a - stone vault the wooden roofs to which the frequent fires had been - owing that Seffrid carried up his vaulting-shafts along the face of - the Norman piers, some of which he re-cased. The two exterior - aisles, north and south, were probably added by Bishop Neville - (died 1244), when it became necessary to provide additional room - for chantries and relic shrines. The positions of the various - altars are marked by piscinas and aumbries in the walls. The two, - however, occur together in the south aisle alone; in the north are - aumbries only, an arrangement possibly resulting from the feeling - with which that quarter was always anciently regarded. A certainly - triplicity pervades all this part of the cathedral, which was - dedicated by Bishop Seffrid to the Holy Trinity. The side shafts - are triple throughout. The bearing-shafts of the vaulting are - clustered in threes, and branch out with three triple vaulting-ribs - above. The transitional character of Bishop Seffrid’s work is - especially marked in the clerestory, the inner arcade of which is - pointed, whilst the windows themselves are round-headed.”--(R. J. - K.) - -The nave is full of monuments and tablets, some of which are by Flaxman. -The one in the =Chapel of the Four Virgins= (north side) is a memorial to -Collins the poet. Near it are the two figures of the =Earl of Arundel= and -=Maud=, his wife. Arundel was beheaded in 1297. He is represented in full -armour and at his feet is a lion. - - “The most beautiful monument now remaining in the church is that - which is said to represent Maud, Countess of Arundel (1270). The - modelling of the whole figure and the long flowing lines of her - robes are worthy of careful study. The hands are clasped over the - breast with the forearms bent upwards slightly towards the face. On - each of the long sides of the base supporting the figure are six - elongated quatrefoil panels, containing in all six female figures - and six shields. Between the quatrefoils are winged heads of ten - angelic figures. The blazoning of the shields is entirely gone, and - the brilliant colouring that once covered the entire monument is - only to be traced in a few places. The outer robe still shows - -[Illustration: CHICHESTER.] - -[Illustration: CHICHESTER: NAVE, EAST] - - some signs of the rich blue with which it used to be covered. The - face of the figure appears to be badly mutilated, but the damage to - the features has been done principally by an endeavour to preserve - them.”--(H. C. C.) - -In the =choir= we find stalls that have been in use since the Fourteenth -Century. On the backs of the =choir-stalls= pictures by Bernardi represent -Ceadwalla and Henry VIII. confirming privileges to the bishops of their -day. - -In the =south transept= is a beautiful window, better seen from the -Cloisters because the bad glass spoils the effect of the tracery. - -At the end of the south side in the =Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene= St. -Richard’s head was preserved in a silver reliquary in the aumbry in the -north wall. - -The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene is balanced by the =Chapel of St. -Katherine= at the end of the north-choir-aisle. In the =south-choir-aisle=, -two curiously carved =Slabs=, representing the _Raising of Lazarus_ and -_Martha and Mary meeting Jesus_, are supposed to have been brought from -the first Cathedral in Selsey when the See was transferred to Chichester -in 1082. - -A doorway in the north-choir-aisle leads to the old =Chapel of St. John -the Baptist and St. Edmund the King=. The vaulting is unlike any other in -the Cathedral. The zigzag, or chevron, occurs upon the moulding of the -ribs. A finely carved head appears on the spring of the arch. This -chapel is now used as the =Library=. - - “At Chichester there were built, one after another, four sets of - chapels--of St. George and St. Clement on the south of the south - aisle, and of St. Thomas, St. Anne and St. Edmund on the north of - the north aisle. The WINDOWS should be studied in the above order; - they form quite an excellent object-lesson of the evolution of - bar-tracery from plate-tracery, itself a derivative from such - designs as that of the east window of the south transept chapel. - When the chapels were completed, the Norman aisle-walls were - pierced, and arches were inserted where Norman windows had been; - and the Lancet buttresses, which had been added when the nave vault - was erected, now found themselves inside the church, buttressing - piers instead of walls. The new windows on the south side were - built so high that the vaulting of the chapels had to be tilted up - to allow room for their heads; externally they were originally - crowned with gables, the weatherings of which may be seen outside. - In St. Thomas’s chapel is a charming example of a simple Thirteenth - Century reredos.”--(F. B.) - -Above the south porch there is a small chamber popularly known as the -“=Lollards’ Prison=.” - -Between the back of the reredos (modern) and the entrance to the -Lady-Chapel is the Retro-choir, or presbytery, which many critics -consider the chief glory of Chichester. - - “The design in detail of these two bays is very different in - character from the three in the choir, which are like those in the - nave. The two piers of Purbeck marble are circular, and about them - are grouped four detached shafts of the same material. They are - united only at the base and by the abacus above the capitals, which - are beautifully carved. The main arches in the two bays are not - pointed, but round, like those in the nave and choir; but, unlike - the latter, they have deeply cut mouldings in three orders. The - triforium arcade above, on the north and south sides, has moulded - and carved details of a similar character. Some of the beautifully - carved figure-work still remains in the spandrels between the - subsidiary pointed arches. But the most beautiful piece of design - in all this work is in the arches of the triforium passage across - the east wall, above the entrance to the Lady-Chapel.”--(F. B.) - -=St. Richard’s Shrine= stood on a platform in the bay in the presbytery -immediately behind the High Altar. This platform was removed at the -time of the general restoration in 1861-1867. - -The =Lady-Chapel= was once decorated with designs in colour, remains of -which are still to be seen. The new =Reredos= is of alabaster. The glass -of the window is also modern. Here is the =Tomb of Bishop Ralph=, founder -of the original Norman church. - -The visitor should walk around the =Cloisters= for the sake of the -exterior views of the Cathedral. The south transept window is well seen -here. Note the beautiful tracery of the circular window above it. The -position of the Cloisters, lying eastward under the Transept and Choir, -instead of westward along the Nave, is unusual. - - “The cloister which was added in the Fifteenth Century is of a - peculiarly irregular shape, and encloses the south transept within - the paradise. It has been much restored at different times. The - present roof is of tiles and is carried on common rafters. Each has - a cross tie, and the struts are shaped so as to give a pointed arch - form to each one. The old Fifteenth Century wooden cornice still - remains in some sections. The tracery is divided into four - compartments by mullions, and each head is filled with cusped work. - Round the cloister are placed the old houses of the Treasurer, the - Royal Chaplains, and Wiccamical Prebendaries. Above the door - leading to the house of the Royal Chaplains is an interesting - monument of the Tudor Period. It is a panel divided into two - compartments by a moulded stone fragment. Leading out of the south - walk is a doorway, through which the deanery may be seen beyond the - end of a long walled passage known as ST. RICHARD’S WALK. Looking - back northwards, there is fine view of the spire and transept from - the end of this walk.”--(H. C. C.) - -In the south-east corner the Cloister passes under the west end of =St. -Faith’s Chapel=, founded in the Fourteenth Century. - - - - -SALISBURY - - DEDICATION: ST. MARY; A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: SPIRE; CHAPTER-HOUSE. - - -Salisbury, on the edge of the great Salisbury Plain, haunted by -Ingoldsby’s “Dead Drummer” and not far from weird Stonehenge, is famous -for its beautiful Early English Cathedral. - - “The visitor who sees it first on a bright day can never forget the - impression it has made on his mind. Unlike the architects of the - so-called ‘Great Gothic Revival,’ the builders of Salisbury put - their trust in proportion. Incidentally they made their details as - elaborate and as perfect as possible; but they were subordinated to - the general effect, and when, during the frightful ravages of the - ‘restorers,’ let loose upon the church in the past and present - centuries, many of the best and most precious of these details and - ornaments perished or were renewed, the main building survives, - raising its exquisitely graceful spire into the blue sky, its - thousand pinnacles all pointing upward and gleaming white against - the deep green of the old trees and the emerald turf of the - surrounding close. England can show no fairer sight. ‘How long,’ - asked an American visitor, ‘does it take to grow such turf?’ ‘Oh! - not long,’ was the reply; ‘only a couple of centuries.’ One feels - at Salisbury that whether the answer was given there or at Oxford, - of no place could it be more true. Though, when we look near - enough, we can see that fresh and white as is the general effect, - the masonry of Salisbury is of great antiquity, except of course - where it has been restored; and antiquity adds another charm, for - Salisbury was the first complete cathedral built after the - Romanesque tradition had died out, as St. Paul’s is the first built - after it had been revived. In other cathedrals there are fragments - of the same style, and they are always the most - -[Illustration: CHICHESTER: SCREEN] - -[Illustration: SALISBURY: NORTH] - - beautiful features of the whole building. We can recall the western - porch at Ely, and the Angel Choir at Lincoln, and the chapter-house - at Southwell; but, here, at Salisbury, we have the whole vast - cathedral, all in the same supreme style, every part fitting into - its place, and adding its contribution to the general effect, never - in contrast but always in harmony until the effect is attained. - What that is may be read in countless books of travel or criticism. - Salisbury Cathedral, like the Parthenon and all other--there are - not many--buildings which tempt one to call them poems in - stone--produces a different feeling in the minds of all who see - it.”--(W. J. L.) - -Salisbury was built on a site unoccupied by a former church. The -“Bishop’s Stool” had long been at Old Sarum on Salisbury Plain, a -fortified castle and cathedral; but the castle became too important and -Bishop Poore and his canons removed the See in the early part of the -Thirteenth Century. An old legend says that the site of the new -Cathedral was determined by an arrow shot by an archer from the ramparts -into the green vale below. - -The first stone was laid for the Pope, who had consented to the removal -of the church from Old Sarum; the second, for Stephen Langton, -Archbishop of Canterbury, then with young Henry III. in Wales; the -third, for Bishop Poore; the fourth was laid by William Longespée, Earl -of Salisbury; and the fifth, by the Countess Ela, his wife. When the -King returned from Wales many of his courtiers visited Salisbury, “and -each laid his stone, binding himself to some special contribution for a -period of seven years.” - -The building was undertaken by Elias of Dereham, clerk of the works; and -his successors were Nicholas of Portland and Richard of Fairleigh. The -latter completed the spire in 1375. - -The Cathedral was consecrated in 1258, by the Archbishop of Canterbury -in the presence of Henry III. and his Queen. - -The Cloisters and Chapter-House were built in the Thirteenth Century and -the Spire (which seems, however, to have formed part of the original -plan) in the Fourteenth. - - “The history of no English cathedral is so clear and so readily - traceable as that of Salisbury. It was the first great church built - in England in what was then the new or pointed style (Early - English); of which it still remains, as a whole, one of the finest - and most complete examples. The Abbey Church of Westminster, - commenced in 1245, and completed to the east end of the choir in - 1269, is the only great building of this age in England which can - be considered finer than Salisbury; and it is probable that Henry - III. was induced to undertake the rebuilding of Westminster from - admiration of the rising glories of the new Wiltshire cathedral, - which he had several times visited. On the Continent, the great - rival of Salisbury is Amiens; commenced in the same year (1220) and - completed, nearly as at present, in 1272. - - “The usual alterations took place in Salisbury Cathedral at the - Reformation, when much of the painted glass is said to have been - removed by Bishop Jewell. Although desolate and abandoned, it - escaped material profanation during the Civil War, and workmen were - even employed to keep it in repair. On the Restoration, a report of - the general condition of the cathedral was supplied by Sir - Christopher Wren, and certain additions for the strengthening of - the spire were made at his recommendation. The great work of - destruction was reserved for a later period and more competent - hands. Under Bishop Barrington (1782-1791) the architect Wyatt was, - unhappily, let loose upon Salisbury; and his untiring use of axe - and hammer will stand a very fair comparison with the labours of an - iconoclast emperor, or with the burning zeal of an early Mohammedan - caliph. He swept away screens, chapels and porches; desecrated and - destroyed the tombs of warriors and prelates; obliterated ancient - paintings; flung stained glass by cartloads into the city ditch; - and levelled with the ground the Campanile--of the same date as the - Cathedral itself--which stood on the north side of the churchyard. - His operations at the time were pronounced ‘tasteful, effective and - judicious.’ The best point of view is from the north-east, which - Rickman has pronounced ‘the best general view of a cathedral to be - had in England, displaying the various portions of this interesting - building to the greatest advantage.’ The Cathedral is built (and - roofed) throughout with freestone obtained from the Chilmark - quarries, situated about twelve miles from Salisbury towards - Hendon, and still worked. The stone belongs to the Portland beds of - the oölite. The pillars and pilasters of the interior are of - Purbeck marble. The local rhyme in which the cathedral is - celebrated may here be quoted; it is attributed by Godwin, who - gives a Latin version of it, to a certain Daniel Rogers: - - “‘As many days as in one year there be, - So many windows in this church you see. - As many marble pillars here appear - As there are hours through the fleeting year. - As many gates as moons one here does view, - Strange tale to tell, yet not more strange than true.’ - - The great point to which the attention of the stranger is at once - drawn is, of course, the grand peculiarity of Salisbury, the - ‘silent finger’ of its _spire_. This is the loftiest in England, - rising 400 feet above the pavement (Chichester said, but very - doubtfully, to have been built in imitation of it, is 271 feet in - height; Norwich 313 feet) and its summit is 30 feet above the top - of St. Paul’s.”--(R. J. K.) - -Dean Stanley said that Westminster is all-glorious within and Salisbury, -all-glorious without. - - “Much has been written on the beauty of the Cathedral church of - Salisbury, the chastity of its style and the purity of its detail. - The east end may be said to display the utmost refinement of the - Early English era. Every subordinate feature is so perfectly - disposed, so admirably carried out and adapted to its purpose, so - necessary to the full effect of the whole, so simple and yet so - rich, that nothing, even by the most critical, can be found wanting - there or considered _de trop_. The northern side is scarcely less - perfect; the simple lancet openings of its eastern transept, the - more fully developed quatrefoils of the central gable and the still - more advanced northern porch beyond these, all mark the progress of - construction. At the intersection rises the still later tower and - spire, the final limb of the whole, on an embattled lower stage of - earlier date. It is rich to the utmost limit. Every ballflower, - every projecting shaft and moulding sparkles for itself and casts - its own diminutive shadow upon its fellow, entirely relieving the - wall-surface of that flatness which is and must be the fault in - every view purporting to suggest its elegance. The church stands - alone; like a model of itself; in its entirety perhaps the most - stately of which we can boast.”--(A. A.) - -In the close, which is about half a square mile, there are three gates: -the South, or =Harnham=; the East, or =St. Anne’s=; and the North, or =Close -Gate=, built about 1327. - - “The first thing to be noticed in Salisbury is the ample breadth of - the space in which its cathedral stands, the beauty of which space - is enhanced by rows and avenues of magnificent trees; so that it is - difficult to conceive a more appropriate enclosure in which to find - ‘the most chaste of English’ churches. Salisbury covers no less - than eight acres of ground. - - “Entering from the High Street, the visitor finds himself almost in - another township. A street lined with houses conducts to the - Cathedral lawn, where from the north-eastern extremity the full - proportions of the church may be comprehended. The whole north side - of the close is thus open. On the east we find another gateway and - the entrance to the Palace; on the other side the Choristers’ - Green, in itself another little close. The west is occupied by a - group of interesting and extremely handsome houses of various - dates. Here are the Deanery, standing in its own grounds opposite - the Cathedral façade; the King’s House, a long, many-gabled mansion - of the early Fifteenth Century, with mullioned windows and a - vaulted porch, the occasional resting-place of the English monarchs - on their passage through Salisbury; and the Wardrobe, distinguished - by its heavy roof, its projecting double gables, and the immense - square windows, back and front, through which the evening sun - penetrates with a curious half-ghostly gleam. These form the most - effective line of buildings of the enclosure, which at this least - trim but not the less picturesque side, terminates at the Harnham - Gate.”--(A. A.) - -Raising our eyes to the =Tower= and =Spire=, we note: - - “The Early English portion, however, terminates with the first - story, about eight feet above the roof; the two additional stories - and the spire above them date from the reign of Edward III. The - walls of the upper stories of the tower are covered with a blind - arcade, richly canopied, and pierced for light with double windows - on all four sides. Above each story is a parapet with - lozenge-shaped traceries, which are repeated in the three bands - encircling the spire. At each angle of the tower is an octagonal - stair-turret, crowned with a small crocketed spire. The great - spire, itself octagonal, rises from between four small - richly-decorated pinnacles. Its walls are two feet in thickness - from the bottom to a height of twenty feet; from thence to the - summit their thickness is only nine inches. The spire is filled - with a remarkable frame of timber-work, which served as a scaffold - during its erection. While making some repairs in 1762, the workmen - found a cavity on the south side of the capstone in which was a - leaden box, enclosing a second of wood which contained a piece of - much decayed silk or fine linen, no doubt a relic (possibly of the - Virgin, to whom the cathedral is dedicated) placed there in order - to avert lightning and tempest.”--(R. J. K.) - -Entering by the west door we look down the =Nave=. - - “The interior is indeed very fine. It could hardly help being fine; - a nave so spacious and so proportioned could under no circumstances - be a failure. It is immensely high and as long in proportion. The - proportion of height to span (2½ to 1) is better than in most - English churches. The harmony of the design--practically the same - from east to west and from north to south--is unique in England, - and is most impressive. The charming way, too, in which the - architect has contrived that we should have a vista of another - miniature church in the Lady-Chapel--a cathedral within a - cathedral--is worthy of all commendation. But, as in Lincoln nave, - to the eye every support is alarmingly insufficient for the work it - has to do; the piers are too tall and slender, the walls too thin - and pierced with too many openings. The triforium is a most - unfortunate design: in harmony neither with the arcade below, nor - with the clerestory above; its outer arches ugly in themselves and - discordant with every other arch in the church; nor could it be - expected that its dark marble shafts would tell against a dark - background--black on black. Add to this the dreadfully new look of - everything--partly due to the very perfection of the masonry, - partly because Scott has been here--and the overpowering glare: one - almost feels as if one were in the Crystal Palace.”--(F. B.) - -The most interesting tomb in the nave is that of =William Longespée=, the -first Earl of Salisbury, son of Henry II. and Fair Rosamond, who died at -his castle of Old Sarum in 1226. - - “The effigy is entirely in chain-mail, covering the mouth as well - as the chin in an unusual manner. Over the mail is the short - cyclas, or surcoat. On the earl’s shield are the six golden - lioncels also borne by his grandfather Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. - Longespée acquired the earldom of Salisbury through marriage with - its heiress, the Countess Ela. He took an active part in public - affairs throughout the reign of John; joined the Earl of Chester in - an expedition to the Holy Land, and was present at the battle of - Damietta in 1221, where the Christians were defeated. He fought - much in Flanders and in France; was present on the King’s side at - Runnymede; and was one of the witnesses to the Great Charter.”--(R. - J. K.) - -The curious monument of the =Boy Bishop= was removed to its present -position about 1680, when it was found buried under the seating of the -choir. It is Early English and represents an effigy of the boy in -bishop’s robes and mitre, holding a crozier in his left hand. The -boy-bishop was elected by the choir-boys in many of the English -cathedrals on St. Nicholas’s Day (Dec. 6) and he held office until Holy -Innocents’ Day (Dec. 28), during which time he was practically bishop. -Law provided that if a boy-bishop died during his term of power, he was -to be buried in his vestments and with all the pomp of an episcopal -funeral; and, therefore, we must conclude that this boy died during his -short rule. - -From the nave we enter the =North Transept=, - - “passing under the wide Perpendicular arch, which (as at Canterbury - and Wells) was inserted early in the Fifteenth Century by way of - counter-thrust against the weight of the central tower, under which - the central piers had already given away to some extent, as will be - at once perceived. It is owing to this settlement of the piers that - the spire is out of the perpendicular. The triforium and clerestory - of the nave are carried round the transept; the triforium on the - north side, being replaced by two-light window of very elegant - character. The clerestory window above, with its slender pilasters, - and graceful flow of lines, deserves especial notice. Each transept - has an eastern aisle divided by clustered piers into three bays. - The screens which formerly enclosed the chapel in each of these - bays were swept away by Wyatt. A staircase in the angle of the - transept leads upward to the tower, which may be ascended by - staircases in each of its flanking turrets. The top of the tower is - called the Eight Doors, from the double doors on each side, through - which the visitor will obtain magnificent views over the town and - surrounding country. The first story of the tower is of Early - English date, and originally formed a lantern, open to the nave. It - is surrounded by an arcade of slender pilasters. The ascent of the - spire--which is a formidable undertaking--is made internally by a - series of slender ladders as far as a little door about forty feet - below the vane, and from that point the adventurous climber has to - scale the outside by means of hooks attached to the walls. The - interior is filled with a timber frame consisting of a central - piece with arms and braces.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =South Transept= is a counterpart of the north transept. The windows -at the south end are filled with stained-glass. The glass in the upper -lights is Early English. - -The lierne vault above the central tower arches is Perpendicular. From -here we enter the =Choir=, passing under a screen of wrought metal -(modern). In the second arcade on each side of the =choir= is placed the -new and divided organ built by Willis. - - “The Choir and Presbytery are very similar to the nave in the main - features of their design. The piers show a different plan, which - provides for eight shafts of Purbeck marble to each. The inner - mouldings of the arches exhibit the dog-tooth ornamentation of - their period. The triforium and clerestory differ slightly from the - corresponding parts of the nave. In each of the last two bays of - the presbytery the triforium has five small cinquefoil arches. At - the east wall of the choir above the reredos is an arcade of five - simply-pointed arches, below a triplet window in the gable, which - is filled with stained glass, given by the Earl of Radnor in 1781, - and representing _The Brazen Serpent_, after a design by Mortimer. - - “The choir still bears traces of Wyatt’s destruction. He removed - the original reredos behind the high altar and the screen before - the Lady-Chapel, so that both, with the low eastern aisle, were - thrown into the choir. He shifted the high altar from the choir to - the extreme east end of the Lady-Chapel, sacrificing several - chantries and tombs to do so. Views of the cathedral after his - reign of terror fail to show any gain to compensate for so much - loss; the extreme length is not apparently an advantage, while the - bare look of the interior seems decidedly intensified by the - increased vista that he was so delighted to obtain, and for which, - with a light heart, he effaced the silent records of dead - centuries. The decorations of the roof of the choir and presbytery - are reproductions of the original series of paintings, dating, it - is thought, from the Thirteenth Century. The subjects are the - prophets and saints, Christ and the four Evangelists and the twelve - months.”--(G. W.) - -On the north side of the choir is =Bishop Audley’s Chantry=, built by the -bishop in 1520, four years before his death. It is late Perpendicular -and resembles the chantry of Bishop Fox at Winchester. The fan-tracery -of the roof was originally coloured. In the corresponding bay on the -south side is the chantry founded by =Walter, Lord Hungerford=, in 1429. -It was removed from the nave in 1778. - -The =Choir-Stalls= are composed of pieces of various dates with some -additions by Sir Christopher Wren and canopies by Wyatt. The =Reredos= is -modern, the gift of Earl Beauchamp in memory of his ancestor, whose -chantry Wyatt destroyed. It was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott. - -Many of the Earls of Pembroke and their wives are buried near the choir. - -In the =South-choir-aisle= an interesting monument to =Bishop Davenport=, -probably one of the translators of the Bible, is of white marble with -black Corinthian pillars. Near it is the tomb of =Sir Richard Mompesson= -and his wife. He is in armour and Katherine in a black robe with gold -flowers. The black Corinthian columns with vine leaves and grapes in -green and gold twisted around them are striking. Near the south -transept, still in the choir-aisle, is the altar-tomb of =Bishop Mitford= -(1407), with carved shields. On the cornice with the lilies, birds are -holding in their beaks scrolls with the words _Honor Deo et gloria_. - -In the floor of the north-east-choir-aisle is the =brass= to =Bishop -Wyvill=, generally regarded as one of the most wonderful existing -examples. Bishop Wyvill (1329-1375) recovered for this See the castle of -Sherborne and the chase of Bere. The brass, therefore, represents the -contested castle with keep and portcullis. At the door of the first ward -the bishop appears, bestowing his benediction on his champion, who -stands at the gate of the outer ward with battle-axe and shield. The -rabbits and hares before the castle refer to the chase of Bere, within -Windsor Forest. - -=Bishop Giles de Bridport= (died 1262) lies opposite William of York’s -tomb, between the choir-aisle and the eastern-aisle of the transept. His -monument is one of the most important and interesting in the Cathedral. - - “All the details of this remarkable monument deserve the most - careful examination. The effigy, at the head of which are small - figures of censing angels, lies beneath a canopy, supported north - and south by two open arches with quatrefoils in the heads. Each - arch is subdivided by a central pilaster, and springs from - clustered shafts, detached. A triangular hood-moulding, with - crockets and finials of leafage, projects above each arch; and - between and beyond the arches pilasters rise to the top of the - canopy, supporting finials of very excellent design. The whole - character of the tomb is most graceful, but an especial interest is - given to it by the reliefs with which the spandrels of the arches - are filled, and by the small sculptured figures on various parts of - the monument. The subjects, beginning on the south side, have been - thus interpreted. The first, a female figure with an infant and - attendants, represents the birth of the future bishop: in the three - next spandrels are his confirmation; either his own education or - his instruction of others; and, possibly, his first preferment. The - shield hung from a tree in this compartment, bears Az., a cross, - or, between 4 bezants, no doubt his own arms. On the north side of - the monument are the bishop doing homage for his see--a procession - with a cross-bearer, perhaps referring to the dedication of - Salisbury Cathedral--the bishop’s death and the presentation of his - soul for judgment. Little or nothing is known of the life of Bishop - Bridport.”--(R. J. K.) - -At the end of the north aisle of the Lady-Chapel and at the end of the -south aisle, directly opposite, are two monuments that will interest the -visitor. The first is a medley of obelisks, globes, spheres and the Four -Cardinal Virtues and effigies of =Sir Thomas Gorges= and his widow, -maid-of-honour to Queen Elizabeth. The second is a gorgeous tribute to -=Edward, Earl of Hertford=, son of the Protector Somerset and of his wife, -Catherine, Lady Jane Grey’s sister. The effigies are praying; the Earl -is in armour. The whole piece is gilded and coloured. - -Very little ancient glass remains in Salisbury. - - “The fragments that survived were collected some fifty years since, - and placed in the nave windows, and in parts of some of the others. - The most important are in the great west triple lancet, wherein the - glass ranges in date from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century. Mr. - Winston, in his Paper read in 1849 before the Archæological - Institute and printed in the Salisbury volume for that year, - considered that the earliest fragments are from a Stem of Jesse - about 1240 and some medallions about 1270. He describes two of the - ovals that are on each side of the throned bishop, a prominent - figure in the lower half of the central light, one of the Christ - enthroned, the other of the Virgin. The two medallions below them - he believes represent Zacharias in the Temple and the Adoration of - the Magi. The later glass now in the same window may be either - Flemish work brought hither from Dijon, or possibly partly from - Rouen, and partly from a church near Exeter. It has been - conjectured that in the south lancet the figures represent SS. - Peter and Francis, in the central one the Crucifixion, the - Coronation of the Virgin and the Invention of the Cross, and in the - north light the Betrayal of Christ and St. Catherine. In two of - the side windows of the nave are the arms of John Aprice - (1555-1558) and Bishop Jewell (1562).”--(G. W.) - -In the south-choir-aisle is =Jacob’s Dream= in memory of the Duke of -Albany and there are also two of the proposed six angel-windows--=Angeli -Ministrantes= and the =Angeli Laudantes=--designed by Sir Edward -Burne-Jones and made by William Morris. These are considered among the -best examples of glass-painting since the Middle Ages. - -The =Chapter-House= is a very fine type of an English chapter-house of the -Thirteenth Century, when geometrical tracery was in vogue. It probably -dates from the reign of Edward the First. - - “The architecture is somewhat later in style than that of the - cloisters, and if it be not, as its admirers claim, the most - beautiful in England, it has few rivals. Like Westminster, Wells - and other English examples, except York and Southwell, it has a - central pillar, from which the groining of the roof springs - gracefully in harmonious lines. A raised bench of stone runs round - the interior. At its back forty-nine niches of a canopied arcade - borne on slight Purbeck marble shafts marked out as many seats. - They are apportioned as follows: those at each side of the entrance - to the Chancellor and Treasurer respectively, the rest to the - Bishop, Dean, Archdeacons and other members of the chapter. - - “The plan of the building is octagonal, about fifty-eight feet in - diameter and fifty-two feet in height. Each side has a large - fan-light window with traceried head. Below these windows and above - the canopies of the seats is a very remarkable series of - bas-reliefs. The bosses of the roof are somewhat elaborately - carved: one north of the west doorway has groups of figures on it, - apparently intended to represent armourers, musicians, and - apothecaries, possibly commemorating guilds who were benefactors to - the building; the others have foliage chiefly with grotesque - monsters. On the base of the central - -[Illustration: SALISBURY: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: EXETER: SOUTH-WEST] - - pillar is a series of carvings taken probably from one of the many - books of fables so popular in the Middle Ages. These were - reproduced from the originals, which are preserved in the - cloisters.”--(G. W.) - -The vaulted roof is re-painted in accordance with the original. - -The =Cloisters= are on the south-west side of the Cathedral, their western -wall being on a line with the west front. These fine covered walks, the -largest in England (181 feet long), surround a great sward (140 feet -square), where a group of dark cedars contrasts beautifully with the -grey walls. The style is late Thirteenth Century. The windows formed of -double arches with quatrefoils united at the main head with a large -six-foiled circle are much admired. - - - - -EXETER - - DEDICATION: ST. PETER. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: SCREEN ON WEST FRONT; MISERERES; BISHOP’S THRONE; - MINSTRELS’ GALLERY; LADY-CHAPEL; EAST WINDOW. - - - “As the last cathedral church we visited, namely Salisbury, may be - taken as the most complete example of Early English work, so Exeter - in its present state is the best specimen of the Decorated style - that is to be met with in England. For though, unlike Salisbury, it - was not built afresh from the ground, yet under Bishops Quivil, - Bitton, Stapledon and Grandisson, between the years 1280 and 1369, - the fabric was so entirely remodelled that it may be regarded as - practically a new building; and since the work of remodelling began - about the time that the Early English style was passing into the - Decorated, and was completed before the time when the Perpendicular - had superseded the Decorated, it naturally is characterised by the - features of that style which flourished during the first half of - the Fourteenth Century. Much indeed of the work found at Exeter is - the very finest that the Fourteenth Century produced.”--(T. P.) - -As early as the reign of Athelstan a Benedictine monastery, dedicated to -St. Peter, existed at Crediton and was much injured by the Northmen in -the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. When the Sees for Devon and Cornwall -were removed from Crediton to Exeter in 1050, the old church of St. -Peter was chosen for the new Cathedral. Of the Saxon church, however, -nothing remains. William Warelwast (1107-1136), the third bishop after -the Conquest, began the new church about 1112, in the “marvellous and -sumptuous” architecture of the Normans. During its erection it suffered -from fire when Stephen besieged Exeter in 1136. Of this building the two -transept towers remain. Bishop Peter Quivil built the greater part of -the present Cathedral before 1291; Bishop Stapledon, who was murdered by -the Londoners at the “great cross in Chepe” in 1326, the eastern part of -the Choir, the sedilia and the choir-screen; Bishop Grandisson finished -the Nave about 1350 and the west front, in all probability, a little -later; and Bishop Brantingham, the Cloisters. The Lady-Chapel was built -during the episcopates of Bronescomb and Quivil, and the chapels of St. -Mary Magdalene and of St. Gabriel the Archangel, north and south of the -Lady-Chapel, are the work of Bishop Bronescomb. - -Many of the ancient decorations and arrangements were either removed, or -defaced, by Queen Elizabeth’s “visitors,” who, in 1559, were appointed -to compel the general observance of the Protestant formularies. During -the Commonwealth the Cathedral was divided into two portions by a brick -wall so that an Independent preacher named Stuckeley, one of Cromwell’s -chaplains, could preach in “West Peter’s,” and a Presbyterian, named -Ford, in the Choir, or “East Peter’s,” as the Puritans now named these -portions of the Cathedral. - -The finest view is perhaps from Waddlesdown, about four miles from -Exeter. Taking a view of the exterior, - - “The visitor should especially remark the Norman towers, the - cresting of the roof, the flying-buttresses and the north porch. - The Norman towers, in connection with the long unbroken roof, - should perhaps be regarded as constituting the specialty of Exeter. - At all events, the peculiarity of their present position is so - great and so striking as at once to attract attention; and the - question of their place in the original Norman church is one of - very considerable interest. Each tower consists of six stages, the - two lowest of which are plain: the other four have blind arcades - and circular window openings, the details and arrangements of which - vary in the two towers. At the angles are square buttresses, which - rise above the uppermost story. The south tower is Norman - throughout; that on the north was altered by Bishop Courtenay for - the reception of the great bell from Llandaff, and its final stage - is Perpendicular. The _fleur-de-lis_ cresting of the roof is of - lead (with which the whole of the roof is covered), and its form is - very graceful and effective. The flying-buttresses derive a very - grand effect from the fact that the aisle-roofs slope outwards, and - not, as usual, inwards. Resulting also from this peculiarity are, - the great height of the aisles on the exterior, and an unusual - development of the clerestory, without any intervening space - between it and the aisle-roofs; and within the nave, the absence of - the triforium; the place of which is, however, indicated by the - blind arcade above the piers. The north porch with its triple - canopy is part of Grandisson’s work, and very beautiful.”--(R. J. - K.) - -Many people are at first disappointed with their first view of the =West -Front= and more particularly of the =Screen= with its noble array of -statues. The impression that it produces has been well described by W. -D. Howells, who writes on his visit to Exeter: - - “To the first glance it is all a soft gray blur of age-worn - carving, in which no point or angle seems to have failed of the - touch which has blent all archaic sanctities and royalties of the - glorious screen in a dim sumptuous harmony of figures and faces.” - -Now let us examine it more in detail. - - “The west front, usually regarded as the latest work of Bishop - Grandisson, who died in 1369, is of very high interest; and - although it cannot compete with those of Wells or Lincoln (both of - earlier date), may justly claim great beauty as an architectural - composition. It recedes in three stories, the lowest of which is - formed by the sculptured screen; the second contains the great west - window, on each side of which is a graduated arcade; and in the - third, or gable, is a triangular window surmounted by a niche, - containing a figure of St. Peter, the patron saint of the - cathedral. The SCREEN deserves the most careful examination. It is - pierced by three doorways, and surrounded by a series of niches, in - which are the statues of kings, warriors, saints and apostles, - guardians, as it were, of the entrance to the sanctuary. These - figures are arranged in three rows. From pedestals crowned with - battlements spring angels, each of whom supports a triple pilaster, - with capitals. The statues on these capitals, forming the second - row, are for the most part those of kings and knights; above the - canopies which surmount them appears the third row, chiefly saints - and apostles. The positions of the angels are admirably varied. - - “The two statues with shields of arms in niches above the upper row - are certainly those of Athelstan and Edward the Confessor, the - Saxon king who expelled the Britons from Exeter, and the founder of - the existing bishopric. In all these figures the general - arrangement of the hair as well as the fashion of the crowns and of - the armour, are those of the reign of Edward III., in which the - work was probably completed. - - “The platform above the screen no doubt served, as in many foreign - cathedrals, as a station from which the church minstrels and - choristers might duly welcome distinguished persons on their - arrival; and from which the bishop might bestow his benediction on - the people. The three doorways are much enriched. Round that in the - centre, within the porch, is a moulding of carved foliage which - deserves notice. On the central boss of the groining is a - representation of the Crucifixion. The recess within the south - doorway contains two sculptures, The Appearance of the Angel to - Joseph in a Dream and The Adoration of the Shepherds. Both, like - the figures on the screen, have suffered not a little from time, - and the assaults of Cromwell’s Puritans.”--(R. J. K.) - -Exeter is distinguished among English cathedrals in not having a central -tower. This gives the exterior a unique appearance and the interior -gains by the absence of tower piers to block the view. Exeter has, -therefore, the most open and impressive vista of any English cathedral. -The screen being low, the whole design is immediately comprehended. It -has been compared to the Cathedral of Bourges. - -In our walks through Exeter it may be well to remember that Quivil’s -architect determined to see what he could do with lowness and breadth. - - “Everything should be broad and low, outside as well as inside. - Look at the east end of the choir--its two arches broad and low; - above it the great window--broad and low. Nowhere but at Exeter do - you find these squat windows with their truncated jambs; here they - are everywhere--in the aisles, in the clerestory, in choir, - chapels, transepts and nave; even in the great window of the - western front: broad and low windows everywhere. Still more - original is the external realisation of the design; central tower - and spire, western towers and spires, alike are absent. Long and - low, massive and stable stretches out uninterruptedly the long - horizontal line of nave and choir. Breadth gives in itself the - satisfactory feeling of massiveness, steadfastness and solidity; - and this is just what is wanting in the all-too aërial work of - Salisbury and Beauvais; vaulted roofs at a dizzy height resting on - unsubstantial supports and sheets of glass. But the Exeter - architect has emphasised this satisfactory feeling of stability - still further. The window tracery is heavy and strong; the vault is - barred all over with massive ribs; in the piers there are no - pretty, fragile, detached shafts; the massive clustered columns - look as if they were designed, as they were, to carry the weight of - a Norman wall.”--(F. B.) - -The heaviness was counteracted by transparency: the arrangement of the -windows flood the Cathedral with light; for the aisle and clerestory -are almost a continuous sheet of glass. - - “Another distinctive feature in Exeter as in Salisbury, is that the - architect produces his effect mainly by architectural means--is not - driven to rely on sculpture. All the principal capitals have - mouldings not foliage. Only in the great corbels of the vaulting - shafts and in the bosses of the vault does he permit himself - foliage and sculpture. Wonderful carving it is; the finest work of - the best period, when the naturalistic treatment of foliage was - fresh and young. Very remarkable these corbels are, with their - life-like treatment of vine and grape, oak and acorn, hazel leaf - and nut. Unfortunately the corbels, and still more the bosses, are - so high up that their lovely detail is thrown away; and they are - out of scale. - - “And the patterns of the window tracery are wonderfully diverse. It - is not, as in Lichfield nave or King’s College Chapel, where every - window is like its neighbour; when you have seen one, you have seen - all. Here, all down each side of the church every window differs. - In dimensions, in general character, they agree; in details they - differ; each window is a fresh delight; we have, what even in - Gothic architecture we rarely get--diversity within - simplicity.”--(F. B.) - -First we examine the splendid =Nave=. - - “The first view of the NAVE is rich and striking. Its present - length is 140 feet. The view looking east is intercepted by the - organ, which is placed above the screen at the entrance to the - choir; but the general impression, notwithstanding a want of - height, is that of great richness and beauty. The roof especially, - springing from slender vaulting shafts, studded with delicately - carved and varied bosses, and extending unbroken to the east end of - the choir, is exceeded in grace and lightness by no other of the - same date in the kingdom and by few on the Continent. The carved - bosses, all of which retain traces of colour, represent foliage, - animals (near the centre of the nave is a sow with a litter of - pigs), grotesque figures, heraldic shields, subjects from early - ‘bestiaries’ and romances, such as the centaur with a sword, and - the knight riding on a lion toward the eastern end, heads of the - Virgin and Saviour, the Passion and Crucifixion, and in the centre - of the second bay, the murder of Becket. Grandisson wrote a life of - the great Archbishop, which remains in MS., but was very popular in - its day. The episcopal figure on the adjoining boss may either - represent Becket or Grandisson himself. Clustered pillars of - Purbeck marble (contrasting well with the lighter stone from - Silverton and Bere) of which the walls and roof are constructed, - separate the nave from the aisles and divide it into seven - compartments or ‘bays.’ - - “The corbels between the arches, which support the vaulting shafts - of the roof, are, perhaps, peculiar to this cathedral, and should - be especially noticed. They are wrought into figures, twisted - branches and long sprays of foliage, and afford excellent examples - of the very best period of naturalism. Every leaf is varied and the - character of the different kinds (here for the most part oak and - vine) is admirably retained. The second corbel on the south side of - the nave exhibits the Virgin treading on an evil spirit, and - carrying the Divine Infant. Above is her coronation. The - easternmost nave-corbels display on the north side Moses with his - hands supported by Aaron and Hur; and on the south the risen - Saviour, with cross and banner. The brackets at the foot of these - corbels are crowned heads; and possibly represent Edward I. and - Edward II., the first beardless as usual, the other more defaced. - The second corbel on the north side represents St. Cecilia, with a - somewhat grotesque angel listening to her music. - - “A blind arcade, taking the place of the triforium, deeply recessed - and arranged in groups of four arches under each bay, runs above - the nave arches; and in the central bay on the north side projects - the Minstrels’ Gallery, an arrangement for the accommodation of - musicians on high festivals, which occur in this perfection nowhere - else in England. There are, indeed, other examples at Wells and at - Winchester, but of far less interest and importance. Each of the - twelve niches into which its front is divided contains the figure - of a winged angel playing on a musical instrument and surmounted by - a rich canopy. The instruments beginning from the west are, a - cittern, bagpipes, flageolet, crowth or violin, harp, an unknown or - unseen instrument (the fingers are put close to the mouth), - trumpet, organ, guitar, wind instrument, tambour and cymbals. The - two corbelled heads below, supporting niches, are possibly those of - Edward III. and Philippa. The manner in which the hands and arms - are raised above the heads is unusual. Above the arcade and - minstrels’ gallery is the clerestory, along which a gallery is - pierced in the thickness of the wall. - - “The windows of the nave, all of the best and purest (geometrical) - Decorated, are said to exhibit a greater variety of tracery than - can be found in any other building in the kingdom. They are - arranged in pairs, on opposite sides of the cathedral; so that no - two side by side will be found to resemble each other. The varied - and graceful patterns of the lead-work should also be noticed. The - stained glass in the great west window is, for the most part, - modern and worthless (it dates from 1766) injuring the beauty of - the window itself by its entire want of harmony and meaning. The - ruby glass in this window is said to be some of the latest that was - manufactured in England before M. Bontemps revived the art.”--(R. - J. K.) - -Walking back to the west end, we stop to examine the =Chantry of St. -Radegunde=, - - “constructed in the thickness of the screen by Bishop Grandisson - for the place of his own sepulture. His tomb formerly existed here, - but it was destroyed by Elizabeth’s visitors and the high-born - prelate’s ashes scattered ‘no man knoweth where.’”--(R. J. K.) - -Opening from the first bay of the Nave is the small =Chapel of St. -Edmund=, of earlier date than the Nave. In the fifth bay, on the same -side, is the =North Porch=. In the last bay on the south side is an Early -English doorway that formerly opened into the cloisters; and between the -first two buttresses on the south side a finely carved consecration -cross attracts our notice. - -The Pulpit dates from 1684. - -The =Transepts=, one bay each, occupy the space under the towers. East of -the =North transept= is the =Chapel of St. Paul=, built by Quivil and now -used as a vestry. In the corner we find the tomb and chantry of =Sylke=, a -sub-chanter, who founded this chantry in 1485 and was buried in it in -1508. His effigy lies here. Against the east wall are memorials to the -soldiers of the 20th, or East Devon Regiment who fell in the Crimean -War. Here is also the famous clock which has two dials. It is supposed -to date from the reign of Edward III. - -A door below the clock opens to the stairs into the =North tower=, in -which is hung the =Great=, or =Peter Bell=, the second largest bell in -England. It weighs 12,500 pounds. - - “The Peter bell was crazed on Nov. 5, 1611, most probably from a - too violent ringing in commemoration of the Gunpower Plot, and was - recast in 1676. Its diameter at the mouth is 6 feet 3 inches; its - height nearly 4 feet 8 inches. It is, of course, never rung, but - the hours are struck on it by an enormous hammer. The visitor who - happens to be in the tower at the time of striking will experience - a new sensation,--the humming of the great mass of metal lingers - for many minutes among the huge beams and rafters. A superb view of - the city surrounded by trees and gardens, of the river and of its - junction with the sea at Exmouth, is obtained from the top of the - tower, the upper part of which (of Perpendicular character) was - raised and adapted by Bishop Courtenay for the reception of Great - Peter, which he brought from Llandaff.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =South Transept= is a counterpart of the north, and the =Chapel of St. -John the Baptist= - -[Illustration: EXETER: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: EXETER: CHOIR, EAST] - -(also Quivil’s work) corresponds with St. Paul’s opposite. In the Tower -are eleven bells, ten of which are rung in peal. They date from the -Seventeenth Century. Between this Transept and the Chapter-House lies -the =Chapel of the Holy Ghost=, formerly used as a baptistery. It is -Norman. The Chapter-House, opening from what is still called the -=Cloisters= (although the cloisters were demolished during Cromwell’s -rule), was begun in the Thirteenth Century and finished in the -Fifteenth. - -When Bishop Grandisson dedicated the =High Altar=, Dec. 18, 1328, he wrote -to the Pope that the Cathedral, then half finished, would be superior in -its kind to any church in France or England. - - “High as this praise was, the beauty of the vaulted roof and the - extreme grace of the details are proofs that it was scarcely - exaggerated. The roof bosses and corbels are of the same character - as those in the nave; but the latter are even more admirable in - design, and far more varied in foliage. Maple, oak, ash, the - filbert with its clusters of nuts, and the vine with fruit and - tendrils, could hardly be reproduced more faithfully. On the corbel - above the organ-screen, on the north side, is a Coronation of the - Virgin and on that beyond it a Virgin and Child with censing - angels.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =Choir=, Decorated, is very fine: - - “We approach the choir, entered by a door in the beautiful screen - supporting the organ. This was the old rood-screen, on which - formerly stood the rood, or figure of our Lord on the Cross. It was - erected in the Fourteenth Century. - - “The bosses of the vaulted roof are worthy of especial examination, - so remarkable are they for the delicacy of the carved foliage. The - choir has been carefully restored in recent years, and the stalls, - pulpit and reredos are modern and were designed by Sir Gilbert - Scott. Notice the old misereres, which are very remarkable and - probably the oldest and most curious in England. The foliage - denotes the Early English period and they were probably designed by - Bishop Bruere (1224-1244). Notice the mermaid and merman on the - south side, the elephant, knight slaying a leopard, a minstrel, - etc. The lofty bishop’s throne was erected by Stapledon, and is - said to have been taken down and hidden away during the Civil War - period. The painted figures represent the four great - bishops--Warelwast, Quivil, Stapledon and Grandisson. The sedilia - by Stapledon are very fine. Notice the carved lions’ heads and the - heads of Leofric, Edward the Confessor and his wife Editha. The - east window is Early Perpendicular, inserted by Bishop Brantingham - in 1390, and contains much old glass.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =miserere seats= (Thirteenth Century) are curious and beautiful. They -are probably the earliest in England. - - “They are fifty in number and their subjects are of the usual - character,--foliage, grotesques, animals (among which is an - elephant) and knights in combat, whose heater shields, flat helmets - and early armour are especially noticeable. Remark, on the _south_ - side of the choir a mermaid and a merman holding some circular - instrument between them, the elephant mentioned above and a knight - sitting in a boat drawn by a swan, an illustration of the romance - of the _Chevalier au Cygne_. On the north side a knight attacking a - leopard, a monster on whose back is a saddle with stirrups, a - minstrel with tabor and pipe, a knight thrusting his sword into a - grotesque bird and a mermaid holding a fish. The Early English - character of the foliage, as well as its graceful arrangement, - should be noticed throughout.” - - “On the south side, the superb BISHOP’S THRONE towering almost to - the roof. This was the gift of Bishop Bothe (1465-1478). It is said - to have been taken down and hidden during Monmouth’s - Rebellion.”--(R. J. K.) - - “The Bishop’s Throne (A.D. 1316), intended for his Lordship with a - chaplain on either side; ‘a magnificent sheaf of carved oak, put - together without a single nail, and rising to a height of 57 feet. - The lightness of its ascending stages almost rival the famous - _sheaf of fountains_ of the Nuremberg tabernacle. The cost of this - vast and exquisitely carved canopy (about twelve guineas) is - surprisingly small, even for those days. The carved work consists - chiefly of foliage, with finials of great beauty, surmounting - tabernacled niches, with a sadly untenanted look, however, for lack - of their statuettes. The pinnacle corners are enriched with heads - of oxen, sheep, dogs, pigs and monkeys.’ Next came what is perhaps - the most exquisite work in stone in England, as the throne is - unparalleled in woodwork--the SEDILIA; the seats of the priest to - the east and to the west of him, those of the Gospeller and - Epistoler. The sedilia have been preferred even to the shrine of - Beverley and the Lady-Chapel of Ely. ‘The canopy of the seat - nearest the altar,’ says Mr. Garland, ‘deserves particular - attention. It is adorned with a wreath of vine leaves on each side, - which meet at the point and there form a finial; and never did - Greek sculptor of the best age trace a more exact portrait of the - leaf of the vine, nor design a more graceful wreath, nor execute - his design with a more masterly finish.’ It is regrettable that the - carving of the sedilia is attributed to a Frenchman.”--(F. B.) - -Of the high altar and reredos, perhaps the most magnificent in Europe, -carved at the same period, not a fragment remains. - -The two most important tombs in the choir are those of =Bishop Lacey=, who -died in 1455, and =Walter de Stapledon=, who was murdered in London in -1326. Lacey has but a plain slab at which many miracles are said to have -been done. Bishop Stapledon lies under a Perpendicular canopy, a fine -figure holding a crozier with his left hand and a book with his right. -Under the canopy is a figure of the Saviour, and at its side the small -figure of a king crowned and wearing a scarlet robe, supposed to be -Edward II. Bishop Stapledon’s body was removed from London to Exeter -Cathedral by the Queen’s command and interred with great magnificence. - -From the choir two chapels open. On the north, =St. Andrew’s=, very early -Decorated, is exactly like the opposite one, =St. James’s=. Beneath the -latter is the ancient =Crypt=. Both chapels have chambers above them. - -Beyond the Choir, the ambulatory, or procession-path (Early Decorated), -with =Speke’s Chantry= on the left or north and =Bishop Oldham’s= on the -right or south, leads to the =Lady Chapel=. This was built by Quivil, and -is remarkable for its beautiful foliage carvings, old reredos, graceful -openings to the chantries on either side and magnificent east window. - - “Quivil first transformed the Lady-Chapel; to him are due the - shafts, sedilia, double piscina, and the vaulting, the - rib-mouldings of which are of earlier character than those of the - choir; and the windows, which closely resemble those of Merton - College, Oxford, which we know was commenced in 1277. In the centre - of the Lady-Chapel Bishop Quivil is buried; he died in 1291. The - chapels on either side may have been remodelled or partly - remodelled by Bronescombe; but the east windows are later in style, - and are Quivil’s. The piers hereabout are very interesting. Those - of the Lady-Chapel looking into the side chapels are composed of - four columns. The north-east and south-east piers of the choir have - clusters of eight shafts instead of four; while in the pier between - them the cluster of eight is developed into a cluster of sixteen - columns. Finally notice that these piers are set diamond-wise, with - four flat faces, and the angles to the north, west, south and - east.”--(F. B.) - -In the centre of the pavement is the tombstone of =Bishop Peter Quivil= -(died 1291), author of the present plan of the cathedral. Other effigies -of bishops are interesting works of art, but those of =Sir John= and =Lady -Doddridge= are very curious. Sir John (died 1628), one of James I’s -judges of the King’s Bench, was called “the sleepy judge,” because he -always sat on the bench with closed eyes; but more interesting is Lady -Doddridge, who wears a rich dress brocaded with roses and carnations and -also a remarkable ruff and headdress. - -Under the arches opening from the Lady-Chapel to the side chapels are -tombs of =Bishops Bronescomb= and =Stafford=. Bishop Bronescomb’s effigy -(1280), on the south side, is a fine piece of carving. Stafford’s -opposite (1419) is of alabaster, and it is famous for the rich -tabernacle-work above the head. - -We have been long attracted by the lovely =East window=. Now we can see -the details. - - “The east window is early Perpendicular and was inserted by Bishop - Brantingham about 1390. The stained glass with which it is filled - is for the most part ancient and very fine. Much of it dates - apparently from the first half of the Fourteenth Century (temp. - Edward I. and II.) and was removed from the earlier window; the - shields below are those of early bishops and benefactors; the - figures of saints above, most of which are to be recognised by - their emblems, deserve careful notice. Beginning with the lowest - row, and at the left hand, are St. Margaret, St. Catherine, St. - Mary Magdalene, St. Barbara, the Virgin and Child, St. Martin, St. - Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew. All these figures are under very - rich and varied canopies. The first three and the last three are of - the first period; the others of Brantingham’s time. In the _middle - row_ are St. Sidwell, or Sativola, believed to have been a British - lady of noble birth, and contemporary with St. Winifred of Crediton - (first half of the Eighth Century). Her legend asserts that she was - beheaded by a mower at the instigation of her stepmother, who - coveted her possessions, near a well outside the walls of Exeter. - In the window St. Sativola appears with a scythe in her left hand, - whilst at her right is a well with a stream of water flowing from - it. These emblems may either form a rebus of her name (scythe-well) - or refer to her martyrdom. Beyond St. Sidwell are St. Helena, St. - Michael, St. Margaret, St. Catherine, Edward the Confessor and St. - Edmund. All the figures in this row are of Brantingham’s period. - The three figures in the uppermost row are Abraham, Moses and - Isaiah. These are of the first period. The tone of colour - throughout this window is very fine and solemn. The heraldry in the - upper part of the window is modern. In the north clerestory windows - of the central bay are four headless figures of early Decorated - character. The beautiful running pattern forming the ground on - which they are placed should be noticed.”--(R. J. K.) - -In the =north-choir-aisle= is a curious tomb with a cross-legged effigy of -a Fourteenth Century knight in armour with one esquire at his head and -another holding a horse at his feet. This is supposed to be a memorial -to Sir Richard de Stapledon, a brother of the Bishop. - -Returning as we came, we pass the =Chantry of St. George=, founded by Sir -Thomas Speke in 1518. It is a mass of rich carving. The effigy of the -founder lies within. - -Opposite is =Bishop Oldham’s Chantry=, also a mass of carving, where the -owl in the panels refers to his name (the word _old_ is pronounced -_owld_ in Lancashire, where the Bishop was born). The Bishop’s effigy -lies in a niche in the south wall. - - “The Tudor work (1485-1519) is exceptional in importance. It - includes the north entrance and other late portions of the western - screen, two exquisite chapels both built by Bishop Oldham--his own - chantry (St. Saviour’s) on the south side of the retro-choir, the - Speke chantry (St. George’s) on the north--and in addition, Prior - Sylke’s chantry on the north transept. All this work is admirable - in design and execution. In Oldham’s chantry is a charming series - of owls with the scroll _Dam_, a rebus on his name, proceeding from - the beak of each little owl. To Bishop Oldham also (1504-1519) is - due the grand set of stone screens--one of the glories of the - cathedral--no less than ten, which veil all the nine chapels and - Prior Sylke’s chantry, and add fresh beauty to the beautiful - choir.”--(F. B.) - -At the extreme end of the east aisle is the =Chapel of St. Mary -Magdalene=, probably the work of Bishop Bronescomb, who died in 1280. The -east window, which resembles that of the opposite chapel of St. Gabriel, -contains some stained glass of the Fifteenth Century. In this chapel a -fine Elizabethan monument to Sir Gawain Carew, his wife and their nephew -Sir Peter should be noticed. It dates from 1589. A staircase here leads -to the roofs of the north-choir-aisle and of the ambulatory. The views -of the Cathedral obtained here are very fine, especially of the -flying-buttresses. - -=St. Gabriel’s Chapel= is similar to that of St. Mary Magdalene. Bishop -Bronescomb’s patron saint was St. Gabriel the Archangel, whose feast -was, in consequence, celebrated in Exeter Cathedral with the same -solemnity as those of Christmas and Easter. A monument by Flaxman to -=General Simcoe=, who died in 1806, having distinguished himself at the -head of the Queen’s Rangers during the American war, and a splendid -statue of =Northcote=, the painter, by Chantrey claim attention. - -Finally summing up the characteristics of this glorious fane: - - “Whatever else the student and lover of Gothic architecture omits, - he must not omit to visit Exeter. He will find it fresh and - different from anything he has seen before. Its unique plan, - without central or western towers, the absence of obstructive - piers at the crossing, the consequently uninterrupted vista, the - singleness and unity of the whole design, the remarkable system of - proportions, based on breadth rather than height, the satisfying - massiveness and solidity of the building, inside and outside, and - at the same time the airiness and lightness of the interior, the - magnificence of its piers of marble, the delightful colour-contrast - of marble column and sandstone arch, the amazing diversity of the - window tracery, the exquisite carving of the corbels and bosses, - the abundant and admirable Tudor work, the wealth of chantries and - monuments, the superb sedilia, screen and throne, the _misereres_, - the vaults, the extraordinary engineering feats from which its - present form results, the originality of the west front and of the - whole interior and exterior, place Exeter in the very forefront of - the triumphs of the Mediæval architecture of our country.”--(F. B.) - - - - -WELLS - - DEDICATION: ST. ANDREW. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: WEST FRONT; EAST END; INVERTED ARCHES IN NAVE; - CHAPTER-HOUSE; CARVINGS OF CAPITALS; CHAIN-GATE. - - -The site of this beautiful cathedral had long been sacred to the Britons -on account of its wells, or springs, when the early Christians on coming -to Glastonbury placed these waters under the protection of St. Andrew. -King Ina’s house of secular canons was established here in 704, not far -from the older Glastonbury, which, according to legend, was established -by Joseph of Arimathea. At the beginning of the Tenth Century, a new -bishopric was founded by Edward the Elder for the province of Somerset; -and the Abbot of Glastonbury was made Bishop of Wells. - - “Seen from a distance, the picturesque group of towers and - pinnacles derives increased effect from the beauty and variety of - the surrounding landscape. On one side rises the long ridge of the - Mendips, with its rocky outliers; whilst in the southern distance - the lofty peak of Glastonbury Tor lifts itself above the marches, - marking the site of what was generally believed, throughout the - Middle Ages, to have been the earliest Christian church in Britain, - if not the first in Christendom. The Cathedral itself seems to - nestle under its protecting hills; and the waters of the Bishop’s - moat, sparkling in the sunshine, indicate the spring or great well - which led King Ina to establish his church here, and which had - perhaps rendered the site a sacred one as well in the days of the - Druids as in those of that primitive British Christianity which - disappeared before the heathendom of the advancing Saxons. - - “From whatever direction the visitor enters the Close, he must pass - under one of the three gatehouses built by Bishop Beckington - (1443-1464), all of which display his shield of arms and his - rebus,--a beacon inflamed issuing from a tun or barrel. Over the - Chain-Gate passes the gallery which connects the Vicars’ College - with the Cathedral. The gate, called the Penniless Porch, opens to - the Market-place; but the Cathedral will be best approached for the - first time through Browne’s gate, at the end of Sadler-street. From - this point an excellent view of the west front is obtained, rising - at the end of a broad lawn of greensward, bordered with trees. The - Cathedral close of Wells is scarcely so picturesque as those of - Salisbury or of Winchester. It is more open, however, and its - short, bright turf contrasts very effectively with the grey stone - of the buildings which encircle it and with the grand old church - itself. This, with the exception of its pilasters of Purbeck, is - built throughout with stone from the Doulting quarries, about nine - miles from Wells.”--(R. J. K.) - -During the rule of Robert (1135-1166) discord and jealousy between the -men of Bath and Wells rose to such a pitch that it was determined the -bishops should in future be styled “of Bath and Wells” and elected by an -equal number of monks and canons from the abbey and collegiate church. -Bishop Robert rebuilt and repaired the Saxon cathedral which had fallen -into decay. Robert’s work has entirely perished. The next builders were -Bishop Reginald Fitz-Jocelyn (1171-1191) and Bishop Jocelin of Wells -(1206-1242), who rebuilt the Cathedral as we see it to-day. Jocelin was -able to consecrate parts of it in 1239. - -Jocelin, the great “maker of Wells,” bishop from 1206 to 1242, and his -brother, Hugh (afterwards Bishop of Lincoln), were natives of Wells; -here Jocelin served as canon and Hugh as archdeacon. Both were rich. -Hugh, who lavished money upon Lincoln, also gave much to Jocelin for -Wells. Jocelin spent his entire fortune upon his beloved Cathedral. This -Jocelin must not be confused with the earlier Reginald Fitz-Jocelyn, -bishop from 1171 to 1191. - - “The part which he built, there can be little doubt, included the - three western bays of the choir (which then formed the presbytery), - the transepts, north porch and the eastern bays of the nave. That - is to say, on entering the church, one is looking upon Reginald’s - work, and not Jocelin’s; for, although the rest of the nave was - completed by Jocelin, it was done in accordance with Reginald’s - original plan. It is of great importance to remember this fact, - since until recently the nave, with the other parts just mentioned, - was attributed by Professor Willis, Professor Freeman, and most - authorities to Jocelin.”--(P. D.) - -Jocelin also built the famous west front and began the Bishop’s Palace. - -In 1248 an earthquake did some damage to the central tower, and repairs -were at once undertaken. The canons generously contributed funds which -were augmented by the help of a local saint. Bishop William Bytton, -nephew of the bishop of the same name (who lies in St. Catherine’s -Chapel), died in 1274; and his remains soon began to cure the toothache. -His tomb in the south-choir-aisle was visited by sufferers, and the -famous western capitals in the transept doubtless refer to their cures. - -For the next fifty years and more, much was done to the Cathedral by the -energetic John de Godelee, dean from 1306 to 1333, who finished the Lady -Chapel in 1326. - -In 1318 the canons voluntarily offered a fifth of their salaries to -raise the central tower, which was carried up three more stages and -finished in 1321; and in 1325 they began new stalls, each canon having -agreed to pay for his own stall. In 1337 and 1338 the whole church was -thrown into dismay on account of fractures in the tower; for the tower -appears to have sunk deeply into the earth, owing to pressure on the -arches. All the masonry was disturbed; and in order to remedy this -trouble, the curious double arches were inserted, to help support the -strain. The original arches were also patched up and filled in with -great blocks of stone and strengthened in various ways. - -Much was due to Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury (1329-1363), who was buried -before the High Altar in the Choir he had founded. He also finished the -Palace begun by Jocelin. Bishop Harewell, who died in 1386, gave -two-thirds of the cost of the south-west tower called by his name; and -the executors of Bishop Bubwith finished the northwest tower that bears -his name. - -Bishop Beckington built the lovely gateways, and Dean Gunthorpe (died -1498), the Deanery. - -The eastern walk of the Cloister and the Library above date from between -1407 and 1424; and the western and southern Cloister walks, between 1443 -and 1464. - - “Late researches have shown that Bishop Reginald began the present - church and that the Early English work should be divided into four - periods: (1) The three western arches of the choir, with the four - western bays of its aisles, the transepts and the four eastern bays - of the nave, which are Reginald’s work (1174-1191), and so early as - to be still in a state of transition from the Norman. It is a - unique example of transitional building, and Willis calls it ‘an - improved Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, - but distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness and - severity.’ The characteristics of this late Twelfth Century work - are bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some with traces - of the classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful imagery - that reminds us of the Norman work of Glastonbury; while in the - north porch, which must be the earliest of all, we even find the - zigzag Norman moulding. (2) The rest of the nave, which was - finished in Jocelin’s time--that is to say, in the first half of - the Thirteenth Century--preserves the main characteristics of the - earlier work, though the flowing sculptured foliage becomes more - naturalistic, and lacks the quaint intermingling of figure - subjects. (3) The west front, which is Jocelin’s work, and alone - can claim to be of pure Early English style. (4) The chapter-house - crypt, which is so late as to be almost Transitional, though, - curiously enough, it contains the characteristic Early English - dog-tooth moulding which is found nowhere else except in the west - window. From this, we reach the Early Decorated of the staircase, - the full Decorated of the chapter-house itself, the later Decorated - of the Lady-Chapel, the transitional Decorated of the presbytery, - and the full Perpendicular of the western towers. Much of the - masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and even in the - eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines which are the - marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of course, prove that any - part of Bishop Robert’s church is standing, for mediæval builders - were notoriously economical in using up old masonry, but it does - show that there are more remains of his work in the building than - was generally supposed.”--(P. D.) - -The Cathedral was much damaged during the Reformation and also during -Monmouth’s rebellion in 1685, when the Duke’s followers stabled their -horses in it and enjoyed a barrel of beer on the high altar. - -There is a nave of nine bays, a space under the tower, a choir opening -eastward of it and two transepts (each of four bays) with aisles opening -north and south. The choir from the screen to the high altar occupies -six bays; a retro-choir of two bays lies behind the altar; and beyond it -again is an apsidal Lady-Chapel. The west front has been much admired, -but some critics consider it too heavy for the short towers that abut on -it. The windows of the nave and transepts are Decorated. The windows of -the choir are more ornate, although in the same style, and those of the -Lady-Chapel are still more so. The central tower (Perpendicular) is -entirely covered with panelling. There is no spire. On the south side -large cloisters open from the south-western tower and from the western -aisle of the south transept; but there are only three walks, there being -none on the north side. The Chapter-House is approached from the north -side of the choir by a short passage and a flight of steps: a crypt lies -under it. A beautiful porch, with parvise, opens into the sixth bay of -the north aisle. From the eastern aisle of the north transept the -Chain-Gate passes to the Vicars’ College, a double row of picturesque -houses, dating from 1360. - - “The Chain-Gate, in its association with the Chapter-House and the - Vicars’ Close, is unique. The incline of the steps, easily to be - distinguished from without, gives the corner a character quite its - own. And the entrance to the Green by this gate, with the Cathedral - on one side, balanced by the varied gables and roofs of the houses - opposite, is particularly striking. The exterior of the - Chapter-House comes into full view; the great central tower stands - boldly up against the sky; the eastern gable presents its curious - apex, and the Lady-Chapel below stands like a thing separate from - the rest. Beyond, and under the Chain-Gateway, an arch admits to - the Vicars’ Close--a charming street, lined on either side with - diminutive dwelling-houses, once the separate residences of the - vicars choral. At the top of the close is a small Perpendicular - chapel with a library above. The interior is profusely--almost - grotesquely--decorated in a manner to remind one to some extent of - those strange little oratories so frequently met with in other - parts of Europe. But to many it will possess a certain charm, - despite its florid adornments, not often realised in this country. - The Vicars’ Hall, a considerable portion of which is of the - Fourteenth Century, with additions of a tower and other features, - probably by Bishop Beckington, stands at the bottom of the street - and communicates through the gallery of the Chain-Gate with the - Chapter-House staircase, and thus with the cathedral. By this - gallery the choristers passed into the church.”--(A. A.) - -The celebrated =West Front= - - “consists of a centre, in which are the three lancets of the - western window and above them a gable receding in stages, with - small pinnacles at the angles; and of two wings or western towers, - projecting beyond the nave, as at Salisbury. The upper part of - these towers is of Perpendicular character. That to the north-west - was completed by Bishop Bubwith (1407-1424), whose statue remains - in one of the niches: that to the south-west was the work of Bishop - Harewell (1366-1386). Both these towers, fine as are their details, - have a somewhat truncated appearance; and it is probable that the - original Early English design terminated at the uppermost band of - sculpture. The three western doors are of unusually small - dimensions, perhaps in order to leave ample room for the tiers of - figures which rise above them. Six narrow buttresses at the angles - of which are slender shafts of Purbeck marble, supporting canopies, - divide the entire front into five portions. The whole of the - statues which fill the niches are of Doulting stone.”--(R. J. K.) - -Many visitors are at the first sight disappointed at the mutilated and -archaic expression of the figures; but they have commanded the greatest -admiration ever since old Fuller wrote: “The west front of Wells is a -masterpiece of art indeed, made of imagery in just proportion, so that -we may call them _vera et spirantis signa_. England affordeth not the -like.” - -The =West Front= should be considered as a great screen intended for the -display of statuary rather than as the west termination of the nave. The -stone population, numbering about three hundred life-size or colossal -figures, is only equalled by that of Rheims and that of Chartres. All -critics agree that these statues, so notable for their graceful -draperies and spiritual expressions, rank with the contemporary -masterpieces of Italy and France. They are thought to have been made by -Italian sculptors at the time when Niccola Pisano was reviving sculpture -in Italy under the inspiration of classical models. The kings, queens, -princes, knights and nobles wear the costume of the Thirteenth Century. -The other figures are prophets, angels, martyrs and “the holy church -throughout the world.” - -Unlike the monumental west fronts of France, with their splendid porches -and doors, the doors of Wells have been compared to “rabbit-holes on a -mountain-side.” - -The western towers projecting beyond the aisles of the nave give -additional breadth to the west front. The arrangement resembles that of -Rouen. The two towers are very similar. Both have two belfry windows on -each side and a stair turret on the outer western angle. The spires were -never added. - -The =Central Tower= is Early English to the level of the roof, and the two -upper stages are Decorated. From its summit a beautiful view is to be -enjoyed. - -The =North Porch= (Norman) is the oldest part - -[Illustration: WELLS: WEST FRONT] - -[Illustration: WELLS: NORTH PORCH] - -of the church. Some architects consider it the finest piece of -architecture at Wells. - - “The entrance is doubly recessed and has the zigzag ornament among - its mouldings, an indication, if not of its early construction, at - least of lingering Norman traditions among its builders. These - mouldings deserve the most careful attention. The outer or - dripstone, is formed of a very beautiful combination of Early - English foliage. Square panels on either side of the arch contain - figures of mystic animals, one of which is a cockatrice. The gable - above has a blind arcade, in the centre of which a small triplet - gives light to a parvise chamber. From the buttress at the angles - rise slender spire-capped pinnacles. The buttresses themselves are - flat and narrow. - - “The interior of the porch is divided into two bays, and its walls - are lined with a double arcade, the upper row of arches being more - deeply recessed than the tower. The vault springs from a central - group of triple shafts. The sculptures of the capitals on the east - side possibly represent the death of King Edmund the Martyr (A.D. - 870),--bound to a tree as a mark for the Danish arrows and - afterwards beheaded. The figures are well designed, and full of - life and character. The double doorway leading into the nave - displays, like the exterior arch, the Norman zigzag.”--(R. J. K.) - -On entering the =Nave= the visitor is at once struck by the noble -proportions, the impression of great length, the broad horizontal band -of the triforium, and the wealth of spirited and varied carving of the -capitals and corbels; but the most striking feature of all is the great -inverted, or double, arch that struts across the central piers forming a -St. Andrew’s Cross, by which name it is generally known, and giving a -grotesque (we are almost tempted to say Chinese) appearance. - - “Undoubtedly the first thing that the stranger notices in Wells - Cathedral, and the last that he is likely to forget, is the - curious contrivance by which the central tower is supported. Of the - three pairs of arches (the upper arch resting inverted upon the - lower) which stretch across the nave and each of the transepts, - that in the nave is seen at once, and lends a unique character to - the whole church. At first these arches give one something of a - shock, so unnecessarily frank are they, so excessively sturdy, so - very English, we may think. They carry their burden as a - great-limbed labourer will carry a child in a crowd, to the great - advantage of the burden and the natural dissatisfaction of the - crowd. In fact, they seem to block up the view, and to deform what - they do not hide. - - “That is the first impression, but it does not last for long. - Familiarity breeds respect for this simple, strong device, which - arrested the fall of the tower in the Fourteenth Century, and has - kept its walls ever since in perfect security, so that the great - structure has stood like a rock upon the watery soil of Wells for - nearly seven centuries, with its rents and breaks just as they were - when the damage was first repaired. The ingenuity, too, of these - strange flying-buttresses becomes more and more evident; the - ‘ungainly props’ are seen to be so worked into the tower they - support, that they almost seem like part of the original design of - the first builders. One discovers that it is the organ, and not the - arches, that really blocks the view, and one marvels that so huge a - mass of masonry can look so light as to present, with the great - circles in the spandrels where the arches meet, a kind of pattern - of gigantic geometrical tracery. Indeed I think no one who has been - in Wells a week could wish to see the inverted arches removed. - - “To appreciate the work fully, it should be looked at from some - spot, such as the north-east corner of the north transept, whence - the three great pairs of arches can be seen together. The effect - from here is very fine, especially when the nave is lighted up and - strong shadows are cast. The extreme boldness of the mouldings, the - absence of shafts and capitals and of all ornament, give them a - primitive vigour, and their great intermingling curves, which - contrast so magnificently with the little shafts of the piers - beyond, seem more like a part of some great mountain cavern than a - mere device of architectural utility.”--(P. D.) - -The general effect of the Nave is that of length rather than height, -largely due to the continuous arcade of the triforium which leads the -eye irresistibly eastwards, and the comparatively restricted height of -the Cathedral has been increased by bold vaulting, and by the way the -lantern arches fit into the vault. A little study will show the visitor -the separation between the late Twelfth Century work of Reginald de -Bohun, or Fitz-Jocelyn, and the Thirteenth Century work of Jocelin. -These differences lie in the masonry and the carved heads and the -capitals. - -The heads of a king and bishop, projecting from the south side between -the fourth and fifth piers, mark the point of change eastward: the -masonry of piers, walls and aisle walls is in small courses of stone; -westward, the blocks are larger, eastward, small human heads project at -the angles of the pier-arches and westward there are none; eastward, the -tympana of the triforium arcade are filled with carvings of grotesque -animals and small heads at the corners, and westward, the tympana are -filled with foliage and ornamented with larger heads. There are also -other differences. - - “Certainly it is an unusual instance of an architect deliberately - setting himself to complete the works of an earlier period in - faithful accordance with the original plan; and we may well be - grateful to him for his modesty. - - “All the carving is most interesting and beautiful: the caps and - corbels of the vaulting shafts; the little heads at the angles of - the arches, which are vivid sketches of every type of contemporary - character; and the carvings in the tympana, which are best in the - seventh, eighth and ninth bays (counting from the west end), those - on the north excelling in design and execution, while those on the - south are more grotesque. But the capitals of the piers are the - best of all, and the most hurried visitor should spare some time - for the study of these remarkable specimens of sculpture, vigorous - and lifelike, yet always subordinated to their architectural - purpose. Those in the transepts[4] are perhaps the best, but the - following in the nave should not be missed:-- - - North side, Sixth Pier (by north porch): Birds pluming their wings: - Beast licking himself: Ram: Bird with human head, holding knife - (?). - - “Eighth Pier. Fox stealing goose, peasant following with stick: - Birds pruning their feathers. (Within Bubwith’s Chapel) Human - monster with fish’s tail, holding a fish: Bird holding frog in his - beak, which is extremely long and delicate. - - “Ninth Pier. Pedlar carrying his pack on his shoulders, a string of - large beads in one hand. Toothless monster with hands on knees. - - “South side, Seventh Pier. Birds with human heads, one wearing a - mitre. - - “Eighth Pier. Peasant with club, seized by lion: Bird with curious - foliated tail (within St. Edmund’s chapel). Owl: Peasant with - mallet (?).” - -If we look back towards the west end of the Nave we note an arcade of -five arches, the middle one widest of all to accommodate the two small -arches of the doorway. The three lancet windows are Perpendicular, -remodelled, and some of their dogtooth moulding, medallions in the -spandrels and little corbel heads of Early English work remain. There is -a gallery below the sill of the window. - -The two western towers form two small transepts that project beyond the -aisles. Each is connected with the aisle by an arch. The Chapel of the -Holy Cross under Bubwith’s Tower (north) is the choir-boys’ vestry. The -chapel under Harewell’s Tower (south) is used by the bell-ringers. An -Early English doorway leads from it into the Cloister. - - “The nave, as far as the piers of the central tower, consists of - ten bays, divided by octangular piers, with clustered shafts in - groups of three. The capitals are enriched with Early English - foliage, much of which is of unusually classical character,--one of - the many indications of a lingering local school, with its Norman - traditions. Birds, animals and monsters of various forms--among - which is the bird with a man’s face, said to feed on human - flesh--twine and perch among the foliage. Above the pier arches - runs the triforium, very deeply set, and extending backward over - the whole of the side aisles. The roof retains its original - position. (The whole arrangement should be compared with the Norman - triforia of Norwich and Ely, both of which extend over the - side-aisles; but their exterior walls have been raised and - Perpendicular windows inserted). The narrow lancet openings toward - the nave are arranged in groups of three, with thick wall-plates - between them. The head with each lancet is filled with a solid - tympanum, displaying foliage and grotesques, of which those toward - the upper end of the south side are especially curious. At the - angles of the lancets are bosses of foliage and human heads, full - of character. In the upper spaces between each arch are medallions - with leafage. Triple shafts, with enriched capitals, form the - vaulting-shafts, the corbels supporting which deserve examination. - A clerestory window (the tracery is Perpendicular, and was inserted - by Bishop Beckington (1443-1464)) opens between each bay of the - vaulting, which is groined, with moulded ribs and bosses of foliage - at the intersections.”--(R. J. K.) - -In the clerestory of the sixth bay on the south side there is a =Music -Gallery=, early Perpendicular, the front of which consists of three -panels with large quartrefoils containing shields. It is very fine, but -not equal to the Minstrels’ Gallery in Exeter. It is finished with an -embattled cornice. - -The aisles of the Nave are of the same architectural character as the -Nave itself. Among the striking capitals are: - -Fifth shaft. Peasants carrying sheep, with a dog. - -Ninth shaft. Man in a rough coat carrying foliage on his back. - -Tenth shaft. Mason carrying a hod of mortar and a mallet; opposite side -of arch: Peasant in hood with staff and opposite this two heads, -evidently with toothache. - -The greater part of the glass of the =West Window= was collected by Bishop -Creyghton in 1660-1670, excellent Sixteenth Century representations of -the history of _John the Baptist_. Possibly Creyghton added the figures -of _King Ina_ and _Bishop Ralph_ in the other lights, for the southern -one also bears his arms. The top and bottom of the middle light are said -to have come from Rouen in 1813. - -Now we will examine the =transepts=. - - “The transepts seem to have been built before the nave, but some of - the carved work of the capitals and corbels is of later date than - the nave. The capitals on the west side of both transepts are among - the finest in England. Many refer to the toothache. - - “North Transept: first Pier.--(Inside the Priest Vicars’ vestry) A - prophet(?) with scroll on which there is no name: Man carrying - goose. (Outside) Head with tongue on teeth. - - “Second Pier.--Aaron writing his name on a scroll: Moses with the - tables of stone. - - “Third Pier.--Woman with a bandage across her face. Above this cap - the corbel consists of a seated figure, naked, with distorted mouth - and an agonised expression. - - “South Transept, second pier (from the south end). Two men are - stealing grapes, one holds the basket full, the other plucks - grapes, holding a knife in his other hand: The farmers in pursuit, - one carries a spade and - -the other a pitchfork: The man with the fork, a vigorous figure, catches -one thief: The man with the spade hits the other (whose face is most -woe-begone) on the head. - -“Third pier.--Woman pulling thorn out of her foot: Man with one eye, -finger in his mouth: Baboon head: Cobbler; this figure shows very -plainly the method of shoemaking at this time; the cobbler in his apron, -sits with the shoe on one knee, his strap passes over the knee and round -the other foot, his foot is turned over so as to present the side and -not the sole to the strap: Woman’s head with long hair. - -“Fourth pier.--Head perfectly hairless: Elias P. (the prophet) with hand -on cheek as if he, too, has the toothache: Head in hood, with tongue on -the one remaining tooth. - -“It may be well here to say a word about the general classification of -these earlier capitals, since their date is a matter of great -architectural interest. I would venture to divide them into five -groups-- - -“(1) Those of the three western bays of the choir: simple carved foliage -of distinctly Norman character, as in the north porch: these belong to -the time of Reginald (1174-1191). - -“(2) The four eastern bays of the nave and its aisles. Some of these may -belong to the first period, though later than the choir: they are more -advanced in the foliage, and teem with grotesque birds and beasts. Some, -however, of the caps in these bays are of quite different character; -they contain _genre_ subjects of perfectly naturalistic treatment, very -different to the St. Edmund of the north porch capital; but exactly -similar to the figure caps of the transepts. They must therefore have -been carved later than the death of Saint William Bytton. - -“(3) The western bays of the nave. These, which are of much less -interest, belong to the period of Jocelin’s reconstruction (1220-1242). -They are characteristic examples of rich stiff-leaf foliage, freer than -that of the earlier work, but much less varied and without either human -figures or grotesques. - -“(4) On the eastern range of transept piers. These would seem also to -come within Jocelin’s period, with the exception of the third pier of -the south transept. - - “(5) On the western range of transept piers, with which must be - classed those later caps already referred to in the nave under - group 2. Their date is settled by the fact that they abound in - unmistakable representations of the toothache. Now Saint William - Bytton died in 1274, and his tomb became immediately famous for - cures of this malady. In 1286, the chapter decided to repair the - old work, no doubt because the offerings at his tomb had brought - money to the church.”--(P. D.) - -In studying these fascinating grotesques, however, we have neglected to -examine the two chantries in the nave--=Bishop Bubwith’s= and =Dean -Sugar’s=. They are opposite one another and are alike in general -characteristics. The screen work and cornices of Bubwith’s composed of -light and elaborate tracery are very much admired. Light doorways permit -entrance. The altar here was dedicated to St. Saviour. Bishop Bubwith -(who built the north-west tower) died in 1424. His arms, containing -holly-leaves, are beautifully carved. - -Sugar’s Chantry, about sixty years later in date, is even more -elaborate. Like Bubwith’s, it is hexagonal and the canopy over the altar -is vaulted with delicate fan-tracery. Critics now consider it the finer -of the two. - -Adjoining Sugar’s Chantry the stone =Pulpit=, built in the reign of Henry -VIII., calls for attention. In front are the arms of Bishop Knight, who -built it and who is buried near it (he died in 1547). Beside it, is a -brass lectern presented in 1660; upon this rests a Bible of the same -date. - -In the =South transept=, we find the =Font=, interesting because it is the -one relic of Bishop Robert’s Norman church. It may have stood in the -earlier Saxon cathedral. The cover is Jacobean. - -In the south end of the south transept is the =Tomb of Bishop de Marchia= -(died 1302). The effigy of the bishop, lying in a recess under a canopy -bristling with crockets and finials and brilliant with scarlet and -crimson, green and gold, is very striking. Some of the angels -surrounding the figure are charming. It is interesting to compare this -with the =Tomb of Lady Lisle=, also adorned with crockets and brightly -coloured. - -Perpendicular stone screens divide the transepts from their small -chapels. The chapels of the south transept are =St. Martin’s= (now the -canon’s vestry) and that of =St. Calixtus=, enclosed on the side of the -choir-aisle by some beautiful ironwork from Beckington’s tomb. On the -south side of St. Calixtus’s chapel we must pause to examine =Dean -Husse’s tomb=, of alabaster, and noted for its carved panels even in this -cathedral of splendid carvings. - -=St. David’s Chapel= in the =north transept= compels us to pause again to -look at the capital of the second transept pier--a handsome head with -curls and a smile on his face--and a fine corbel carved into the form of -a lizard eating leaves of a plant with berries. In this chapel lies an -interesting effigy of =Bishop Still= (1543-1607) in a red robe lined with -white fur. Next comes the =Chapel of the Holy Cross= in which is the =tomb -of Bishop Cornish= (died 1513), thought also to have been used as the -Easter Sepulchre, where the Host was laid during Holy Week. - -The north transept contains a relic of the past that delights every one -who happens to be there at the striking of the hour. The famous clock -that once belonged to Glastonbury Abbey is still in working order. A -little figure known locally as “Jack Blandiver” kicks the quarters with -his heels on two little bells and at the hour four figures on horseback -above the clock rush around and charge each other. The curious clock was -made by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of the abbey. It was said to have been -in constant use at Glastonbury for 250 years before it was removed to -Wells at the Dissolution of the monasteries. - -From the east aisle of the north transept a door opens to the =Staircase= -that leads to the Chapter-House and also to the celebrated Chain-Gate, -or carved bridge that connects the Vicars’ College with the Cathedral. -Through this gallery the Vicars could pass from their own Close into the -Cathedral. The common hall of their college (1340) opens from it. - - “There are few things in English architecture that can be compared - with it for strange impressive beauty; the staircase goes upward - for eighteen steps and then part of it sweeps off to the - Chapter-house on the right, while the other part goes on and up - till it reaches the chain-bridge; thus the steps lie, worn here and - there by the tread of many feet, like fallen leaves, the last of - them lost in the brighter light of the bridge. Here one is still - almost within the cathedral, and yet the carts are passing - underneath, and their rattle mixes with the sound of the organ - within. - - “The main gallery of the Chain-Gate is shut off by a door, which, - if it were kept open, would make the prospect even more beautiful - than it is. Two corbels which support the vaulting-shafts of the - lower staircase should be noticed; they both represent figures - thrusting their staves into the mouth of a dragon, but that on the - east (wearing a hood and a leathern girdle round his surcoat) is as - vigorous in action as the figure on the west side is feeble. A - small barred opening in the top of the east wall lights a curious - little chamber, which is reached from the staircase that leads to - the roof.”--(P. D.) - -The =Chapter-House= is famous among these beautiful adjuncts to English -cathedrals. It has been called “a glorious development of window and -vault.” It was built in the latter half of the Geometrical period -(1280-1315). Note the profusion of ball-flower ornament round the -windows and the ogee dripstones outside. - - “Of octagonal plan, its vaulting ribs branch out from sixteen - Purbeck shafts which cluster round the central pillar, typifying - the diocesan church with all its members gathered round its common - father, the bishop. Each of the eight sides of the room is occupied - by a window of four lights, with graceful tracery of an advanced - geometrical type. These windows, which are among the finest - examples of the period, have no shafts, but their arch mouldings - are enriched with a continuous series of the ball-flower ornament. - Most of the old glass in which ruby and white are the predominant - colours, remains in the upper lights. Under the windows runs an - arcade which forms fifty-one stalls, separated into groups of seven - by the blue lias vaulting-shafts at the angles, but in the side - which is occupied by the doorway there are only two stalls, one on - either side of the entrance. Two rows of stone benches are under - the stalls, and there is a bench of Purbeck round the base of the - central pier.”--(P. D.) - -Another authority says: - - “At the springs of the arches are sculptured heads full of - expression, kings, bishops, monks, ladies, jesters; and at the - angles, grotesques of various kinds. A line of the ball-flower - ornament is carried round above the canopies. - - “The double arches at the entrance show traces of a door on the - exterior. Remark the curious boss in the vaulting, composed of four - bearded faces. The diameter of the chapter-house is fifty feet, its - height forty-one feet. Its unusual, and indeed unique, features - are--its separation from the cloisters from which the chapter-house - generally opens; and its crypt, or lower story, which rendered - necessary the staircase by which it is approached. - - “A most striking view of the chapter-house is obtained from the - fourth angle of the staircase, close to the doorway of the Vicars’ - College. The effect of the double-door arches with their tracery, - of the central pier, the branched ribs of the vaulting, and the - fine windows is magnificent; and when the latter were filled with - stained glass, must have been quite unrivalled. The chapter-house - is by no means the least important of the many architectural - masterpieces which combine to place Wells so high in the ranks of - English cathedrals.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =Crypt=, finished by 1286, represents the last development of the -Early English style. It was used as the treasury where valuables were -kept. It is reached by a dark passage from the north-choir-aisle. The -odd corbels should be noted. The walls are very thick, the windows -narrow with wide splays and the vaulting-ribs spring from round and -massive pillars with much effect. This Crypt is unusually high, because -the many springs at Wells would not permit of a subterranean chamber. - -But again we have been led astray from the main body of the Cathedral. -Returning the same way, we again enter the north transept and stand -beneath the splendid fan-tracery vault of the tower, a vault, beautiful -as it is, that hides the lantern with its arcades. These, however, can -be seen during the ascent of the tower. - -The =Screen= dates from the Fourteenth Century. - - “The first impression on entering the choir will not readily be - forgotten. Owing to the peculiar and most beautiful arrangement of - the Lady-chapel and the retro-choir, to the manner in which the - varied groups of arches and pilasters are seen beyond the low altar - screen, to the rich splendours of the stained glass, to the - beautiful architectural details of the choir itself, and to the - grace and finish of the late restorations, it may safely be said - that the choir of no English cathedral affords a view more - impressive or more picturesque. It is difficult to determine - whether the effect is more striking at early morning, when the - blaze of many-coloured light from all the eastern windows is - reflected upon the slender shafts of Purbeck and upon the vaulted - roof, or at the late winter services, when the darkened figures of - saints and prophets in the clerestory combine with the few lights - burning at the choristers’ stalls to add something of mystery and - solemn gloom to the maze of half-seen aisles and chapels. - - “The first three piers and arches of the choir are Early English, - of the same character as those of the nave and transepts, and are - probably the work of Bishop Jocelin. The remaining portion, - including the whole of the vaulting as well as the clerestory above - the first three bays, is very rich early Decorated (geometrical) - and deserves the most careful study. - - “The tabernacle work and the window tracery of the first three - bays, although of the same date, are less rich than those of the - eastern half of the choir. In this latter portion remark the triple - banded shafts of Purbeck, carried quite to the roof as - vaulting-shafts, and the tabernacle-work occupying the place of the - triforium, deeper and wider than in the lower bays. Under each arch - is a short triple shaft, supporting a bracket richly carved in - foliage. The sculpture of the capitals and of these brackets is - very good and should be noticed. The foliage has become - unconventional, and has evidently been studied from nature. Its - diminutive character, as compared with the Early English work in - the nave, is very striking. - - “The east end of the choir is formed of three arches divided by - slender piers above which is some very rich tabernacle-work, - surmounted by an east window of unusual design. At the back of the - altar, and between the piers, is a low diapered screen, beyond - which are seen the arches and stained windows of the retro-choir - and Lady-chapel.”--(R. J. K.) - -The stone vault is unusual, a sort of “coved roof,” Freeman calls it, -“with cells cut in it for the clerestory windows.” - -The three western bays are Bishop Reginald’s of the Twelfth Century. -Here we are in the very oldest part of the Cathedral. Triple -vaulting-shafts of Purbeck marble are carried down to the floor. - - “The clerestory windows contain flowing tracery of an advanced and - not very good type. In some the plain mullions are carried on - through the head of the window and intersect each other. Above the - tabernacle-work of the east end is the EAST WINDOW of seven lights, - the last bit of the Fourteenth Century reconstruction, the last - flicker of Decorated freedom. Its curious tracery is still - beautiful, doubly so for the glass it enshrines, but the rule and - square of Perpendicular domination have already set their mark upon - it; the two principal mullions run straight up to the window head, - and part of the tracery between them is rectangular.”--(P. D.) - -The Cathedral possesses sixty-four =Misericords=, from the old -choir-stalls, regarded as among the best examples of mediæval -wood-carving in England. The skilful hand of the carver has wonderfully -represented griffins fighting, mermaids, apes, goats, dragons, wyverns, -popinjays, cats, foxes, peacocks, monsters, angels, eagles, hawks, -rabbits, kings, peasants--and many other birds, animals and grotesques. - -The soft yet brilliant light sifts in from the =Jesse Window= above the -high altar. We lift our eyes and with some pains discern the twining -branches of the vine with the recumbent figure of Jesse at the base, -resting his head on his hand. From him rises the leading shoot of the -tree, with the figures of the Virgin and the Child each with radiant -nimbus and beneath a golden canopy. The tendrils of the vine enwreath -prophets, priests and kings,--the ancestors of the Babe of Bethlehem. -Above is a representation of the _Crucifixion_; and at the very - -[Illustration: WELLS: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: WELLS: SOUTH-WEST] - -top of the window, the outstretched wings of the Holy Spirit. - -The choir-aisles are of the same character as the choir itself and are -entered from the transepts through ogee arches, ornamented with crockets -and finials. - -The south-choir-aisle contains the =Tomb of Saint William Bytton=, at -which (the oldest incised slab in England) offerings were made by those -suffering from toothache, as we have already seen. Further away is the -=Tomb of Beckington=, surrounded by a beautiful iron-screen of the same -date as the tomb (1452). The carving is very fine, especially the wings -of the angels. A little colour is left here and there. His effigy rests -upon it, with old and wrinkled face. This bishop said mass for his own -soul here in January, 1452, thirteen years before he died. - -In the south-east transept, we find the =Chapel of St. John Baptist=, -where a Decorated piscina with canopy deserves attention. - -At the extreme end of the north-choir-aisle is =Saint Stephen’s Chapel= -and at the extreme end of the south-choir-aisle is the corresponding -=Saint Catherine’s Chapel=. Both contain effigies of bishops, tombs and -monuments. Between and back of these is the Lady-Chapel. - -We now return to the =Retro-choir=. Four slender piers of Purbeck marble -bear up the vault. The arrangement of the columns should be particularly -noticed here. It is hard to realise that this =Retro-choir= was merely a -device for connecting the Lady-Chapel with the Choir, it seems so -entirely a part of the scheme. - - “The beauty of the retro-choir, or ‘procession aisles,’ the - arrangement of its piers and clustered columns, and the admirable - manner in which it unites the Lady-chapel with the choir should be - here remarked. It is throughout Early Decorated. The foliage of the - capitals and the bosses of the vaulting will repay careful - examination. Many of the vaulting ribs appear to spring from two - grotesque heads--one on either side of the low choir-screen--which - hold them between their teeth. The four supporting pillars and - shafts are placed _within_ the line of the choir-piers, thus - producing the unusual intricacy and variety of the eastward view - from the choir. At Salisbury, and in all other English cathedrals, - the piers of the procession-aisles are placed in a line with those - of the choir.”--(R. J. K.) - -Mr. Bond thinks the Wells architect got his idea for the octagonal -Lady-Chapel by tacking on the elongated octagonal of the Lichfield -Chapter-House to the rectangular retro-choir of Salisbury. - - “The Lady-chapel is an early work of the Curvilinear period; for it - seems to have been complete in 1324. The windows have beautiful - reticulated tracery of early type. There is lovely carving in the - capitals, bosses, reredos, sedilia and piscina. The Curvilinear - foliated capitals here and in the choir should be compared with the - somewhat earlier capitals of the chapter-house, with the early - Geometrical capitals of the staircase, the Lancet capitals of the - west front and the late Transitional ones of porch, nave and - transepts. The ancient glass here and in the Jesse window of the - choir is superb in colour. - - “As every one knows, it is the most beautiful east end we have in - England. It may be worth while to see how this design was arrived - at--a design as exceptional as it is effective. The simplest form - of an east end in English Gothic is seen at York and Lincoln: it - consists merely of a low wall with a big window above it. The next - improvement is to build an aisle or processional path behind the - east end; at the same time piercing the east wall with one, two or - three arches. This was done at Hereford about 1180; and on a - magnificent scale in the Chapels of Nine Altars at Durham and at - Fountains early in the Thirteenth Century. But the French apsidal - cathedrals--of which we have an example in Westminster--have not - only an encircling processional aisle, but also a chevet of chapels - radiating out from it; thus providing ever-changing vistas of - entrancing beauty. The next step in England also was to provide our - rectangular choirs with a chevet as well as with a processional - aisle. An early example of this plan is to be seen at Abbey Dore, - in Herefordshire, about 1190. It occurs early in the Thirteenth - Century on a still grander scale at Salisbury, where one finds not - one but two processional aisles, as well as chapels to the east of - them; and, in addition, a Lady-chapel projecting still farther to - the east, thus producing a design of great complexity and beauty. - Nevertheless, at Salisbury, since the chief supporting piers of the - retro-choir and the chevet are in a line with those of the choir, - there is by no means the same changeful intricacy of vista that - affords one ever fresh delight in an apsidal church. At Wells, - however, the architect attained all the success of the Continental - builder simply because he built his Lady-chapel not rectangular but - octagonal. For to get this octagon, of which only five sides were - supported by walls, he had to plant in the retro-choir two piers to - support the remaining three sides; and these piers are necessarily - out of line with the piers of the choir. He had got the Continental - vista. He saw it; but he saw also that it could be improved upon. - And he did improve it, by putting up an outer ring of four more - piers round the western part of the octagon of the Lady-chapel. It - was an intuition of genius: it makes the vistas into the - retro-choir and the Lady-chapel a veritable glimpse into fairyland; - and provides here alone in England a rival to the glorious eastern - terminations of Amiens and Le Mans. And that is not all. We saw in - the chapter-house the grand effect of the central stalk branching - upward and outward in all directions, like some palm tree - transmuted into stone. This beautiful effect he transfers to the - retro-choir, but multiplied--four palm trees in place of one; for - each of the four external piers of the octagon emulates the - chapter-house’s central stalk.”--(F. B.) - -The large windows are filled with fine specimens of Fourteenth Century -glass unfortunately now jumbled together. The =East Window= is composed -of odd pieces put together by Willement. David and other patriarchs -occupy the upper tier, and the Virgin, Eve and the Serpent and Moses and -the Brazen Serpent, the lower tier. The upper lights display angels with -the instruments of the Passion, emblems of the Evangelists and busts of -bishops and patriarchs. - - “From the south-west transept we pass into the CLOISTERS, which - occupy an unusual amount of space, but have only three walks - instead of the usual four. - - “The difference between a true monastic cloister and this of Wells - should be remarked. The canons of Wells were not monks and did not - require a cloister in the ordinary sense. This is merely an - ornamental walk around the cemetery. It did not lead to either - dormitory, refectory or chapter-house. It served as a passage to - the Bishop’s Palace; and the wall of the east walk is Early English - of the same date as the palace itself. The lavatory in the east - walk should be remarked, as well as the grotesque bosses of the - roof in the portion built by Bishop Beckington. Over the western - cloister is the Chapter Grammar School. The central space is known - as the ‘Palm Churchyard,’ from the yew-tree in its centre, the - branches of which were formerly carried in procession as palms. - From the south-east angle of the cloisters we descend into the open - ground within the gateway adjoining the marketplace, and opposite - the episcopal palace. This is surrounded by a moat, as well as by - strong external walls and bastions, and would have been capable of - sustaining a long siege according to the mediæval system of - warfare. The moat is fed by springs from St. Andrew’s, or the - ‘bottomless well’--the original ‘great well’ of King Ina,--which - rise close to the palace and fall into the moat in a cascade at the - north-east corner. Both walls and moat were the work of Bishop - Ralph of Shrewsbury (1329-1365).”--(R. J. K.) - -Wells is famous for its ancient houses. The old Palace and the Deanery -are still occupied by the bishop and the dean; the canons and vicars -also live in the individual houses built for these ecclesiastics. Wells -was never a monastery with a common refectory and dormitory: there were -always secular priests here and each man lived in his own house. Of all -the domestic buildings the Bishop’s Palace is the most beautiful. It is -considered the most perfect specimen of an Early English house that -exists. - - - - -BATH ABBEY - - DEDICATION: ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR - CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURE: WEST FRONT. - - -Standing before the =West Front=, we notice, first of all, that upon the -angles of the nave on either side of the great window are two turrets, -on the face of each of which is carved a ladder with angels ascending or -descending. The space above the window is also carved with angels; and, -under a canopy above the group, stands a figure of God the Father. Of -this strange decoration the following story is told: - -Oliver King, Bishop of Exeter, was translated to the See of Bath and -Wells in 1495. He went at once to Bath, and found the church in a -dilapidated condition. While there, he had a repetition of Jacob’s -famous dream of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth with angels -ascending and descending. Above them stood the Lord, who said: “Let an -Olive establish the crown and a King restore the church.” Taking the -hint, Bishop Oliver King immediately set to work to rebuild the church -and had his dream recorded upon the west front. He also had an -olive-tree and crown carved on each of the corner buttresses. - -Bishop King’s new church was smaller than the old one. It only occupied -the site of the former nave. He died before it was finished. Prior -William Birde continued the work, not forgetting a chantry for himself, -which is regarded as the best thing in the church. Birde died in 1525; -and the work was still unfinished when it was seized by the king’s -commissioners. The roofless and neglected church soon fell into decay; -but in 1572 it was patched up a little in order that services might be -held in it. The east window was glazed and the choir was roofed. The -nave, however, was not roofed until Bishop Montague’s rule (1608-1616). - -At the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, many mean houses that had -clustered around Bath Abbey were removed, and buttresses and pinnacles -were added to strengthen the walls. Repeated restorations have made it -exceedingly trim in appearance. - -About 775, Offa, the Mercian king, founded here a college of secular -canons, who were expelled by Dunstan in the Tenth Century and superseded -by monks. - -One great event in the abbey church was the coronation of King Edgar on -the Feast of Pentecost, 973; and for centuries afterwards it was the -custom to select on Whitsunday a “King of Bath” from among its citizens, -in honour of this circumstance. - -John de Villula, a Frenchman from Tours, who was Bishop of Somerset in -the reign of William Rufus, greatly preferred Bath to Wells. He was able -to merge Bath Abbey into the bishopric; and then he began to rebuild the -church dedicated to St. Peter. When it was finished, he transferred the -bishop’s seat from Wells to Bath. This did not satisfy Wells, however, -and when Robert of Lewes became bishop of Bath and Wells, he seems to -have arranged matters by allowing the Bishop of Somerset to have a -throne at St. Andrew’s in Wells and at St. Peter’s in Bath, the bishop -to be chosen by the monks of Bath and the canons of Wells (See page -108). - -The church built by John of Tours having suffered from fire, Robert was -compelled to rebuild it; but subsequent bishops neglected Bath; and at -the end of the Fifteenth Century, when Oliver King was removed here from -Exeter, he found the church was in a ruinous condition and began to -rebuild it, as we have seen. - -Bath Abbey is a very interesting example of late Perpendicular. It was -nearing completion when it surrendered to Henry VIII. in 1539, and is, -therefore, the last expression of Gothic Art. The most interesting part -of the church is the =West Front=, with its large window flanked by the -turrets with the ladders, already described. Each turret contains a -staircase; rises far above the parapet of the nave; and terminates in an -embattled parapet surmounted by an eight-sided and crocketed pyramid. - - “The great west window is one of seven lights, divided horizontally - into four parts. Below it is a battlemented parapet with a niche in - the centre, in which, no doubt, a statue formerly stood, and in - which a new statue has recently been placed. At the base of it are - the arms and supporters of Henry VII. Below it is the west door, - beneath a rectangular label. The spandrels contain emblems of the - Passion. On either side stand statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, to - whom the church was jointly dedicated; these seem to be of - Elizabethan date. The doors themselves were the gift to the church - of the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Henry Montague, brother of the - bishop who completed the church. On them may be seen shields - bearing the arms of the Montagues and of the Bishop of Bath and - Wells.”--(T. P.) - -The =Central Tower= is oblong and rises two stages above the roof. It -contains two pairs of windows - -[Illustration: BATH ABBEY: WEST FRONT] - -[Illustration: BATH ABBEY: CHOIR, WEST] - -with rectangular heads and each corner is ornamented by a heavy -octagonal turret also terminating in octagonal pyramids decorated with -crockets. Similar pyramids terminate the turrets that flank the sides of -the east window of the choir. - -There is no Lady-Chapel. - -Let us survey the exterior: - - “The nave consists of five bays. The clerestory windows are - unusually lofty, and are divided by transoms; they are of five - lights. Along the top of the clerestory wall is a battlemented, - pierced parapet; but the pattern of the pierced openings differs - from that of the parapet which runs along the top of the aisle - walls. The aisles have five light windows without transoms; their - heads are four centred arches; between each bay are projecting - buttresses of three stages with gabled offsets, finished with - crocketed pinnacles; against them rest flying-buttresses formed of - a lower semi-arch, with a straight rectilinear truss. From the - points where the arched flying-buttresses abut against the - clerestory walls, vertical, slightly projecting buttresses are - built upwards against the wall and rising above the parapet, are - finished by crocketed pinnacles. The same design is carried right - round the church. The clerestory of the transepts resembles those - of the nave and the choir.”--(T. P.) - -Entering, our first and general view is impressive, because of the -fan-vaulting and height of the =Nave=. Owing to the absence of horizontal -lines, the vault seems higher than it really is. There is no triforium. -A string-course runs above the arches of the main arcade beneath the -clerestory windows, which are unusually tall. On account of the enormous -windows and the absence of painted glass, Bath Abbey received the name -of the “Lantern of the West”; but now that the windows of the nave and -choir-aisles have been supplied with painted lights, the name is less -appropriate. The tracery of these windows is, of course, Perpendicular. -The one in the south-transept is a thanksgiving for the recovery of the -Prince of Wales in 1872. The lower lights depict the recovery of -Hezekiah and the royal arms of the Prince and Princess of Wales and also -those of the city of Bath. The upper part represents the Tree of Jesse. -The great east and west windows have seven lights. The west window -contains subjects from Old Testament history, and the east-window, -representations of the life of Christ. - - “There is little variety in the arches and shafts throughout the - church. This repetition is a well-known feature in Perpendicular - work. The piers have no general capital. The shaft which carries - the inner order of the arch has a capital, and so, at the same - level, have the vaulting-shafts of the high vault and that of the - aisles. These shafts spring from the bases of the main pillars. The - capitals at this level are plain, and so are the capitals of the - vaulting-shafts of the nave from which the vaulting-ribs spring. - But in the choir the place of these plain bands is taken by carved - angels. Carved angels also form the termination of the - hood-moulding of the lower windows of the south transept, and - probably those of the north transept also, though these windows are - hidden by the wooden pipes of the organ. - - “Over the heads of the clerestory windows of the nave are small - shields, and shields may also be seen in the centre of the - fan-tracery in the nave, choir and transept. In the aisles the - fan-tracery is somewhat different, as in the centre of each bay - there is a pendant. The vaulting of the nave and its aisles and - that of the south transept are modern, put up, under the direction - of Sir Gilbert Scott, to match the roof of the choir and its aisles - and north transept respectively. The reredos was designed by the - same architect. The oak screen across the eastern part of the south - choir aisle is due to his son. The font is also modern. In fact, - beyond the walls and the roofing of the eastern part of the church, - there is little old about it. In the clerestory windows are a few - fragments of Seventeenth-Century glass--heraldic shields.”--(T. P.) - -Although Bath Abbey is full of monuments (there are over six hundred -memorial tablets besides statues), the only tombs that deserve attention -are those of =Bishop Montague=, in the fourth arch of the nave on the -north side, and =Lady Waller’s Monument= under the southern window of the -transept. The figure of her husband, Sir William Waller, who commanded -the Parliamentary army in the Battle of Landsdown, near Bath, clad in -mail, gazes down upon his dead wife. Two weeping children kneel at her -feet. - -Between the choir and the south-aisle =Prior Birde’s Chantry= occupies two -bays. It is a most elaborate piece of carving. The rebus of the founder -(a bird and a W) appears frequently. Fan-tracery decorates the vault. - -The very fine organ is placed in the transept. The bells of Bath are -famous. - - - - -BRISTOL - - DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY. A CHURCH SERVED BY AUGUSTINIAN - CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: EAST WINDOW (TRACERY AND GLASS); CHAPTER-HOUSE; - GREAT GATEWAY. - - -The =West Front= of Bristol gives us a slight suggestion of a French -cathedral, for here we find a rose window and a large doorway, at the -side of which rise two square towers. The balustrade above the crocketed -gable of the doorway partly hides the rose-window. - -The towers were built in 1887 and 1888: the north-west is Bishop -Butler’s Tower and the south-west, the Colston Tower. The Butler tower -is enriched with statues of St. Michael, St. Gabriel and the Angel of -Praise; the Colston, with the Angel of the Gospel, St. Raphael and the -Angel of the Sun. On our right is the Great Gateway. - -The exterior of Bristol is not very striking. The buttresses of the -Elder-Lady-Chapel are Decorated and of the same date as the east window -of the same chapel. We should also view the great east window of the -Lady-Chapel from without and the =Central Tower=. - - “Early in the Fifteenth Century a central tower was added. Here - again one is struck by the originality of the British people: it is - as beautiful as it is original. The designer had noticed how - beautiful is the effect of a close-packed range of tall clerestory - windows, such as those of Leighton Buzzard Church. So instead of - restricting himself on each side of the tower to one or two - windows, he inserts no less than five. The range of clerestory - windows, which the Fourteenth Century builder refused to the - choir, becomes the special ornament and glory of the tower.”--(F. - B.) - -As we enter through the =North Porch=, which occupies the space between -two buttresses and is adorned with statues of the Four Evangelists, we -may remember that when Henry VIII. created the diocese of Bristol there -had been a church and monastery of Augustine canons on this site for -four hundred years. This monastery was founded in 1142 by Robert -Fitzhardinge, Lord of Berkeley Castle. Of his Norman church little -remains but portions of the walls in both transepts, a staircase in the -north-aisle leading to the tower, and some fragments in the choir. The -Norman nave was removed in 1542, because it was thought unsafe. The new -nave and western towers were completed in 1888 by Mr. Street, who copied -from the old, repeating the vaulting and the recesses of the eastern -end. - -The ground plan consists of a nave with an aisle on either side; a -central tower and transepts; then the choir with north and south aisles; -and finally, the Lady-Chapel at the end. On the north of the -north-choir-aisle is the first Lady-Chapel--built in the Early English -style, and called Elder-Lady-Chapel to distinguish it from the later -Lady-Chapel at the east end. - -At the south-east end of the south-choir-aisle we find the Berkeley -Chapel; and at the end of the south transept, the Newton Chapel. Beyond -it is the Chapter-House with its Vestibule, and on the south and west -the remains of the Cloisters. - -Our best position for viewing the =Nave= is from the north or between the -two big towers. It is 120 feet long, 60 feet high and 69 broad -including the aisles. One peculiarity of Bristol is that the aisles are -of the same height as the Nave; and another, that this Cathedral has -neither clerestory, nor triforium. The windows of the Nave are very -large and are strengthened by transoms. - -The =West Window= has for its subject the _Adoration of the Lamb_. The -=Choir= consists of four bays. It is in the Decorated style and dates from -1306 to 1332. - - “The piers of the choir carry triple shafts which support the - vaulting of the choir, and others for the aisles, which are here of - the same height as the choir. Capitals of great delicacy and - beauty, modelled from real foliage, serve to break the line of the - mouldings and accentuate the springing of the vault. Graceful - though the span of the roof is admitted to be, the lines of the - arcade of the choir are finer, and the effect of the contrast of - their soft mouldings carried up and around without a break is - excellent. The iron screen-work that separates the choir from its - aisles is uninteresting and too small in scale.”--(H. J. L. J. M.) - -On either side of the high altar are canopied recesses containing -monuments. The reredos is a memorial to Bishop Ellicott and is rather -too high, therefore interfering with a good view of the splendid east -window in the Lady-Chapel. The mosaic pavement is new, and the stalls -are also modern. Some of the old =Misereres= have been preserved, however, -and consist of grotesques. Some of them illustrate _Reynard the Fox_. - -In both aisles of the Choir we are struck by the very peculiar vaulting -designed by Abbot Knowle to strengthen the building and help carry the -lateral thrust occasioned by the heavy central vaulting. These bridges, -or transoms, therefore, do the work of flying-buttresses as faithfully -to-day as when they were erected six hundred years ago. - - “The transoms, features which were repeated in the windows of the - aisles of the choir, and in a much heavier form in the windows of - the nave, are additionally strengthened by the graceful arches - below which spring from capitals almost similar to those on the - choir side of the piers. From the centre of each transom rises a - cluster of groining ribs. It has been customary to speak rather - disparagingly of this clever piece of work of Abbot Knowle and to - term it carpentry work in stone. It may be so, but the student of - to-day may thank the Fourteenth Century Abbot for a most - instructive lesson. The transoms have crowned heads at either end - and in the centre, and they, unlike the transoms in the aisles of - the nave, are ornamented with little flowers. Beneath the windows, - which are Decorated in character, is a string-course, with - ball-flower ornament, a feature which is found all round this - eastern part. In the south aisle the vaulting was intended to be - the same as in the north aisle, having been planned by the same - architect, but a difference in the westernmost bay shows it was - superintended by a different mind. In all probability it was - Knowle’s successor, Abbot Snow, who, from 1332-1341, went on with - his predecessor’s work, adding that part called the Newton - Chapel.”--(H. J. L. J. M.) - -There is not a great deal of old glass in Bristol, but some of the -=Windows= in this east end are worthy of careful study. - - “The east windows of the choir aisles are filled with glass - coloured with enamels in accordance with the practice of the - Seventeenth Century instead of glass coloured in its manufacture. - They date from the reign of Charles II.; and although it is - traditionally said that they were presented by Nell Gwynne, it is - more probable that they were the offerings of Henry Glenham, Dean - of Bristol from 1661 to 1667, and afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph. - The arms of Glemham (Or, a chevron gules between three torteaux) - are repeated three times in the window of the south aisle and once - in that of the north. The subjects (arranged as type and antitype) - in the north aisle are--in the centre, the Resurrection; below - Jonah delivered from the whale. On the right, above, the Ascension; - below, Elijah taken up to heaven. On the left, above, the Agony in - the garden; below, Abraham about to offer up his son.”--(R. J. K.) - -In the third bay of the north wall of this north-choir-aisle a doorway -opens into a peculiar passage designed by Abbot Knowle to take the place -of a triforium. The passage leads to a staircase communicating with the -central tower and the belfry. - -North of the north-choir-aisle we come to the greatly admired Early -English Chapel, the Elder Lady-Chapel. - - “The Lady-Chapel (generally called the Elder Lady-Chapel because - the altar of the Virgin was removed to the east end of the church - after Abbot Knowle had rebuilt the choir) is entered from the - north-east corner of the transept. The chapel is Early English, and - dates, according to Mr. Godwin, from the time of Abbot John - (1196-1215). The chapel is of four bays, the windows in which are - triplets with inner arches, of which those at the side are - gracefully foliated. The detached vaulting-shafts are of Purbeck - marble. The sculpture of the capitals and string-courses is - unusually good; and the spandrels of the wall-arcade are filled - with grotesque designs which are full of spirit and character, - greatly resembling the sculpture in Wells Cathedral, much of which - is of the same date. Remember especially--a goat blowing a horn and - carrying a hare slung over his back; a ram and an ape playing on - musical instruments; and St. Michael with the dragon(?); below is a - fox carrying off a foliage. The vaulting of the roof would seem to - stamp the English character.”--(R. J. K.) - -This chapel was originally detached from the rest of the Cathedral. -Beneath the two arches - -[Illustration: BRISTOL: NORTH] - -[Illustration: BRISTOL: NAVE, EAST] - -between it and the north-choir-aisle stands the =Tomb of Maurice=, ninth -Lord Berkeley (died 1368). Here he lies with =Elizabeth=, his wife. The -knight is in armour and his head lies on a mitre. A good groined canopy -overshadows these figures. - -Retracing our steps into the choir and passing into the -=South-choir-aisle=, we examine the Glenham window, which is of the same -date as the corresponding one in the north-choir-aisle. - -The subjects are--in the centre, above, _Our Lord Driving the Money -Changers from the Temple_; below, _Jacob’s Dream_; on the right, above, -the _Tribute Money_; below, _Melchisedec_ and _Abraham_; the subject on -the left, above, is uncertain; below, the _Sacrifice of Gideon_. - -From the western bay of the south-choir-aisle we enter the =Newton -Chapel=, where members of the Newton family lie. This dates from -1332-1341. The style is late Decorated. The south wall divides it from -the Chapter-House, with which it is parallel. - -On the right, after passing out of the Newton Chapel, we come to one of -Abbot Knowle’s recesses. The foliage consists of oak leaves and acorns -interspersed here and there with tiny sprays of mistletoe, an unusual -ornament, in church decoration. - -We next pass the =Tomb of Thomas, Lord Berkeley=, who died in 1243. He is -represented in armour. His crossed legs show that he was a -knight-templar. This is the oldest monument in the cathedral. The next -recess contains the effigy of =Maurice, Lord Berkeley=, who died in 1281. -He is also in armour. In the next bay we pass up one step to the -entrance of a =Vestibule= (once a sacristy, now a music-room for the -choristers), a fine specimen of Decorated work. Through this we pass -into =Berkeley Chapel=. - - “Opposite the entrance door on the south side are three ogee arches - with niches between. In one of these, the third from the west, was - a hearth upon which the sacramental bread was baked. The - ornamentation in the spandrels and the finials is curiously - interesting work in foliage. The vaulting of the roof would seem to - stamp the work as that of Abbot Knowle. It consists of curved ribs, - quite detached, large in section, springing from small capitals. - The bosses are particularly fine, the foliage being very flowing - and free. It is difficult to realise that the mason has here done - in stone what many wood-carvers would fail to do in their softer - material. The door into the Berkeley Chapel is enriched with a - niche overhead, and a moulding below consisting of medlers.”--(H. - J. L. J. M.) - -The Berkeley Chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is thought that -an altar also stood here to St. Keyne, who turned to stone all the -snakes in the vicinity. The ammonites were probably suggested by finding -one or two in a piece of stone. - - “There are two windows toward the east, the soffetes of which are - ornamented with a gigantic ball-flower; and the peculiar foliage on - some of the capitals should be remarked. Under each of the windows - was an altar, the steps and piscinæ of which remain. The altars - were separated by a screen, the marks of which were visible in the - old pavement. Between the chapel and the aisle the wall is pierced - by the peculiar arch of Abbot Knowle; and under it, in the - thickness of the wall, is an altar-tomb much ornamented and - containing five shields charged with the coats of the Berkeley, - Ferrers and De Quincey families. The tomb in its present state is - no doubt that of Thomas, Lord Berkeley (died 1321), whose wives - were of those families; but the lower part, with its very fine - foliage, is of Early English date, and may possibly have been - removed from another part of the church.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =Lady-Chapel= is of the same date as the Choir. The east end was -rebuilt about 1280 and a window with geometrical tracery, consisting of -foliated circles, was inserted. Until 1895 it was used as a chancel. It -is 42 feet long and 32 feet broad and consists of two bays. It is -lighted by five windows. The central one is a Jesse window, and each of -the four side windows has a transom with rich tracery below. This rich -tracery we noticed from the street. In a good light relics of the -ancient painting on the walls, representing angels, each with a golden -nimbus, can be seen. - -The =Reredos= of the Lady-Chapel is partly Abbot Knowle’s work and partly -Perpendicular. On the first bay of the south side are the =Sedilia=, -restorations of the original cut away to make room for an Elizabethan -tomb of =Sir John Young= and his family. They are in four divisions with -rich canopies of leafage supported by shafts of red serpentine. - -The various recesses contain tombs and effigies of dignitaries of the -Cathedral, and, while the general lines of these recesses are similar, -there is much variety in the treatment of details. - -The splendid =East Window= is pure Decorated and of great beauty in -tracery and design. Most of the glass is old, which adds another charm -to the lovely effect of the tracery. There is much beautiful silvery -white glass from which the brilliant colours sparkle with great effect, -and we have no difficulty in tracing the _Tree of Jesse_: - - “The lower lights are separated by vine tendrils into oval panels, - twenty-one in all. In the lowest tier in the centre is Jesse with - David on the right and Solomon on the left hand. To the left of the - latter are the prophets Micah, Haggai, Malachi; to the right of - David are Jeremiah, Daniel and Amos. In the next tier the central - figure is the Virgin and Child with Hezekiah on the left and Ahaz - on the right, the four kings, David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Ahaz, - representing the descent of the promise. To the left of Hezekiah - are the prophets Jonah, Habakkuk, Zechariah; and to the right of - Ahaz are Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. Above these two rows of regular - panels are three panels, containing four subjects--the central one - giving us the Crucifixion, with our Lord in glory in the upper part - of the light. In the right hand light is the Virgin Mary, in that - on the left is St. John. - - “In the head of this window there are now seventeen blazons of - arms. In the quatrefoil at the top--the arms of England as used - before the time of Edward III., viz., the three lions; in the two - trefoils immediately below are Berkeley of Stoke Gifford (L), - Berkeley of Berkeley Castle (R). - - “Most of the glass in this upper part is original and is supposed - by Mr. Winston to date between 1312-1322, as the arms of Gaveston, - who was murdered in 1312, are not in the window, while the arms of - De Bohun, who was slain in open rebellion in 1322, are clearly - here. The glass, then, is of Knowle’s time, and being contemporary - with the masonry, affords a rich example of the harmony of form and - colour about which one hears so much but which one so seldom sees. - It is probable that the tracery of the window may have been - designed for Abbot Knowle by the builder of the window at Carlisle, - also an Augustinian house. There is a strong resemblance in the two - windows, both of which are excellent work.”--(H. J. L. J. M.) - -The four side windows contain rich and interesting glass of the same -date. The one bearing the arms of Mortimer, Earl of March, has a picture -of the _Martyrdom of St. Edmund_, the last of the native kings of East -Anglia, who taken prisoner by the Danes in 870 refused to abjure his -faith. He was put to death. Here we find, according to legend, the grey -wolf watching over the severed head. The costume of the soldiers gives -us 1320 as the date of this magnificent window. Beneath St. Edmund are -an archbishop and two knights, bearing the arms of the Berkeleys. - -The tracery of the large north window was inserted in 1704. - -The =South Transept= contains the tomb of Bishop Butler, more famed as the -author of the _Analogy of Religion_ than as Bishop of Bristol -(1738-1750). The epitaph is by Southey. - -The =Cloisters=, on the south side of the cathedral, are entered from the -south transept. From them the =Chapter-House= is entered. - -The entrance, or vestibule, of the Chapter-House shows a very early -example of what may be called a pointed arch. The mouldings and members -are quite of the circular style and character. From north to south the -arches are round-headed, but east and west they are pointed. This -Transitional Norman work--dating from Fitzhardinge’s time--is of special -interest. - - “The chapter-house is one of the oldest parts of the earlier fabric - of the cathedral, and as Britton truly says, ‘in its original state - must have been one of the most interesting of the kind in the - kingdom and perhaps in Europe.’ In spite of what it has undergone - at the hands of architects, restorers and rioters, it is most - interesting still, a regular parallelogram in shape, measuring 42 - feet in length by 25 in breadth and 25 feet in height, divided into - two bays. - - “The eastern wall, which dates from 1831, has three windows, and - the west wall has also three round-headed arches, the central one - being the main door, while the side ones serve as windows, each - being subdivided by a small pier. Each of these main openings has a - label of cable-moulding. Above this cable-moulding is an arcade of - interlacing arches, borne by thirteen tall piers, alternately - plain and twisted; and above this is a semicircular space, also - filled with rounded-headed intersecting arches, so arranged as to - fill the semicircular space. The north and south walls have a plain - round-headed arcading below, with a bold round moulding, while - above is an elaborate arcading, similar to the lower tier on the - west wall, but with much richer capitals. Above this is interlaced - lattice-work, and above this in one bay a space covered with zigzag - mouldings. The shafts of the arcading on the walls are alternately - richly carved or almost plain. The clustered shafts, from which the - main arch of the vaulting springs, are peculiarly rich in - ornamentation.”--(H. J. L. J. M.) - -In the Chapter-House there is preserved a fine piece of archaic -sculpture, which was found under the floor in 1831 after the destructive -fire of that date, in use as a slab covering an ancient coffin. It -represents the descent of the Saviour into Hell and the delivery of -Adam, and is probably of the same date as the slabs in Chichester. - -The famous =Great Gateway=, the arcading of which is much in the style of -the Chapter-House, is supposed to stand on the site of the principal -entrance to Fitzhardinge’s monastery. Though Norman in style and -probably containing a lot of Norman masonry, critics believe that it is -a Perpendicular restoration of the old work. - -This archway is composed of four recessed orders enriched with chevron -and other mouldings and ornaments. This must not be confused with the -less elaborate =Gateway in Lower College Green=, probably of -Fitzhardinge’s time and strengthened by Abbot Newland. The latter was -the gateway to the abbot’s dwelling and afterwards to the Bishop’s -Palace. - - - - -GLOUCESTER - - DEDICATION: ST. PETER: FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE ABBEY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: CENTRAL TOWER; CHOIR; LADY-CHAPEL; EAST WINDOW; - CLOISTERS. - - -Gloucester presents a fine view from all points of approach. - - “As a rule, visitors see it first from the south side, and the - south-west general view is one of the best, equalled, but not - surpassed, by that from the north-west. The north view from the - Great Western Railway, with the school playing-fields in the - foreground, makes a striking picture, but it is more sombre than - the picture formed by the south front. Viewed from the north-west - corner of the cloister-garth, the pile is seen perhaps at its best. - From this point it is easy to study so much the varied architecture - of the whole, and with little effort to transport the mind back for - a space of four hundred years. The eye first rests upon the turf of - the garth now tastefully laid out after many years of comparative - neglect. Flanking the garth on every side are the exquisite windows - of the Cloister--a cloister which no other can surpass. Above the - Cloister will be seen on the eastern side the sober, impressive - Norman work of the Chapter-house in which so much of our English - history has been made. To the south of this is the Library, built - close against the walls of the north transept, which tower above, - and lead the eye upward to the great tower which, ‘in the middest - of the church,’ crowns the whole. - - “Placed where it is, almost in the centre of the long line of the - nave, continued in the choir and Lady-chapel, at the point where - the transept line intersects it, it is the chief feature of the - massive pile. All else seems to be grouped with a view to the - enhancing of the effect of the central position of the tower. The - other members of the building seem merely to be steps, by means of - which approach can be made to it. It is the grandest and most - impressive feature of the outside. No matter from whence one looks - at it, the charm is there. Seen from the gardens in the side - streets close by when the pear-trees are in bloom, or in the full - blaze of a hot summer day, or again later in the autumn when the - leaves are beginning to turn, or, better still, in snow time, it is - always full of beauty. On a bright hot day the pinnacles seem so - far off in the haze as to suggest a dream fairyland. On a wet day, - after a shower, the tower has the appearance of being so close at - hand that it almost seems to speak. Viewed by moonlight, the tower - has an unearthly look, which cannot well be described. The tower is - 225 feet high to the top of the pinnacles, and the effect of it is - extremely fine. From the main cornice upwards, the whole of the - stone-work is open, and composed of what at a distance appears to - be delicate tracery, and mullions and crocketed pinnacles.”--(H. J. - L. J. M.) - -In it hang the venerable _bells_ that escaped the king’s commissioners -at the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1553. - -Gloucester is notable for its examples of the Transition from Decorated -to Perpendicular, which probably originated in this Cathedral. - -The abbey of Gloucester was founded by Osric, viceroy of King Edward, in -681. It was dedicated to St. Peter. Osric’s sister, Kyneburga, who died -in 710, was the first Abbess of this double foundation for monks and -nuns. Osric and Kyneburga were buried in the Abbey church in front of -the altar of St. Petronilla. In 823, secular priests were placed here by -the King of Mercia; and in 1022 they were expelled by Canute for -Benedictine monks. When the monastery was burned to the ground, Aldred, -Bishop of Worcester, re-established the monks in 1058, and began the -building of a new church also to St. Peter,--“a little further from the -place where it had first stood, and nearer to the side of the city.” - -The monastery failed to flourish; Aldred was translated to York in 1060; -and when Serlo, who had been William the Conqueror’s chaplain, succeeded -to Wilstan, or Wulstan, Aldred’s successor, he had under him only two -monks and eight novices. After fifteen years of energetic rule -(1072-1103), Serlo rebuilt the Cathedral. - -In August, 1089, an earthquake damaged the then existing building. -Eleven years later (1100), in the last year of the reign of William -Rufus, “the church,” as Florence of Worcester wrote, “which Abbot Serlo, -of revered memory, had built from the foundations at Gloucester, was -dedicated (on Sunday, July 15th) with great pomp by Samson, Bishop of -Worcester; Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester; Gerard, Bishop of Hereford; and -Herveas, Bishop of Bangor.” It is thought that part of the church was -finished for the dedication, such as the presbytery, choir, the -transepts, the Abbot’s cloister, the chapter-house, and the greater part -of the nave. - -The Saxon Chronicle tells us that in 1122, while the monks were singing -mass, fire burst out from the upper part of the steeple, and burnt the -whole monastery. Between 1164 and 1179 one of the western towers fell -down. - -Repairs were consequently necessary. - -Offerings at the Tomb of Edward II. were a great aid in providing funds. - - “Instead of going on with Abbot Morwent’s rebuilding of the nave, - the monks now turned their attention to the central tower. The - tower was of no use as a lantern, for the lierne vault of the choir - had been carried beneath it. So it long remained unaltered. But in - the days of Abbot Seabroke (1460-1482), it was rebuilt under the - superintendence of a monk named Tully, to be in character with the - new exterior of choir and transepts. A very imposing tower it is; - fully able, from its massiveness as well as from its height, to - gather together the masses of the building--all the more so because - the transepts are so short. It succeeds where the central towers of - Worcester and Hereford fail; in fact, it is as effective in its way - as Salisbury spire. The pinnacles, again, bear witness to the love - of these later artists for harmony and unity; each pinnacle, with - its two ranges of windows, is a repeat of the two stages of the - tower below. - - “Then--after the tower had been erected--it was decided to rebuild - the Lady-chapel. So an immense detached building was constructed to - the east of the great window of the presbytery; without aisles, but - with little transepts; almost one continuous sheet of glass, and - with a superb vault. This Lady-chapel had to be joined up to the - presbytery, but the great east window was in the way. However, the - difficulty was got over by a series of ingenious shifts and dodges, - which must be seen to be appreciated (1457-1499). - - “And so ended this great building-period at Gloucester (1330-1499), - which turned the course of English architecture; so that the - Curvilinear style of 1315 to 1360 did not find its natural - development in Flamboyant, as on the Continent, but was switched - off to Perpendicular and Tudor design.”--(F. B.) - -Let us see what the “shifts and dodges” referred to above consisted of. - - “The method of joining the Lady-chapel to the choir is best noticed - from the outside. It is a piece of exceedingly clever and graceful - construction, and there is the minimum of obstruction to the light - passing through to the east window, and the maximum of support to - the elliptical east window. Viewing the Lady-chapel from the north - side, the play of light through the windows on the south side has a - very grand effect. Under the east end of the Lady-chapel is a - passage which has given rise to much speculation in bygone times. - The Lady-chapel, at - -[Illustration: GLOUCESTER: EAST] - -[Illustration: GLOUCESTER: TOMB OF EDWARD II.] - - the time of its erection, was carried out to the farthest limit of - the land possessed by the Abbey. As the east wall of the chapel was - actually on the western boundary wall the passage was made to give - access from the north to the south of the grounds, without the need - of going right round the precincts by the west front.”--(H. J. L. - J. M.) - -During the reign of Henry VIII., the Abbey which had - - “existed for more than eight centuries under different forms, in - poverty and in wealth, in meanness and in magnificence, in - misfortune and success, finally succumbed to the royal will. The - day came, and that a drear winter day, when its last Mass was sung, - its last censer waved, its last congregation bent in rapt and lowly - adoration before the altar there; and, doubtless, as the last tones - of that day’s evensong died away in the vaulted roof, there were - not wanting those who lingered in the solemn stillness of the old - massive pile, and who, as the lights disappeared one by one, felt - that there was a void which could never be filled, because their - old abbey, with its beautiful services, its frequent means of - grace, its hospitality to strangers, and its loving care for God’s - poor, had passed away like a morning dream, and was gone for - ever.”--(W. H. H.) - -Gloucester has suffered from the hands of restorers. In 1847, Mr. F. S. -Waller made extensive repairs. At this time the gardens were added. - -The exterior presents a great variety of battlements and pinnacles and -another interesting feature in the exterior is the construction of the -two passages which make up the greater part of the so-called Whispering -Gallery. This connects the north and south triforium of the choir. - -The =West Front= of Gloucester, restored in 1874, is comparatively -uninteresting. The buttresses of the great window are pieced, as are -also the parapets. Plain transoms cross the lights of the great west -window, the tracery of which is very elaborate when looked at from -within. The old towers have disappeared. - -The =South Porch= is the principal entrance. It is the work of Morwent -(1421-1437). Over the doorway stand St. Peter and St. Paul and the four -Evangelists, and below them are King Osric and Abbot Serlo, the founders -of the Abbey church. In the niches of the buttress stand St. Jerome, St. -Ambrose, St. Augustine and St. Gregory. The windows of this porch have -been formed by piercing the tracery of the inside. Over the porch is an -unfinished parvis. The doors date from the Fifteenth Century. - -We now enter the =Nave=. - - “The first impression of the nave changes all earlier thoughts of - the age of the building. It is unmistakably Norman, grand beyond - expression, but cold, severe and deathly white. The stained glass - (mostly modern) of the Norman and Decorated windows fails to supply - the evident lack of colour. - - “There was a time when lines of blue and scarlet and gold relieved - the white vaulted roof, when altars agleam with colour and pale - flickering lights gave light and brightness to the chill whiteness - of this vast and mighty colonnade. On Sunday evenings, when the - nave is filled with worshippers and the bright searching daylight - is replaced by the yellow gleam of the little tongues of fire above - the great and massive arches, the want of colour is little felt, - and the noble and severe beauty of the matchless Norman work in the - great nave strikes the beholder. The nave of Gloucester, to be - loved and admired as it deserves, and as it appeared to men in the - days of the Plantagenet Kings, must be seen in one of the many - crowded evening services. - - “Save that the altars with their wealth of colour and light are - gone, and the lines of colouring and the glint of gold of the - Norman wooden ceiling no longer are visible on the stone-vaulted - roof above and the south aisle Norman windows are replaced with - exquisite Decorated work of the time of the second Edward, there is - no great structural change since the day at the close of the - Eleventh Century when Abbot Fulda from Shrewsbury preached his - famous sermon to the Gloucester folk, the sermon in which he - foretold the death of the imperious and cruel Rufus in words so - plain, so unmistakable, that Abbot Serlo of Gloucester, who loved - the great wicked King, in spite of his many sins, was alarmed and - at once sent to warn his master, but in vain. Rufus disregarded the - Gloucester note of alarm, and a few hours later the news of the - King of England’s bloody death, in the leafy glades of the New - Forest, rang through Normandy and England. - - “Yes, it is the same nave, only colder and whiter, on which Anselm, - the saintly archbishop, and Rufus gazed; the same avenue of massy - pillars--then scarcely finished--through which Maud the Empress - often went to her prayers with her chivalrous half-brother, Earl - Robert. Beauclerc, her father, too, and some grey-haired survivors - of Hastings must have looked on these huge columns crowned with - their round arches which excite our wonder to-day. They were a - curious fancy of the architect of Serlo; or was it not probably a - design of a yet older artist of Edward the Confessor? These - enormous round shafts, which are the peculiar feature of the nave - of our storied abbey, have only once been repeated, probably by the - same architect, in the neighbouring abbey of Tewkesbury, a few - years later. There is nothing like them on either side of the - silver streak of sea. The Tewkesbury copies are slightly smaller; - otherwise they are exact reproductions of Gloucester.”--(S.) - -The Nave differs from other Norman naves like those of Peterborough, Ely -and Norwich. - - “The unique features here are the great height of the massive - circular columns, fourteen in number, and the consequently dwarfed - triforium or gallery running over the main arches. There are traces - to be seen of the original Norman clerestory under the - Perpendicular windows, and, judging from this, the height of the - clerestory, as originally constructed, must have been but little - less than that of the piers in the nave. - - “This Norman clerestory was altered at the same time that the roof - of the nave was vaulted--viz. in 1242, in the time of Henry Foliot. - This work was done by the monks themselves, who thought, as - Professor Willis suggests, that they could do it better than common - workmen. Their work is made of a light and porous kind of stone, - treated with plaster on the under-side, and it was rendered - necessary by the previous roof, which was of wood, having been - destroyed by fire in 1190. Of this fire the piers certainly show - the traces to this day, all having become reddened and slightly - calcined. To make the new clerestory the whole of the original - Norman work over the arcade of the triforium was removed, with the - exception of the jambs of the side-lights (which extended beyond - the arches of the triforium) and the wall between them.”--(H. J. L. - J. M.) - -All the stone-work was originally painted. - - “The painting may be thus generally described. The hollow of the - abacus of the capitals was red, the lower member of the same, - green; the whole of the bell red, the leaves alternately green and - yellow, with the stalks, running down, of the same colours, into - the red bell of the capital. The vertical mouldings between the - marble shafts were red and blue alternately; the lower shafts green - and blue, with red in the hollows, and the foliage on these also is - green and yellow. Some of the horizontal mouldings are partly - coloured also. The bosses in the groining are yellow and green, as - in the capitals. All the colouring, which was very rich, was - effected with water colours; in one instance only has any gold been - discerned, and that was upon one of the bosses in the roof.”--(F. - S. W.) - -Abbot Morwent pulled down the west end of the Nave in 1421-1437 and -reconstructed it in the Perpendicular style. It is supposed that the -original =west front= was like that of the Abbey at Tewkesbury. - -The west window contains nine lights, filled with modern glass. - -The =South aisle=, originally Norman, was remodelled about 1318. The -tracery of the windows is unusual. The ball-flower is seen in great -profusion in this part of the Cathedral. - -In this aisle there is a monument to Dr. Jenner of vaccination fame, to -whom the five-light west window here is also a memorial. - -The tracery of the windows of the clerestory is attributed to Abbot -Morwent. - -The =North aisle= retains its original Norman vaulting, and the Norman -piers, which correspond to the piers in the Nave, are divided into -several members. Some of their capitals are richly carved. In each bay -there is some Perpendicular tracing. A stone bench along the wall is -also Perpendicular. - -The door into the Cloister at the west end of the aisle is very fine, -and the side niches and canopy work over it deserve study. - -The door at the eastern end of the aisle leading to the Cloisters is -also Perpendicular. Both doors have fan-vaulted recesses, like the great -west door of the Nave. - -The west end of the aisle is the work of Abbot Morwent (1421-1437). - -A heavy stone screen, dating from 1820, closes the east end of the nave. -We pass through a small arch in this screen, and beneath the broad -platform on which the great organ stands. - -This was originally built in 1663-1665 by Thomas Harris, and was painted -and gilded in 1666. The oak case is in the Renaissance Style. - -Little idea of the beauty of the =Choir= can be obtained from the Nave. We -enter from the north aisle. It is 140 feet long; 33 feet 7 inches broad; -and 86 feet high. - - “Looking upwards, the visitor will note the beauty of the vaulting - and the bosses placed at the intersection of the ribs. These bosses - at the east end of the choir chiefly represent a choir of angels - playing on various kinds of musical instruments, and a figure of - Our Lord in the attitude of blessing. All the roof was originally - probably painted and decorated, but the existing colour and gilding - is recent work, having been done by Clayton & Bell. At first sight - the groining of the roof looks most complicated, but, if analysed - and dotted down on paper, it will be seen to be in reality a simple - geometrical pattern. The bosses will repay careful examination with - a glass. - - “Viewed from the door in the screen, the choir looks in very truth - a piece of Perpendicular work, as the Norman substructure is then - for the most part concealed. A closer examination, however, will - prove that the Norman work is all there--that it has been veiled - over with tracery from the floor level to the vaulting with open - screen-work, fixed on to the Norman masonry, which was pared down - to receive it.”--(H. J. L. J. M.) - -The general impression is striking: - - “The choir on which you are now looking is very long--not too long, - however, for its great height--for the fretted roof, a delicate - mosaic of tender colours set in pale gold, soars high above the - vaulting of the nave. The proportions are simply admirable. From - the lofty traceried roof down to the elaborately tiled floor, the - walls are covered with richly carved panelled work, broken here and - there with delicate screens of stone. The eastern end, hard by the - high altar, is the home of several shrines. There is happily no - lack of colour in this part of our cathedral. The western end is - furnished with sixty richly-carved canopied stalls of dark oak, - mostly the handiwork of the Fourteenth Century. The curiously and - elaborately fretted work of the roof we have already spoken of as - a rich mosaic of gold and colours. The floor, if one dare breathe - a criticism in this charmed building, is too bright and glistening, - but it is in its way varied and beautiful. The carving of the - reredos, a work of our own day, is, to the writer’s mind, open to - criticism, but is still very fair, telling in every detail of - loving work and true reverence.”--(S.) - -The =High Altar= occupies the same site as the ancient one. The sixty -=Choir-stalls= have been restored in part; the sub-stalls date from Sir -Gilbert Scott’s restoration (1873). On the south side of the High Altar -there are four =Sedilia= also restored. Redfern’s figures in the niches -are Abbot Edric, Bishop Wulstan, and Abbots Aldred, Serlo, Foliot, -Thokey, Wygmore, Horton, Froucester, Morwent, Seabroke and Hanley. The -three angels over the canopies, playing on a tambour and trumpets, -deserve notice. - -On the north side of the =Presbytery= we pause to look at the chantry =Tomb -of Abbot Parker=, where the carving of vine and grapes on the stone -screen is fine. The curious cross in the form of a growing tree at the -foot of the tomb is also striking. Parker, who died in 1539, was buried -elsewhere. Then we pass to the more famous =Tomb of Edward II.=, erected -by Edward III. The alabaster figure is probably the earliest of its kind -in England. The tomb was opened in 1855 to satisfy curiosity as to -whether the king was really buried there after his murder in Berkeley -Castle nearby. - - “Though it awakens our recollection of a feeble-minded king, and - his barbarously brutal murder, it also compels our admiration at - the beauty of the work. It has been restored, renovated or - re-edified, but in spite of that, appeals to us from the wealth of - very highly ornate tabernacle work, the richness, and at the same - time the lightness and elegance of the whole. The details too are - well worth careful examination. It may be, judging from the - expression of the face, that there has been some attempt at - portraiture, but repair and restoration have practically made it - impossible to settle what would otherwise be an interesting - question. The superb canopy has suffered much at the hands of - restorers--e.g. in 1737, 1789, 1798 and in 1876.”--(H. J. L. J. M.) - -The next monument is to =King Osric=, erected in “late dayes,” _i.e._ in -the time of Abbot Parker, whose arms are in the spandrels of the canopy -(1514-1539). - -The Norman piers, cut away to receive the tomb, are decorated on their -capitals with the white hart chained and gorged, with a ducal coronet, -the device of Richard II. Osric is represented as clad in tunic, laced -mantle and a fur hood or collar, bearing the model of a church in his -left hand. - -The next tomb westwards is, as Leland says, that of “=King Edward of -Caernarvon= (who) lyeth under a fayre tombe, in an arch at the head of -King Osric tombe.” - -The transepts and ambulatory of the choir are usually entered through -the iron gateway in the south aisle of the nave. - -These =Ambulatories=, or aisles, have nothing uncommon in their form or -arrangement below, but above occurs the great peculiarity of this -church. The upper range of chapels surrounding the Choir is perhaps not -to be met with in any other church in Europe. - -Another peculiarity of the Choir is its six-light west window. This was -rendered necessary by the difference in height of the Nave and Choir; -for the vaulting of the choir is about twenty feet higher than that of -the Nave. The glass consists chiefly of patchwork from other windows in -the Cathedral. It represents a figure of our Lord, with angels on either -side. Below angels play musical instruments. - -The =Triforium= of the Choir is considered by some critics the finest in -existence. - - “It occupies the space over the ground floors of the aisles or - ambulatory of the choir, and originally extended of a like width - round the east end of the Norman Church, but at the time when the - Fourteenth-Century work of the present choir was executed, the - whole of the east end of the old Norman choir, with the - corresponding part of the triforium, was removed in order to make - room for the existing large window, the small east chapel being - allowed to remain.”--(F. S. W.) - -The =Triforium= is reached by the staircases in the western turrets of the -two transepts and by arcaded passages passing under the great windows of -the transepts. - - “The first chapel in the triforium contains two brackets with rich - canopies, and there is a very well preserved double piscina. - Ball-flowers in two rows will be found in the mouldings of the east - window. Remains of two canopies in the jambs of the windows are - also to be traced. - - “The massive Norman piers should be carefully studied, as the way - in which the later casing work has been applied can be more easily - seen in the triforium than elsewhere. - - “The picture on the west side of this part of the triforium was - discovered in 1718, against the then eastern end of the nave, - underneath the panelled wainscot at the back of the seats occupied - by the clergy when the nave was used for service.”--(H. J. L. J. - M.) - -This painting of _The Last Judgment_ is supposed to date from the reign -of Henry VIII., or Edward VI. It was suggested by the great altar-piece -at Dantzig (1467). - -As an entrance to the east chapel of the triforium, the narrow gallery, -called the =Whispering Gallery=, was made. It is a passage of Norman work, -very much altered and re-used. It is 74 feet long, 3 feet wide, 6⅛ -feet high, and is carried on segmental arches from the east end of the -south triforium to the west wall of the Lady Chapel, and thence in the -same way to the north triforium. - -On the way towards the Whispering Gallery, the flying-buttresses -inserted in 1347-1350 to support the walls of the clerestory, which were -weakened by the insertion of the great east window of the Choir, should -be noticed. - -Visitors are always interested in the Whispering Gallery, where the -lightest whisper can be easily and distinctly heard at the other end of -the gallery. It inspired the following lines, by Maurice Wheeler -(head-master of the King’s School, 1684-1712): - - “Doubt not but God, who sits on high, - Thy secret prayers can hear, - When a dead wall thus cunningly - Conveys soft whispers to the ear.” - -The =East Window= is larger than the East Window of York Minster. It -measures 78 × 38 feet; that at York is 78 × 33. - -Though it has suffered much mutilation, restorers have done little harm, -and it is possible to get some idea of its original splendour. - - “It is worthy of remark that the tracery, heads and cusps, as seen - from the inside of this window, are not repeated on the outside, a - plain transom only crossing the lights. This peculiarity is - repeated in the great west - -[Illustration: GLOUCESTER: CHOIR, EAST] - -[Illustration: GLOUCESTER: CLOISTERS] - - window and in many other windows in the cathedral.”--(F. S. W.) - -The stone-work of the window was restored in 1862 and the glass cleaned -and re-leaded. The window consists of fourteen lights--six on the centre -with four on either side. The subjects are the Coronation of the Virgin -Mary with Christ and the Apostles, saints and kings. The heraldic -shields fix the date of the glass between 1347 and 1350. The canopies -and nearly all the figures are of white glass enriched with yellow. The -tones of red and blue are particularly rich. The drawing of the figures -has been much criticised. - - “The whole of this, the loveliest choir in England, is lit by a - mighty wall of jewelled glass behind the great golden reredos. - - “This vast east window which floods the choir of Gloucester, - beautiful as a dream with its soft, silvery light faintly coloured - with jewelled shafts of the richest blue and red, and here and - there a vein of pale gold--this vast window could not have been - seen out of England, or, at least, one of the grey and misty - northern countries, where gleams of light or shafts of sunshine are - exceedingly precious. In south or central Europe the effect of such - a mighty window would be simply dazzling to the eye, would be - painful from its excess of light. - - “This great east window is the largest painted window in - England--the largest, the writer believes, in Europe. Its stonework - exceeds in size the magnificent east window of York, which stands - next to it. The respective measurements are Gloucester, seventy-two - feet high by thirty-eight wide; York, seventy-eight by thirty-three - feet. The lower parts of the centre compartments at Gloucester are - not completely glazed, owing to the opening into the Lady-chapel. - The glass of Gloucester is, on the whole, light-coloured, the - designers being evidently anxious that the beautiful stone panels - and screen-work should be seen in all their exquisite details. The - glass has suffered marvellously little from the ravages of weather - and the fanaticism of revolutionary times; the busy restorer, too, - has dealt gently with it. There are forty-nine figures, and of - these thirty-seven are pronounced by our lynx-eyed experts to be - absolutely genuine. Of the eighteen armorial shields in the lower - lights thirteen are certainly the identical shields inserted by the - survivors of Cressy. The whole of the gorgeous canopy-work has been - untouched. The subject of the paintings is the _Coronation of the - Virgin_ and the figures consist of winged angels, apostles, saints, - kings and abbots. The coats-of-arms are those borne by King Edward - III., the Black Prince, and their knightly companions, such as the - Lords of Berkeley, Arundel, Pembroke, Warwick, Northampton, Talbot - and others who took part in the famous campaign in which occurred - the battle of Cressy, and who in some degree were connected with - Gloucestershire. The window was, in fact, a memorial of the great - English victory, and may fairly be termed the Cressy window.”--(S.) - -The =Vestibule= to the Lady-Chapel is a beautiful work. The lower portions -of the west wall, parts of the old Norman apsidal chapel, are pierced by -the opening for the door and by two perpendicular windows. - -The lierne vaulting is very delicate (the ribs are run differently in -the four quarters of the roof), and the pendants form a cross. Over the -vestibule is the small chapel which is entered from the Whispering -Gallery. - -The beautiful =Lady-Chapel= was built between 1457 and 1499 on the site of -a smaller one. - -The Lady-Chapel, 91 feet 6 inches long, 25 feet 6 inches high, and 46 -feet 6 inches high, consists of four bays, which, as the wall of the -chapel is so low, are chiefly composed of fine tracery and glass. - - “All the wall below the windows is arcaded with foiled arches, with - quatrefoils above them. The wall between the windows is panelled - with delicate tracery like that in the windows, and in its three - chief tiers contains brackets for figures, with richly carved - canopies overhead. Many of these canopies (like the walls) show - traces of colour. - - “Vaulting shafts of great beauty support one of the grandest - Perpendicular roofs that has ever been made. Each boss in the roof - is worth minute inspection, and since the restoration (1896) it is - possible to see the bosses in practically the same condition as - they were when they left the masons’ hands in the Fifteenth - Century. With three exceptions they are all representations of - foliage. - - “It has been said above that the chapel is cruciform. The arms of - the cross are represented by the two side chapels, like diminutive - transepts on the north and south sides, with oratories above them, - to which access is given by small staircases in the angles of the - wall. Both these side chapels contain some exquisite fan-tracery - vaulting, which is supported upon flying arches, fashioned in - imitation of the graceful flying arches in the choir. - - “On the north side the chapel contains a full-length effigy of - Bishop Goldsborough (who died in 1604) robed in his white rochet, - black chimere, with lawn sleeves, scarf, ruff and skull-cap. - - “The east window in this chapel is in memory of Lieut. Arthur John - Lawford (1885), and is dedicated to St. Martin. - - “The chapel above has a vaulted roof with bosses of foliage, and - there are small portions of ancient glass. - - “The Lady-chapel is one of the largest in the kingdom, and is said, - at the time of the Dissolution, to have been one of the richest. A - great part of it is said to have been gilded and gloriously - ornamented. Traces of the colour can be seen in the mouldings of - the panellings and in the carving upon the walls.”--(H. J. L. J. - M.) - -The =Reredos= still retains traces of its gorgeous colours. It is very -richly ornamented. - -The =East Window=, consisting of nine lights, dates from 1472-1479. The -monuments are not especially remarkable. The tiles of the floor and the -sedilia are notable. - -On our right, as we leave the Lady Chapel, we come to =Abbot Boteler’s -Chapel= (1437-1450). It contains a fine ancient reredos, interesting -tiles and a curious wooden =effigy of Robert, Duke of Normandy=, son of -William the Conqueror. Critics think it nearly contemporary with the -Duke himself. The figure rests on a Fifteenth Century chest. - -Next we come to =St. Paul’s Chapel= (north-west) entered by a doorway. The -reredos here is very fine. It was repaired in 1870. St. Peter, St. Paul -and St. Luke, by Redfern, ornament the niches. - -An ancient stone reading-desk, from which pilgrims to the shrine of -Edward II. were addressed, attracts our attention near the door leading -into the =North Transept=. This is originally Norman, cased over with -Perpendicular panelling, more developed, however, than that in the south -transept. The work here was done in 1368-1373. Angular mouldings are -used in the place of round mouldings and the mullions run right up to -the roof, which is much richer than that in the south transept. The -vaulting of the north transept somewhat resembles the fan-tracery of the -cloisters. This transept is 8 feet lower than that on the south side and -it is 2 feet shorter. - -Beneath the north window is a greatly admired piece of Early English -(1240), supposed to have been a =Reliquary=. The middle of the three -divisions is a doorway. Beautifully carved foliage and Purbeck marble -shafts are the chief ornamentation. - -Opposite, between the tower-piers, is a small chapel, said to have been -dedicated to St. Anthony. It is used as the Dean’s vestry. - -The =South Transept= (=St. Andrew’s Aisle=) was transformed from the Norman -in 1329-1337. The vaulting is lierne with short ribs. The walls are -panelled. - -On the north side of the south transept, we find the =Seabroke Chapel=. - - “The alabaster effigy represents the Abbot in his alb, stole, - tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, amice and mitre, with his pastoral staff - on his right side. The chapel has been partially restored. Traces - of colour are to be seen in the reredos and the roof over it. - - “Almost opposite to this, but nearer to the iron gate, is a - recessed tomb to a knight in mixed armour of mail and plate, and by - his side his lady, with kirtle, mantle and flowing hair. Both wear - SS. collars, and this helps to give the age of the monument, by - narrowing the date down to a year not earlier than 1399.”--(H. J. - L. J. M.) - -On the east side the =Chapel of St. Andrew= occupies a corresponding -position to that of =St. Paul= in the north transept. This chapel has been -restored. Some of the best glass in the Cathedral is contained in the -east window over St. Andrew’s Chapel. It dates from about 1330 and -consists of the head of a white scroll-work of vine leaves, etc., on a -fine ruby-coloured ground, and below plain quarries with very simple -borders. - -Opposite Boteler’s Chapel we find =St. Philip’s Chapel= (south-east), -restored in 1864. There is some dog-tooth moulding near the piscina. A -fine Perpendicular arch, supporting the triforium above, attracts -attention before the Lady-Chapel is entered. - -The =Crypt= is entered from the eastern door in the south transept. It is -one of the five great eastern crypts erected before 1085[5] and consists -of an apse, three small apsidal chapels and two chapels underneath the -eastern chapels of the north and south transepts. - - “Great alterations have from time to time been made in the crypt. - The large semicircular columns against the walls, though of great - antiquity, are not parts of the original structure, but are casings - built round, and enclosing the former smaller piers, and the ribs - springing from their capitals are built _under_, with a view to - support the vaulting.”--(F. S. W.) - -Through a door in the organ screen in the north aisle of the nave we -enter the =Cloisters=, which are among the most perfect and beautiful in -England. They form a quadrangle and each walk is divided into ten -compartments. Fan-tracery is thought to have originated here in the -vaulting. They were begun by Abbot Horton (1351-1377) and completed by -Abbot Froucester (1381-1412). - - “The view looking down either of the walks is very fine, mainly - owing to the richness of the groined roof, which is the earliest - example of the fan-vault. This style of vaulting is entirely - peculiar to England; and Professor Willis has suggested that the - school of masons who were employed in this cathedral may have - originated it. The wall sides of the cloisters are panelled; and - the windows, divided by a transom, have rich Perpendicular tracery. - The lights above the transom were glazed. Each walk is divided into - ten compartments. In the south walk are the Carrels--places for - writing or study, twenty in number, formed by a series of arches, - running below the main windows. In each carrel is a small and - graceful window of two lights.[6] The very fine view at the angle - of the south and west walks should especially be noticed. In the - north walk are the lavatories, projecting into the cloister garth; - these are very perfect. Under the windows is a long trough or - basin into which the water flowed. The roof is groined. Opposite in - the wall of the cloister, is the recess for towels, or - _manutergia_. The windows of the east walk are filled with memorial - glass by Hardman (the eighth is by Ballantyne, as is one window in - the west walk).”--(R. J. K.) - -A small cloister, or slype, opens from the east walk between the -cathedral and the chapter-house. This is also called the =Abbot’s -Cloister=. This is Norman in its western portion and Perpendicular -beyond.[7] Above this is situated the Chapter Library, a long, dark -Perpendicular room with a roof of dark oak, a large Perpendicular window -east and a row of small windows on the north side. - -Though the cloisters are quadrangular, the length of the four walks is -not quite the same. The width (12½ feet) and height (18½ feet) are -alike. - -In the =North Alley=, the Monks’ Lavatory is - - “one of the most perfect of its date. It projects 8 feet into the - garth, and is entered from the cloister alley by eight tall arches - with glazed traceried openings above. Internally it is 47 feet long - and 6½ feet wide, and is lighted by eight two-light windows - towards the garth and by a similar window at each end. One light of - the east window has a small square opening below, perhaps for the - admission of the supply pipes, for which there seems to be no other - entrance either in the fan vault or the side walls. Half the width - of the lavatory is taken up by a broad, flat ledge or platform - against the wall, on which stood a lead cistern or laver, with a - row of taps, and in front a hollow trough, originally lined with - lead, at which the monks washed their hands and faces. From this - the waste water ran away into a recently discovered (1889) tank in - the garth.”--(H.) - -From the =West Alley= the monks entered their great dining-hall; and at -the south-west corner a vaulted passage called the =Slype= lies under part -of the old lodging of the Abbots, now the Deanery. In this passage, a -sort of outer parlour, the monks held conversation with strangers. In -the =South Alley= the monks studied after dinner until evensong. It has -ten windows of six lights and twenty recesses, or “carrels,” below the -transoms. - -The roof of the =East Alley= is a perfectly plain barrel vault without -ribs. In the south-west corner we find a hollowed bracket, or cresset -stone, in which a wick, floating in tallow, was kept to light the -passage. - -Opposite the fifth bay a doorway, containing some good Norman work, -slightly restored, leads into the =Chapter-House=. - -Originally consisting of three Norman bays, it probably, like the -chapter-houses at Norwich, Reading, and Durham, terminated in a -semi-circular apse. The present east end is Late Perpendicular, and -makes a fourth bay. The vaulting of the later part is well groined, and -the window is good. The roof of the three Norman bays is a lofty barrel -vault supported by three slightly pointed arches springing from the -capitals of the columns, which are curiously set back, and separate the -bays. - -Norman arcading of twelve arches--_i.e._ four to each bay--runs along -the three westernmost bays on the north and south walls. - - “The west end is arranged in the usual Benedictine fashion, with a - central door, flanked originally by two large unglazed window - openings, with three large windows above. Only one of the windows - flanking the doorway can now be seen, the other having been partly - destroyed and covered by Perpendicular panelling when the new - library stair was built in the south-west corner of the - room.”--(H.) - -Of the four old gateways remaining the finest is =St. Mary’s Gate=, a -typical specimen of Early English work. It leads into St. Mary’s Square. -In the northwest corner of the Precincts the famous vineyard was -situated. - - - - -HEREFORD - - DEDICATION: ST. MARY AND ST. ETHELBERT. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR - CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: NORTH TRANSEPT AND EAST END. - - -Hereford is situated in the fertile and cultivated valley of the Wye. - - “Almost in the midst of the city the sturdy mass of the cathedral - building reposes in a secluded close, from which the best general - view is obtained. The close is entered either from Broad Street, - near the west window, or from Castle Street; the whole of the - building lying on the south side of the close between the path and - the river. The space between the Wye and the Cathedral is filled by - the Bishop’s Palace and the college of the Vicars’ Choral. On the - east are the foundations of the castle, which was formerly one of - the strongest on the Welsh marshes.”--(A. H. F.) - -A stone church was begun here about 830 in honour of St. Ethelbert, the -East Anglian king, murdered by Offa near Hereford in 792. At his shrine -miracles were wrought. This church was rebuilt in Edward the Confessor’s -reign; but was plundered and burnt by the Welsh and Irish. The present -building was begun by Robert de Losinga about 1079 and finished by the -middle of the Twelfth Century. The most remarkable part of the building -is the north transept. This is supposed to have been built by Bishop -Aquablanca (see page 177), who was succeeded by Thomas de Cantilupe, the -great saint of the Cathedral (see page 178). - -Hereford has suffered greatly from calamities and restorations. In 1786 -the western tower and west front fell. They were reconstructed by Wyatt. -He also shortened the nave by one bay and destroyed the Norman -triforium. Repairs and restorations were undertaken in 1841, 1852 and -1858. - -The most striking feature of the exterior is the central =Tower=--of two -stories above the roof with buttresses and exhibiting the ball-flower in -great profusion. The four pinnacles at the corners were added in 1830. -The Lady-Chapel with its tall lancet-shaped windows and bold buttresses -is also interesting. On the south side the Audley Chantry projects with -great effect; and from the west we gain a good view of the =Bishop’s -Cloisters=, with the square turreted tower called the =Lady Arbour=, though -nobody knows why. Only the east and the south walks now remain. They are -Perpendicular with fine window openings and richly carved roof. - -We enter the Cathedral by the =North porch=, completed in 1530. It is of -two stages, and projects beyond an inner porch of the Decorated period. -The doorway opening into the church is also Decorated. - -On entering the =Nave=, we pass to the west end to get the best general -view. - - “The nave, which is separated from the aisles by eight massive - Norman piers (part of the original church), of which the capitals - are worthy of notice, has somewhat suffered by restorations at the - hands of Wyatt. The triforium, the clerestory, the vaulting of the - roof and the western wall and doorway are all his work; and it must - not be forgotten that he shortened the original nave by one entire - bay. Walking to the west end, from which the best general view is - to be obtained, one is impressed by the striking effect of the - great Norman piers and arches and the gloom of the choir beyond. - Through the noble circular arches, which support the central tower - and the modern screen on the eastern side of it, we see the eastern - wall of the choir, pierced above by three lancet windows and below - by a wide circular arch receding in many orders. A central pillar - divides this lower arch, two pointed arches springing from its - capital, and leaving a spandrel between them, which is covered with - modern sculpture. In the far distance may be distinguished the east - wall of the Lady-chapel and its brilliant lancet lights. Throughout - the Cathedral the Norman work is remarkable for the richness of its - ornament as compared with other buildings of the same date, such as - Peterborough or Ely. - - “The main arches of the nave are ornamented with the billet and - other beautiful mouldings and the capitals of both piers and shafts - are also elaborately decorated. The double half shafts set against - the north and south fronts of the huge circular piers are in the - greater part restorations. - - “Over each pier-arch there are two triforium arches imitated from - the Early English of Salisbury. They are divided by slender - pillars, but there is no triforium passage. During the Late - Decorated period the nave-aisles were practically rebuilt, the - existing walls and windows being erected upon the bases of the - Norman walls, which were retained for a few feet above the - foundations. The vaulting of the roofs of the nave-aisles and the - roof of the nave itself were coloured under the direction of Mr. - Cottingham.”--(A. H. F.) - -In the second bay of the south aisle stands an ancient =Font= of late -Norman design, decorated with figures of the Apostles, on a base with -four demi-griffins or lions. Among the monuments in the nave is an -alabaster =Effigy of Sir Richard Pembridge=, in plate and mail armour with -his greyhound. He died in 1375. Here are also the =effigy= and =tomb= of -=Bishop Booth= (died 1535), who built - -[Illustration: HEREFORD: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: HEREFORD: NORTH-EAST] - -the north porch. The handsome iron grille in front of the tomb is of the -same date. - -The =Central Tower= rests on massive piers with Norman arches. The entire -space is open from the floor of the Cathedral to the wooden floor of the -bell-chamber, painted beneath in blue and gold. From this floor hangs a -corona of wrought iron, coloured like the screen. The tower contains a -fine peal of ten bells. - -Through the north arch of the tower we pass into the =North Transept=, -said to be the work of Peter of Savoy, who became Bishop of Hereford. He -was called Bishop Aquablanca from his birthplace near Chambéry. He died -in 1268 intensely hated. The original Norman north transept was pulled -down about 1260 for this new one, rebuilt - - “on a design which is perhaps the most original, as it certainly is - one of the most beautiful in the history of English Gothic - architecture. To the north and west were built enormous windows, - with tracery of cusped circles, quite exceptional in their - elongation, more like late German than English work. On the east - side was built an aisle of exquisite beauty. Its arches, almost - straight-sided--its triforium windows, a ring of cusped circles set - under a semicircular arch--its clerestory windows, spherical - triangles, enclosing a cusped circular window--the composition of - the triforium--the north and west windows--are quite unique, except - so far as they were copied in later work in the city and - neighbourhood. At the south end of the aisle is the exquisite TOMB - of Bishop Peter Aquablanca (died 1268); no doubt built in his - lifetime. The tomb is as unique as the transept, and chiefly - resembles it in design. The inference is that Bishop Aquablanca - built the transept. The credit of it, however, is constantly given - to his successors, apparently on account of his private vices. But - saints as well as sinners have liked to leave memorials behind them - in stone; and, moreover, Aquablanca had his good points. To this - day four thousand loaves are distributed every year out of funds - which he bequeathed. It is recorded, too, that of a fine which was - imposed on the citizens for encroachments on his episcopal rights, - he remitted one half and handed over the other for works on the - cathedral.”--(F. B.) - -Aquablanca was succeeded by Thomas Cantilupe, as much loved as the -former was hated. Dying on a homeward journey from Rome, in 1282, his -bones were removed from the flesh by boiling and carried to Hereford to -be placed in the Lady-Chapel. Forty years later he was canonized. Many -miracles were effected at his shrine, removed to the transept in 1287. -King Edward I. sent sick falcons to be cured and people thronged with -large offerings. We shall soon see all that is left of the =Cantilupe -Shrine=. - - “The Norman arches opening to the aisles of the nave and choir - resemble those which correspond to them on the south side of the - church. The transept beyond them was, as we have seen, entirely - rebuilt, and is one of the most remarkable examples of the period - remaining in England. The unusual form of its arches, and its pure, - lofty windows, are sufficiently impressive now; but their effect - must have been wonderfully increased when the windows were filled - with glass displaying the history and miracles of the sainted - Bishop, and when the shrine itself was standing on its pedestal - within the eastern aisle, rich with the gold and jewels offered by - the numerous pilgrims who knelt daily before it. - - “The west side of the transept (which is of two bays beyond the - aisle passage) is entirely filled by two very lofty windows of - three lights each. The heads of the narrow lights are sharply - pointed; and the tracery above is formed by three circles enclosing - trefoils. These windows are set back within triangular-headed - arches. On the north side is a double window of the same character - divided by a group of banded shafts. The triple lights on either - side of these shafts, and the foiled circles above them, precisely - resemble the windows on the west side of the transept. - - “The vaulting springs from clustered shafts, the corbels supporting - which, on the east side, are beautiful and singular, and resemble - bunches of reeds, terminating in a small open flower. The small - heads below these corbels, at the intersection of the main arches, - should also be noticed. - - “The eastern aisles, lighted by three very beautiful windows, each - of three lights, with three quatrefoils in the tracery, are set - back within wider arches, as is the case with the windows in the - main transept. In this aisle, in a line with the central pier, is - the pedestal of the _Cantilupe Shrine_. This is a long - parallelogram, narrowing toward the lower end, and is entirely of - Purbeck marble. It has two divisions; the lower closed, like an - altar-tomb, the upper a flat canopy, supported on small open - arches. Upon this rested the actual shrine, containing the relics - of the saint. Cantilupe was Provincial Grand Master of the Knights - Templars in England; and round the lower division of the pedestal - are fifteen figures of Templars in various attitudes, placed in the - recesses of a foliated arcade. All are fully armed, in chain-mail, - with surcoat, shield and sword. All are seated, and tread on - various monsters, among which are dragons and swine, muzzled. The - spandrels in this arcade, and the spandrels between the arches in - the upper division, are filled with leafage of the first Decorated - period, retaining some of the stiff arrangement of the Early - English, but directly copied from nature. In the lower spandrels it - is arranged in sprays; in the upper it is often laid in rows of - leaves, among which occur oak, maple and trefoil. The whole of this - work will repay the most careful examination. (It should be - compared with the foliage of the capitals of the shafts surrounding - the central pier of the aisle, which is far more stiff and - conventional). On the top of the lower division of the pedestal was - a brass of the Bishop, of which the matrix alone remains. - - “The position of the shrine in this transept may be compared with - that of St. Frideswide at Oxford, and with that of St. Richard de - la Wych at Chichester. All had an altar immediately adjoining the - shrine, which was dedicated to the saint, and at which the - offerings of pilgrims were made. In these cases, however, the usual - position of a great shrine--at the back of the high altar--was, for - some special reason, departed from. At Hereford, this position of - highest honour was probably occupied by the shrine of St. - Ethelbert.”--(R. J. K.) - -Close by is the interesting =monument= of =Bishop d’Aquablanca=, just by the -north-choir-aisle. This Early English monument was once richly coloured. - -The effigy of this foreign priest--Peter of Savoy--lies under a canopy -supported by delicate shafts of Purbeck marble, the gables surmounted by -floriated crosses, the central cross bearing a figure of the Saviour. -The richly canopied =tomb= under the great north window bears the effigy -of =Bishop Thomas Charlton=, treasurer of England in 1329 (died 1369). - -Under the north-west-window is the canopied =tomb of Bishop Swinfield= -(1283-1317). His effigy disappeared long ago, and some unknown figure -lies there. The ball-flower is conspicuous in the mouldings of the -canopy and behind the tomb there is a mutilated carving of the -_Crucifixion_, surrounded by vine-leaves and tendrils, quite similar to -the leafage of the Cantilupe Shrine. In a neighbouring recess decorated -with the ball-flower lies the effigy of an unknown lady of the -Fourteenth Century. - -The =North-choir-aisle= is entered through the original Norman arch. In -the north wall of this aisle in a series of arched recesses (Decorated) -lie the effigies of various ecclesiastics. Beyond the first one, =Bishop -Geoffry de Clive= (died 1120), a door opens upon the turret staircase -leading to a typical monastic =Library=, containing more than 2,000 -volumes, MSS. and ancient deeds, the accumulations of eight centuries. -These are kept in eighty old oak cupboards and the ancient books are -chained. - -Descending and passing to the corner of the north-east transept we come -to =Bishop Stanbery’s Chantry=, a rich example of late Perpendicular, with -two windows on the north side. The ceiling is richly groined. The -capitals at the corners of the chapel are very grotesque. Opposite the -chantry, on the north side of the choir, is the alabaster effigy of -Bishop Stanbery (died 1474). - -In the wall of the aisle above is a =Decorated window=. The glass is in -memory of =Dr. Musgrave=, Archbishop of York, previously Bishop of -Hereford. The subject is St. Paul, the story of whose life is continued -in the windows of the chantry. - -Immediately beyond, the =north-east-transept= opens. It is Early -Decorated, retaining some Norman characteristics. In the centre rises an -octagonal pier which helps to carry the quadripartite vaulting, which -has good bosses of leafage. This pier gives a peculiar character to this -transept. The windows are Early Decorated. - -The =South transept= retains much that is Norman, although it was altered -during the Perpendicular period, when two huge windows were cut into the -walls. Perpendicular panelling surrounds that in the south wall. The -lierne vaulting is also of the same date. The east wall has five series -of Norman arcades. Two Norman windows in the clerestory contribute -light. - -The =Denton tomb=, with its effigies in alabaster showing traces of -colour, dates from 1576. - -The =organ=, in the first archway on the south side of the choir, was the -gift of Charles II. It has been twice enlarged. - -Effigies of bishops fill the four Decorated arched recesses on the south -wall of the =south-choir-aisle= and on the north wall, under an arch -opening to the choir, is the tomb of =Bishop De Lorraine=, or =Losinga= -(died 1095). Here is also the monument and tomb to =Bishop Mayhew=, of -Magdalen College (1504-1516); some old windows restored by Warrington; -and the famous =Map of the World=, one of the most valuable relics of -mediæval geography in existence. It was designed about 1314 by Richard -of Haldingham, a Lincolnshire monk. It was discovered more than a -hundred years ago under the floor of Bishop Audley’s Chapel. - -The =South-east-transept=, between the retro-choir and the chapter-house, -opens into the latter. The style is in the main Decorated, though the -window tracery is later quite Flamboyant. One single octagonal pillar -separates it from its eastern aisle. From this transept a lovely view of -the Lady-Chapel can be enjoyed. - -The peculiar darkness of the =Choir= is due to the arrangement of the -transepts, which prevents the admission of light except from the -clerestory. - - “The main arches of the choir are of three orders, and spring from - massive composite piers, with broad, square bases. The capitals of - the semi-detached shafts are enriched with leafage and grotesque - heads. The _triforium_ in each bay consists of one wide Norman arch - circumscribing two smaller, divided by a central shaft, and - springing on either side from two massive semicircular piers, with - small capitals. Both outer and inner arches spring from these - piers. The capitals of the central shafts have square abaci, and - are enriched. The tympana of the outer arches are covered with - scallop, leaf and billet ornament. At the base of the triforium - runs a square string-course, enriched with minute carving. The - lozenge ornament prevails round the main arches of the choir, as - does the zigzag round those of the nave. - - “Broad square pilasters, with semi-detached shafts at their angels, - fill the spaces between the piers. They terminate at the spring of - the triforium arches in double triangular headings, with crocketed - sides and finials of leafage. These headings are Early English, of - the same date as the clerestory and vaulting; and between each pair - rises a group of so-called vaulting-shafts, with capitals of - leafage, terminating at the base of the clerestory; and connected - (under the actual base of the clerestory) by a band of open - flowers. The clerestory consists of one lofty pointed arch in each - bay, divided by a central; on either side is a smaller trefoiled - arch. The windows, of two lights, with a quatrefoil in the heading, - are placed at the back of the wall-passage, and form in effect a - double plane with the large inner arches. They are filled on each - side with indifferent stained glass. The choir vaulting is plain - quadripartite, with bosses of leafage at the intersections.”--(R. - J. K.) - -The =Choir-stalls= are Decorated. Some of the =Misereres= are quaint. The -=Bishop’s Throne= dates from the Fourteenth Century. The Cathedral also -possesses an ancient episcopal chair, which, it is said, King Stephen -sat in when he visited Hereford. - -Within a great Norman arch of five orders stands the modern =Reredos=, at -the back of which rises a great pier from which spring two pointed -arches. The spandrel, or Tympanum, is covered with modern sculpture--the -Saviour in Majesty and the Evangelists; and below a statue of King -Ethelbert, who was said to have been buried in the first Saxon church -somewhere about this spot. - -From the =Retro-choir= we pass into the =Vestibule= of the Lady-Chapel, the -walls of which are broken with transitional Norman window -openings,--pointed arches with massive mouldings. The foliage of the -capitals is Early English. - -Five steps (necessitated by the height of the crypt below) lead up to -the =Lady-Chapel=, very rich Early English, dating from the first half of -the Thirteenth Century. It is 24 × 45 feet and of three bays. On the -north side each bay contains two large windows; on the south side, the -third bay is filled by the Audley Chapel. - - “The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows - should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are Early - English leafage; and there are small heads at the intersections and - crowns of the arches. A circle enclosing a quatrefoil pierces the - wall above these windows. The vaulting is plain quadripartite, and - springs from shafts which descend upon a base raised slightly above - the pavement. The modern pavement of the Lady-chapel is laid with - red and green tiles in large square panels. The whole design is - broad and good in outline; and is somewhat richer at the altar end, - which is raised on one step.” - -Ferguson has remarked that - - “Nowhere on the Continent are such combinations to be found as the - Five Sisters at York, the east end of Ely, or such a group as that - which terminates the east end of Hereford.” - -Many of its features were hidden until the restorations and repairs were -undertaken in 1841. - - “The glorious EAST-WINDOW consists of five narrow lancets recessed - within arches supported by clustered shafts, the wall above being - perforated with five quatrefoil openings, of which the outside ones - are circular and the centre three are oval. It was as a memorial to - Dean Merewether, to whom the cathedral owes so much, that the - stained glass designed by Cottingham was placed in the east - windows in the narrow lancets that he loved so dearly. It - represents scenes in the early life of the Virgin and the life of - Christ, the last being the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. - In the side windows the visitor should especially notice the rich - clustered shafts and arches, the Early English capitals and the - ornamentation of the arches. The double PISCINA and AUMBRY south of - the altar are restorations necessitated by the dilapidated state of - the originals.”--(A. H. F.) - -In the central bay on the north side lies the effigy of =Sir Peter de -Grandison= (died 1358) under a canopy of open tabernacle work. The armour -is very interesting. Once the effigy was supposed to be Humphrey de -Bohun, Earl of Hereford. On the same side lies =Joanna de Bohun=, Countess -of Hereford (died 1327). Her effigy is a splendid study in costume. She -left a large estate to the Cathedral. - -A black marble slab, with brass, marks the resting-place of =Dean -Merewether= (died 1850). =Dean Berew=, or =Beaurieu=, in the south wall of -the vestibule, is one of the best specimens of sculpture in the -Cathedral. He died in 1462. - -It was not every bishop who could build two chantries; but =Bishop Audley= -(1492-1502) built himself a charming Tudor chapel, two stories high, -projecting from the south side of the Lady Chapel, a circular staircase -giving access to the upper room. He intended it for his tomb; but as he -was translated to Salisbury in 1502, he had the trouble of building -another one there, in which he was buried. - - “The lower chamber is shut off from the Lady-chapel by a screen of - painted stone with open-work panelling in two stages. The chapel is - pentagonal in plan, and has two windows, while a third opens into - the Lady-chapel through the screen. The ceiling is vaulted, and - bears evidence of having in former times been elaborately painted. - - “There are five windows in the upper chamber and the groined roof - is distinctly good. The boss in the centre represents the Virgin - crowned in glory. On other parts of the ceiling are the arms of - Bishop Audley and those of the Deanery, as well as a shield bearing - the letters R. I. The upper part of the chantry, which is divided - from the Lady-chapel by the top of the screen which serves as a - kind of rail, may have been used as an oratory; but no remains of - an altar have been found. On the door opening on the staircase is - some good iron-work, and Bishop Audley’s initials may be noticed on - the lock. Standing by the door of this chapel, the visitor has a - lovely view westward: two pillars rising in the roof and across the - top of the reredos; to the right, the Norman arches of the north - transept and further on still the nave.”--(A. H. F.) - -From the south side of the Lady-Chapel we enter the =Crypt= by steps -leading down from an Early English porch. It is 50 feet long, and -consists of a nave and aisles. Because the crypt was used as a -charnel-house, it is called _Golgotha_. It is lighted by plain lancets. - -There are only a few fragments of old glass in the windows, some of the -best (early Fourteenth Century) is in one of the lancets on the south -side of the Lady-Chapel. The subjects are Christ surrounded by symbols -of the Four Evangelists; Lamb and flag; Angel and Marys at the -Sepulchre; Crucifixion; Christ carrying the Cross. - -A window in the north-east transept contains Fourteenth Century glass, -restored by Warrington in 1864: St. Katherine; St. Michael; St. Gregory; -and St. Thomas of Canterbury. In the south-east transept a similar -window exhibits St. Mary Magdalene; St. Ethelbert; St. Augustine; and -St. George. The many memorial windows do not call - -[Illustration: HEREFORD: CHOIR] - -[Illustration: WORCESTER: SOUTH-WEST] - -for special attention. One, however, in the north transept, erected to -Archdeacon Lane =Freer=, is to be noticed on account of the tracery. It is -one of the largest in England of the period of Edward I. - -From the south-east transept we enter a narrow passage, the =Vicars’ -Cloister=, that leads to the College of Vicars-Choral (1396). It is a -picturesque quadrangle with an inner cloister (Perpendicular, about -1474). - -The Bishop’s Palace lies south, between the Cathedral and the river -Wye. - - - - -WORCESTER - - DEDICATION: THE BLESSED VIRGIN, ST. PETER AND THE HOLY CONFESSORS, - OSWALD AND WULSTAN. FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: NAVE; CHOIR-STALLS; TOMB OF KING JOHN; CHANTRY OF - PRINCE ARTHUR; ARCADE ACROSS TRANSEPTS AND LADY-CHAPEL; CRYPT. - - -The Cathedral of Worcester is severe and plain; but its very severity -appeals to some critics, as do the general lines of the entire edifice. - - “The beautiful proportions of the great tower harmonise so well - with the general plan and mass of the rest of the fabric that - although it has no pride of place like Durham or Lincoln, it still - dominates the whole city and vicinity in a great and unmistakable - manner. The flat meadow-land of the Severn valley in this part of - the county, unbroken westward up to the very foot of the Malvern - hills, gives the Cathedral on this side the importance of the chief - feature in many miles of landscape. And as one approaches from the - eastward, over the slight eminences on which the battle of - Worcester was chiefly fought, a glimpse of the tower is the - earliest evidence of the existence of the city.”--(E. F. S.) - -The history of Worcester Cathedral begins with Oswald, a Benedictine -monk, consecrated Bishop of Worcester by Dunstan in 961. Oswald’s -cathedral, finished in 983, was destroyed by the Danes in 1041, and -rebuilt in 1084-1089 by Wulstan, a monk of Worcester, who became Bishop -in 1062. Wulstan placed his church a little to the south of the first -one. His crypt still remains,--the most famous crypt in England. -Wulstan’s tomb was miraculously preserved when a fire burned parts of -the cathedral in 1113, eight years after his death. Miracles were -performed and cures effected. Finally in 1203 Wulstan was canonized. - -When King John died in 1216, he was buried before the High Altar between -the tombs of Oswald and Wulstan. - -The Cathedral was dedicated in 1218 in the presence of King Henry III. -and bishops, abbots, priors and nobles from all parts of the kingdom. - -The church suffered from fires and storms; and the central tower fell in -1175. Rebuilding was frequently a necessity; and, therefore, many styles -are to be found throughout the fabric. - -Repairs were undertaken between 1702 and 1712, when the choir was paved -and when it is supposed that the spires on the corners of the -presbytery, transepts and nave were added. - -An important series of repairs and restorations were undertaken by -Wilkinson from 1748 to 1756. At this period - - “the north end of the nave transept was rebuilt, the stone pulpit - removed from the nave to the choir, and the latter re-paved with - blue and white stone. The old right-of-way through the cathedral - was replaced by a more proper and convenient passage round the west - end; and many gravestones were removed from the floors of the side - aisles of the choir, and from the nave, which were re-paved with - white stone. The Jesus Chapel was opened to the nave and the font - therein erected. - - “The great flying buttresses at the east end were erected between - 1736 and 1789. The great west window was rebuilt in 1789, and that - of the east end in 1792. In 1812 a new altar-screen and - choir-screen were built, and the tall pinnacles taken down after - 1832. - - “In 1857 began the great restoration of the cathedral under the - auspices of Mr. Perkins, the architect to the dean and chapter, - whose work was continued and amplified by Sir Gilbert Scott, who - was employed after 1864. - - “The results of this restoration, probably the most complete and - far-reaching undergone by any British cathedral, include the - exterior and interior of the tower, the pavements throughout the - building; the decoration of the choir and Lady-chapel; all the - windows, and almost the whole of the furniture and fittings, - including a new reredos, choir-screen, organ and pulpit. The - restored cathedral was reopened, with a magnificent choral service - on the 8th of April, 1874. Since that date many additions have been - made, splendid evidences of the survival of the old local - patriotism; for almost everything is due to the munificence of - local donors.”--(E. F. S.) - -The chief feature is the central =Tower=, supposed to have been completed -in 1374. It has been restored carefully. - - “It is of two stages. The first has two lancets on each side, - within an arcade of seven bays. Each of the upper stages has two - louvred windows surmounted by crocketed canopies, and ornamented by - three large sculptured figures in niches, of the whole twelve of - which, six are modern. The whole is crowned by an open rail, or - parapet, with six spirelets on either side and a crocketed pinnacle - at each corner.”--(E. F. S.) - -The =West End= contains one large modern window of eight lights with a -wheel window above. The gable, with three small lancet windows, is -surmounted by a cross and flanked by two buttresses topped by pinnacles. -The doorway in the west front is also modern (1857-1873); but parts of -the old Norman doorway have been inserted. - -On the north side, the =North Porch= (24 feet long and 8 feet broad) -consists of two bays. The front was restored. The sculptured figures in -the canopied niches are Christ and the Twelve Apostles. Above these is a -row of saints and then Perpendicular battlements. An exterior turret -and staircase lead to the rooms above it, occupied by the porter. Two -bays, each with a window, follow; then comes the Jesus Chapel; then one -more bay; and then the north-transept, with its gable, cross and -pinnacles; then four more bays; then the choir; then three more bays; -and, finally, the Lady-Chapel. The south side is similar, with the -exception of the projecting Chapel of St. John. - -Pinnacles are a striking feature on all sides of the edifice. - -On entering we are struck with the long vista, for the closed -choir-screen, found in so many English cathedrals, is conspicuously -absent. The proportions of the =Nave= are justly admired. It - - “consists of nine bays, of which the two westernmost are of widely - different character and date from the remaining seven. Its breadth, - including the aisles, is 78 feet, its length 170 feet, and its - height 68 feet; which dimensions may be compared with those of - Salisbury, 82 feet, 229 feet 6 inches, and 81 feet; and of Wells, - 82 feet, 161 feet, and 67 feet, respectively. The two western - severies are of great interest. The pier arches are pointed, but - rise from Late Norman capitals; the triforium stages have each two - three-light round-headed windows, of which the centre one is - considerably the highest, surmounted with zigzag ornament and - decorated with characteristic lozenges, the whole enclosed within a - pointed moulding. The clerestory has, in each bay, a central - round-headed light, with Norman ornament above it, flanked by blank - pointed windows, considerably smaller. - - “On the north side, the whole of the walls of the five eastern - bays, and the pier arches of the next two towards the west belong - to the Decorated period, and may be dated between 1317 and 1327. - The remainder of the two latter bays and the whole of the seven - eastern bays of the south side are very early Perpendicular. Willis - considers that this work was probably begun in the middle of the - fourteenth century, and completed by the date of the vaulting of - the nave, 1377, which would establish it as one of the earliest - specimens of Perpendicular work in the country. The triforium - arcade consists of two pointed arches, each subdivided again into - two; and the clerestory has a large central light, with a smaller - light on either side in each bay. On the north side these are the - ordinary pointed arches of the Decorated period; on the south the - lateral arches are straight sided, and the central arch only has a - small curve on joining the vertical piers. Similar arches, but a - century earlier in date, occur in the north transepts of Hereford - and of Rochester Cathedrals.”--(E. F. S.) - -The vaulting was finished in 1377. The glass of the windows is modern, -as is also the handsome =pulpit=, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, Italian -in style and made of alabaster and grey and green marble. - -The monuments and tombs call for no special description, with the -exception of the altar-tomb of =John Beauchamp=, fourth bay from the east. -It dates from the early Fifteenth Century and is panelled in five -compartments with coloured armorial bearings. The knight lies here in -full armour, with pointed basinet, sleeveless jupon and baldric. His -lady beside him is in the costume of the period. Her head rests on a -swan and a dog lies at her feet. - -The =North aisle= (1317-1327) is Decorated. Beyond the north porch, we -come to =Jesus Chapel=, enclosed by a stone screen (Perpendicular) and -containing a wooden altar with a full-size Madonna and Child. - -The =North transept= is a mixture of Norman and Perpendicular. It consists -of two bays; and in the north-west corner is the circular stair-turret. -The =South transept= is similar to the north, and has, likewise, a -stair-turret in the south-west corner. - -[Illustration: WORCESTER: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: WORCESTER: CHOIR, EAST] - -The west window is of Perpendicular tracery. A fine Norman arch, partly -closed by a Perpendicular screen, marks the entrance to the Chapel of -St. John. Both transepts are aisleless. The =South aisle= of the nave is -Norman and Transitional. The Font is modern. - -The =Choir= was begun in 1224. The eastern transepts were added at the -same time. A little of the old Norman work betrays itself here and -there. No one seems to know why Bishop Godfrey de Giffard (1268-1301) -placed gilded brass rings around the columns, unless it was for the sake -of adding extra strength. - - “The beauty of the pier-arches and those of the triforium, relieved - so handsomely by the black shafts of Purbeck marble bearing Bishop - Giffard’s brass rings, and by the finely proportioned spandrels of - each bay, is by no means to be under-estimated. - - “The choir is of five bays, including the eastern crossing, which - is of greater width than the others. The pier-arch mouldings are of - two patterns, one very similar to those of the choir and presbytery - at Salisbury, having one of the ribs flanked by a double range of - dog-tooth. The piers themselves, as well as those in the - Lady-chapel, are octagonal, and have detached Purbeck shafts, - eleven of which are fixed with a narrow course of marble embracing - the shaft in the manner of a ring; and the remaining eight with - brass rings; the two processes being used symmetrically, so that - shafts similarly fixed stand opposite to each other. - - “The triforium consists of two large arches in each bay, subdivided - again into two. During the restoration the pillars, which had been - whitewashed, were restored to their original rich black colour, and - the rings which bind them made visible. The sculptures in the - spandrels are restorations by Boulton. The inner wall of the - triforium walk is decorated with a finely-proportioned arcade, - which adds greatly to the general effect. The clerestory has a - triplet of pointed lights in each bay, the centre one being - considerably higher than those at the side, although they rise from - pillars of equal height. The vault of the roof springs, in each - severy, from a single shaft terminated with a foliated capital; it - is simple in character, and was probably completed before the end - of the first half of the thirteenth century. The elaborate pavement - of Devonshire marble and encaustic tiles is modern.”--(E. F. S.) - -The =Choir-stalls= (restored) date from 1379. The thirty-seven _miserere_ -seats represent Biblical, mythological and contemporary figures. - -The =Reredos=, behind the High Altar, composed of alabaster, inlaid with -coloured marbles, lapis lazuli, agates and malachite, is modern. The -=Bishop’s Throne= is also modern; but the richly carved =Pulpit= of white -stone dates from about 1630. It bears the arms of England, France, -Scotland and Ireland. - -In the centre of the choir in front of the altar steps stands the =Tomb -of King John=. When John died in the Castle of Newark in 1216, his body -was brought to Worcester Cathedral and buried before the High Altar. In -1797 the tomb was opened. The effigy, now gilded, is the earliest royal -effigy in England. It dates from the early Thirteenth Century and is -probably a good likeness of the Magna Charta king. Bloxam’s description -in 1862, gives an idea of its original appearance: - - “The effigy was originally the cover of the stone coffin in which - the remains of that monarch were deposited in the Chapel of the - Virgin, at the east end of the cathedral. The altar tomb is of a - much later period, probably constructed early in the sixteenth - century, when the tomb of Prince Arthur was erected.... The sides - of this tomb are divided into three square compartments by panelled - buttresses; each compartment contains a shield bearing the royal - arms within a quatrefoil richly cusped; the spandrels are also - foliated and cusped.... It is, however, the effigy of the king, - sculptured in the early part of the Thirteenth Century, and - probably the earliest sepulchral effigy in the cathedral, to which - our chief attention should be drawn. This effigy represents him in - the royal habiliments; first, the tunic, yellow, or of cloth of - gold, reaching nearly to the ankles, with close-fitting sleeves, of - which little is apparent. Over the tunic is seen the dalmatic, of a - crimson colour, with wide sleeves edged with a gold and jewelled - border, and girt about the waist by a girdle buckled in front, the - pendant end of the girdle, which is jewelled, falling down as low - as the skirt of the dalmatic. Of the yellow mantle lined with green - little is visible. On the feet are black shoes, to the heels of - which are affixed spurs. On the hands are gloves, jewelled at the - back; the right hand held a sceptre, the lower portion of which - only is left; the left grasps the hilt of the sword. On the head is - the crown; there are moustaches and beard, and the light-brown hair - is long. On either side of the head is the figure of a bishop - holding a censer, perhaps intended to represent St. Oswald and St. - Wulstan, between whose tombs the king was interred in the Chapel of - the Virgin.” - -On the south side of the sanctuary we find the =Chantry of Prince Arthur=, -son of Henry VII., who died at Ludlow Castle in 1502. This is the most -famous piece of work in the Cathedral, and one of the best examples of -Tudor architecture in existence. It was erected in 1504, and - - “consists of six bays of open tracery divided by panels of canopied - niches containing figures and heraldic bearings surmounted by a - battlemented rail and pinnacles. Within is a richly groined roof, - with unusual flying supports, east and west. At the east end are - the mutilated remains of a rich stone reredos, containing a figure - of our Lord, and others hardly recognisable, which was above the - altar formerly placed here. At the west end is a small figure of - Henry VII. seated. - - “The tomb itself of the Prince stands in the centre of the chantry. - It is singularly plain, in contrast to the richness of its - surroundings, almost the only ornament being the arms of England - and France within panels on the sides. Around the top runs a - painted inscription, obviously a late substitute for a brass which - has been removed, to this effect: ‘Here lyeth buried prince Arthur, - the first begotten sonne of the righte renowned Kinge henry the - Seventhe, whiche noble Prince departed oute of this transitory life - ate the Castle of Ludlowe, in the seventeenth yeere of hys father’s - reign, and in the yeere of our Lorde god on thousande fyve hundred - and two.’”--(E. F. S.) - -The =Chapel of St. John=, projecting from two bays of the -south-choir-aisle, is on the site of a Norman chapel. The Norman arch at -the west end is its finest feature. It has three windows filled with -modern glass and a piscina in the south wall. - -The =Eastern transepts= demand careful attention. - - “The design of the walls ... is extremely beautiful. Two lofty - triplets of lancet lights are placed the one above the other. The - lower triplet has a gallery in front of it immediately above the - arcaded wall, and at the same level as the sill of the adjacent - side aisle windows. The upper triplet has a similar gallery at the - level of the triforium. Rich clustered shafts rise from the lower - gallery in two orders; the inner order carries molded arches to - correspond with the heads of the lower triplet; the shafts of the - outer order rise from the lower gallery up to the impost of the - upper triplet, grouping themselves with the shafts that stand in - front of the upper triplet, and uniting in one group of capitals at - the impost, where they carry a range of three arches with deep rich - mouldings. Thus the entire composition represents a gigantic window - of six lights.”--(W.) - -One of the finest features of the Cathedral is the arcade that runs -along the whole extent of the eastern transepts and across the -Lady-Chapel. - - “This is a series of trefoil headed arcades of three mouldings, - resting on slender Early English shafts, each spandrel having been - filled with carvings which take high rank among the best of the - English school of the Thirteenth Century. They have now been, to a - great extent, restored (by Boulton), and many, including all at the - east end, are entirely new. The best of the old ones are figured by - Aldis; and the most interesting, whether entirely ancient or partly - restored, are as follows, starting from the west wall of the - south-eastern transept: - - “Two crusaders fighting a lion. A centaur. An angel weighing a - soul, and the devil pulling down the scale. Devils roasting a soul - in hell. The Jaws of Death. A body borne to burial. Expulsion of - Adam and Eve. An angel leading a righteous soul to heaven. The dead - rising from coffins. Christ enthroned. The archangel blowing the - last trump. An angel holding a cross. - - “_South Aisle._--Two monks building. A queen instructing an - architect. Two monks discussing plans. A devil with bird’s claws, - riding on a man’s shoulders. The Crucifixion. - - “_Lady-Chapel._--Centaur and crusader. Prophets and Bible subjects - (modern), grotesque. - - “_North Aisle._--Bishop offering a model of the cathedral at an - altar (perhaps Bishop Henry de Blois, d. 1236). The Annunciation. - The Visitation. The Nativity. - - “_North Transept._--Old Testament subjects. A bishop. A monk - chastising a novice.”--(E. F. S.) - -The tracery of the windows in the choir aisles and the Lady-Chapel is -modern, patterned on Early English models. The entire east wall is -modern. The window consists of five lights in two tiers. The glass dates -from 1860 and represents the _Crucifixion_ and the _Ascension_. - -In the south aisle of the Lady-Chapel we notice one of the finest -effigies in the building. It is a Fourteenth Century lady, whose left -hand holds the cord of her cloak. A little dog lies at her feet. It is -interesting to compare this with another unknown effigy of a lady of the -Thirteenth Century in the north aisle of the Lady-Chapel. The left hand -holds a glove. - -In front of the altar and on the floor of the Lady-Chapel are the -effigies of =Bishop William de Blois= (died 1236) and his successor =Bishop -Walter de Cantelupe= (died 1265). The latter is in higher relief than the -former and was originally set with gems. In the north aisle we must also -note the large effigy of =Sir James de Beauchamp=, in complete armour with -surcoat and long shield of Henry III.’s reign. Beneath the reredos lies -the richly robed figure of =Hawford=, Dean of Worcester in 1553-1557. On -the south side lies =William, Earl of Dudley=, in white marble on arches -of alabaster. The Lady-Chapel is of the same date as the choir. - -From the south transept of the nave we enter the famous =Crypt=, which -dates from 1084. It was built after that of Winchester (1079) and before -those of Gloucester (1089) and Canterbury (1096). Three rows of pillars -form four walks, with an outer aisle of two rows of pillars. It was -surrounded by several chapels, but only the southern chapel is now -accessible. The pillars are admired for their grace and lightness, when -illuminated. It suggests the Mosque of Cordova. In comparing the crypts -of Winchester, Gloucester, Canterbury, and Worcester, Willis says: - - “The height of all these crypts is nearly the same; so that at - Winchester and Gloucester the arches are flattened into ellipses, - the pillars are low and squat, and the crypts appear as sepulchral - vaults; while at Worcester, where the arches are semicircular and - the pillars more slender, the crypt is a complex and beautiful - temple.” - -The =Cloisters= form an irregular quadrangle enclosing a lovely green -garth, 83 feet square. The roof of the walks is richly vaulted. The -glass in the windows in the south alley depicted the history and -miracles of St. Wulstan, but the glass was destroyed by the Puritans. - -Beyond the south walk is the =Refectory=, a handsome building of red -sandstone, dating from about 1372. It is now used as a class-room of the -Cathedral School founded by King Henry VIII. The monks’ lavatory -occupies two bays in the north alley. - -From the west walk we enter the =Chapter-House=, originally a Norman -building of the Eleventh Century. It was repaired about 1400, when the -Norman windows and vaults were supplanted by those we now see. The -present Chapter-House - - “consists of ten bays, with a Perpendicular vaulted roof rising - from a central Norman Column. Each bay contains a light traceried - window, of which two are entirely, and two half, blocked up. Below - these is a series of slightly hollowed niches in grey, blue and - yellow stone in alternate courses, resting on three courses of - rough red masonry. These niches have slight traces of ancient - fresco painting; they are surmounted by an arcade of intersecting - circular arches containing smaller arches. Similar ornamentation is - to be found in the chapter-houses at Bristol and Rochester, and in - the external wall of Ernulf’s crypt at Canterbury.”--(E. F. S.) - - - - -LICHFIELD - - DEDICATION: ST. CHAD AND ST. MARY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR - CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: SPIRES; WEST FRONT; NAVE; LADY-CHAPEL; HERKENRODE - GLASS. - - -Lichfield is famed for its three beautiful spires, the only church in -England with this distinguishing feature. They are locally known as -“Ladies of the Vale,” or “Ladies of the Valley.” - -The central spire, which always groups so charmingly with the two that -rise above the west front, dates from the Restoration, and is an -imitation of the western ones. Its predecessor, destroyed during the -Civil Wars, was supposed to have been rebuilt about 1250. The two -western spires are said to have been built by Roger de Norbury -(1322-1359), but the north-west one was rebuilt in Perpendicular times -in imitation of the earlier style. The south-west, or =Jesus Tower=, also -the belfry, got its name from the Jesus Bell, given by Dean Heyward in -1477, and destroyed during the Civil Wars. The Jesus is a little higher -than the other tower. Both spires are octagonal. At intervals they are -broken by windows. - - “Of all the cathedral churches of England, Lichfield may be said to - be the most lovely. Other cathedrals are larger--indeed, this is - one of the smallest;--many are grander, or more magnificent; but - for simple beauty, for charm, for delicacy of construction and - appearance, Lichfield may rightly claim to take the foremost place. - Peterborough, when we stand inside the west door and look down its - line of enormous piers, fills us with awe at its immensity and - -[Illustration: LICHFIELD: WEST FRONT] - -[Illustration: LICHFIELD: NAVE, EAST] - - strength; a feeling which is perhaps a little impaired by the - present position of its stalls. Salisbury appeals to us with its - perfect simplicity and symmetry, and York with its unequalled - grandeur and splendour; but after viewing all the cathedrals of - England, it is Lichfield which is most likely to be remembered - among them for something which may be most aptly called charm. What - can be more delightful than the view which confronts the traveller - who, approaching from the town, pauses to look across the sparkling - water of the pool at the three graceful spires standing out amid a - wealth of green trees and shrubs? Truly a picture to be long - remembered. - - “The cathedral stands in a close which was once surrounded by - strong walls with bastions and a moat. Nature had supplied the moat - on the south side, and the Cathedral Pool, as it is now called, is - still there. The artificial moat has been drained, but its course - can be easily traced running round the bishop’s palace, and its - water has been replaced by lovely gardens and gravel walks. Some - bits of the old wall remain, the north-east bastion in the palace - gardens and a turret on a house at the south corner: the ‘beautiful - gates’ of Bishop Langton are gone; but in the Vicars’ Close at the - west of the cathedral are two small irregular courtyards with - houses so old that we feel sure that their wooden beams and plaster - were there when the Royalists of the neighbourhood housed - themselves within the fortified close. - - “The close is not large, and of course, as Lichfield is a cathedral - of the old establishment, there are no monastical buildings, no - ruined cloisters. On the north side the ground rises rapidly in a - grassy slope to a terrace, behind which are some of the canons’ - houses. Opposite the north transept is the deanery, a substantial - red brick house in the style of the middle of the last century; - next to it, and farther east, is the bishop’s palace.”--(A. B. C.) - -Lichfield was built in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries and is, -therefore, almost entirely in the styles of Early English and Decorated. -The Early English may be studied in the transepts which were begun -first; Early Decorated in the nave; and fully developed Decorated in -the Lady-Chapel and Presbytery. - -There is a curious similarity between the building of Lichfield and -York: - - “The Norman Cathedral of York was built in 1080, and that of - Lichfield at an uncertain date. Between 1154-1181, Archbishop Roger - substituted for the original chancel at York a long, square-ended - choir, with the aisle carried behind the end. At Lichfield, during - the same period, the large chapel was built at the end of the - Norman apse; and about the beginning of the Thirteenth Century the - whole Norman eastern termination was, as at York, replaced by a - long, square-ended choir with the low aisles behind. Next, at York - the Norman transepts were rebuilt in Early English: the south - transept, 1230-1241; followed by the north transept, 1241-1260. - Also at Lichfield the Norman transepts were rebuilt in Early - English, beginning with the south and ending with the north. The - Early English work of this cathedral is shown by the licenses to - dig stone to have been in progress in 1235 and 1238. York nave and - Lichfield were next rebuilt in Early Decorated--the first in - 1291-1324. Lastly, at Lichfield, the elongation of the eastern part - was begun at the extreme east, beyond the existing choir by the - Lady-chapel, in late Decorated under Bishop Langton, 1296-1321, and - followed by taking down the choir, and continuing the same work on - its site westward. The works at York followed in the same order, - but forty or fifty years later, by first erecting the presbytery - outside the existing choir, and then taking down the latter and - continuing the work of the presbytery to form the new choir. The - plans of the two cathedrals rival each other in the simplicity of - their proportions.”--(W.) - -Nothing definite is known of the early history of this Cathedral, as all -records were destroyed during the Civil Wars. In all probability there -was the same old story of a Saxon church in the Seventh Century -succeeded by several other churches until the Norman Cathedral was -built, probably like Peterborough, only smaller. - -This, of course, fell a victim to the change of fashion, and was pulled -down gradually as the new building--the one we know to-day--arose. The -first thing that was done was the building of a new choir (Early -English) from the central tower to the seventh bay of the present choir. -Some of this was destroyed at a later period. The sacristy and adjoining -room were also built. Then, about 1220, the south transept was begun, -then the nave, north transept and west front, with the two towers. - -Walter de Langton (1296-1321) began the Lady-Chapel; and while this was -being built the Early English presbytery was pulled down and rebuilt in -the Decorated style, to be uniform with the Lady-Chapel. The old -clerestory of the choir was also rebuilt in the same style. Walter de -Langton also built the Bishop’s Palace, which was destroyed in 1643, -bridged the Cathedral Pool, and erected a splendid shrine to St. Chad, -which cost £2,000. This stood behind the high altar in the eastern bay -of the retro-choir, with an altar to this saint on its west. - -St. Chad, or Ceadda (669-672), was the patron saint of Lichfield, who, -when Bishop of Mercia, chose Lichfield as his seat and thus founded the -diocese; and he built a small church near St. Chad’s Well. His service -was short and he died in 672. - -Miracles were immediately performed at his shrine in Stowe Church; but -his remains were removed to the Cathedral. St. Chad’s Head was placed in -a separate chapel (see page 213). - -When Henry VIII. despoiled the shrine he found a great horde of -treasures--jewels, golden and silver crosses, chalices, maces, and -copes, and other vestments had accumulated in great number. In the -Fourteenth Century a document mentions “the head of Blessed Chad, in a -certain painted wooden case; also an arm of Blessed Chad; also bones of -the said saint in a certain portable shrine.” - -Lichfield suffered greatly during the Civil Wars. The Royalists hoisted -the king’s flag on the central steeple and defied the Roundheads led by -Lord Brooke. The Cathedral was besieged in March, 1643; and on the -second day of that month, which happened to be St. Chad’s Day, Lord -Brooke was killed by a shot fired by a son of Sir Richard Dyott, called -“Dumb Dyott,” because he was deaf and dumb. This was regarded as a -miracle. A contemporary letter notes: - - “We have had the honour in these parts to bring my Lord Brooke to a - quiet condition. That enemy of our Church (March 2) was slain in - his quarrel against our Church, by the God of our Church, with a - shot out of the Cathedral, by a bullet made of Church lead, through - the mouth which reviled our Church; and (if this be worth your - reading) this Cathedral was dedicated to the memory of an old Saxon - holy man (called Ceadda, commonly Chad); the blow of death came - from St. Chad’s Church upon St. Chad’s Day.” - -The Cathedral remained in a ruinous condition for a year or more after -the Restoration. Then Bishop Hackett (1661-1671) went to work to clear -away the rubbish and make repairs. In eight years’ time the Cathedral -was ready for a new dedication. - -Perpendicular tracery was inserted in some of the windows in the -Fifteenth Century, when the Cathedral was at the height of its beauty. - -The present =West Front= is a restoration of the beautiful work of the -Middle Ages. - -In 1820 the west front was completely covered with cement which -concealed all its beauty until 1877, when the authorities began to -remove it. Only five of the original statues remained and it was decided -to fill all the 113 niches. Tradition said the long row of figures over -the doors represented the Saxon and English kings with St. Chad in the -centre; but the others were unknown. They are now as follows: - - “The two rows on the northern tower to the north of the great west - window: higher row, St. Editha, David, St. Helena, Solomon, St. - Gabriel, Zechariah, Nahum, Amos, Jeremiah; lower row, Dean - Bickersteth, St. Mark, Queen Victoria, St. Luke, St. Uriel, - Malachi, Habakkuk, Obadiah, Daniel (Jeremiah just above Daniel by - the window). - - “The two rows on the southern tower to the south of the great west - window: higher row, Isaiah, Hosea, Jonah, Zephaniah, St. Michael, - Bishop Hacket, Bishop Lonsdale, Bishop Selwyn; lower row, Ezekiel, - Joel, Micah, Haggai, St. Raphael, Bishop Clinton, Bishop - Patteshall, Bishop Langton. - - “Next is the long row of kings with St. Chad in the centre, - stretching right across the cathedral: William the Conqueror, - William Rufus, Henry I., Stephen, Henry II., Richard I., John, - Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., St. - Chad, Penda, Wilphere, Ethelred, Offa, Egbert, Ethelwolf, - Ethelbert, Ethelred, Alfred, Edgar, Canute, Edward the Confessor. - - “Lowest row, broken three times by the doors: St. Cyprian, St. - Bartholomew, St. Simon, St. James the Less, St. Thomas (northern - door), St. Philip, St. Andrew (central door), St. Paul, St. Matthew - (southern door), St. James the Greater, St. Jude, St. Stephen, St. - Clement, St. Werburga.” - -The Duke of York (James II.) gave the money for the tracery of the large -=West Window= after the original had been destroyed during the Civil Wars. -This was removed in 1869, for another more in sympathy with the style -of the Fourteenth Century. - -The =West Door= is one of the most beautiful in England, taking rank with -the Prior’s Door of Lincoln Cathedral. The porch is recessed and the -outer arch, cusped. Within, a central support rises to form two arches. -The whole is richly carved. Above the central pillar is a bas-relief -representing Christ in Glory, with angels by his side. On the central -column stands a figure of the Virgin and Child, and on either side of -the door beneath canopies are Mary Magdalene and St. John the Evangelist -(north), and Mary, wife of Cleophas, and St. Peter (south). - -What the original statues were is not known. Most of the ironwork on the -doors is supposed to be original. - -The two side doors are deeply recessed. The figures in the northern -doorway are of princes and princesses who promoted Christianity in -England; and in the southern, the chief missionaries. The gable and -towers are also adorned with statues of Biblical fame. - -The nave is ornamented and strengthened by buttresses and -flying-buttresses. In the north transept we find a handsome =North -Doorway=, a splendid specimen of Early English with traces of the Norman. -It is deeply recessed and revealing a double arch carved with foliage. -The mouldings are also carved. The outer one contains bas-reliefs -showing the genealogy of Christ, beginning with Jesse and ending with -the Virgin and Child. On the right side, opposite Jesse, is St. Chad -baptizing the sons of King Wulphere, and above are the Apostles. The -architrave is surmounted by a weather moulding in the form of a gable -on the top of which is a cross. The pillars on each side of the doorway -have finely carved capitals and dog-tooth ornamentation. The graceful -centre pillar consists of four slender shafts with carved capitals. Next -comes the octagonal Chapter-House; then the choir and presbytery; and -then the Lady-Chapel, entirely restored and with new saints in the -niches. On the south side of the Lady-Chapel are mortuary chapels. - -The south side shows the buttresses of the choir; then the turrets of -the sacristy with their crocketed pinnacles; and then the =South -Transept=, the gable of which contains a beautiful rose window. The =South -Door=, much restored, resembles the northern one, only it is not so fine. -The heavy buttresses on this side are Wyatt’s. Now we have again come to -the Jesus tower (south-west), in which the ten bells are hung. - -Entering by the west door, the beauty of the interior bursts upon us. We -have an unbroken vista and the Cathedral therefore impresses us as -immensely long. The beautiful arches of the roof carry the eye straight -down to the windows of the Lady-Chapel. - -The =Nave= is transitional from Early English to Decorated and is dated by -various authorities from 1250 to 1280. - -The large piers are composed of clustered shafts with richly carved -capitals of foliage. From these spring mouldings. The top of each arch -touches the string-course, and then comes the triforium, so beautiful -here with its row of double arches, each one sub-divided into two -lights, above which is geometrical tracery. Dog-tooth ornament decorates -the mouldings of these triforium arches, and also the string-course -that separates the triforium from the clerestory. The clerestory windows -are curious: spherical triangles enclosing three circles with quatrefoil -cusps. Dog-tooth ornamentation runs around the windows. A large circle -with five cusps ornaments the spandrels of most of the pier-arches -across which the vault shaft passes. At the intersection of the various -ribs (five ribs) are finely carved bosses. Much of the effect is -obtained from the size of the triforium. - -The glass in the big west window dates from 1869, a memorial to Canon -Hutchinson, who was a zealous worker for the Cathedral’s restoration, by -Sir Gilbert Scott. - -In the north aisle of the nave we note the tablet placed there by Ann -Seward to the memory of her father, Canon Seward, his wife and daughter, -upon which Sir Walter Scott added lines to the memory of the poetess. -There is also a neighbouring tablet to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who -was born in Lichfield. - -In the =north transept= we find a curious monument to Dean Heywood (died -1492) showing the skeleton of this worthy. The upper part (which -represented him in full canonical costume) has gone. Similar monuments -are in Exeter and Lincoln. In the =South Transept= there are busts and -memorials to Dr. Samuel Johnson, a native of Lichfield (died 1784), and -to David Garrick (died 1779), an early resident of Lichfield. In the -first bay of the aisle, there is a monument to the officers and men of -the 80th Regiment (Staffordshire Volunteers), over which hang colours -taken from the Sikhs. At the south end we note a fine altar to one of -Nelson’s captains, Admiral Sir William Parker (died 1866). Note the big -south window (Perpendicular) in which there is some Herkenrode glass -(see page 212). - -There is another memorial window in the south aisle of the nave to the -officers of the 64th (2d Staffordshire Regiment) who fell in the Indian -Mutiny. - -The =Transepts=, as we have seen, were built before the nave. Each -consists of three bays with eastern aisles. Most of the windows are -Perpendicular. - - “At the south end was probably a large five-light Early English - window, surmounted by a rose window. The rose window still remains, - but, being above the present groining, cannot be seen from inside - the cathedral; the five lights are replaced by a nine-light - obtuse-headed window, which seems much too large for the transept; - and this effect is increased by the extreme whiteness and - transparency of its glass. At the north end, the five-light window - is surmounted with three small lights, but these last again are - hidden in the roof.”--(A. B. C.) - -Now we come to the =Choir=, which, including the presbytery and -retro-choir, has eight bays. It has no triforium. - -The splays of the windows are beautifully decorated with quatrefoil -ornamentation. There is only one of the original Decorated windows (east -on south side). The others are Perpendicular. - - “The vaulting is very much the same as in the nave, but the - vaulting-shafts divide into seven instead of five ribs; the bosses, - as everywhere else in the cathedral, are very deeply and richly - carved. - - “On the four eastern sets of piers long slender shafts run up from - the base of the piers in the same way as in the nave, and similarly - the spandrels are ornamented with foliated circles, of which nearly - all trace had disappeared before the recent restoration. This, - however, is not the arrangement on the three western pairs. It was - found here that these shafts did not reach the ground; and so Sir - Gilbert Scott, having discovered a portion of the sculptured wing - of an angel just above the dean’s present stall, decided upon - finishing the shafts with corbels in the form of angels occupied in - minstrelsy. Above each of these angels--which were innovations--he - placed, under richly crocketed canopies and standing on very - finely-carved brackets, the figures of six saints.”--(A. B. C.) - -Architects love to study the merging of the two styles in this part of -the Cathedral, and one of the best illustrations is the entrance to the -vestibule of the Chapter-House. The arch at the west end of the -north-choir-aisle is very old and interesting and so is the arcading in -the aisles. - - “In the first three western bays in both aisles the large arcading, - with its plain trefoiled arches, is clearly Early English. The - arcading in the other bays is equally clearly of the Decorated - period, and is considerably smaller. In the four eastern bays in - each aisle the arches go right up to the course which forms the top - of the arcading, and the triangular spandrels thus formed are - ornamented each with a curious little head, having queer headgear; - the rest of the spandrel is carved with foliage, and in the plates - of the foliated arches are quaint animals. The arcading in the - remaining bay is similar, but angels’ heads with wings take up the - whole spandrel. Some of the arcading, notably that in the three - easterly bays of the south aisle, is unrestored. The inferiority of - the modern work in the next bay is only too patent.”--(A. B. C.) - -The window over the tomb of Bishop Hackett in the =South-choir-aisle= is -adorned by lovely foliage. Here, too, we find the very interesting -=Minstrels’ Gallery=. It was probably placed here in the Fifteenth Century -because the arcading has been cut away to make room for it. The little -gallery rests upon fan-shaped vaulting. As it stands directly in front -of the chapel of the Head of St. Chad, it may have been used for the -purpose of exhibiting this relic to the devout in the aisle below. (See -page 213.) It is similar in style to the minstrel gallery of the -Mediæval halls: hence its name. A staircase in the wall leads to the -gallery. - -The =Choir-screen=, of ornamental metal-work, designed by Sir Gilbert -Scott, is similar to those of Salisbury, Hereford and Worcester. The -Choir-stalls, Bishop’s Throne and elaborate Reredos are all modern. The -south-choir-aisle contains a number of interesting monuments. There is a -monument to “=Hodson of Hodson’s Horse=,” killed in the Indian Mutiny. -Under the cross is the King of Delhi surrendering his sword to Major -Hodson, with figures of Justice, Fortitude, Temperance and Mercy and -statuettes of Joshua, David, St. Thomas of India and St. George of -England. Here is also the monument of =Bishop Langton= (died 1296) with -mutilated effigy. Opposite is the curious monument to =Sir John Stanley= -of Pipe, the effigy representing the knight naked to the waist, and the -legs in armour. It seems that Captain Stanley had been excommunicated -for some offence, and, after atonement, had been allowed burial here on -condition that evidence of his punishment should appear on his effigy. -The most famous monument of all, however, is that of =The Sleeping -Children=, by Sir Francis Chantrey in 1817. It established his fame and -is an early example of the natural style just coming into favour. It -represents two young daughters of William Robinson, Prebendary of the -Cathedral, sleeping in each other’s arms. - -We must notice in the north-choir-aisle one window in which King David -is teaching the singers of the House of God. The glass is old Flemish. - -Now we have the =Lady-Chapel=, the gem of the whole Cathedral, rendered -exceptionally beautiful because of the old glass in the windows. - - “In shape it forms a symmetrical extension, both in height and - width, to the choir, but without aisles; and it has an octagonal - apse--the only example, it is said, of such a termination in the - country. It is lighted by nine high windows, with Decorated - tracery. This tracery has recently been restored in the style of - that in the three end windows; until this was done most of the - windows contained Perpendicular tracery. - - “The windows rest on an arcade of very beautiful design. The arcade - may be said to consist of a series of small decorated canopies, - supported by shafts with carved capitals, and separated by - ornamented buttresses. The canopies, which bow forward, have - trefoil ogee arches, surmounted with crockets and finials. Above - the arcade is a similar embattled parapet to that in the choir, - with a similar passage round the chapel behind it. - - * * * * * - - “The vaulting of the roof is like that in the choir; the same - number of ribs diverging from the slender shafts which run right - down to the bends of the arcade. Halfway up these shafts are - niches, the brackets and canopies to which are beautifully carved. - These are old, but until recently were empty, and no authentic - record remained as to what were the characters represented.”--(A. - B. C.) - -In 1895 ten virgin saints and martyrs, by C. E. Kempe, were placed here. - -Of course, all the glass was crashed during the siege of Lichfield; and, -therefore, the windows are filled with other than the original. The -seven most eastern windows contain what is called the =Herkenrode glass=, -originally in the Abbey of Herkenrode near Liège. The designs are -supposed to be by Lambert Lombard of the Sixteenth Century. Two of the -windows depict founders and benefactors of the abbey, and the other -five, scenes in the life of Christ. The Herkenrode glass (340 pieces) -was bought by - -[Illustration: LICHFIELD: FROM EAST WINDOW] - -[Illustration: CHESTER: NORTH] - -Sir Brooke Boothby in Belgium in 1802, for £200, now valued at £15,000. -What remained was used to fill other windows in the Cathedral. On the -south side of the Lady-Chapel are three “Mortuary Chapels,” with groined -roofs. In the central one lies the effigy of =Bishop Selwyn= (buried -outside), Bishop of New Zealand, who organized the church in that -far-away country. This accounts for the frescoes showing the Maoris. The -two end windows are also old glass supposed to have come from the Low -Countries. One is a symbolic picture of _Baptism_; the other, the -legendary _Death of the Virgin_. - -We have yet to examine the =Sacristy= of the Chapter-House. The sacristy -is on the south side (Early English). Its upper floor was the =Chapel of -St. Chad=, which, as we have seen, was entered from the minstrels’ -gallery (see page 211). The restored chapel was re-dedicated on St. -Chad’s Day (March 2), 1897. - - “The Chapel of St. Chad, first Bishop of Lichfield, and, with the - Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of our Cathedral Church, was destroyed - in all probability when the rest of the Cathedral was laid in ruins - in 1643, the siege beginning on St. Chad’s Day, March 2nd of that - year. Little was left: the four walls remained in a broken - condition, with the vaulting-shafts and caps for the springers of - the stone groining, and the wall-ribs, to mark its original lines; - also the very beautiful Early English windows--twelve lancets in - groups of three--which, singularly enough, were little injured. - Externally these are very plain, but internally they are full of - interest, and there is nothing better of the kind in the Cathedral. - The site of the old altar is clearly marked; indeed, a small - portion of it has been preserved. The piscina also still remains. - The aumbry remains in which antiquarians suppose that St. Chad’s - relics were preserved.”--(L.) - -The =Chapter-House= and the vestibule leading to it were built about the -middle of the Thirteenth Century (Early English). The vestibule contains -beautiful arcading; the capitals of the pillars are finely carved. The -entrance door into the Chapter-House is very handsome, with deeply cut -mouldings, and capitals of the grouped shafts richly carved with leaves. -Dog-tooth and trefoils are also used as ornamentation. The Chapter-House -is octagonal. The central pillar, composed of clustered shafts with -richly carved capitals of foliage, carries the eye upward, where the -ribs spread out beautifully over the roof and bosses mark their -intersection. The windows are Early English, of two lights. Below them -runs a fine arcading. - - - - -CHESTER - - DEDICATION: CHRIST AND THE BLESSED VIRGIN. ORIGINALLY THE CHURCH OF - A BENEDICTINE ABBEY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR; CHOIR-STALLS; CHAPTER-HOUSE. - - -Chester was the church of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Werburgh when -Henry VIII. founded the See after the dissolution of the monasteries. It -had been originally an establishment of secular canons. The patron -saint, St. Werburgh, was a niece of St. Etheldreda of Ely; and she took -the veil at Ely, where she eventually became abbess. St. Werburgh was -buried at Hanbury; but when the Danes were ravaging Mercia, the monks of -Hanbury fled with the relics of St. Werburgh to Chester, where they were -richly enshrined in the old church of St. Peter and St. Paul. This -church was rebuilt in the Tenth Century; and when a new foundation was -made in 1095 by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, at the desire of St. -Anselm, the church was rebuilt, the canons replaced by Benedictine monks -and the house called the Abbey of St. Werburgh. - -Rebuilding was again necessary in 1194 and was continued for centuries. -The eastern portion of the church is Early English, the rest is -Decorated with alterations and additions in the Perpendicular style. - -Ancient and royal Chester is one of the most picturesque cities in -England. It was so important in Roman times that it was called the “City -of Legions.” It was also a stronghold of Saxons and Danes. From the -Norman Conquest until the reign of Henry III. the Earls of Chester had -their own courts and parliaments at Chester. Since Henry III. bestowed -the title of Earl of Chester upon his oldest son, the heir to the throne -has always held the earldom. The old church did not become a cathedral -until 1541. - -Chester Cathedral, being built of soft red sandstone, suffered from the -weather. Restoration was a necessity. Consequently the exterior is -almost exclusively of the Nineteenth Century. It is handsome and -effective, though, unfortunately, owing to the situation, somewhat below -the level of the street, and the crowding of buildings, a good view of -the Cathedral is hard to obtain. - -At one time it was one of the most beautiful, as well as the richest, in -England. It was terribly defaced during the Civil War, when the Puritans -used it for a stable and broke the windows. Subsequent repairs and -restorations have greatly transformed it. - -One of the curious features of the Cathedral is the south transept. It -was claimed as the Parish church of St. Oswald until 1881. Oswald -(604-642), be it remembered, was the son of King Ethelfrid, and became -King of Northumbria. He was a convert to Christianity, which he -introduced among the Anglo-Saxons. Killed by Penda, the King of Mercia, -he was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church. - - “On approaching the cathedral on the south side, the transept, or - church of St. Oswald, is a remarkable feature. Projecting to nearly - the same length as the nave, with its lofty clerestory and great - south window, it attracts attention as well by its own importance - as by the unusual ground-plan which it gives to the entire - building.”--(R. J. K.) - -Let us look at the chief features of the exterior: - - “The WEST FRONT consists of an eight-light canopied Perpendicular - window, with a band of elaborate tracery succeeded by ordinary - tracery of the period in the head, set between two banded octagonal - turrets, which are battlemented. The west door is peculiar; it - consists of an arch under a square head, with foliated spandrels - and a range of angels in the mouldings, deeply recessed under a - larger arch with another square head. On each side are four - crocketed niches, with pedestals denuded of their statues. To the - west is a four-light canopied window, under a panelled band and - flanked by a rich but empty niche on either side. - - “The door of the SOUTH PORCH is Tudor with two-light, square-headed - windows and a canopied niche, and an intervening rich band. The - windows of the aisles and clerestory of the nave are Perpendicular; - the parapet is shallow. The SOUTH TRANSEPT, as long as the choir - and as broad as the nave, has a Perpendicular clerestory and south - windows, the former of four lights and with two transoms. The - windows of the aisle are Late Decorated and of four lights - separated by buttresses. This description applies to the south side - of the choir, but the aisles are extended within one bay of the - east end of the Lady-chapel, which has Perpendicular windows; the - great east window is of the same date. Traces of Early English - architecture appear in the north side of the choir and - Chapter-house. The north window of the transept and windows of the - nave are Perpendicular.”--(Wal.) - -We can enter, as we prefer, by the west door, or the south porch. The -=Nave= is uninteresting. It consists of six bays, the piers are groups of -attached shafts terminating in foliage capitals. The roof is modern. - -Decorated windows light the =South aisle=. The =North aisle= contains some -old Norman work. Here we find an ancient Italian font, presented in -1885, and an old piece of tapestry that has been in the Cathedral since -1668. - -The =North transept= is small, owing to the monastic buildings on this -side. Here we find Norman work. Some of the windows exhibit -Perpendicular tracery. The roof is Perpendicular. - -Until 1881 the =South Transept= was, as we have said, the Parish Church of -St. Oswald. It has Decorated windows. Perpendicular windows light the -west aisle. - -We now enter the =Choir=. The screen is modern and by Sir G. Scott. - - “The choir is remarkable for the great beauty of the wood-work - which it contains, as well as for its architectural merits. The - style is that of the transition between the Early English and - Decorated. The north side differs from the south, especially in - regard to the mouldings. The north side is earlier than the south, - the building having been commenced at the east end of that side. - The mouldings on the north are bold rounds, while those on the - south are shallow and small hollows. The triforium has a series of - elaborately-carved cusped arches, and the clerestory windows are - light and graceful with geometrical tracery. The vault is modern, - constructed of good English oak. At the east there are figures of - the sixteen prophets and at the west are angels playing musical - instruments. There are some curious grotesque corbels, from which - the vaulting shafts spring. - - “The carving of the CHOIR STALLS is equal, if not superior, to - anything in England. These are Fourteenth Century work and rival - the noble stalls of Amiens. They have been restored with much - accuracy and taste. The carving of the dean’s stall should be - noticed, as it represents the Jesse tree, surmounted by the - Coronation of the Virgin. That representing Jacob’s Dream is - modern. The _misereres_ are extremely interesting and curious and - full of religious instruction, though often conveyed in the way of - sarcastic reproof. There are forty-eight, of which three are - modern. Some of the most curious are: a pelican feeding her young; - St. Werburgh and the stolen goose; a wife beating her husband; the - strategy of the fox; stag hunt; Richard I. pulling out the heart of - a lion; a fox in the garb of a - -[Illustration: CHESTER: CHOIR, WEST] - -[Illustration: CHESTER: CHOIR-STALLS] - - monk presenting a gift to a nun; various wild men; wrestlers; - unicorn resting its head on a virgin’s knee, and numerous - grotesques.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =Altar= is modern and is made of oak of Bashan, olive-wood from the -Mount of Olives and the cedar of Lebanon. The Reredos, a mosaic of the -Last Supper, the Pulpit and the Bishop’s Throne are all modern. - -For many years the =Shrine of St. Werburgh= was used for the latter. We -pause to look at this interesting piece of Fourteenth Century work, -remembering how many eyes of Mediæval pilgrims have gazed with reverence -upon it. - - “At the end of the stalls on the south side is the Bishop’s Throne. - This has been formed from the base of the shrine of St. Werburgh, - which seems to have served its present purpose since the foundation - of the See in the Sixteenth Century. It has, however, so greatly - altered during the late ‘restoration,’ that it is difficult to - ascertain the ancient arrangement. The lower part, with niches for - figures, is ancient. The part resting on this, as high as the small - gilt figures, is modern. The figures themselves are old, and before - the alteration they rested on the ancient base. The pinnacles and - all the upper portion are modern. The ancient portions are early - Decorated work of the Thirteenth Century. The niches in front and - at the sides of the base are lined with a small arcade and vaulted. - Above them are foliaged canopies. The gilt figures hold scrolls, - once perhaps bearing names. They are conjectured to represent kings - and queens of Mercia, connected either directly or collaterally - with St. Werburgh. It is possible that when the shrine itself was - perfect, the lower part, with niches, formed a portion of the base, - whilst the small figures may have been a canopy supported by marble - shafts. Under this canopy and on the base the feretory or actual - shrine, with the relics, may have rested. This, however, is but - conjecture, since no drawing or description exists of the shrine - before the Reformation.”--(R. J. K.) - -The =North aisle= of the choir will detain the student because there is -much Norman work here. Here can also be traced the termination of the -old Norman apse. The arch in the east wall of the transept is also -Norman, and early, too. The doorway from the north aisle is Fourteenth -Century work. The apse was rebuilt in the Early English period and made -to end in a square. In the Perpendicular period it was extended further. -Note the gates of old Spanish workmanship across both aisles. They date -from 1558. - -At the end stands the =Lady-Chapel=. - - “The Lady-Chapel is of Early English design, and was built about - 1266, previous to the present choir. Many alterations were made - subsequently, including the removal of the ancient steep and lofty - roof and the substitution of a flat roof and the insertion of - Perpendicular windows. Most of these additions have been removed - and the Early English character restored. The east window of five - lights was designed by Scott, and the original form of the roof has - been restored. The vault, which is original Early English, has a - boss representing the murder of Thomas à Becket. The mosaics were - designed by Sir A. Blomfield. Here the consistory court was held at - the time of the Reformation, and George Marsh, the Chester martyr, - was condemned to be burnt.”--(P. H. D.) - -Through a Norman doorway in the north aisle of the choir, we enter the -=Cloisters=. - - “The south walk is entirely new, having been restored by Scott. The - west walk adjoins a fine Early Norman chamber, probably the great - cellar of the abbot’s house. The cloisters are Perpendicular work. - In the south and west walks there is a double arcade on the - cloister-garth side, which contained the _carrels_, or enclosed - studies of wainscot, where the monks read or wrote, and on the - opposite side are recesses which are not tombs, but _Armaria_ or - cupboards, where their books and materials for illuminations were - stored. In the Perpendicular period the roof of the cloisters was - raised, which was not an advantage, as it caused the aisle windows - and those of the refectory to be partly blocked up, and the - vaulting cuts into the earlier work. The _Lavatorium_ is near the - _Refectory_, an Early English building with Perpendicular windows. - It is a noble structure, shorn of some of its length, and now used - as a music room. The stone pulpit is remarkably fine, of Early - English design, which rivals the famous pulpit of Beaulieu - Abbey.”--(P. H. D.) - -A doorway in the east walk carries us into the =Vestibule= of the -Chapter-House. - -In the vestibule (Early English) light graceful piers support the -vaulting. The mouldings are very much admired. - -The =Chapter-House= is also Early English and ranks high among these very -national productions. It dates from about 1240. The east window of five -lights is a handsome example of its date. - - - - -MANCHESTER - - DEDICATION: ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, ST. GEORGE AND ST. DENIS. FORMERLY - SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR-STALLS; GORDON WINDOW. - - -Manchester was built for a parish church and only became a cathedral in -1847. It is a very fine specimen of Perpendicular Gothic of the early -Fifteenth Century, though there are some remains of older work here and -there. The oldest is the arch leading into the Lady-Chapel. This shows -some influences of the Decorated style. - -The choir, aisles and chapter-house date from 1422-1458; the nave was -built in 1465-1481; Chapel of the Holy Trinity, 1498; Jesus Chapel, -1506; St. James’ Chantry (Ducie Chapel), 1507; St. George’s Chapel, -1508; Ely Chapel, 1515; and Lady-Chapel in 1518. The Cathedral suffered -during the Civil Wars and has been much restored. - -The exterior is not particularly impressive. The walls are grimy with -smoke and there is no emerald sward, nor are there ivy-covered walls. - -The one tower (built in 1864-1868) rises above a still more recent -=Western porch=, designed by Basil Champneys and ornamented with a parapet -and a single crocketed turret, which gives it a very unsymmetrical -appearance. The square tower contains a clock in the first stage, soars -140 feet and is finished with a pierced battlement with pinnacles at the -corners. - -Turning round the corner, we come to the =South porch=, two bays and two -stories (modern) and elaborately carved. Next comes the Jesus Chapel; -then the octagonal Chapter-House; then the Fraser memorial chapel; and -then we turn the corner and come to the Lady-Chapel, unusually small and -projecting only about eighteen feet. The windows are Eighteenth Century, -though the tracery is Decorated in general character. - -Passing the window of the north-choir-aisle and the eastern end of the -Derby Chapel, we again turn the corner. The first projection is the Ely -Chapel and the next and smaller one is an engine room used for working -the organ. The small door next opens into the ante-chapel of the Derby -Chapel. Finally we reach the north porch. - - “It is a dimly lighted building; this is due chiefly to two causes: - first to the fact that it is enormously wide, and the aisle windows - are therefore far from the central nave, and secondly to the fact - that almost all the windows both of aisles and clerestory are - filled with painted glass, in many cases of a deep colour, and - rendered still more impervious to light by the incrustation of - carbon deposited on their outside by the perpetual smoke of the - city. So dark is the church that in the winter months it has - generally to be lit with gas all the day long, and even in the - summer, in comparatively bright weather, some gas burners will - generally be found alight. The mist also of the exterior atmosphere - finds its way into the building, and hangs beneath the roof, - lending an air of mystery to the whole place, and giving rise to - most beautiful effects when the sunlight streams through the - clerestory windows. The tone also of the nave arcading and - clerestory rebuilt in recent years, of warm, rose-coloured - sandstone, is very lovely.”--(T. P.) - -The =Nave= is wider than it is long. With its double aisles it measures -114 feet; its length is only 85 feet. The choir is about the same -proportion. The Lady-Chapel, at the extreme east, is very small. The -sides of the nave and choir are still further extended by chapels, -partitioned off by screens. On the south side of the nave we have first -=St. George’s Chapel= (founded in 1508) and =St. Nicholas’s Chapel= (founded -in 1186, before the present church was built); and on the north side the -space once occupied by the =Holy Trinity Chapel= (1498) and =St. James’s -Chapel= (1507). - - “This church differs from most of our cathedral and abbey churches - in having no triforium.[8] And the clerestory is not lofty, so that - the church is rather low for its width, though the height of the - arches of the main arcade prevents this being felt. The roofs of - the aisles are all modern, but that of the nave, though extensively - repaired, has much of the original work in it, and, with the - exception of a few bosses, the choir roof is old. All the roofs are - of timber; in the nave the intersections of the main beams are - covered by beautiful bosses carved out of the solid wood. On either - side, at the points from which the main cross beams spring, is a - series of angelic figures splendidly carved in wood: those on the - south side playing stringed instruments, those on the north side - wind instruments. - - “The pillars of the main arcade of the nave are modern work built - in imitation of the original ones. They are light and graceful, - and, like many other pillars of fifteenth century date, are formed - of shafts of which only half have separate capitals, the other - mouldings running round the arch. The spaces between the arches are - elaborately carved with heraldic shields.”--(T. P.) - -In the nave we find the one interesting window in the Cathedral (the -most eastern one in the Ducie Chapel), a memorial to =General Gordon= -killed at Khartoum in 1888. It consists of five lights. Gordon is in the -centre, his hand on the head of a native boy. Natives and angels occupy -the other lights. - -Towards the east end of the nave stands the - -[Illustration: MANCHESTER: SOUTH] - -[Illustration: MANCHESTER: NAVE, EAST] - -modern pulpit and then an ancient rood-screen with three wide openings -and double doors. - -Passing through the screen, we enter the =Choir=, sometimes called the -=Radcliffe Choir=, because members of this family were buried here. - -The =Choir-stalls= date from the early Sixteenth Century and resemble -those in Ripon Cathedral and Beverley Minster. - - “There are twelve stalls on either side, and three on each side of - the entrance through the rood-screen facing east. The stalls are - furnished with _misereres_, which, in common with many others both - in England and on the Continent, represent all manner of quaint - subjects, monsters, animals, hunting scenes, etc. - - “The carved elbows of the stalls and the end of the book desks are - also worthy of careful examination, especially the Eagle and Child - and general carving of the Dean’s Stall, which is a marvel of - beautiful workmanship, and said by high authorities to be - unequalled. - - “Between the stalls the floor is one step higher than that of the - nave, and at the east end of the stall, there is a further rise of - two steps as we pass into the presbytery. Here, on the south side, - we see the bishop’s throne--modern work, carved with a view to be - in harmony with the stalls, but comparing unfavourably with them in - execution. There is a rise of two more steps into the sanctuary, - and the altar itself is raised two steps higher; this gives a good - effect. Behind the altar is an elaborately carved wooden reredos of - modern work, richly painted and gilt.”--(T. P.) - -A fine ancient screen runs across the arch at the opening of the -=Lady-Chapel=. - -Along the south side of the south-choir-aisle we first come to the -vestry, then to the =Jesus Chapel= (now a library), separated from the -aisle by a handsome screen of the Sixteenth Century. Then we reach the -fine entrance to the =Chapter-House=, beneath a large arch. At the end is -the =Fraser= =Chapel=, with an altar cenotaph to the second Bishop of -Manchester, James Fraser (died 1885), buried elsewhere. - -On the north aisle of the choir the space is occupied by the =Derby -Chapel=, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It was the private chapel of -the Stanley family, to which the Earls of Derby belong. It was begun by -James Stanley (1485-1509), who became Bishop of Ely. He died in 1515 and -was buried near the =Ely Chapel=, where the original tomb and brass are -still to be seen. - - - - -CARLISLE - - DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY. FORMERLY SERVED BY AUGUSTINIAN - CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR AND EAST WINDOW. - - -In the ancient town of North Cumberland--the famous border town -appearing so frequently in ballads as “Merry Carlisle”--the Cathedral -shares the honours with the Castle. Both date from about 1092. - -When William Rufus II. rebuilt and fortified Carlisle, he left one -Walter, a Norman priest, as governor. He began to build a church and -priory, but died in the meantime and Henry I. continued the work. The -church was dedicated in 1101; the monastery of Augustinians was founded -in 1121; and the Cathedral established in 1133. It was built in the -Norman style, a nave with aisles, transepts and a tower at the -intersection of the latter. The architect was Hugh, once abbot of -Beaulieu. The Norman choir was taken down early in the Thirteenth -Century and rebuilt in the Early English style. Two fires--especially -the one in 1292--wrought much damage. About the middle of the Fourteenth -Century the choir was completed in the Decorated style, and the -magnificent East window was also inserted at this time. Robert Bruce -took up his quarters in the Cathedral after the Battle of Bannockburn -(1314). In 1392 the north transept suffered from fire. Bishop Strickland -(1400-1419) restored it and rebuilt the central tower, adding to it a -wooden spire. Henry VIII. disestablished the monastery and formed a -Cathedral. - -During the Civil War the Puritan soldiers were quartered in the -Cathedral and did much damage. - -They pulled down two-thirds of the Norman nave in order to get stones -with which to repair the fortifications. At the rising of Charles -Edward, “Bonnie Prince Charlie,” in 1745, his soldiers captured Carlisle -and used the Cathedral for their headquarters; and when the Duke of -Cumberland arrived, the church was again used as barracks and many of -the Jacobites were confined in its walls. - -Carlisle is a fine place to study all the styles of Early English in -simple, pointed, geometric and flowing. It is famed for its wonderful -East Window and the superb Choir, one of the finest in England. - - “A good view is obtained from the castle. The usual approach is - from the east end, whence we observe the grand east window with its - beautiful Late Decorated tracery. It is flanked by buttresses, with - niches and crocketed pinnacles. In the niches are statues of SS. - Peter, Paul, James and John. A foliated cross crowns the gable and - on each side are four similar crosses. In the gable is a triangular - window, having three trefoils, and below is a niche with a figure - of the Virgin. The Central Tower, built by Bishop Strickland - (1400-1419) on the old Norman piers, is too small for the huge - choir and lacks dignity. Formerly it was crowned with a wooden - spire, but this has been removed. There is a turret set at the - north-east angle, and in the north side is a niche with the figure - of an angel. The lower part of the choir is Early English, with the - exception of a Perpendicular window at the west, and a Decorated - one in the east bay. The clerestory is Late Decorated, and the - windows have flowing tracery. The ball-flower ornament is - extensively used in the cornice. The sculpture at Carlisle is - worthy of notice. Carved heads and curious gargoyles abound. The - North Transept is - -[Illustration: CARLISLE: SOUTH-WEST] - -[Illustration: CARLISLE: CHOIR] - - nearly all modern. It was rebuilt by Strickland in the Fifteenth - Century, and again rebuilt when the church was restored. There is, - however, an Early English window in the west wall. On the east side - there was formerly a chapel, which has not survived the repeated - alterations. The greater part of the Nave was taken down by - Cromwell’s soldiers. What is left is of unmistakable Norman - character. There is some modern imitation work, and late - architectural detail. Most of the windows are modern, and also the - doorway. The south side is similar to the north. The South Transept - preserves the old Norman walls. On the south is a modern doorway - with a window over it. On the east is St. Catherine’s Chapel, a - Late Early English or Early Decorated building. The south side of - the choir is similar to the north, and presents Early English - details of construction. The monastic buildings once stood on the - south side of the church but they have been pulled down with the - exception of the fratry and gatehouse, the stone being used for - repairing the fortifications of the city by Puritan soldiery. The - refectory, or fratry, was rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century, and is - now used as a chapter-house. There is a fine reader’s pulpit here. - The gateway was erected by Prior Slee in 1527. The Deanery is a - fine old house, and was formerly the prior’s lodging. It was - rebuilt in 1507.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =Nave= is Norman, but of the eight bays only two now remain. The piers -are low, the arches semicircular, and it appears that later hands carved -the Early English foliage on the capitals. The triforium shows plain -round-headed arches. The clerestory has three arches in each bay, -resting on shafts with carved capitals. The west end is modern. Sir -Walter Scott was married here in 1797. - -The =North Transept= was rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century and the north -end again in modern times. The large window is modern and Decorated in -style. An Early English window in the west end is a good example of -plate-tracery. The roof is modern; the arch of the choir aisle, -Decorated. Norman piers support the =Tower=, to which Bishop Strickland -added additional columns, Perpendicular with foliated capitals. The -crescent and fetterlock on the capital of the eastern arch are emblems -of the Percy family; the rose and scallop shell on the western side, of -the Dacres and Nevilles. - -The =South Transept= is only one bay: The arch into the choir-aisle is -Norman with zigzag ornaments and cushion capitals. Another Norman arch -opens into =St. Catherine’s Chapel=, now a vestry. It was founded by John -de Capella, a wealthy citizen. The beautiful screen is Late Decorated. - -The =Choir= consists of eight pointed arches: it is 138 feet long and 72 -feet high. - - “We now enter the choir by the door in the organ-screen. This is - one of the finest in England--spacious, lofty, well-proportioned - and rich in all its details. The arches of the main arcade are - Early English, as the mouldings and dog-tooth ornament testify. - These remained after the fire of 1292 and were retained. The piers - are Early Decorated and were evidently built to support the arches - after the fire. The capitals were carved later in the Late - Decorated period, when the upper parts of the choir, triforium, - clerestory, roof and east end were rebuilt. The builders were - probably Bishops Welton and Appleby (1353-1395). When the choir was - rebuilt in Early English times, the architect determined to enlarge - it, and as the monastic buildings on the south prevented any - expansion in that direction, the south piers of the choir retained - their old position, while the north were moved further northward, - and a new north aisle added. Thus the choir and the tower and nave - are not quite symmetrical, and there is a blank wall at the - north-west end of the choir which is thus accounted for. The - details of the architecture of the choir merit close attention, - especially the sculpture. Small figures of men, animals and - monsters are mingled with the foliage. There are some admirable - representations of the seasons, beginning with the second capital - on the south, counting from the east end. There is a very fine - timber roof, constructed about the middle of the Fourteenth - Century. The scheme of colour decoration is, unfortunately, not - original.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =East Window= is one of the finest Decorated windows in existence. The -stone-work is not new, but it is believed to be an exact reproduction of -the original. It is composed of 86 distinct pieces of stone and is -struck from 263 centres. There are nine lights. The glass of the upper -portion is ancient, dating from the reign of Richard II. The pictures -are the Resurrection, the Final Judgment and the New Jerusalem. Hell is -shown with all the terrors familiar to the Mediæval mind. The modern -glass below represents scenes from the life of Christ. - -The =Stalls= are Late Perpendicular and are beautifully carved. The fine -tabernacle-work is dated about 1433. The _misereres_ represent the usual -grotesque monsters, such as dragons, griffins and fables in which the -crafty fox is prominent. A Fifteenth Century brass to Bishop Bell (1495) -on the floor of the choir deserves notice. - -A Renaissance screen partitions off the north-choir-aisle. Here we -notice the Early English arcade and the windows with two lights, -dog-tooth ornament and deep mouldings. The last bay eastward is Late -Decorated; the last bay westward contains a Perpendicular window. - -In the north wall two Early English sepulchral recesses are unique -because of their chevron moulding. The effigy lying in one of them is -supposed to be Silvester of Everdon (1254). The stalls in the -=North-choir-aisle= are ornamented with very strange paintings of the -Fifteenth Century illustrating the lives of St. Anthony and St. -Cuthbert, with descriptive verses. - -The =South-choir-aisle=, with a similar screen to the opposite one, also -contains painted stalls representing the life of St. Augustine. It -resembles the north-choir-aisle. - -The narrow =Retro-choir= is of the same date as the big window. - -The lower part of the Choir is Early English with the exception of the -Perpendicular window in the west bay and a Decorated one in the east -bay. The clerestory is Late Decorated, the windows noticeable for their -flowing tracery. Everywhere the ball-flower ornament abounds, and carved -heads and weird gargoyles are omnipresent. - -The south side resembles the north with the exception of St. Catherine’s -Chapel, a Late Early English, or Early Decorated construction. The -monastic buildings have disappeared with the exception of the =Refectory=, -rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century, now used as the =Chapter-House=, and the -gateway built in 1527. The fine old =Deanery=, formerly the prior’s house, -was rebuilt in 1507. - -[Illustration: CARLISLE: EAST END] - -[Illustration: DURHAM: WEST FRONT] - - - - -DURHAM - - DEDICATION: ST. CUTHBERT. FORMERLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE - MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: GALILEE CHAPEL; CHAPEL OF THE NINE ALTARS; - NEVILLE SCREEN; JOSEPH’S WINDOW. - - -Durham is the most beautifully situated of all English cathedrals. It is -perched upon a rocky and wooded eminence above the Wear River, and with -the castle by its side makes a noble picture. When seen from the -opposite side of the river the west end of the Cathedral is very -charming; for the Galilee Chapel, the western towers and gable, the tall -central tower and the roof of the nave show variety of line and mass. -The Galilee Chapel completely hides the western doorway; but above it -rises the big window of 1346, the semicircular arch and the small gable -between the twin towers. - -Durham Cathedral owed its existence to St. Cuthbert (one of the three -great English saints), and was fortunate enough to possess his shrine. -Therefore, it is well to recall his life before visiting the church. St. -Cuthbert was born about 635, and in Ireland, according to tradition. He -is first heard of as a shepherd-boy in Northumbria, where, in 651, while -watching his flocks by night, he had a vision of the heavens opening and -angels carrying thither the soul of St. Aidan, the pious bishop of -Lindisfarne. He decided to become a monk and entered the monastery of -Melrose, where he became prior. After a few years he went to -Lindisfarne, and also became prior there. In 676 he became an anchorite -on Farne Island, where he died, March 20, 687. The fame of St. Cuthbert -increased after his death and his anniversary was a great festival in -the English Church. Many churches in the north were dedicated to him. -His body rested quietly in Lindisfarne for two hundred years, but in -875, when the Danes were ravaging Northumbria, the pious monks of Holy -Island, bearing the body on their shoulders, fled inland and found a -temporary resting-place in Chester-le-Street, half-way between Newcastle -and Durham. In 995 they transferred the body of St. Cuthbert to Ripon; -but in the same year removed it to Durham. - -Legend says that after the monks left Chester-le-Street, St. Cuthbert -appeared and announced that he desired to rest at Dun-holm. The monks -wandered about in search of this place. Finally they heard a woman -asking another if she had seen her lost cow. The other answered: “It’s -down in Dun-holm.” The monks remembering that Dun-holm meant -hill-meadow, carried the body of St. Cuthbert into the lonely field. - -Here they built a stone chapel to protect the body; and Bishop Aldhun -soon began a great church. This “White Church” was consecrated in 999. -Aldhun died in 1018. The next important bishop was William of Saint -Carileph (1080-1096), appointed by William the Conqueror. He turned the -place into a Benedictine monastery. Then he determined to build a better -Cathedral, and laid the foundation-stone in 1093. When he died, three -years later, the walls of the choir, the eastern walls of the transepts, -the arches of the tower and a part of the first bay of the nave were -finished. A temporary shrine was also made for St. Cuthbert’s body. -Ranulph Flambard (1099-1128) was the next great builder. The nave, the -aisles, the west doorway, the lower part of the western towers and the -vaulting of the aisles are his. In 1104 he removed the body of St. -Cuthbert from the cloister-garth to the splendid shrine behind the high -altar. Here the sacred relics were supposed to work miracles, and -pilgrims flocked in great numbers to this holy place. William the -Conqueror, Henry III., Edward II., and Henry VI. were among the royal -personages who did homage to the saint. - -When Henry VIII. suppressed the monasteries in 1540, the shrine was -destroyed; but the monks secured St. Cuthbert’s body and buried it -beneath the platform on which the shrine had stood. In 1827 the grave -was opened. A coffin was found that had been made in 1541; this enclosed -another, supposed to date from 1104; and this, a third, that agreed with -the description of the one made in 698. In the latter was found St. -Cuthbert’s body, wrapped in five robes of embroidered silk. Thus it -almost seemed as if there were some reason for the legend that his body -was supposed to be incorrupt. - -William the Conqueror, anxious to see this incorrupt body, ordered the -shrine to be opened; but, at the first stroke, such sickness and terror -fell upon him that he rushed from the Cathedral; and, mounting his -horse, he never drew bridle until he had crossed the Tees. - -Until the Reformation the banner of St. Cuthbert hung over his shrine. -It was made from a cloth used by St. Cuthbert in celebrating mass and it -was believed to insure victory to the army in whose ranks it was -carried. Flodden was one of the many fields in which the defeat of the -Scots was ascribed to the Standard of St. Cuthbert. Another was -Neville’s Cross, near Durham, when 15,000 Scots perished. A thanksgiving -hymn was ordered to be sung on top of the Cathedral tower on each -anniversary of the battle. This custom is still observed. - -Returning now to the architectural history of the Cathedral, the next -great builder was Hugh Pudsey (1153-1195), in whose time the Norman -style was passing out of fashion. Pudsey began to build a Lady-Chapel at -the east end; but when he saw great cracks appearing in the walls, he -thought that St. Cuthbert was manifesting his displeasure. Consequently -he removed all his building materials, including the Purbeck marble -columns, and began and finished the wonderful Galilee Chapel at the west -end, about 1175. - -Pudsey was a great prince as well as a fine builder. He was only -twenty-five when he became Bishop of Durham. He bought the earldom of -Northumberland and also a manor. When King Henry decided to go to -Jerusalem after his capture by the Saracens, Pudsey fitted out ships and -had a seat of silver for himself in one of them. The King died, and -Pudsey remained at home; and while King Richard went on the trip Pudsey -and the Bishop of Ely quarrelled. Pudsey was decoyed to London and -thrown into the Tower. He was released. He died on another journey from -Durham to London in 1195. - -Bishop Poore (1229-1237), arriving from Salisbury Cathedral (see page -77), planned the Chapel of the Nine Altars, another special feature of -Durham and one of the best examples of Early English in existence. As -soon as he arrived in Durham, Bishop Poore began to plan the eastern -transept, for the apse of Carileph’s choir had been deemed unsafe. -Building, however, was not undertaken until after his death. - -In the Fourteenth Century the large window in the north transept and the -west windows of the nave were added. Then the cloisters were built and -several halls. The refectory was turned into a library in 1661-1684. - -The central tower was repaired and rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century. - -Wyatt, who had charge of the restorations in 1796, destroyed the fine -Norman Chapter-House (built in 1133-1140), rebuilt the turrets on the -Chapel of the Nine Altars and placed a window of his own design in the -east end, removing for the purpose the great Early English window. The -original glass was also taken out and piled up in baskets. After much -had been stolen the remainder was locked up in the Galilee. Some of it -was inserted in the great round window. - -Wyatt came very near destroying the Galilee Chapel so that he could open -the west doorway; but he was fortunately stopped. - -The chief restorations of late years have been those of 1870-1876, when -the new choir-screen and pulpit were erected, the choir-stalls replaced -and the floor of the choir paved with marble mosaic. - -From the large open space between the Cathedral and Castle, known as the -Palace Green, we gain a fine view of the northern side of the building; -the tall central tower and transept with its splendid window (1362) (The -Four Doctors of the Church); and the north aisle to the Chapel of the -Nine Altars that completes the eastern end. - -From this side we can study the towers to advantage. The two square, -solid western towers date from Norman time; but the Norman work ends at -the roof of the nave; then begins what is probably work of the -Thirteenth Century. Here we have four stories ornamented with arcading, -blind and open. The first and third have pointed arches, and the second -and fourth round arches. The open parapets and pinnacles were added at -the end of the Eighteenth Century. - -The =Central Tower= dates from about 1474, replacing an older tower that -had been condemned. The belfry had been struck by lightning in 1429. The -tower consists of two stories separated by a narrow gallery with a -pierced and embattled parapet. This is called the Bell Ringers’ Gallery. -The windows are arranged in pairs surmounted by ogee label moldings, -crocketed and ornamented with finials. The tower is finished with an -open-worked parapet, and at each corner are buttresses with canopied -niches containing figures. - -We walk eastward to gain a nearer view of the Chapel of the Nine Altars -with the Early Decorated window and turrets crowned with pyramids. We -particularly want to see on the north-west turret the panel of the =Dun -Cow=, a modern reproduction of an ancient work, commemorating the legend. - -We now turn and walk westwards. Then we enter the =North Door=, the -principal entrance to the Cathedral. The exterior is the work of Wyatt; -and though we take some pleasure in the carvings of foliage, figures, -chevrons and lozenges that ornament the capitals and arch-moulds, it is -the doorway, with its sanctuary knocker, that attracts our attention. - -Criminals were wont to claim sanctuary at Durham from 740 to 1524. As -soon as the fugitive grasped the ring he was safe. This knocker is a -grotesque head of bronze with a ring hanging from the grinning mouth. - - “The north entrance door tells an interesting tale. The present - door is a modern restoration, and some of the original features of - the famous entrance have been obliterated. Towards this door many a - poor wretch hastening to escape the hands of the avenger has sped - his fearful steps in days gone by. Attached to the door still - glares a fearful-looking metallic head holding a ring in its mouth. - In its now eyeless sockets were once in all probability balls of - crystal, or enamel. When once the ring was grasped by the hand of - the fugitive he was safe. He had claimed the ‘peace’ of St. - Cuthbert, and the sanctity of the neighbouring shrine shielded him. - Above the door by day and night watched relays of monks to admit - those who claimed sanctuary. So soon as ever a fugitive had reached - the door he was admitted. This done he had to confess the crime of - which he was guilty, and his statement was taken down in writing. - All the while a bell was tolling to give notice that some one had - taken refuge in the church. Then the culprit was arrayed in a black - gown with a yellow cross on his left shoulder, and remained within - the precincts for thirty-seven days. If, at the end of that time, - he could not obtain a pardon of the civil authorities, he was - conveyed across the seas to begin life elsewhere.”--(T.) - -The exterior has not prepared us for the great impression that we -experience on entering the =Nave= with its enormous columns and noble -arches. These columns are deeply cut, some with spirals, some with -zigzags, some with reeds, etc. The whole effect is solemn. Fortunately -the modern screen allows the gaze to traverse the entire length of the -nave and choir until it is checked by the famous =Neville Screen=. - - “The triforium is almost uniform throughout the whole church. In - each sub-bay it consists of two small arches under one large one, - with the tympanum solid. Here also the capitals are cushions and - perfectly plain. - - “Above the triforium is the clerestory, which contains one light to - each sub-bay, and surmounting all is the vaulting, which springs - from the piers and from grotesquely carved corbels between the - triforium arches. The vaulting ribs are ornamented with chevrons on - either side of a bold semicircular moulding. So much for the - general arrangement of the bays. Some idea of the massiveness of - the structures may be gathered when it is known that each group of - the clustered pillars separating the bays covers an area of two - hundred and twenty-five square feet at its base, while those of the - cylindrical columns of the sub-bays are twelve feet square, and the - columns themselves have a circumference of over twenty-three feet. - There is little room to doubt that the effect obtained by the old - builders of Durham was intentional. The masterly way in which great - masses of solid masonry, greater than was constructively necessary, - are handled, and the reticence and delicacy of the ornament combine - to prove this. There is in the whole scheme a delightful union of - great power and vigour in the masses, and of tenderness and loving - care in the detail.”--(J. E. B.) - -At the west end of the nave stands the =Font=, a modern work in the Norman -style carved with medallions depicting scenes from the life of St. -Cuthbert. It is covered by a large wooden canopy, dating from 1663 and -curiously carved with a mixture of Classic and Gothic ornamentation. - -Durham is built in the form of a Latin cross, with transept, and in the -centre of the arms rises the tower. At the east end another transept -runs--the Chapel of the Nine Altars. At the west end we have the =Galilee -Chapel=. - -[Illustration: DURHAM: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: DURHAM: GALILEE CHAPEL] - -No one seems to know the origin of the word Galilee. According to Canon -Talbot: - - “Its name of Galilee has probably some reference to Galilee of the - Gentiles, and implies that it was considered less sacred than the - rest of the Cathedral. St. Cuthbert had a more than monkish fear of - women, and they were not allowed to approach the shrine. A cross - let into the pavement of the nave at the far west end curiously - marks the far-removed spot nearer than which women might not - approach. The prejudices of the good saint were thus perpetuated - long after his death. The whole effect is light and graceful, and - if the women were not allowed to enter farther than the western - extremity of the church, they certainly had a most beautiful place - of worship.” - -The Galilee Chapel is the most beautiful example of Transitional Norman. - - “Entering the chapel by the steps leading from the Norman nave, the - visitor is at once impressed with the lightness and delicacy of the - work before him, as compared with the massive grandeur of the - Norman cathedral behind. Here we have, in fact, one of the latest - uses of the round arch influenced by the rapidly developing Early - English Gothic. In plan the chapel consists of a nave with double - aisles, which perhaps might be more properly called five aisles. - These are divided by arcades, each of which is of four bays. These - arches and the columns which support them are the chief beauty and - characteristic of the chapel. The arches are semicircular, of one - order, with three lines of chevrons, one on each face, and one on - the soffit between two roll mouldings. The capitals are light and - graceful and carved with a volute, and the columns clusters of - marble and freestone shafts. The whole seems to have been coloured - in fresco, and remains of this are still to be seen. The stone - shafts, which alternate with those of marble, do not carry any of - the weight of the arch, and are, undoubtedly, an addition, probably - in the time of Cardinal Langley, when they must have been added, - with a view to improving the appearance. The dimensions of the - chapel are forty-seven feet from east to west, and seventy-six - feet from north to south. The existing roof and the three - Perpendicular windows on the west end are also additions by - Cardinal Langley. On the walls above what were once the altars of - the Virgin and Our Lady of Pity, remains of fresco painting may be - noticed, all that remains of what has evidently been beautiful - work. These were only brought to light by the removal of successive - coats of whitewash with which they had been covered.”--(J. E. B.) - -The two doorways at the end of the north aisle and south aisle of the -nave were made by Cardinal Langley, who closed up the great =West door=, -reopened in 1846. This was built by Flambard (1099-1128) and consists of -an arch of four orders decorated with chevrons. Grotesque animals also -appear in medallions. Langley also made a new roof, for which he raised -the walls. - -In front of the principal altar stands =Langley’s Tomb=, erected by -himself; but of far more interest is the resting-place of a greater man. - -No visitor can look upon the stone slab that marks the grave of the -=Venerable Bede= without awe. Bede, so famed for his learning and piety, -was a contemporary of St. Cuthbert and spent his long life chiefly in -the monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow. He died in 735 and was -buried at Jarrow. In 1022 his remains were stolen and placed in the same -coffin with those of St. Cuthbert. Pudsey removed them into the new -Galilee Chapel. “There, in a silver casket gilt with gold, hee laid the -bones of Venerable Bede, and erected a costly and magnificent shrine -over it,” so the _Rites of Durham_ inform us. When the shrine was -destroyed in 1542, the bones were interred beneath the site of the -shrine and were left undisturbed until 1831, when they were exhumed, -examined, enclosed in a lead-lined coffin and replaced in the tomb. - - “The most interesting monument here is the plain altar-slab which - marks the burial-place of the great Northumbrian scholar. On the - tomb are engraved the well-known words, _Hac sunt in fossâ Bedæ - Venerabilis ossa_ (In this grave lie the bones of the Venerable - Bede). According to the old legend the monk, who was casting about - for a word to complete the scansion of his line between _Bedæ_ and - _ossa_, left a space blank until he could in the morning return to - his task with a mind refreshed. However, during the night an - unknown hand added the metrically suitable _Venerabilis_. This, - according to the legend, is the origin of the peculiar preface - Venerable, always associated with the name of Bede.”--(T.) - -There are few monuments and tombs in Durham Cathedral. The most -interesting is that of =Lord Ralph Neville= and his wife, =Lady Alice=, in -the south side of the nave. Unfortunately the effigies of 1367 and 1364 -are much mutilated. Near them is the altar-tomb of =Lord John Neville= -(died, 1386), and his wife, the daughter of Lord Henry Percy, the famous -“Hotspur.” Their effigies are headless and mutilated, but traces of -colour and gilding are to be seen. The carving of the canopies is very -beautiful and between each of the niches are two square panels bearing -the arms of Neville and Percy. - -We now come to the =transepts=. Each consists of two bays, with an aisle -on the eastern side, to which three steps lead. In these at one time -altars stood--to St. Nicholas and St. Giles, to St. Gregory and St. -Benedict in the north transept; and to St. Faith and St. Thomas the -Apostle, to Our Lady of Bolton and Our Lady of Houghhall, in the south -transept. A large window ornaments and lights each end. - -The one in the north end is supposed to date from 1362. It is composed -of six lights, and the head shows late geometrical tracery. The transom -crossing the mullions is not visible from the outside. Below it a second -set of mullions supports a small gallery which leads to the triforium. -This window was repaired in 1512 and filled with glass of the period -representing its chief figures--St. Augustine, St. Jerome, St. Gregory -and St. Ambrose. Therefore it became known as =The Four Doctors of the -Church=. Prior Castell, who had charge of the repairs, placed himself -here kneeling before the Virgin. The opposite window, in the south end -of the transept, is called the =Te Deum=. It contains six lights and is -Perpendicular in style, dating between 1416 and 1446. There are -corresponding stairways in the north-west and south-west corners of the -transepts. - -Now we come to the =Tower=, supported on four large Norman piers with -semicircular arches. We look above about seventy feet and see the first -story of the lantern with a gallery. Panels, grotesque heads, corbels, -crockets and finials and a string-course ornamented with the Tudor -flower give us plenty to study. Then come the windows, each with two -lights and divided by a transom, and, last of all, the handsome groined -roof with bosses on the ribs. - -The =Choir= is the earliest part of the church. It contains Early Norman, -Early English and Early Decorated work. The two later styles occur in -the eastern part, and much beautiful detail is to be enjoyed. Where the -one leaves off and the other begins affords interesting study. - -Carileph’s work is seen in the western bays. Arcades adorn the piers on -both sides of the choir. The lower row has six arches and the upper -three. All these are carved with foliage, heads and half figures. On -each pier of the upper arcade there is an angel under a canopy. The -vaulting dates from the Thirteenth Century. It is quadripartite. Square -leaves and the dog-tooth decorate the ribs. The bosses at the points of -intersection are very fine. - -An altar-tomb with the effigy of =Bishop Hatfield= (1345-1381), beneath -the Bishop’s Throne, reminds us of the days when bishops were princes -and warriors. Hatfield led eighty archers to the siege of Calais; and -during his rule at Durham the battle of Neville’s Cross occurred (see -page 236). Such a magnificent bishop had to have a magnificent tomb; and -so, according to the custom of the day, he designed one for himself. -Here he lies beneath a canopy that once was bright with painting and -gilding. His effigy shows his splendid robes. - -The =Screen=, separating the choir from the nave, dates from 1870-1876. -The =Choir-stalls= were made from 1660 to 1672 to replace the originals -destroyed by the Scottish prisoners incarcerated in the Cathedral in -1650 after the battle of Dunbar. - -Above the high altar rises the splendid =Neville Screen=, erected about -1380 chiefly at the expense of John, Lord Neville of Raby. It runs along -the entire choir, and forms _sedilia_ of four seats on either side. The -screen was originally filled with 107 statues. The Virgin stood in the -centre, and one side of her was St. Cuthbert, and on the other St. -Oswald. - - “The prior of the day employed at his own expense seven masons for - nearly a year to fix the screen, the execution of which is supposed - to have been the fruit of the labours of French artists. The screen - originally was much more elaborate than at present, being covered - with rich colour and every niche filled with sculptured figures, - but even now its present appearance is graceful.”--(T.) - -The Neville screen is pierced by two doors that lead directly to the -=Shrine of St. Cuthbert= in the Chapel of the Nine Altars just behind it; -for in this chapel repose the bones of the patron saint. Facing the -great rose window there is an oblong platform (37 × 23 feet), about six -feet higher than the floor. The shrine was placed here in 1104 and -remained until 1540, when the body was taken from it and buried beneath -this spot. - -The =Chapel of the Nine Altars= was so named because beneath the nine -lancet windows formerly stood nine altars to the following saints: (1), -St. Andrew and St. Mary Magdalen; (2), St. John the Baptist and St. -Margaret; (3), St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Catherine; (4), St. -Oswald and St. Lawrence; (5), St. Cuthbert and St. Bede; (6), St. -Martin; (7), St. Peter and St. Paul; (8), St. Aidan and St. Helen; (9), -St. Michael the Archangel. - - “It is approached from the aisles by steps, the floor level being - lower than that of the church proper. It is altogether a remarkable - and interesting structure. With its lightness and loftiness - contrasting grandly with the massive Norman nave and choir, its - clustered columns of polished marble alternating with stone, its - fine bold sculpture, its splendid vaulted roof and rich arcading, - it forms a perfect example of the Early English style. Though - regular and symmetrical in general design, the detail shows great - variety, and even irregularity, a quality so often present in old - work, and so much to its advantage. - - “The ‘New Work,’ as it was always called, was commenced in the year - 1242. The eastern wall, with its rose and nine lancet windows, is - the earliest part of the chapel, the north and south walls being - later. The joining and blending of the work with the Norman of - Carileph’s choir had evidently been accomplished when the chapel - was almost completed. The eastern wall is of three bays, each bay - having three lofty lancet windows. The bays are not of equal width, - the centre one being regulated by the width of the nave of the - church, and narrower than the north and south bays. - - “A very beautiful arcade runs completely round the walls. It is of - trefoil arches deeply and richly moulded, supported on marble - columns carved with foliage. Over the arches is a hood-mould - terminating with heads. In the spandrels are a series of deeply - sunk and moulded quatrefoils, two of which contain sculpture. The - bases of the columns rest on a plinth. Surmounting this arcade is a - moulded string from the level of which rise the windows, and above - the windows another string-course and a second range of windows. In - the centre bay, however, is the large rose window, which is over - thirty feet in diameter. - - “The division of the chapel into three bays is effected by two main - vaulting arches, which spring on the western side from the piers of - the east end of the choir, and on the eastern side from responds of - clustered shafts alternately of marble and stone, banded at - intervals and having richly carved capitals. The arches themselves - are deeply moulded and ornamented with dog-tooth ornament and - foliage. The vault of the central bay has eight ribs--two springing - from each of the clusters just described, and two from each of the - choir piers. The vaulting of the remaining bays is quadripartite, - but has peculiarities which are worthy of notice, arising from - inequality of width. We must not omit to call attention to the - exquisite sculpture of the vaulting. The centre has figures of the - Four Evangelists, while in the north is a beautifully executed - carving of vine and grapes, and in the south, figure subjects. - Among the sculptured heads on the wall arcade at the south end, at - the western side of the two bays into which the south wall is - divided, are two which are portraits of the men to whom we owe the - design and execution of the beautiful sculpture of this chapel. One - is an elderly man, the other much younger, and both wear linen - dust-caps over their heads.”--(J. E. B.) - -The rich and varied carving of the capitals of the vaulting-shafts and -vaulting-bosses will delight the lover of beautiful sculpture. - -The beautiful Early Decorated north window of six lights was originally -filled with glass illustrating the history of Joseph. Hence it was -called =Joseph’s Window=. It is a particularly fine example of the tracery -of the period. - -The two windows in the south end of this transept were once filled with -glass representing the life and miracles of St. Cuthbert. They show -tracery of the Perpendicular period. Each window is divided by a central -mullion and is widely splayed inwards. - -The rose window over the lancets of the middle bay consists of an outer -circle of twenty-four and an inner circle of twelve radiating lights, -the mullions of which are received on a foliated circle in the centre. -This is Wyatt’s work, for, as we have seen, he removed the fine Early -English window from this place. - -The =Cloisters= and the =Chapter-House= we find on the south side of the -Cathedral. The cloisters were begun in 1388-1406 and completed about -1438. They are much altered and restored. From them various halls of the -monks could be entered. - -From the eastern alley we pass into the Chapter-House, a restoration of -what was considered the finest Norman Chapter-House in England when -Wyatt pulled it down. - -[Illustration: DURHAM: NEVILLE SCREEN] - -[Illustration: RIPON: SOUTH] - - - - -RIPON - - DEDICATION: ST. PETER AND ST. WILFRID. FORMERLY A COLLEGIATE CHURCH - SERVED BY AUGUSTINIAN CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: NAVE; ST. WILFRID’S NEEDLE; ROOD-SCREEN; EAST - WINDOW; CHOIR-STALLS. - - -Ripon did not become a cathedral until 1836. From the Eighth Century -until that date it was in the diocese of York, and the Archbishop of -York, having his throne in the choir, gave the church great importance. - -Ripon monastery was established in the Seventh Century. The monks came -from Melrose Abbey on the Tweed and represented the Christianity that -was introduced into the north by way of Ireland through St. Columba’s -missionaries. Their great abbot was Wilfrid, who became Bishop of -Northumbria. In 669 he began a stone monastery, on the site, in all -probability, of the earlier one; and this was dedicated in 670 to St. -Peter. Wilfrid died in 709 and was buried in his church at Ripon. -Miracles took place at his tomb, which drew such large crowds that the -monks tried to restrain them. In 948, when Eadred was quelling a -rebellion in Northumbria, “was that famed minster burned at Ripon which -St. Wilfrid built.” - -The next date of interest is the rebuilding of the church by Roger de -Pont l’Évêque (1154-1181), the great rival of Thomas à Becket. It was a -cruciform edifice; its nave was without aisles. Of this, the two -transepts, half of the central tower, and portions of the nave and -choir remain. Ripon is, therefore, one of the most important examples -extant of the transition from Norman to Early English. - -Archbishop Walter de Gray (1216-1255) translated the relics of St. -Wilfrid to a new shrine in 1224. - -The west front with its two towers was built about this time; and the -eastern part of the choir was rebuilt in the Decorated style by -Archbishop John Romanus (1286-1296). - -The church was used as a refuge and fortress by the people of Ripon when -the Scots invaded it in 1317. Many necessary repairs were made under -Archbishop de Melton (1317-1340). The central tower fell in 1450 and had -to be rebuilt; also the east side of the south transept and the south -side of the choir. The present rood-screen and canopied stalls were -erected at the end of the Fifteenth Century. Then the nave was rebuilt; -but progress was delayed by the outbreak of a plague in 1506. St. -Wilfrid’s Shrine was demolished by Henry VIII. In 1593 the central spire -was injured by lightning. During the Civil Wars the Parliamentary -soldiers shattered the splendid glass of the east window and did other -damage. In 1660 the central spire fell and injured some of the canopies -of the choir-stalls; and, therefore, in 1664, the western spires were -removed for fear that they might fall also. Many repairs were made in -1829. Restorations on a large scale were undertaken by Sir Gilbert Scott -in 1862-1870. - -The =West Front= is Early English. It has two square towers and a central -gable. String-courses divide the façade into four stages. In the first -are three doorways adorned with gables and crosses. The central door, -which is larger than the others, consists of five orders and five triple -shafts. The two others have three orders and three shafts. Some of the -mouldings are filled with the dog-tooth ornament. All three doors open -into the nave. Between the gables spouts issue from the heads of -animals. Above the doors comes a row of five lancet windows and above -them a group of three small lancets placed very high. The towers are -ornamented with arcades and lancets, buttresses, parapets and pinnacles. -The ten bells hang in the south tower. - -The =Central Tower= is interesting because it is composed of two styles of -architecture. On the north and west sides it is Twelfth Century and on -the two others Perpendicular. The windows on all sides are round-headed. -The dog-tooth ornament appears in the moulding. Ripon, though finely -proportioned, is somewhat cold and severe in general appearance. The -north transept with its round-headed windows and its interesting -doorway, with a rather curious inner arch and capitals of carved -foliage, is a good example of the Twelfth Century. The south side of the -nave is preferred to the north side by critics. In the south transept we -have Archbishop Roger’s work again. The doorway is elaborate. The -foliage on the capitals of the columns approaches the Early English -style. The lintel is square. The south side of the choir is partly -hidden by the Chapter-House with the Lady-Loft above. The buttresses -that follow are of the Twelfth Century. The three western bays are -Perpendicular; the others, Decorated. The two flying-buttresses are like -those on the north side. Gargoyles appear at intervals along the string -of the roof. The east end is Decorated. Its chief feature is the -splendid window, of which the tracery alone remains. - -Entering the west doorway we look upon one of the great naves of the -Perpendicular period, ranking next in size after York, Winchester, -Chichester and after St. Paul’s in width. - - “Among very late Gothic buildings there are few indeed which are of - so good a quality as this nave of Ripon, which, like the late - church towers of Somerset, shows that Mediæval art took long to die - out in regions remote from London. It is, indeed, the architecture - of the days of Agincourt rather than of the eve of the English - Renaissance. The pillars are characteristic of the Perpendicular - style, their section being a square with a semicircle projecting - from each side, and the corners hollowed. Their bases have complex - plinths of considerable height and are polygonal, but follow - roughly the form of the pillar, and the mouldings, as usual in this - style, overhang the plinth. The capitals, with small mouldings and - many angles, are of somewhat the same form as the bases. On the - westernmost complete pillar of the north arcade are two shields, - charged respectively with the arms of Ripon (a horn) and of Pigott - of Clotherholme. The arches, instead of being of that depressed - form which is so common in late work, are very beautifully - proportioned, and their mouldings are bold, numerous and well-cut. - There is no triforium; but a passage, at a slightly lower level - than in Archbishop Roger’s bays, runs below the great clerestory - windows, which were once, no doubt, gorgeous with stained glass. - Their arches are moulded, but the splay is left plain. The - roof-shafts, which are in clusters of three and have fillets upon - them, spring from semi-octagonal corbels, and where each cluster - passes the string-course there is an angel holding a shield. A sign - of decadence may be found, perhaps, in the way in which the - hood-moulds of the windows intersect with these shafts. Though the - two sides of the nave are not quite of the same date, they are - almost alike, but for some slight differences in the capitals, the - arch-mouldings, and the hollows on the pillars; the builders - feeling, doubtless, that any marked variation would mar the general - perspective--a consideration which, of course, could not bind them - in designing the north aisle. The original Perpendicular roof may - have resembled that which now covers the transepts. About 1829 - Blore put up an almost flat ceiling of deal. The present oaken - vault, by Sir Gilbert Scott, was copied from that of the transepts - of York Minster, and is adapted to the old roof-shafts, between - which have been added angel corbels of wood. As the ribs intersect - near their springing, they weave a network over the whole vault, - and the carved bosses at the intersections amount to 107. A passing - notice is merited by the pulpit, which is Jacobean.”--(C. H.) - -The two great tower arches under the west towers are Early English; -those of the central tower are round. Their great piers are composed of -clusters of engaged shafts. Massive arches also mark the opening of each -aisle of the nave into the transept. In the south aisle stands a blue -marble =Font=, and near it an older one, probably of the Twelfth Century. -Tradition says that the altar-tomb here is that of an Irish prince who -brought home from Palestine a tame lion. On the bas-relief a lion, a -kneeling man and two birds are represented, which gives cause for the -story. The work is presumably of the Fourteenth Century. Above the font -we can see the only Mediæval glass in the Cathedral--fragments of -Fourteenth Century work left from the wreckage of the Puritan soldiers. -St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew will easily be recognized. There is -also a shield bearing the English arms in this window. In the south wall -of the nave there is a fine =Piscina= dating from the Twelfth Century. At -this point we shall have to interrupt our walk through the Cathedral to -examine =St. Wilfrid’s Needle=, the popular name for the Saxon =Crypt=. - - “From a trap-door in the pavement below the piscina a flight of - twelve steps winds down into a flat-roofed and descending passage - 2½ feet wide and slightly over 6 feet high, which, running a few - feet northwards and bending at right angles round the south-west - tower pier, extends eastward for about 10 yards, with a descent of - one step near the end, and terminates in a blank wall. There is a - square-headed niche at the turn and a round-headed niche at the - end, both meant, doubtless, to hold lights. Three feet from the end - a round-headed doorway, 2 feet wide and over 6 feet high, opens - northwards with a descent of two more steps, into a barrel-vaulted - chamber, 11 feet 5 inches long from east to west, 7 feet 7 inches - wide and 9 feet 10 inches high. In the north wall of this chamber, - and approached by three wide steps, is the celebrated St. Wilfrid’s - Needle, a round-headed aperture pierced through into a passage that - runs behind. This aperture was connected with one of those - superstitions that so often flourished before the Reformation in - notable centres of religion, and ability to pass through it, or - ‘thread the needle,’ was regarded as a test of female chastity; but - it was, of course, in the later middle ages that this superstition - arose, and the ‘needle’ (or rather needle’s eye) is evidently only - one of the original niches with the back knocked out. Of these - niches (which again were doubtless for lights) there are four in - the chamber besides the ‘needle,’--one in each wall,--and, like the - niche at the end of the passage of entrance, they all have - semicircular heads, each cut in a single stone. That in the west - wall has a hole or cup at the bottom, probably to hold oil in which - a wick might float, while the others (except the ‘needle’) have a - sort of funnel at the top, doubtless to catch the soot from - lamps.”--(C. H.) - -The =North Transept= is a fine specimen of the transitional from Norman to -Early English, and is almost in its original condition. It is 34 feet -wide, or 52 feet including the aisle. Here we find a stone pulpit of the -Perpendicular period, its five - -[Illustration: RIPON: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: RIPON: CHOIR, EAST] - -sides embellished with panelling. At the north wall was probably -situated the =Markenfield Chantry=; for the aisle is still called by this -name. Two family tombs remain. - -The =South Transept= is slightly narrower than the north. Parts of it were -altered in the Perpendicular period. In the aisle we find the =Mallory -Chapel=, where members of the Studley family are buried. The northern bay -is filled by a stone stairway, at the top of which are two doors. One -opens into a chamber containing the bellows of the organ and the other -into the Lady-Loft, or Library. This stairway was erected by Sir Gilbert -Scott to replace an older one. - -The elegant =Rood Screen= is of the Fifteenth Century. It contains a -central doorway surmounted by a crocketed ogee hood, beneath which is a -mutilated carving of The Trinity. Four large niches stand on either side -of the door and a row of twenty-four smaller ones runs above these. -Cinquefoils and feathered cusps decorate the whole screen, which is -twelve feet thick. In the passage through it a door on the right opens -into a winding staircase to the loft above and one on the left into a -deep pit. - -We pass on to the =Choir=. This is of three styles: the first three bays -on the north side are Twelfth Century; the first three on the south -side, Perpendicular; and the last three on both sides, Decorated. The -triforium windows are filled with glass. - - “The great window in the central compartment is one of the finest - examples of Geometrical tracery, if not one of the largest windows, - in England. It is over 50 feet high, is 25 feet wide, and has seven - lights. Of these the three at either end are comprised under a - sub-arch, in the head of which are three cinquefoiled circles, - while the central light of the seven is surmounted by an arch, not - so high as its neighbours, but impaling upon its acute point a huge - circle which fills the head of the window and contains six trefoils - radiating from its centre. The arch of this superb window is rather - acutely pointed and richly moulded, and has two very slender shafts - worked on the stones of either jamb, with foliage on their - capitals. - - “The huge window, which is not splayed, has a deep rear-vault - bounded by a massive rib, whose outer edge rests on slender engaged - shafts with foliage on their capitals, while the inner edge ends in - bunches of foliage. Between this rib and the tracery is another rib - springing on the north side from a bunch of foliage and on the - south from a grotesque corbel. The inner arch has slender shafts, - and so has the moulding next to the tracery, but in the latter case - the capitals are plain. Few acts of vandalism are more to be - regretted, probably, than the destruction in 1643 of the - magnificent Fourteenth Century glass which once occupied this - window. The present very poor glass, by Wailes of Newcastle, - commemorates the revival of the See of Ripon in 1863. - - “Over the window may be seen the mark of one of the earlier roofs. - The choir is thought to have received a groined vault of oak after - the rebuilding of the east end, but this vault was probably renewed - more than once, especially after the accident to the tower about - 1450, and the fall of the spire in 1660. Sir Gilbert Scott found a - vault of lath and plaster (probably the work of Blore) for which he - substituted the present roof, a groined wooden vault, admirable in - its lofty pitch and judicious colouring. Its chief feature, - however, is the splendid bosses along the ridge, which are - survivals from either the Decorated or a subsequent Perpendicular - vault. In some of these bosses the figures are five feet - long.”--(C. H.) - -The =Choir-Stalls= are splendid specimens of the Fifteenth Century, with -very ornate canopies of tabernacle-work bristling with spires and -pinnacles. - - “There are ribbed vaults under the canopies, and upon the pendants - in front are hovering angels. The canopies on the south side were - wrecked by the fall of the spire in 1660, and those over the eight - easternmost stalls were then reconstructed in the ‘Jacobean’ style - with a gallery above, while of the canopies now over the other - nine, eight are said to have been brought across from the eastern - end of the north range, where more Jacobean canopies were erected - in their place. Sir Gilbert Scott removed all this Seventeenth - Century work and set up reproductions of the Fifteenth Century - design. Thus the eight easternmost canopies on either side are - modern. The _misereres_ and arms of the stalls are exquisitely - carved. - - “The subjects upon the former are as follows, beginning from the - archway in the screen:-- - - “_North side_:--(1) (CANON IN RESIDENCE) lion attacked by dogs; (2) - dragon attacked by dogs; (3) angel with shield; (4) dragon and - birds; (5) hart’s-tongue ferns; (6) conventional flowers; (7) ape - attacked by lion; (8) vine; (9) birds pecking fruit; (10) - antelopes; (11) fox preaching to goose and cock; (12) fox running - off with geese; (13) fox caught by dogs; (14) dragons fighting; - (15) fruit and flowers issuing from inverted head; (16) man holding - club with oak leaves and acorns; (17) (MAYOR’S STALL) griffin - catching rabbit. - - “_South side_:--(1) (DEAN) angel with book; (2) angel with shield - bearing date 1489; (3) lion _versus_ griffin; (4) griffin devouring - a human leg; (5) owl; (6) mermaid with mirror and hair-brush; (7) - two pigs dancing to bagpipe played by a third; (8) Jonah thrown to - the whale; (9) man wheeling another who holds a reed and a bag; - (10) fox caught carrying off goose by dog and by woman with - distaff; (11) winged animal; (12) hart, gorged and chained; (13) - pelican feeding young; (14) Jonah emerging from the whale; (15) - Samson carrying the gates; (16) head (modern); (17) (BISHOP’S - THRONE) Caleb and Joshua carrying the grapes and watched by Anakim. - - “Most of these _misereres_ have exquisite conventional flowers - (especially roses) cut upon them in addition to the - figure-subjects. The desks in front of the stalls have rich - finials, and their panelled fronts form the backs of a lower tier - of seats, the arms of which are supported each on a square shaft - set diamondwise. In front of these lower seats the desks again - have carved finials and panelled fronts and on those parallel with - the Rood-Screen the tracery is distinctly Flamboyant. The finial - before the stall of the Canon in Residence has a griffin attached - to it and that in front of the Dean’s stall a lion. Before both - these stalls the ends of the two tiers of desks are richly carved. - The Bishop’s throne and Mayor’s stall have each a canopied niche on - the exterior toward the east, and two small apertures in the east - side to enable the occupant to see the altar, and in front of these - two stalls the ends of the two tiers of desks are again richly - carved. The Mayor’s stall is wider than the others, and attached to - the finial in front is a grotesque ape, beneath which the - supporting shaft is of open work. The end of this desk displays a - shield charged with two keys in saltire, for the see of York. - - “The Bishop’s throne was originally occupied by the Archbishops of - York. The Jacobean canopy, which succeeded that of the Fifteenth - Century, comprised the space of two stalls, as did also the modern - structure by which it was itself succeeded and which is now in the - Consistory Court. The present canopy resembles those of the other - stalls but is higher and more elaborate. Upon the back of the - throne inside is a small mitre. The finial in front consists of an - elephant carrying a man in his trunk, and bearing on his back a - castle filled with armed soldiery, and in front of the elephant is - a centaur (renewed), the shaft under which is again of open-work. - The end of this desk displays a large mitre above a shield charged - with the three stars of St. Wilfrid and supported by two angels, - between whom is a scroll with the date of 1494.” - -The altar stands against the east wall of the presbytery. The =Reredos= is -a restoration of the original Decorated one. The =Sedilia= and a =Piscina= -are placed on the south side. - -Sir Gilbert Scott considered them Late Decorated work, but they have -rather the appearance of Late Perpendicular. - -Some historians think that the shrine of St. Wilfrid stood in the east -end of the north-choir-aisle. The remains were kept in a superb coffer, -which was carried in processions. - -Passing down the south-choir-aisle from the east we first come to the -vestry; then to the Chapter-House; and then to the Mallory Chapel. A -round-headed door in the west wall of the Chapter-House opens upon a -stairway that leads into another =Crypt= that belonged to Norman times. - -The =Chapter-House= is of the Twelfth Century. Above it is a =Lady-Chapel=, -called here the =Lady-Loft=. It is unusual to find a Lady-Chapel on the -south side of the Choir and on an upper floor. It dates from about the -middle of the Fifteenth Century. It is now used as a Library. - - - - -YORK MINSTER - - DEDICATION: ST. PETER. SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: WEST FRONT; CHOIR; CHAPTER-HOUSE; WINDOWS. - - -York, “the King of Cathedrals,” is one of the noblest and best examples -of Gothic architecture. In form and proportion, in detail of ornament, -in exterior and interior, the famous Minster takes rank with the -greatest ecclesiastical buildings. Not only is it enormous--a forest of -architecture--but it contains, perhaps, more ancient stained glass than -any other building in the world. - - “Other English cathedrals are more finely placed, several are - richer in ornament, one or two have a more delicately varied - outline. None are so stately and so magnificent; and there is - hardly a church in Europe that appears so vast as the Minster, - viewed from the north. - - “The low-pitched roof of the Minster, the solidity of the central - tower, the simple and tranquil front of the north transept, give - the building an air of masculine and stately repose, and of perfect - finish seldom to be found in foreign churches; while the apparent - uniformity of style, though the architecture is of three different - periods, frees it from the picturesque inconsequence of many - English cathedrals. Yet neither inside nor outside does the Minster - appear to be the expression of the spiritual aspirations of a - people. It represents rather a secular magnificence, the temporal - power of a Church that has played a great part in the history of - the nation. The archbishops of York have been forced by - circumstances to be militant prelates, contending with Canterbury - for precedence, leading armies against the Scotch, sometimes even - heading rebellions against the king; and in their cathedral they - have expressed their ambition and their pride.”--(A. C.-B.) - -The visitor who has a short time to visit York Minster will study the -west front, the choir, the Chapter-House, and the windows. - - “If the beauty in the form of our _flos florum_ is due to its - architecture, very much of its beauty in colour depends on the - glowing and mellowed tints with which its windows are filled. But - it is a large subject to enter upon, for as regards quantity there - are no less than one hundred and three windows in the Minster, most - of them entirely, and the remainder, only excepting the tracery, - filled with real old Mediæval glass. Some of the windows, too, are - of great size. The east window, which is entirely filled with old - glass, consists of nine lights and measures seventy-eight feet in - height, thirty-one feet two inches in width. The two choir transept - windows, that in the north transept to St. William, and the south - to St. Cuthbert, measure seventy-three feet by sixteen feet. They - have both been restored, the latter very recently, but by far the - greater part of them is old glass. On each side of the choir, the - aisles contain nine windows measuring fourteen feet nine inches by - twelve feet, only the tracery lights of which are modern; the same - number of windows fill the clerestory above, the greater portions - of which are ancient. - - “The famous window of the north transept, the Five Sisters, - consists of five lights, each measuring fifty-three feet six inches - by five feet one inch, and is entirely of old glass. There are six - windows in the north and six in the south aisles of the nave, with - only a little modern glass in the tracery. The superb Flamboyant - window at the west end of the centre aisle measures fifty-six feet - three inches by twenty-five feet four inches, and consists, I - believe, entirely of old glass, except the faces of the figures. - The clerestory windows are studded with ancient shields, but a - great part of the glass is, I fancy, modern; those of the - vestibule, eight in number, measuring thirty-two feet by eighteen, - are of old glass, including the tracery lights. The east window has - been clumsily restored by Willement. In the side windows of the - transept there is some old glass, and the great rose window over - the south entrance still retains much of the old glass; while far - overhead in the tower there are some really fine bold designs of - late, but genuine, design and execution. Altogether, according to - actual measurements, there are 25,531 superficial feet of Mediæval - glass in the Minster, i.e., more than half an acre--a possession, - we should think, unequalled by any church in England, if not in - Christendom.”--(P.-C.) - -York, or, to use its older name, Eboracum, had been an important British -settlement long before the Romans made it the principal seat of their -power in the north between the years 70 and 80 A.D. It continued to be a -Roman court until the Emperor Honorius left Britain in 409. Hadrian -lived here; Severus and Constantine Chlorus died here; and here -Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor. Many churches in the -vicinity were dedicated to the latter’s mother, St. Helena, the -legendary discoverer of the True Cross. - -York was therefore the great military post and the great ecclesiastical -seat in the north of England. - -The question of precedence between York and Canterbury arose as early as -the days of St. Augustine. Gregory the Great instructed the latter to -appoint twelve bishops, one of whom was to be the Bishop of York, who -was to ordain other bishops in the north of England. He was to be -subordinate to Augustine; but subsequently precedence should be -determined by priority of consecration. This occasioned dissensions for -centuries, culminating in the murder of Thomas à Becket (see page 2), -which Roger de Pont l’Évêque is said to have instigated. It was this -Archbishop of York who, refusing to take a lower seat at the Council of -Westminster in 1176, sat himself in the lap of Becket’s successor only -to be pulled off and soundly beaten. The question was not finally -settled until the time of John of Thorsby (1352-1373), when Innocent VI. -determined that the Archbishop of Canterbury should be styled Primate of -All England and the Archbishop of York, Primate of England. - -The first archbishop was Paulinus, Bishop of Rochester (see page 33), -who accompanied Ethelburga, daughter of the King of Kent, when she went -to Northumbria to marry King Edwin. Edwin embraced Christianity and was -baptised in 627, by Paulinus, in a temporary wooden church on the site -of the present glorious York Minster. Immediately afterwards Edwin began -to build a stone church in this same place, which he dedicated to St. -Peter. This church was repaired by the next archbishop--the great -Wilfrid--about 669. - -When Thomas of Bayeux, the first Norman archbishop, arrived in 1070, he -found the Cathedral in ruins, owing to the Danish invasion and to the -wars of the Conqueror; and, if William of Malmsbury may be believed, -Thomas began the church from its foundations and also finished it. - -Roger de Pont l’Évêque (1154-1181) rebuilt the choir. - -About this time York acquired its patron saint, William Fitzherbert, -great-grandson of the Conqueror, who became Bishop of York in 1143. -Expelled from office in 1147, he was restored in 1153. On his return he -performed a miracle and died almost immediately afterwards, so suddenly, -in fact, that he was thought to have been poisoned out of the holy -chalice. The monks buried him in the Cathedral. His tomb attracted -pilgrims because of the marvellous cures. St. William was canonised in -1284; and in that year his relics were translated from the nave to the -choir. Edward I. and Queen Eleanor were present and gave jewels to the -shrine, which was placed at the eastern end of the nave under a huge -canopy. St. William’s head was preserved in a silver reliquary. - -There is now no Norman work visible in York Minster except in the crypt -and in parts of the nave and tower. In 1200, however, the nave, choir, -towers, and transepts were Norman. About 1230 it was decided to rebuild -the transepts on a big scale. Walter de Grey (1216-1265) began the south -transept (Early English); and he lies there under an arch, in a splendid -tomb. John Romeyn, treasurer of York, built the north transept and also -an Early English tower to replace the Early Norman tower. His son, John -Romeyn, also archbishop from 1286 to 1296, began the new nave. - -John of Thorsby (1352-1373) began the present choir in 1361. The work -was started at the extreme east end. Thorsby was a Yorkshireman, who - - “had the further development of the glories of the Minster - thoroughly at heart. At once he sacrificed his palace at Sherburn - to provide materials for an appropriate Lady-Chapel, gave - successive munificent donations of £100 at each of the great - festivals of the Christian year, and called on clergy and laity - alike to submit cheerfully to stringent self-denial to supply the - funds. - - “During his tenure of office of twenty-three years the Lady-Chapel - was completed, a chaste and dignified specimen of early - Perpendicular style, into which the Decorated gradually blended - after the year 1360, and unique in its glorious east window, - seventy-eight feet high and thirty-three feet wide, still the - largest painted window in the world, enriched with its double - mullions, which give such strength and lightness to its graceful - proportions, and with its elaborate glass executed by Thornton of - Coventry, at the beginning of the following century. But Roger’s - choir, which was still standing, must now have looked sadly dwarfed - between the lofty Lady-Chapel and the tower and - transepts.”--(P.-C.) - -Edward I. made York his capital during the war with Scotland, to the -expense of which the archbishop and clergy gave one-fifth of their -income. Parliament assembled there in 1318. The archbishops were great -politicians and intriguers, now plotting against the king and now -supporting him; great military leaders, sometimes defeated, like Melton -at Myton-on-Swale, where he led 10,000 men against the Scots, or -victorious, like William La Zouche (1342-1352) at Neville’s Cross near -Durham; and nearly always great builders and benefactors of the -Cathedral. Richard Scrope’s rebellion is famous. Lord Chancellor of -England and Bishop of Lichfield before he became Bishop of York in 1398, -Scrope was advanced by Richard II. In 1405 he headed a rebellion and was -captured. The Chief Justice refused to try him. He was taken to his own -palace at Bishopthorpe, condemned to death and beheaded near York in -1405. Buried in the Minster, thousands flocked to his tomb in the -north-choir-aisle. Naturally enough the king who had murdered him tried -to check the stream of offerings; but Scrope’s tomb became more popular -than that of St. William. Scrope was a Yorkshireman, the son of Lord -Scrope, of Masham, and the Scropes had a chantry in the chapel of St. -Stephen, now destroyed. - -The great central tower was erected in 1400-1423 and the church was -re-consecrated on July 3, 1472; and so, at the close of the Fifteenth -Century, York Minster existed as we see it: save for two fires (1829 -and 1840) and a judicious repairing and restoration in 1871, the great -Minster has not been changed. - -When Henry VIII. disestablished the monasteries there were many -outbreaks in York, and the famous “Pilgrimage of Grace” (1536) was much -excited by the seizure of St. William’s head, still a beloved relic of -the Cathedral. Lee, then archbishop, was taken by the rebels and forced -to support them. Before this, however, Thomas Wolsey had been arrested -at Cawood. Though Archbishop (1514-1530), it is said that he was never -at York. - -When York was besieged by the Parliamentarians in 1644, Fairfax -restrained his soldiers to some degree, which explains why so much of -the ancient glass is left. Thomas Mace’s description of the siege, -however, shows how little respect the army really had for the Minster: - - “The enemy was very near and fierce upon them, especially on that - side of the city where the church stood; and had planted their - great guns mischievously against the church; with which constantly - in prayer’s time, they would not fail to make their hellish - disturbance by shooting against and battering the church; insomuch - that sometimes a cannon bullet has come in at the windows and - bounced about from pillar to pillar (even like some furious fiend - or evil spirit) backwards and forwards and all manner of sideways, - as it has happened to meet with square or round opposition amongst - the pillars.” - -On February 2, 1829, Jonathan Martin, brother of the painter, John -Martin, hid himself behind the tomb of Archbishop Greenfield, in the -north transept during evening service; and after the church had been -closed, set fire to the choir. The stalls, organ, and vault were -destroyed and much of the stone-work was damaged. Restorations were -started in 1832. Another fire occurred in 1840 in the south-west tower, -occasioned by some workmen who were repairing the clock in the -south-west tower. The wooden vault of the nave and the tower and bells -were damaged. In 1871 some of the side walls were rebuilt. - -Every one is familiar with the =West Front= of York; but the traveller who -looks upon it for the first time is, nevertheless, overwhelmed. - - “The West Front is more architecturally perfect as a composition in - its details than that of any other English Cathedral, and is - unquestionably the best cathedral façade in this country. The lower - part, with the entrances and lower windows, belongs to the Early - Decorated period. Above the windows the work is Late Decorated and - the towers above the roof Perpendicular. Numerous niches cover the - surface. It is doubtful whether they ever contained statues. The - principal entrance is divided by a clustered pier, and above it is - a circle filled with cusped tracery. Over the whole doorway is a - deeply-recessed arch, and over that a gable with niches, one of - which contains the statue of an archbishop, supposed to be John le - Romeyn, who began the nave in 1291, and other niches have figures - of a Percy and a Vavasour, who gave the wood and stone for the - building. The favourite ballflower ornament of the Decorated style - is seen on the gable, and the mouldings in the arches have figures - representing the history of Adam and Eve. Above the entrance is a - large eight-light window, pronounced by many to be too large even - for York Minster, containing very elaborate and beautiful tracery, - and over it is a pointed gable. On each side of the west window are - buttresses covered with panelling and niches. The noble towers - rising on each side of the west front, have buttresses similarly - adorned, and each three windows, and over the second an open - battlement forms a walk along the whole front. The towers have - battlements and pinnacles. The south-west tower (1433-1457) was - injured by fire in 1840; and the north tower (1470-1474) has the - largest bell in the kingdom, Great Peter, which cost £2,000 in 1845 - and weighs ten tons.”--(P. H. D.) - -The twin-towers rise to a height of two hundred feet and are ornamented -with windows, battlements, and pinnacles. - -The =Central Tower= at the crossing of the transepts, built in 1410-1433, -Perpendicular, is also two hundred feet high. It is the largest in -England, and is considered not only one of the triumphs of Fifteenth -Century architects, but one of the finest towers in the world. Much of -it is supposed to be the work of Walter Skirlawe, Bishop of Durham, and -its resemblance to the central tower of Durham Cathedral justifies the -assumption. It has never been finished. - - “The central tower rises a single story above the ridge of the roof - and is open inside to the top. But for small gables on the - buttresses, it is quite plain up to the level of the roof ridge. - Above this it contains two long and narrow Perpendicular windows on - each side, of three lights each, with a transom. These windows are - ornamented ogee gables, and between them are three niches, one - above the other, with canopies. The external buttresses are split - up with vertical mouldings and ornamented with niches and - panelling. The tower is crowned with a battlement. Horizontal - string-courses with gargoyles divide the buttresses at intervals. - There are no pinnacles on these buttresses, and they appear never - to have been finished. It is possible that it was intended to set - another story on the top of the present one, but this is merely - conjecture. - - “The English architects of the Fifteenth Century, if they were - inferior to earlier builders in invention and vigour, were at any - rate supreme in the management of towers. Their wonderful sense of - proportion, their habitual use of vertical lines, and the character - of their windows helped them to build what are perhaps the finest - towers in Europe, and the central tower of York Minster - -[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: WEST FRONT] - -[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: SOUTH] - - is one of the finest of all. Even the absence of pinnacles, if it - is an accident, seems to be a lucky accident, and gives this tower - an unrivalled dignity and an air of restraint suitable to the - character of the whole cathedral.”--(A. C.-B.) - -We enter the Cathedral by the south door of the =South Transept= and are -introduced to what is considered one of the most superb architectural -views in the world. The enormous width of the church and length of the -transepts and the tremendous lantern produce almost the effect of St. -Paul’s or St. Peter’s. Neither the east nor the west end is visible, for -we are looking right across the arms of the crossing straight to the -north end of the transept, where the =Five Sisters= display their jewels. - -The =Lantern= is very lofty--180 feet from the floor--each transept is -four bays long--223 feet from north to south--and 93 feet wide. To the -top of the roof they measure 99 feet. - - “The transepts, therefore, are unusually prominent, even for an - English cathedral, and they have many other unusual features. Taken - in conjunction with the lantern, they produce an effect to be found - in no other Gothic church in the world. In England there are none - so wide and so lofty. In France there are interiors even loftier, - but in France the transepts are seldom a prominent feature of the - design. Often they do not project beyond the outer wall of the - aisles of the nave, and oftener still there is no central tower - large enough to allow of a lantern at all. It is a great piece of - good fortune, also, that the five vast lancets of the north - transept end, known as the Five Sisters, still keep their beautiful - original glass. If we look at these windows and consider how - utterly ineffective they would be if they were glazed with plain - glass, we can understand how little remains of the original beauty - of the interior of Salisbury. - - “The Five Sisters are, no doubt, the largest lancet windows in - England, and it was a bold idea to fill almost the whole of that - great front with them, but the boldness was entirely justified by - the result. - - “The glass in the Five Sisters is Early English of the simplest and - most beautiful design. The colour, an almost uniform scheme of - greyish green, is a curious contrast to the vivid blues and yellows - of the period which preceded it, and examples of which may be seen - in the choir of Canterbury. The pattern is an elaborate but - restrained arrangement of the foliage of the _Planta Benedicta_ - (herb benet). The plain border surrounding the Early English glass - was inserted in 1715. At the foot of the central light is a panel - of Norman glass, the subject of which is either the dream of Jacob, - or Daniel in the lions’ den.”--(A. C.-B.) - -The glass in the lancets above the Five Sisters is modern. - -In the eastern aisle of the south transept (Early English) the =Tomb of -Walter de Grey= (died 1255), shows an effigy in full canonicals. The -right hand is raised in blessing, the left grasps a crozier, and the -feet crush a dragon. The columns at the sides are ornamented with leaves -at equal distances. On either side of the gable over the Archbishop’s -head an angel stands. The canopy is supported by nine pillars. In the -eastern aisle of the north transept we stop to look at the tomb of -=Archbishop Greenfield= (died 1315). This is decorated with an ornamented -canopy. - -A rich and elaborate =Rood Screen= separates the choir from the crossing. -It dates from 1475-1505 and is composed of a central doorway and fifteen -canopied niches containing statues of English kings from William the -Conqueror to Henry VI. The latter is the only modern one. Above these -are angels by Bernasconi. The central arch is surmounted with an ogee -moulding decorated with foliage and a niche, on either side of which is -an angel with a censer. The capitals of the shafts are carved; and -rosettes and rows of foliage appear between the shafts. The canopies are -very ornate. It is interesting to compare this screen with the one at -Exeter. - -The =Choir=, including the retro-choir, consists of nine bays--the largest -and loftiest choir in England and one of the most beautiful. It was -begun in 1361 at the east end and completed in 1405. It has been -described as an “interesting example of a Perpendicular building carried -out on the lines of an earlier Decorated design.” - - “The choir itself is like an enormous college chapel. The aisles - exist, but play no part in the design, which still culminates in - the splendid blaze of glass from the eastern transepts and the - great east window, and once culminated on the still more splendid - blaze of the altar. - - “The retro-choir, far too short and wide to be judged as an avenue - of stone, is still more dependent for its effect on its glass. As - most of that glass luckily remains, it is a miracle of airy - splendour; one may see from it what were the objects, and how great - the success of the much-maligned Perpendicular architects at their - best. - - “To sum up, then, this choir has not the delicate and spiritual - beauty of the choirs of Lincoln or Ely. That is never found even in - the finest work of Perpendicular architects; but for stateliness - and magnificence it has not a rival in England. These qualities may - be best appreciated standing midway between the two transepts and - in front of the altar. From that point glittering screens of glass - and soaring shafts of stone are to be seen on all sides; the whole - effect is one of triumphant light and space and colour, not to be - surpassed by the splendours even of Moorish or Italian - architecture.”--(A. C.-B.) - -The magnificent Perpendicular stalls perished in the fire of 1829, so -did the Perpendicular altar-screen. The present stalls and screen are -reproductions of these. The reredos of terra-cotta and wood is modern. - -The vault of the choir is of wood, an imitation of the vault destroyed -by fire in 1829. The windows of the clerestory are Perpendicular and -contain five lights. - - “The glass in the choir is almost wholly Perpendicular. As in the - nave, it is very fragmentary and disordered. The change in the - character of the design will be easily noticed. The Perpendicular - glass is not so clear and delicate in colour, and the architectural - and other patterns are less pronounced. This glass, regarded simply - as decorative, is perhaps superior to that in the nave. - - “Mr. Winston has pointed out that the earliest Perpendicular glass - in the choir is contained in the third window from the east in the - south aisle; in the third and fourth windows from the east in the - north clerestory; and in the fourth clerestory window from the east - on the opposite side. These windows date from the close of the - Fourteenth Century. There is also an early Perpendicular Jesse in - the third window from the west in the south aisle of the choir. The - other windows of the choir aisles east of the small eastern - transepts, as well as the glass in the lancet windows on the east - side of the great western transepts, appears, he says, to be of the - time of Henry IV.; the rest of the glass in the choir is of the - reigns of Henry V. and VI., chiefly of the latter. He notices also, - that the white glass in the windows is generally less green in tint - than usual, and that he has learnt from Mr. Browne that it is all - of English manufacture.”--(A. C.-B.) - -We now come to the smaller transepts situated between the four eastern -and four western bays of the choir. They are practically one bay of the -choir with the triforium and clerestory removed. At each end are immense -windows. Each is 73 feet long by 16 feet wide. Both have been restored; -but the glass is original and very splendid. The north window contains -scenes from the life of =St.= =William=; the south window depicts the -history of =St. Cuthbert=, and is thought to date from about 1437. In it -are members of the house of Lancaster. - -The east end of the choir is almost entirely filled with the great =East -Window=. - -The space behind the altar is sometimes called the =Lady-Chapel=. This -occupies four bays. It was built in 1361-1405, and is Perpendicular in -style. The Altar of the Virgin stood under the great east window and -here also was a chantry founded by the Percys. - - “The great east window was glazed by John Thornton of Coventry. The - terms of the contract for this work, dated 1405, are extant. They - provide that Thornton shall ‘portray the said window with his own - hands, and the histories, images, and other things to be painted on - it.’ It was to be finished within three years. Glass, lead and - workmen were to be provided at the expense of the chapter, and - Thornton was to receive 4s. a week, £5 a year and £10 at completion - for his trouble. - - “The window is 78 feet high and 32 feet wide, and contains nine - lights. It is entirely filled with old glass, except for certain - pitches of modern glass, rather crude in colour, and inserted, it - is said, after the fire of 1829. It contains 200 panels of figures. - The subjects in the upper part are from the Old Testament, reaching - from the creation of the world to the death of Absalom. The lower - part contains illustrations from the Book of Revelations. In the - loftiest row of all are representations of kings and archbishops. - - “In the top lights are figures of prophets, saints and kings. At - the apex of the window is a representation of the Saviour in - Judgment. - - “This window is probably the finest example of Perpendicular glass - in England. - - “The great east window, like the windows of the transepts, has a - double plane of tracery reaching to about half the height of the - whole. Between the two planes a passage runs at the base of the - window, between two doors which lead to staircases in the turrets - on each side of the windows. These staircases, in their turn, lead - to a gallery across the window on the top of the inner plane of - tracery. The view from this gallery is very fine.”--(A. C.-B.) - -Of the numerous tombs and monuments in the east end below the windows in -the retro-choir and choir-aisles, we note only two. That of =Archbishop -Bowet= (died 1423), in the retro-choir (south side), is one of the finest -Perpendicular monuments in existence, much mutilated, it is true; but -still exhibiting its clusters of tabernacles and pinnacles joined to the -arch beneath with fan-tracery. Bowet was still alive when this monument -was erected in 1415. The other is =William of Hatfield= (died 1344), -second son of Edward III., aged eight. The Plantagenista ornaments the -canopy. Unfortunately the effigy of the little prince is much damaged. - -The =Nave= is also superb and all the decoration most elaborate. - - “The first impression on viewing this nave is a sense of its - magnitude. Archbishop Romeyn and his builders determined to build a - vast church which would eclipse all other rivals. They would have - large windows, high, towering piers, a huge, vaulted roof, and - everything that was grand and impressive. Edward I. was then - fighting with the Scots and made York his chief city. It was - immensely prosperous and the ecclesiastical treasury was replete - with the offerings of knights and nobles, kings and pilgrims. - Nowhere should there be so mighty a church as York Minster. In - order to have space for large windows they made the triforium - unusually small, which is formed only by a continuation of the - arches of the clerestory windows. The design for the stone vaulted - roof was never carried out. The builders feared that the great - weight of a roof with so large a span would be too much for the - walls, so a wooden vault was substituted. The piers have octagonal - bases and consist of various sized shafts closely connected. The - capitals are beautifully enriched with foliage of oak and thorn, - and sometimes a figure is seen amidst the foliage. We notice - thirty-two sculptured busts at the intersection of the - hood-moulding with the vaulting shafts. Coats-of-arms of the - benefactors of York appear on each side of the main arches. The - clerestory windows have each five lights. The old roof was - destroyed by fire in 1840. The present one has a vast number of - bosses representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Magi, Resurrection, - besides a quantity of smaller ones.”--(P. H. D.) - -Looking up at the west end of the nave we have a double study in the -splendid =West Window= (only surpassed by the famous window of Carlisle -Cathedral); for the tracery of the Curvilinear, or flowing Decorated -style has been carefully restored, and the window, which measures 56 × -25 feet, is almost entirely filled with the original glass given by -Archbishop Melton in 1338. - - “This is remarkable not only for the purity and boldness of its - scheme of colours, but for the admirable way in which the design of - the glass fits the elaborate pattern of the tracery. It will be - noticed that both the figures and the architectural ornaments are - in bolder relief than in the earlier glass of the Five Sisters, or - the later of the choir. Some of the faces of the figures have been - restored by Peckett, but not so as to interfere with the decorative - effect of the whole. The window contains three rows of figures, the - lowest a row of eight archbishops, the next a row of eight saints, - including St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James and St. Katharine, and - above this a row of smaller figures unidentified. - - “The window contains eight lights. These lights are coupled in - pairs by four arches with a quatrefoil in the head of each, and - again formed in groups of four by an ogee arch above the other - arches. The flowing curves of these ogee arches are most - ingeniously and beautifully worked into the pattern of the upper - part of the window, which contains five main divisions of - stonework, each like the skeleton of a leaf in shape and in the - delicacy of its pattern. Of these five divisions the top one is - made by splitting up the central mullion; two diverge from it at - the top of the lower lights; and two others curve inwards from the - outside arch. The central mullion runs up almost to the top of the - arch. The mullions are alike in moulding and size. Below the window - is the west door, the head of which is filled with ancient stained - glass. There is a gable above it, running up to the bottom of the - window and containing three niches. There are kneeling figures on - each side of the gable, so that the top of it may have held a - figure of Christ. All that portion of the west end not occupied by - the window and the porch is filled with stories of niches and - arcading.”--(A. C.-B.) - -The windows of the aisles of the nave are Decorated. - -The =Nave= contains eight bays. Each bay consists of two main divisions: -the upper half containing the triforium and clerestory; and the lower -half, the main arches. A slender moulding runs between the two -divisions. The piers consist of a group of separate shafts and the -capitals are very delicate in design. The triforium is little more than -an extension of the clerestory window-lights; but a band of stone -ornamented with quatrefoils separates triforium and clerestory. The -clerestory windows are geometrical Decorated. The design is much -admired. - - “It consists of five lights, the two outer of which are grouped in - a single arch, with a quatrefoil piercing in its head. Between - these two arches and on the top of the arch of the central light is - a circle fitting into the arch of the window, and ornamented with - four quatrefoils, four trefoil piercings, and other smaller lights. - There are capitals to the outside shafts of the windows, and to the - main shafts of the two inner mullions. All these mullions are very - delicately moulded. - - “The first window from the west end is plain. The glass in the - other windows is rather finer and less fragmentary than in the - north aisle. - - “The second window appears to have been largely restored. The - tabernacle work is very crude in colour. It contains figures of St. - Laurence, St. Christopher, another saint, and three coats-of-arms - below. The top lights are fine, and perhaps of Perpendicular date. - - “The third window is one of the richest in colour in the minster, - with its gorgeous arrangement of crimsons, greens and blues. There - are inscriptions by Peckett, with the date at the bottom, 1789. His - deep blues on the top lights are particularly unfortunate. - - “The sixth window is also very bright. It probably contains Norman - fragments. All the windows except the fifth contain insertions by - Peckett. - - “The clerestory window contains fragments and coats-of-arms. - - “In the westernmost light of the second window from the west, on - the north side, are portions of an Early English Jesse window. The - wheel of this window, and those of the next five, also contain - fragments of Early English glass. And in the lower lights of the - fifth and seventh windows from the west are remains of the same - date. - - “The wheels in the clerestory windows on the south side of the nave - all contain Early English glass, except the third from the west. - There is also some Early English glass in their lower lights. - - “The aisles of the nave are bolder in design and altogether more - satisfactory than the nave itself. Like the nave they are unusually - wide and lofty. In the two farthest bays to the west, above which - are the western towers, the rough wooden roof, which has never been - covered with a vault, may be seen. The vault of the aisles is of - stone, with only structural ribs, finely moulded and with carved - bosses. The aisle windows are, like those of the clerestory, of the - geometrical Decorated Style, but of an earlier and simpler, uniform - design. They each contain three lights. Above the three lights are - three quatrefoils, pyramidally arranged.”--(A. C.-B.) - -The second window from the east in the north aisle of the nave is said -to have been given by a guild of bell-founders, or by Richard Tunnoc -(died 1330), Lord Mayor of York. Tunnoc appears in the design kneeling -before the Archbishop and around the picture of the casting of a bell is -the legend “_Richard Tunnoc me fist_.” Above Tunnoc is a window. Bells -appear in the border of the glass. - -The window at the west end of the north-aisle of the nave is also very -fine. It represents the Virgin and Child and St. Catherine with her -wheel. In the west window of the south-aisle of the nave the subject is -the Crucifixion. The head of Christ is supposed to be of the Eighteenth -Century. - -The choir-aisles are very similar to those of the nave. They have stone -vaults and their windows are very beautiful. They have been described as -representing “a design of which the tracery is arrested half-way in its -process of stiffening from the curved lines of the Decorated style to -the straight of the Perpendicular.” Each window is divided into three -lights, each ending in an obtuse arch. Above these are three other -arches and above them again two quatrefoils, and above them a sexfoiled -opening. - -For a description of the glass in these aisles we turn to A. -Clutton-Brock: - - “In the north aisle the east window is also very fine. It contains - a representation of the Crucifixion, with St. John, St. James and - the Virgin. - - “The first window from the east is very fragmentary. The windows in - the south aisle are rather fragmentary. In the first two from the - west the top lights are empty. - - “The second window is remarkable for the delicate modelling and - drawing of the heads. The head of the Virgin reminds one of one of - Lippo Lippi’s Madonnas. That of an old man with a beard in the - central light is German in character. If these are compared with - the crude - -[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: CHOIR, EAST] - -[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: CHOIR, WEST] - - and simple design of the heads in the other windows, it will be - obvious that they are of a different origin. Nothing, however, is - known of their history. - - “The third window has borders by Peckett. It contains the Jesse - noted before. - - “The fourth window is very fragmentary. It contains a beautiful - figure of a saint in one of the top lights; the other top lights - are by Peckett. In the central division, at the bottom, is the name - of Archbishop Lamplugh, with a coat-of-arms. (Lamplugh’s tomb is - close to this window.) - - “The last of those windows contains painted glass given by Lord - Carlisle in 1804, and bought from a church at Rouen. It is a - representation of the Visitation, Mr. Winton says, taken from a - picture by Baroccio, and dates from the end of the Sixteenth - Century. The upper lights contain the original glass. - - “The east window of this aisle is very fine in colouring, and - fairly coherent in design. The subject is not clear.” - -In the westernmost bay of the north-choir-aisle the eight-year-old son -of Edward III.--=William of Hatfield=--was buried (see page 274). West of -the tomb of =Archbishop Sterne= (died 1683), which has been called “an -example of almost everything that a monument should not be,” we find the -tomb of =Archbishop Scrope=, beheaded by Henry IV. (see page 265), -interesting because it was a place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. - -From the north-choir-aisle we enter the =Crypt=. This was discovered after -the fire of 1829. Here we find Norman work and some authorities go so -far as to say some portions of the wall are of the Saxon church, built -by Edwin in the Seventh Century. The capitals of the pillars (time of -Roger Pont l’Évêque) are varied and very interesting. - - “Entering the vestibule we notice the exact place where the Early - English builders finished their work and the Decorated style - begins. The difference between the styles in the Chapter-House and - vestibule shows that the former was erected first. It has a wall - arcade, and above are windows of curious tracery, filled with - beautiful old glass. The shafts of the arcade support trefoiled - arches, with a cinquefoil ornamented with a sculptured boss. Each - boss and capital is beautifully carved with foliage, amidst which - the heads of men and dragons appear. The glass is Early Decorated, - and contains representations of Royal personages. - - “The Chapter-House is one of the most beautiful in England. The - entrance is an arch, divided into two arches by a canopied pier, - which bears a mutilated statue of the Virgin and Child. Clustered - shafts, with capitals, are on each side of the doors, which have - remarkably good scrolled iron-work. The chamber itself is very - magnificent. It is octagonal and in each bay there are six canopied - stalls under a five-light window. The window tracery is superb. - Clustered shafts support the vaulted roof. Everywhere we see richly - carved stone-work, the finest in any cathedral, the foliage of - maple, oak, vine and other trees. Here are pigs and squirrels - feeding on acorns, men gathering grapes, birds, and coiled dragons - and reptiles. The grotesques are most curious and interesting. In - 1845, unfortunately, the building was restored and the painted - figures of kings and bishops were destroyed, a poor tiled floor - laid down; but, in spite of all, it can still maintain its proud - boast: - - ‘_Ut Rosa flos florum_ - _Sic est Domus ista Domorum._’ - - [‘As the Rose is the flower of flowers, so is this House the chief - of Houses.’]” - -The date of this building is generally given as 1320. - -A curious doorway at the north-east end of the north transept opens into -the vestibule that takes us into the Chapter-House. This is a narrow -passage running north for three bays, then turning at right angles and -running east for two bays. It is Decorated in style. Traces of ancient -painting may be observed, and the windows display their original glass, -chiefly Decorated. In the upper lights there are some fragments of -Norman and Early English glass. - -The =Chapter-House= differs from most chapter-houses in having no central -pillar. It is octagonal and is divided into eight bays. An -acutely-arched window, with geometrical Decorated tracery, fills each of -the seven bays. The space over the entrance is occupied with blank -tracery like that of the windows. The windows contain five lights, each -light terminating in a trefoiled arch. The glass, chiefly medallions and -shields, dates from the time of Edward II. and Edward III. The one -modern window declares itself. - -Passing to the =East Front= we find that it is square, and, like the West -Front, it is almost entirely filled with an enormous window. The great -=East Window= contains nine lights, beautifully divided by mullions and -crossed by three transoms. The arch of the head is filled with a great -number of small divisions. Over the window is an ogee gable, surmounted -by a pinnacle. Panelling forms a kind of background for it. Buttresses, -tall and narrow, and containing six tiers of niches, flank the window on -either side. Each is finished with a spire. The two aisle windows also -have ogee gables, surmounted with finials. Above them runs a band of -panelling. At each corner rises a tall buttress, finished with a lofty -spire. - - “The Choir and Lady-Chapel are Perpendicular work. The four eastern - bays constituting the Lady-Chapel, are earlier than the later ones - of the choir and vary in detail. The triforium passage in the - former is outside the building, and the windows are recessed. - Strange gargoyles, with figures of apes and demons, adorn the - buttresses. The east end is mainly filled with the huge window, - the largest in England, which does not leave much space for - architectural detail. Above it is the figure of Archbishop - Thoresby, the builder of this part of the Cathedral. Panelling - covers the surface of the stone, and below the window is a row of - seventeen busts, representing our Lord and his Apostles, Edward - III. and Archbishop Thoresby. There are two aisle windows; - buttresses adorned with niches separate the aisles from the central - portion, and others, capped with spires, stand on the north and - south of this front.”--(P. H. D.) - -From the south-east we gain a very satisfactory view of the central -tower and the ornate and elegant =South Transept= (Early English), dating -from 1216-1241. The gable, with its large rose-window, cusped lights, -turrets, buttresses, and lancet windows, all make a harmonious -architectural picture. The south porch is considered rather small and -has been much restored. Dog-tooth moulding is plentiful along the -arches. It also occurs on the windows and gable. - -Pinnacles and weird gargoyles decorate the =Nave=, divided into seven bays -by tall buttresses. - -The north side of the Minster is far less ornate than the south. Of -course, the chief features here are the =Chapter-House=, with its curious -roof and lovely windows, and the =North Transept=, very fine Early English -of 1241-1260. Here we have the famous group of lancets, the Five Sisters -(see page 270), and seven beautifully arranged lancets in the gable -above--a very fine contrast to the gable of the south transept, with its -rose-window. A vestibule leads from the North Transept to the -Chapter-House, that splendid octagonal building, perhaps the finest -example of Early Decorated in existence. Buttresses, topped with -pinnacles, project at each of the eight corners. The strange pyramidal -roof is surrounded by a battlement and curious gargoyles; among them -bears peer out into space. - - - - -LINCOLN - - DEDICATION: ST. MARY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: ST. HUGH’S CHOIR; ANGEL CHOIR; EAST WINDOW; - CENTRAL TOWER. - - -Lincoln Cathedral possesses a commanding site and three splendid towers -that form a beautiful picture. Distance lends enchantment to the view at -all times of the day and seasons of the year. - - “Throughout a vast district around the city, the one great feature - of the landscape is the mighty minster, which, almost like that of - Laon, crowns the edge of the ridge, rising, with a steepness - well-nigh unknown in the streets of English towns, above the lower - city and the plain at its feet. Next in importance to the minster - is the castle, which, marred as it is by modern changes, still - crowns the height as no unworthy yoke-fellow of its ecclesiastical - neighbour. The proud polygonal keep of the fortress still groups - well with the soaring towers, the sharp-pointed gables, the long - continuous line of roof, of the church of Remigius and Saint - Hugh.”--(E. A. F.) - -Lincoln Cathedral is also a landmark in the history of architecture, for -here was developed the first complete and pure form of the third great -form of architecture--the architecture of the Pointed Arch. - - “The best informed French antiquaries acknowledge that they have - nothing like it in France for thirty years afterwards; they thought - it was copied from Notre-Dame at Dijon, to which there is a - considerable resemblance, but that church was not consecrated till - 1230, so that the Dijon architect might have copied from the - Lincoln one, but the Lincoln could not have copied from - Dijon.”--(J. H. P.) - -To the historian, as well as to the student of architecture, Lincoln -makes a strong appeal for many visits. Those whose time is limited will -be impatient to inspect St. Hugh’s Choir, and the more beautiful Angel -Choir beyond it. We must, however, pause a moment to recapitulate its -history before we begin our walk through the Cathedral. - - “The surface or exterior of Lincoln Cathedral presents at least - four perfect specimens of the succeeding styles of the first four - orders of Gothic architecture. The greater part of the front may be - as old as the time of its founder, Bishop Remigius, at the end of - the Eleventh Century; but even here may be traced invasions and - intermixtures, up to the Fifteenth Century. The large indented - windows are of this latter period, and exhibit a frightful heresy. - The western towers carry you to the end of the Twelfth Century; - then succeeds a wonderful extent of the Early English, or the - pointed arch. The transepts begin with the Thirteenth, and come - down to the middle of the Fourteenth Century; and the interior, - especially the choir and the side aisles, abounds with the most - exquisitely varied specimens of that period. Fruits, flowers, - vegetables, insects, _capriccios_ of every description, encircle - the arches or shafts, and sparkle upon the capitals of pillars. - Even down to the reign of Henry VIII. there are two private - chapels, to the left of the smaller south porch, on entrance, which - are perfect gems of art.”--(T. F. D.) - -In the Seventh Century, Paulinus, Bishop of York, made converts in the -Roman hill-town of Lincoln, and several churches were founded. The -“bishop’s stool” was at Sidnacester and Dorchester-on-Thames before it -was fixed at Lincoln. - - “The king” (William the Conqueror) “had given Remigius, who had - been a monk at Fescamp, the bishopric of Dorchester which is - situated on the Thames. This bishopric, being larger than all - others in England, stretching from the Thames to the Humber, the - bishop thought it troublesome to have his episcopal See at the - extreme limit of his diocese. He was also displeased with the - smallness of the town, the most illustrious city appearing far more - worthy to be the See of a bishop. He therefore bought certain lands - on the highest parts of the city, near the castle standing aloft - with its strong towers, and built a church, strong as the place was - strong, and fair as the place was fair, dedicated to the Virgin of - Virgins, which should both be a joy to the servants of God, and as - befitted the time unconquerable by enemies.” - -Such is Henry of Huntingdon’s account of the transference of the See, -which took place between 1072 and 1075. - -The church built by Remigius, on the site of an earlier church, was -completed in twenty years. Remigius died three days before the date -appointed for the consecration, May 9, 1092, and was buried before the -Altar of the Holy Cross in front of the rood-screen. This first church -was 300 feet long. It was severely plain; but so strong that Stephen -used it as a fortress in 1141, when the castle opposite was held by his -enemies. - -The next great builder was Alexander the Magnificent (1123-1148), nephew -of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. A fire destroying the roof in 1141 -necessitated repairs. Alexander remodeled parts of the church. He added -the elaborate doorways in the west front in 1146; the Norman arcade -along the west front; and built the western towers. - - “Part of the west front of Lincoln was built by Bishop Remi, or - Remigius, 1085-1092: the small portion which remains of this work - is a very valuable specimen of early Norman, the more so that the - insertion of later and richer Norman doorways by Bishop Alexander, - about fifty years afterwards, enables us to compare early and late - Norman work, while the jointing of the masonry leaves no doubt of - the fact that these doorways are insertions and, therefore, - confirms the early date of the three lofty arches under which they - are inserted. A comparison of the capitals and details of these two - periods, thus placed in juxtaposition, is extremely interesting. - The wide-jointing of the masonry and the shallowness of the carving - distinguish the old work from the new. Several capitals of the - later period are inserted in the older work, as is shewn on careful - examination by the jointing of the masonry, and by the form of the - capitals themselves: the earlier capitals are short, and have - volutes at the angles, forming a sort of rude Ionic; the later - capitals are more elongated, and have a sort of rude Corinthian, or - Composite foliage.”--(J. H. P.) - -In 1185 an earthquake injured the Cathedral; and so, when Hugh of Avalon -became Bishop of Lincoln in 1186, he began to collect money for repairs -and rebuilding. The eastern end of the original Cathedral was removed, -and in 1192 Bishop Hugh laid the foundations of his very original Choir. -The architect was Geoffrey de Noyers. J. H. Parker, who studied Lincoln -Cathedral for thirty years, considers this work of St. Hugh (A.D. -1192-1200) pure Early English Gothic and the earliest building of that -style in the world. - - “Canterbury was completed in 1184 and in 1185 St. Hugh of Grenoble, - also called St. Hugh of Burgundy, was appointed Bishop of Lincoln, - and immediately began to rebuild his cathedral. It is therefore - plain that this portion of the building was completed before 1200, - and a careful examination enables us to distinguish clearly the - work completed in the time of Bishop Hugh, which comprises his - choir and the eastern transepts with its chapels. The present - vaults of St. Hugh’s Choir, and of both the transepts, were - introduced subsequent to the fall of the tower, which occurred in - 1240. - - “The architecture in the north of Lincolnshire and the south of - Yorkshire appears to have been a little in advance of any other in - Europe at that period. St. Hugh’s Choir at Lincoln is the earliest - building of the pure Gothic style free from any mixture of the - Romanesque that has been hitherto found in Europe, or in the world. - The Oriental styles are not Gothic, though they helped to lead to - it. The French Gothic has a strong mixture of the Romanesque with - it down to a later period than the Choir of Lincoln. St. Hugh of - Lincoln certainly did not bring the Gothic style with him from his - own country Dauphiny, or from the Grande Chartreuse where he was - educated, for nothing of the kind existed there at that period. - Grenoble (the place from which St. Hugh was brought to England) and - its neighbourhood was quite half-a-century behind England in the - character of its buildings, in the time of Henry II. of England and - of Anjou, in whose time this style was developed. - - “Nothing can well exceed the freedom, delicacy and beauty of this - work; the original arcade of the time of St. Hugh is of the same - free and beautiful style as the additions of his successors. The - crockets, arranged vertically one over the other behind the - detached marble shafts of the pillars, are a remarkable and not a - common feature, which seems to have been in use for a few years - only; it occurs also in the west front of Wells Cathedral, the work - of Bishop Jocelin, a few years after this at Lincoln; or perhaps - under him, of Hugh de Wells.”--(J. H. P.) - -The eight years during which Hugh carried on the work - - “were busy ones at Lincoln. Contemporary records enable us to - picture him encouraging the workmen by his presence and example, - even shewing his zeal by carrying the stones on his own shoulders. - He did not live to see his work completed, as Remigius had done. - But he had set the example and given the pattern, and the work was - continued by his successors until the building was again entire. - Hugh had already finished the apse, the eastern transept, the - choir, and part of the western transept (i.e., the whole eastern - portion of the church) when he fell ill. Finding - -[Illustration: LINCOLN: WEST FRONT] - -[Illustration: LINCOLN: GREAT WEST DOOR] - - his death approaching, he sent for his architect Geoffrey de - Noyers, and enjoined him to hasten the completion of the altar of - St. John the Baptist, his patron. He then gave directions for his - funeral, and instructions that he was to be buried in the - mother-church of his diocese dedicated to the Mother of God, near - the altar of St. John the Baptist. The personality of the great - bishop comes vividly before us when we read that he also wished his - tomb to be placed near the wall, in a convenient place, lest it - should be a stumbling-block to those approaching. On the 16th of - November, 1200, Hugh breathed his last, lying, as he had wished, on - the bare ground, on a cross of consecrated ashes. His instructions - regarding the funeral were carried out; but such a light as Hugh’s - could not be hid, and within a century we find his remains enclosed - in a costly golden shrine, borne on the shoulders of kings and - bishops, and placed at last in a structure erected specially for - their reception, ‘one of the loveliest of human works,’ the - celebrated Angel Choir. The original place of Hugh’s burial has - been somewhat disputed. The _Magna Vita_ tells us that he was - buried near the altar he had named, _a boreali ipsius aedis - regione_. On the east side of the eastern transept, Hugh had placed - four apsidal chapels, two north and two south of the central apse. - From the words above quoted, it has been considered that the - northern-most of these chapels was the site of his tomb.”--(A. F. - K.) - -The western transept and the nave were next finished (Thirteenth -Century), and a central tower was built to replace the one that fell in -1237-1239. To this period belongs Bishop Hugh de Wells, brother of -Jocelin (see page 108), who contributed largely to the funds for -building and roofing. - -He was succeeded by Roger Bacon’s friend, Robert Grosseteste -(1235-1253). In his time the new nave was completed. The large screen of -the west front, the central gable and the octagonal turrets at the -corners, belong to this period; also the lower part of the central -tower, the Canon’s Vestry at the eastern transept, and the Galilee Porch -at the western transept. The trellis ornament always marks -Grosseteste’s work. He made many changes in the windows. - -To the treasurer, John de Welburne (died 1380), the Cathedral is -indebted for its splendid choir-stalls. - -The Russell and Longland chantries, the upper parts of the tower, and -many windows date from the Perpendicular period. - -John Evelyn, visiting Lincoln in 1654, gives us an idea how the -Cathedral suffered in the Civil Wars: - - “Lincoln is an old confused town, very long, uneven, steep and - ragged, formerly full of good houses, especially churches and - abbeys. The minster almost comparable to that of York itself, - abounding with marble pillars, and having a fair front (here was - interred Queen Eleanora, the loyal and loving wife who sucked the - poison out of her husband’s wound); the abbot founder, with rare - carving in the stone; the great bell, or Tom, as they call it. I - went up the steeple, from whence is a goodly prospect all over the - country. The soldiers had lately knocked off most of the brasses - from the gravestones, so as few inscriptions were left; they told - us that these men went in with axes and hammers, and shut - themselves in, till they had rent and torn off some bargeloads of - metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead; so hellish an - avarice possessed them: besides which, they exceedingly ruined the - city.” - -We are now able to analyze the =West Front=, knowing the periods of the -great screen wall, with its Gothic arcading and the octagonal stair -turrets capped by tall pyramids that terminate the ends; the two tall -square towers, Norman below, Perpendicular above; the three great -recesses pierced with windows and doors; the gable above the recess with -seven arches (two pierced with windows and two containing statues) in a -row and one above with angels. - -We must note that upon the southern turret stands a statue of St. Hugh; -and The Swineherd of Stow, who contributed a peck of silver pennies -towards building the Cathedral, ornaments the northern one. It is a copy -of the original, now in the Cloisters. - -The tracery of the windows in the three recesses is supposed to date -from the end of the Fourteenth Century. The big west window and the -cinquefoil window above were placed there in Grosseteste’s rule -(1235-1253). - -The central door and those on either side of it, date from the Twelfth -Century, and give the best possible idea of the Romanesque period just -before it merged into Gothic. - -Above the central door are eleven kings, from William the Conqueror to -Edward III. These statues date from 1350 and were originally coloured -and gilt. - -The two western towers (Norman) were built in the Twelfth Century. The -arcading (which is not the same in both) shows where they ended and -where the Perpendicular stories were added, carrying them two hundred -feet higher. Like the central tower, they were originally crowned with -tall wooden spires, covered with lead. These spires became unsafe and -were removed in 1807. In the northern, or =St. Mary’s=, hung “Great Tom of -Lincoln” and its successor until 1834. The southern tower, called =St. -Hugh’s=, has a ring of eight bells. Under St. Hugh’s the =Ringers’ Chapel= -is naturally situated; and there is a corresponding chapel under =St. -Mary’s Tower=. - -Beneath =St. Mary’s Tower= we find the =Northwest Chapel=; under =St. Hugh’s=, -the =Ringers’ Chapel=. Both chapels are vaulted with stone and date from -the first half of the Thirteenth Century. - -The =Nave=, a very characteristic example of the first half of the -Thirteenth Century, - - “exhibits an Early English style in its highest stage of - development: massive without heaviness, rich in detail without - exuberance, its parts symmetrically proportioned and carefully - studied throughout, the foliated carving bold and effective, there - seems no deficiency in any way to deteriorate from its - merits.”--(G. G. S.) - -There are seven bays. The first bay was converted into a sort of -vestibule by arches constructed in the Eighteenth Century to add -strength to the western towers. The big arch, separating the vestibule -from the nave, dates from about 1730. The vaulting under the western -towers dates from the Fourteenth Century; also the tracery covering the -walls of these compartments. - - “Each pier is surrounded by round shafts of Purbeck marble. The - arch mouldings, like those of St. Hugh’s choir, were considered - ‘beautiful specimens’ by Rickman. They are deeply cut, and throw - good, bold shadows. In the triforium each bay contains two arches, - supported by clustered columns with foliaged capitals. The - spandrels are decorated with sunk trefoils or quatrefoils. In most - cases the arches are each divided into three sub-arches with - clustered shafts, the tympanum being pierced with quatrefoils. A - difference is noticeable, however, in the easternmost arch and the - two westernmost bays (five arches altogether) on both sides. Here - the sub-arches are only two in number. The narrowness of the two - western bays accounts for the variation at that end. The clerestory - is the same throughout its length, having three tall narrow windows - in each bay, with slender banded shafts. In the nave we have, - according to Fergusson, ‘a type of the first perfected form of - English vaulting.’ He calls it ‘very simple and beautiful.’ At the - junctions of the ribs are elaborate bosses of foliage. The - compartments are covered with plaster, once decorated in colours - and gold. In the second bay from the east is the name: W. L. - PARIS:--evidently intended as a record of some repairs to the - vault. The springers rest on clusters of three long slender - vaulting-shafts, rising from foliaged corbels just above the - capitals of the nave piers. - - “In the aisles, each bay has two lancet windows, except the - easternmost bay on the south side, which has only one. In the jambs - are slender Purbeck shafts, twice banded. Just beneath these - windows, an arcade of trefoiled arches runs along the whole length - of the nave, being continued on the screen walls to the western - chapels. The arches are deep, with bold mouldings, and are - supported by clustered columns. There are five arches in each bay, - but they are not placed in the same manner on both sides of the - nave. On the south, the arches are arranged in groups of five, with - blank spaces of wall between, in front of which pass the - vaulting-shafts. On the north, the arcade is continuous, and is so - arranged that each cluster of shafts supporting the vault passes in - front of an arch. The work on the south side is more elaborate; - tooth ornament is used, a string-course runs along at the height of - the capitals, and foliaged bosses are found in the lower corners of - the spandrels. In addition to the clustered vaulting-shafts already - mentioned, there is a single vaulting-shaft in the centre of each - bay, between the windows, rising from a corbel above the - wall-arcade. On the north side these corbels merely have plain - mouldings, but on the south side they are foliated. The arrangement - of the vaulting-ribs is different in the north and south aisles; - and in the latter it will be noticed that some of the bosses have - figure-subjects, besides the foliage met with on the north side. - The _Agnus Dei_ carved on the boss in the fourth bay from the west - should be noticed. To such minor differences, continually found in - the corresponding parts of a Gothic edifice, the style undoubtedly - owes a peculiar charm.”--(A. F. K.) - -The great =West Window= was inserted, as we have seen, in Bishop -Grosseteste’s time (1235-1253). Its tracery, however, dates from the -end of the Fourteenth Century and is Early Perpendicular. The upper -lights are filled with fragments of Fourteenth Century glass; but the -glass in the lower lights is modern. The cinquefoil above, of the same -date, contains modern glass also. The central figure represents -Remigius, with his bishop’s staff in one hand and the church in the -other. The rest of the glass in the nave is also modern. - -Under the last arch on the north side of the nave we come to a slab -supposed to mark the original burial-place of Remigius. This slab was -discovered in the cloisters and is supposed to date from the time of -that worthy prelate. - -The neighbouring =Pulpit= is probably of the Eighteenth Century. On the -other side of the nave stands the black basalt Norman =Font=, reminding us -of the font in Winchester. Around the sides of the square basin a row of -grotesque monsters is carved in low relief. - -Now we come to the =Central Tower=. Four massive piers carry the four -arches from which it rises. Foliage decorates the top of each arch. The -spandrels are ornamented by two rows of arcading with slender-clustered -shafts. The vaulting is of the Fourteenth Century. The iron rings on the -piers were placed there for the purpose of fastening the bell-ropes of -the “Lady Bells” that once hung in this tower. - -A beautiful stone =Rood-Screen=, Decorated in style and dating from the -end of the Thirteenth Century, fills the eastern tower arch, and marks -the boundary of St. Hugh’s Choir. Traces of colour and gilding reveal -themselves to an earnest scrutiny. - - “On either side of the central doorway are four deep arches - supported by detached pillars, decorated with grotesque heads and - small figures of bishops. The wall behind is richly carved with - diaper designs, shewing much freedom and variety. This screen was - once decorated with colours and gilding, traces of which are still - visible. It appears to have suffered a good deal at the hands of - iconoclasts; many statues have doubtless been removed, and one must - be very cautious with regard to the decoration which remains, as it - was considerably restored by a mason named James Pink during the - second half of last century. The screen now carries the organ - erected in 1826. - - “The two side doorways leading into the north and south aisles of - the choir are somewhat earlier than the screen between them. They - are beautiful examples of carving, dating from the end of the Early - English period. The exquisite openwork foliage which runs round the - arch is executed with the utmost skill and care, and is without the - laboured effect of so much of our later stone-work. The injured - parts were carefully restored about 1770 by James Pink, who was - also employed by Essex on the canopy of the reredos. The doorways - have modern iron gates.”--(A. F. K.) - -The =Choir= now includes St. Hugh’s Choir and two bays of the Angel Choir -beyond. - -=St. Hugh’s Choir= is the earliest example of pure Gothic in the world. -People are frequently disappointed in it because of its low vault and -squat arches; but it must be remembered that the fall of the central -tower in 1237-1239 greatly damaged this part of the building. In order -to strengthen the choir some heavy columns without capitals replaced the -original slender shafts. The arches were also partly reconstructed. -Arcaded screens between the piers divide the choir from the aisles north -and south, and aid in the support. - - “The foliage of the capitals is exquisitely beautiful, and though - distinguished technically by the name of _stiff-leaf foliage_, - because there are stiff stalks to the leaves rising from the ring - of the capital, the leaves themselves curl over in the most - graceful manner, with a freedom and elegance not exceeded at any - subsequent period. The mouldings are also as bold and as deep as - possible, and there is scarcely a vestige of Norman character - remaining in any part of the work.”--(R.) - -Viollet-le-Duc, who fixes the date of St. Hugh’s Choir at 1220 or 1210 -at the earliest, says: - - “We have in Normandy, especially in the cathedral of Rouen and the - church of Eu, architecture of the date of 1190; it is purely - French, that is to say, it corresponds exactly with the - architecture of the ‘Isle de France’ except in certain details. At - Eu, at the cathedral of Le Mans, at Seez, we have architecture - which resembles that of the choir of Lincoln, but that architecture - is from 1210 to 1220, it is the Norman school of the Thirteenth - Century. There is, indeed, at Lincoln, an effort at, a tendency to - originality, a style of ornament which attempts to emancipate - itself; nevertheless the character is purely Anglo-Norman. - - “The construction is English, the profiles of the mouldings are - English, the ornaments are English, the execution of the work - belongs to the English school of workmen of the beginning of the - Thirteenth Century. - - “On the exterior the choir of the Cathedral of Lincoln is - thoroughly English or Norman, if you will; one can perceive all the - Norman influence; arches acutely pointed, blank windows in the - clerestory, reminding one of the basilica covered with a wooden - roof; a low triforium; each bay of the aisles divided into two by a - small buttress; shafts banded. In the interior vaults which have - not at all the same construction as the French vaults of the end of - the Twelfth Century; arch-mouldings, slender and deeply undercut; - the abacus round; the tooth-ornament; which do not at all resemble - the ornaments which we find at Paris, Sens, St. Denis, etc.” - -The =Choir-Stalls=, dating from the Fourteenth Century, are among the -finest in England. Pugin considered them quite the best. - - “The stalls are in two rows, the upper of 62 seats, and the lower - of 46; the former number has now been increased by six and the - latter by two. The upper stalls have elaborate trefoiled canopies, - surmounted by an intricate maze of buttresses and pinnacles, rising - to a height of 24 feet 6 inches above the choir floor. The niches - above the canopies have recently been filled with statues of saints - in the Anglican Calendar. The stalls in both rows are provided with - hinged seats or _misereres_, intended to serve as supports in the - long services during which the occupants of the stalls were - required to stand. These seats, as well as the elbow-rests and - finials, are richly carved with those grotesque subjects in which - the Mediæval artist so greatly delighted. The carver has given full - scope to a most fertile imagination. Scriptural subjects do - certainly occur on some of the _misereres_ in the upper row, but - others are of a playful character. The fox is seen preaching to - birds and beasts, and then running riot among them; monkeys are at - play, or occupied in the more serious business of hanging one of - their number and burying him afterwards; we also find men fighting - with wild animals; the labours of husbandry; kings, knights, - ladies, dragons, griffins, lions, hogs, and wyverns. Whether there - is a hidden meaning in any of these quaint subjects, it is perhaps - difficult now to say, but the preaching fox is certainly - suggestive.”--(A. F. K.) - -At the east end of the stalls on the south side rises the =Bishop’s -Throne= with tall Gothic canopy. It was designed by James Essex in 1778, -and carved by Lumby. Opposite is Sir Gilbert Scott’s =Pulpit= of carved -oak (1863-1864). - -The brass chandelier of sixteen lights, suspended from the vault, is -dated 1698; and the brass eagle lectern, 1667. - -The stone =Reredos= is a mixture of work of the Thirteenth Century and -that of James Essex in the Eighteenth Century. James Pink carved the -central canopy in 1769 after designs by Essex. - -The =Eastern Transept= was also the work of St. Hugh. He joined the ends -by means of an apse, which extended to the second bay of the Angel -Choir. Some historians say that he was buried in the northern of the -four chapels that he built along the apse. - -St. Hugh died in London in 1200. When his body arrived in Lincoln it was -met by King John and carried on the shoulders of archbishops and bishops -to the Choir that he had erected. He was buried on November 24; and, -according to an old ballad: - - “A’ the bells o’ merrie Lincoln - Without men’s hands were rung, - And a’ the books o’ merrie Lincoln - Were read without man’s tongue; - And ne’er was such a burial - Sin’ Adam’s days begun.” - -Pilgrims came in such numbers to his shrine that it was deemed necessary -to make his tomb more important, and the apse was removed for the famous -=Angel Choir=, which, like the Choir of St. Hugh, marks a new period in -the history of architecture. - - “Thus the Angel Choir of Lincoln was erected to contain the shrine - of one of Lincoln’s noblest bishops and one of England’s greatest - saints, whose lowly tomb, placed in a corner at his own desire for - fear of its being in the way, had become the resort of such a vast - concourse of pilgrims as to require the transformation of the - eastern arm of the minster. In 1255, license was obtained from - Henry III. for the removal of part of the eastern city wall, which - stood in the way, and in the next year the Angel Choir was probably - begun. The work was carried on so rapidly that within a quarter of - a century the translation took place. The choir was not, however, - fully completed till the Fourteenth Century was well on its way. - - “The 6th October, 1280, was the proudest day in the - -[Illustration: LINCOLN: ANGEL CHOIR] - -[Illustration: LINCOLN: CHOIR, EAST] - - history of the city. Perhaps never, before or since, has such an - august assembly gathered within her walls. The body of the Saint of - Lincoln was to be translated to the costly shrine in the centre of - the Angel Choir. The ceremony was magnificent. Edward himself was - present, and supported on his own shoulder the saint’s remains as - they were carried to their new resting-place; with him was his - beloved queen Eleanor, whose effigy was so soon to be placed - beneath the same roof. The king and queen were accompanied by - Edmund, Earl of Kent, brother of Edward, and his wife; the Earls of - Gloucester and Warwick; the Archbishop of Canterbury; the bishops - of Lincoln, Bath, Ely, Norwich, Worcester, Llandaff, Bangor, and - St. Asaph; the bishop-elect of Exeter; and two hundred and fifty - knights. The shrine, ornamented with gold and silver and precious - stones, was raised on a lofty stone pedestal, and about thirty - years after was protected by an iron grille, wrought by Simon the - Smith. It is recorded that the fastenings of the grille were still - to be seen in the pavement at the middle of the last century, but - all traces have now entirely disappeared. It must have been soon - after the translation that the head was removed from the body, and - enclosed in a metal case, enriched with gold and silver and - precious stones. A keeper was appointed to guard the precious relic - during the day, and two had this charge at night. Yet, in spite of - all such precautions, it was stolen from the church in the year - 1364; the head was thrown into a field, and the case sold in London - for twenty marks. The thieves were robbed of their ill-gotten gains - on their way back, and were afterwards convicted of the crime, and - hanged at Lincoln. The head was found and restored to the - cathedral. The treasurer, John de Welburne (d. 1380), either - restored the old shrine or made a new one of the same - materials.”--(A. F. K.) - -Fergusson called the Angel Choir “the most beautiful presbytery in -England.” It dates from 1256 to 1280, when the Early English was merging -into the Decorated. The sculptural angels that ornament the spandrels of -the triforium account for the name. - - “It is in five bays carried eastward at a uniform height and - breadth with the choir of St. Hugh. Lincoln stone is used - throughout, relieved with shafts and capitals of Purbeck marble. - The spandrels of the great arches, which are plain in other parts - of the building are here decorated with sunk geometrical forms. - Each bay of the triforium is divided, as elsewhere, into two - arches, both of which enclose two sub-arches; but the details are - richer than in the earlier parts of the minster. The clerestory has - one window of four lights in each bay, with an eight-foil and two - trefoils in the head. The compartments of the vault were originally - coated with plaster, which has been scraped away so as to shew the - stone surface underneath. It is a question whether it does not now - look better than with the old plaster, and the gaudy colouring - which once, most probably, decorated it. The springers of the - vaulting are supported by slender shafts, which rest on elaborately - foliaged corbels in the spandrels of the great arches. The - beautiful foliaged bosses along the ridge rib are best seen from - the triforium or the clerestory.”--(A. F. K.) - -In olden times the Angel Choir contained the Shrine of St. Hugh and a -monument to Queen Eleanor, of which the one now standing in Westminster -Abbey is probably a copy. It was an altar-monument of marble with the -Queen’s effigy in gilded brass, and was destroyed during the Civil Wars -in the Seventeenth Century. Eleanor died not far from Lincoln, from -which city the funeral procession started to London. A modern stone -monument, with a brass effigy of Queen Eleanor, was placed under the -East Window in 1891. - -Just behind the reredos there is a row of four table-tombs. The north -one was placed there by Bishop Fuller, to mark the resting place of =St. -Hugh=; next comes =Bishop Fuller= himself (died 1675); next, =Bishop -Gardiner= (died 1705); and next, =Subdean Gardiner= and his daughter, -Susanna (died 1731 and 1732). Near the latter stands the alabaster and -red marble monument to =Dean Butler= (died 1894). In corresponding -position and next to St. Hugh’s tomb we see =Bishop Wordsworth’s= effigy -under a tall ornate Gothic canopy. This Bishop of Lincoln (died 1885), -was a nephew of William Wordsworth. Nearer the East Window we find a -group of Fourteenth Century monuments to the =Burghersh= family, one of -whom was Bishop of Lincoln (1320-1340), and another, a hero of Crécy, -and Constable of Dover, and Warden of the Cinque Ports. Opposite is the -monument to =Nicholas de Cantelupe= (died 1355), a mutilated effigy under -a Gothic canopy. Near it lies =Prior Wimbische=. His effigy, also -headless, lies under a canopy. - -Leland, writing in the time of Henry VIII., mentions two mutilated -tombs: =Catherine Swynford=, the third wife of John of Gaunt, made Earl of -Lincoln in 1362, and that of her daughter, Joan Beaufort, who married -the Earl of Westmoreland. - -On the north side of the choir is the =Easter Sepulchre=, a fine piece of -Thirteenth Century carving, in the Decorated style. It consists of four -canopies with trefoiled arches. Three sleeping soldiers ornament three -of the panels. - -On a spandrel on the north side, under a corbel above the most easterly -pier, sits the =Lincoln Imp=--one of those grotesques that the Mediæval -carvers delighted in creating; and here he has been sitting with crossed -leg and grinning grimly for centuries. He is of the same family as =The -Devil Looking over Lincoln= (see page 309). - -In the =South Aisle= of the choir we pause again before another spot, -sacred in Mediæval days. Here stood until the Seventeenth Century the -=Shrine of= =Little St. Hugh=, a child said to have been crucified by the -Jews in 1255. According to the ballads the ball of the eight-year-old -boy fell into a Jew’s garden; and when he ran in to get it, the Jews -murdered him. - -The canons of Lincoln obtained the body and buried it in the Cathedral. -Hugh became a local saint; and the Jews of Lincoln were promptly -persecuted. When the stone coffin was opened in 1791, the skeleton of a -child three feet long, encased in lead, was found. - -=Henry of Huntingdon= (died about 1155), the chronicler of Lincoln, was -also buried in this aisle. - -On the north and south of the Angel Choir is a small chantry. That on -the north is the =Fleming Chantry=, built by Richard Fleming, Bishop of -Lincoln in 1419-1431, and the corresponding one the =Russell Chantry=, -built by John Russell, who held the See from 1480 to 1494. This is -similar to the Fleming Chantry, Perpendicular in style. Very similar is -the =Longland Chantry=, on the other side of the south door, or Bishop’s -Porch. This chantry was built by John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, in -1521-1547. - -There is no Lady-Chapel. - -The great =East Window= is the finest specimen of its kind in England. It -is formed of eight lights; and the great wheel of the head is composed -of a six-foil, surrounded by six quatrefoils. - - “Bar-tracery being fully developed, the general appearance of ‘the - window is rather Decorated than Early English, but the mouldings - still belong to the earlier style.’ ‘This window ... together with - the whole of that part of the choir is singularly and beautifully - accommodated to the style of the rest of the building.’”--(R.) - -The glass is modern and deals with scenes from the life of Christ, and -the Old Testament. - - “The aisle windows are each of three lights, with three circles in - the head, two filled with cinquefoils and one with a quatrefoil. - The two east windows of the aisles are similar to the others. The - wall below the windows is decorated all round with arcading of a - richer design than that in the nave. Two trefoiled arches are - included in a larger arch, with a quatrefoil within a circle - filling the head. The spandrels have sunk trefoils. The bosses of - the stone vaults to the aisles are carved with sacred subjects, - foliage, and grotesque figures. - - “The east windows of the north and south aisles are filled with - beautiful stained glass of the Early English period. The subjects - are arranged within medallions, and, though somewhat difficult to - decipher, appear to represent scenes in the lives of two saints - whose story has many points of resemblance--St. Thomas of - Canterbury and St. Hugh of Lincoln. The glass is said to have been - moved about the end of the last century from the windows of the - nave aisles. The date of the medallions may be placed towards the - middle of the Thirteenth Century, about the time of the erection of - the nave, and, of course, earlier than the windows which they now - occupy. The _grisaille_ into which they are now reglazed, is - considered by Westlake to be the earliest in England.”--(A. F. K.) - -One of St. Hugh’s characteristics was the peculiar double arcading on -his walls. We find it in the choir and transepts. - -The =Western Transept= was begun by St. Hugh; and his work is thought to -end at the walls of the six chapels that run along the eastern side. -These are dedicated to St. Nicholas, St. Denis, St. James, St. Edward -the Martyr, St. John the Evangelist and St. Giles, and are separated -from the transept by screens placed between the piers. Four of these -screens are of carved oak and date from the Fifteenth Century; but the -one of carved stone is of the Fourteenth. The western transept is famed -for its two large circular windows in each end. As one looked upon the -Deanery and the other upon the Bishop’s Palace, they were called -respectively the Dean’s Eye and the Bishop’s Eye. These nicknames appear -in the _Metrical Life of St. Hugh_, written between 1220 and 1225. - -The =Dean’s Eye=, in the north end, dates from about 1220. Here we have -not only exquisite tracery, but splendid glass of the Thirteenth -Century. - - “It represents the Church on Earth and the Church in Heaven. In the - centre is our Saviour seated in the midst of the Blessed in Heaven. - Around are four large compartments, containing portions of - different subjects, which do not appear to have all originally - belonged to their present positions. The most interesting is that - shewing the translation of the relics of St. Hugh, represented as - borne on the shoulders of crowned and mitred personages. Of the - sixteen outer circles, the topmost represents our Saviour seated on - a rainbow; on either side are angels with the instruments of the - Passion; in the next circles St. Peter and other saints are - conducting holy persons to heaven; below these is the general - Resurrection; the lowest five circles each contain the figure of an - archbishop or bishop. The subjects can be best seen from the - neighbouring triforium or from the passage which runs just beneath - the window; it will be noticed that the glass in some of the - compartments is much mutilated, as might naturally be expected, - considering its antiquity. From below, the subjects are confused - and not easy to distinguish, but the rich and harmonious blending - of the colours can be seen to the fullest advantage, and the - general effect is much finer. Rickman believes the form of the - tracery to be quite unique in England, but states that there is a - window exactly similar at Laon.”--(A. F. K.) - -An arcade of seven lancet arches runs beneath the window. The wall -behind is pierced with windows filled with fragments of old glass. Two -larger lancet windows brighten each side of the doorway. They contain -fragments of old glass. The western one represents angels playing -musical instruments in the midst of foliage. The other window is filled -with geometrical patterns. The doorway leads into the Dean’s Porch. - -The =Bishop’s Eye=, at the south and opposite end, is about a hundred -years later than its companion. It is Fourteenth Century and Decorated. - - “It is filled with delicate and beautiful flowing tracery, which - has been compared to the fibres of a leaf. Rickman considers it to - be the richest remaining example of its period. It is enclosed - within a kind of arch formed by two rows of openwork quatrefoils; - an open frame-work of a similar nature is often to be seen round - circular windows in French cathedrals. The glass consists of - fragments from other windows, chiefly of the Early English period. - Although the pieces are placed quite at random, forming no subject - whatever, yet the effect of the colouring is good, especially when - seen from the opposite end of the transept. Of all the modern - windows in the minster, with their elaborate subjects, it may - safely be said that not one can be compared in effect with this - mass of glowing colour.”--(A. F. K.) - -The four lancet windows below contain Early English glass, collected -from various parts of the Cathedral. - -Near the Bishop’s Eye =John de Dalderby’s= shrine was situated. This was -of “massey silver” incrusted with diamonds and rubies. John de Dalderby, -Bishop of Lincoln from 1300 to 1320, was reverenced as a local saint. -Henry VIII. removed his altar-tomb, fragments of which may be seen near -the =Galilee Porch=, situated at the corner of the south arm of the -western transept, different in position to the Galilees of both Durham -and Ely. Lincoln’s was built about 1230 for the bishop’s state entrance. -The south and west ends are open; and it may, therefore, be entered from -either. Two enormous oak doors open from the east side into the -transept. The porch is vaulted and ornamented profusely with the -dog-tooth. The Perpendicular parapet running along the top of the porch -is, of course, a later addition. - -Retracing our steps--no great hardship in a place of such beauty and -interest--we walk up the south-choir-aisle to the =Eastern Transept=, -where we have two semicircular chapels on the right hand, and on the -left the =Dean’s Chapel=. We are now at St. Hugh’s earliest work; and his -double arcading is again seen in the north wall leading to the -cloisters. Here also we find on two of the columns crockets that were -novelties at this period. They occur at Wells, the work of Jocelin. The -name of Dean’s Chapel is a misnomer--no one knows what it was used for -originally. It has been suggested that it was the original burial-place -of St. Hugh. - -Two semicircular chapels also border the eastern side of the south end -of this transept, and the =Choristers’ Vestry= occupies the corresponding -corner to the Dean’s Chapel. A stone screen (Decorated) separates it -from the south aisle of St. Hugh’s Choir. The double arcading and -sculptured angels are constantly seen. Two other vestries lie beyond, -towards the south wall. - -By means of an oak doorway, leading from the north wall of the eastern -transept, we enter a long, narrow passageway, with stone vaulting and -windows filled with tracery and glass. This takes us into the Cloisters, -for at Lincoln these secluded - -[Illustration: LINCOLN: EAST WINDOW] - -[Illustration: SOUTHWELL FROM NORTH-WEST] - -walks lie on the north instead of the usual south side of the Cathedral. - -Only three walks remain of the original constructions dating from the -end of the Thirteenth Century. The fourth walk (north) was replaced by a -colonnade, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1674, whose uncle was -Bishop of Lincoln at that time. - -From the east walk of the Cloister we enter the =Chapter-House=, which -dates from the early Thirteenth Century. It is a decagon, with two -lancet windows in each bay. First, on entering, we note the massive -central column with its ten Purbeck marble shafts banded together in the -middle. The Chapter-House has been restored, but it has not suffered. -The glass in the windows is modern. The arcade running below the windows -is ornamented with shafts of Purbeck marble, foliaged capitals, and a -great display of the dog-tooth. The stone vault is later than the rest -of the room and is very graceful. - -Many fine views can be had of the East Front. The splendid Decorated -window is always the most conspicuous object. The window above it is -also Decorated and nearly fills the gable. In the trefoil over the top -circle is a figure of the Virgin. The richly crocketed pyramids of the -turrets on either side make a beautiful effect. The aisle windows are -separated from the big window by bold buttresses. Around the base runs -the arcade that we constantly find at Lincoln. The Chapter-House with -its sharply-pointed pyramidal roof groups beautifully with the rest of -the Cathedral. - -Next we look at the =Angel Choir=, with its crocketed gables and -pinnacles, its elaborate tracery, and panelled buttresses that divide -it into five bays. Grotesque figures project from all of these gables. -One represents an =Imp on the back of a Witch=. Large windows with rich -tracery fill the wall spaces here. - -Next we reach the beautiful =South Doorway= with the =Russell= and =Longland -chantries= (Perpendicular) on either side. - - “It was probably constructed, like the Galilee doorway, as a state - entrance for the bishop. The porch fills the third bay, and - projects as far as the buttresses; its sides recede inwards to the - pair of doors giving access to the Angel Choir. Although the - doorways of our cathedrals, as a rule, cannot in any way be - compared with the magnificent portals to be seen in France, yet - this single example of Lincoln would be quite enough to prove that - English architects were capable of designing a really magnificent - doorway. In the tympanum is the subject of the Last Judgment in - relief. The archivolt is richly decorated with sculpture. In the - inner band is a row of niches with twelve seated figures, - apparently kings and queens: next a double band of delicate - open-work foliage; outside this a row of sixteen slender standing - figures enclosed by interlacing stems, richly decorated with - foliage. The doorway is formed of two cinquefoiled arches, - separated by a central pillar having the canopy and base for a - figure of the Virgin, which has been removed. On either side of the - doorway is a triple canopy for statues, and behind this a row of - slender columns with foliated capitals.”--(A. F. K.) - -Next come St. Hugh’s two semicircular chapels, and then St. Hugh’s -transept, slender and filled with so many windows that the wall space is -nearly taken up by them. On top of each of the two turrets, surmounted -by pyramidal roofs, stands an angel. Next comes the =Canon’s Vestry= and -then the western transept with the conspicuous =Bishop’s Eye=. We pause to -admire this beautiful window from the outside and then look above it at -the horizontal band of seven elaborately carved quatrefoils. Above this -again is a Fourteenth Century window with flowing tracery. Around the -gable runs a border of open Gothic tracery. The peak bears a cross. - -Next comes the =Nave=, the seven bays of which are separated by -buttresses. Over the roof of the aisle flying buttresses are thrown. A -slender buttress also separates the windows of the aisle. The clerestory -windows are in groups of three. Over the clerestory is a wavy parapet of -the Fourteenth Century, where stand canopied niches for statues. -Grotesque figures project from their bases. Grotesque figures also -project from the crocketed roofs of the pinnacles of the great transept. - -The chapel, used as the Consistory Court, follows with two windows -facing south and two east. On the east end of the latter, in front of -the windows, our eyes are arrested by the grotesque =Devil Looking over -Lincoln=. The sculptured figures near by are pilgrims. Next comes =St. -Hugh’s Chapel=, or the Ringers’ Chapel, with one window facing the south. - -From the road at the north-east corner we get a good general view of the -Cathedral and the Chapter-House. St. Hugh’s transept is hidden, but we -can see the end of the western transept with the =Dean’s Eye=--the large -quatrefoil encircled by sixteen small circles. The lancet window of five -lights in the gable above it is also visible. - -The second bay on the north side of the Angel Choir contains the =Fleming -Chantry=, on which the two chapels on the south side were modelled. Then -we come to the north doorway of the =Angel= =Choir=, corresponding to the -more ornate entrance on the south. - -We have now completed our survey of the Cathedral and have not yet -noticed the =Central Tower=, considered by many critics the finest tower -in England. It rises to a height of 271 feet. Two lofty windows adorn -each side of the upper story with their crocketed pillars and canopied -heads. Octagonal panelled turrets, surmounted by pinnacles, ornament the -four corners. Grosseteste’s lattice-work pattern covers the lower part -within and without. The tower in its present state dates from 1775, when -James Essex built the parapet and advised battlements and pinnacles -instead of a spire. The tall spire of timber, coated with lead, that -completed the tower of 1311, was blown down in 1547, carrying the -parapet with it; and again in 1715 three of the pinnacles were blown -down and replaced in 1728. In 1883 the western side was damaged by a -storm, but was repaired. Here “Great Tom of Lincoln,” the fourth largest -bell in England (5 tons, 8 cwt.), seven feet in diameter, hangs. Too -large to ring, the hours are struck on it with a hammer. - -The original =Great Tom= hung in the north-west tower. - - “It is not known how it was acquired; some say it was a gift, - others say it was stolen from the Abbey of Beauchief, Derbyshire, - or from Peterborough. The origin of its name, too, has been a - subject of dispute. Stukeley considered it possible that it had - been consecrated to St. Thomas of Canterbury. Others think it took - its name from that of the old bell of Christ Church, Oxford, which - bore the curious inscription, _In Thomae laude, resono Bim Bom sine - fraude_. It should be remembered that Oxford was in the diocese of - Lincoln in olden days, and that several Bishops of Lincoln were - chancellors of Oxford. Wherever the first ‘Great Tom’ came from, - it was recast in the minster yard by two bell founders from - Nottingham and Leicester early in the Seventeenth Century, when the - weight was increased from 8,743 pounds to 9,894½ pounds. ‘The - bell was cast and hung upp and upon Sonday the xxvij of this month - [January, 1611] ronge owte and all safe and well.’ It was tolled - until 1802, when it was found that this process shook the tower too - much. The following extract from the _Stamford Mercury_ of the 6th - August, 1802, is given by North in his ‘Church Bells of - Lincolnshire’:--‘Great Tom o’ Lincoln is to be rung no more! The - full swing of four tons and a half is found to injure the tower - where he hangs. He has therefore been chained and riveted down; so - that instead of the full mouthful he has been used to send forth, - he is enjoined in future merely to wag his tongue.’ Towards the end - of the year 1827 experienced ears detected that something was - wrong, and by Christmas it became plainly evident that the bell was - cracked. It was finally decided to have it recast in a larger size. - For this purpose it was broken to pieces with its own clapper, and - sent to London. To provide the extra metal, the six Lady Bells were - unfortunately sacrificed. The cathedral thus lost the distinction - of being the only one in the kingdom possessed of two rings of - bells. ‘Great Tom’ was recast by Thomas Mears at the Whitechapel - Bell foundry on the 15th November, 1834. It was taken by road to - Lincoln, drawn by eight horses, and raised to its new position in - the central tower. Two new quarter bells, cast at the same time, - were also hung in this tower. The number of quarter bells was - increased in 1880 to four.”--(A. F. K.) - -The six “Lady Bells,” referred to above, hung in this central tower (see -page 294). When they were removed in 1834 it was seen that four were -dated 1593; one, 1633; and one, 1737. - -In the Thirteenth Century the =Minster Yard=, as many still call the -Cathedral Close, was enclosed by a wall. Several massive gates formed -the entrances. Of these the =Exchequer=, a large archway, with a postern -on each side and an upper story, remains at the western end. =Pottergate -Arch=, at the top of the new road, shows us what an early Fourteenth -Century single gate was like. Near it the =Grecian Stairs= lead up to the -Close. - - - - -SOUTHWELL - -DEDICATION: ST. MARY. - -CHIEF FEATURE: CHAPTER-HOUSE. - - -For many centuries the Church of St. Mary, Southwell, was under the -dominion of York. The clergy had many privileges, held property, lived -in their own houses, like country gentlemen, and hunted in the forests -which Robin Hood and his merry men had made romantic; for Southwell is -not far from legendary Sherwood. - -The church became a Cathedral in 1884. It dates in the main from the -Twelfth Century, though a few fragments are older. It is supposed that -the first Saxon church was destroyed by the Danes; the next is said to -have been built by King Edgar in 960; and in the time of Henry I. was -rebuilt in the Norman style. Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York (see -page 264), rebuilt the nave of Southwell, and was assisted by John -Romeyn, subdean (see page 264). - - “In the Curvilinear Period (1315-1360) was erected quite the - loveliest choir-screen in England; next comes that of Lincoln, - evidently by the same hand. Eastern and western sides are entirely - different in design; on the western side the artist parts - reluctantly with the beautiful geometrical design of the Thirteenth - Century; on the eastern side he accepts unreservedly the reign of - the ogee arch. Magnificent sedilia and stone stalls of similar - character were erected, which only survive in part. Very beautiful, - too, is the cusping of the reticulated windows inserted in the - north transept chapel. The upper parts of the Chapter-House and the - north transept chapel also were remodelled in the Curvilinear - Period. For two hundred years and more, the highest and best of - Mediæval art found cultivated and wealthy patrons in the canons of - Southwell. Norman, Lancet, Geometrical, Curvilinear work are all - seen here at their best. Few of our cathedrals, from the point of - view either of architectural design or sculptural detail, can be - mentioned in the same breath with Southwell. It is one of the - greatest delights of Southwell that this lovely minster is little - known and almost unvisited: one feels as if one were ‘the first - that ever burst into the silent sea’!”--(F. B.) - -The general appearance of the Cathedral is Norman. - - “The WEST FRONT has been altered in character from its original - Norman work. We see a huge Perpendicular window with an embattled - parapet over it, an alteration made in the Fifteenth Century. The - windows in the lower stages of the towers are modern imitations of - Norman work. The towers have seven stages and the sixth is enriched - with fine arcading composed of intersecting arches. The present - spires are modern imitations of the originals destroyed by fire in - 1711. These were immediately restored but removed in 1802, and have - now again been replaced. The old Norman doorway is remarkably fine. - It has five orders, the zigzag and the filleted edge roll being the - chief mouldings. - - “Passing to the south side we see the walls of the nave pierced by - apparent Norman windows, but these are modern imitations. The most - western window in the north side is the only original Norman - window; the rest are copied from it, and were erected in 1847. Four - Perpendicular windows were inserted in the Fifteenth Century. There - is a row of small square windows above which light the triforium, - and the clerestory has a curious series of circular windows which - are unique in this country. The roof is high-pitched, having been - erected in modern times by the architect Christian, and the - parapets are Perpendicular in style. The south doorway should be - noticed, of Norman workmanship with zigzag string-course over - it.”--(P. H. D.) - -The Choir is Early English and much resembles that of Lincoln. The -dog-tooth is very evident. The windows are lancet. The two -flying-buttresses on the south were added in the Decorated period. - -The Chapter-House is on the north, and its similarity to that of York -will strike every one who has seen the _flos florum_ of the great -Minster of the north. It is supposed the same architect (probably John -Romeyn) designed both. This is octagonal. The windows are of three -lights, with trefoil and circular ones in the heads. The roof is modern. - -The North porch is much admired. The inner doorway has a zigzag and -beak-head moulding. In the parvise above (very unusual in a porch of -this date), the wife of William Clay, a hunted Royalist, was hidden -during the Civil War. Here her child was born. - -We enter by the west door and gain a view of the =Nave=. - - “Looking down the nave (1110-1150) we are impressed by the massive - appearance of the interior. The piers are rather short, only 19 - feet high, six on each side, with square bases and round capitals. - The triforium is large, and above is the clerestory with its unique - plain circular windows. The Norman mouldings, zigzag, billet, - hatchet, etc., are easily recognized. The present roof was erected - in 1881. The Font, erected in 1661, is a poor substitute for the - one destroyed by the soldiers of Cromwell. The Pulpit is modern. - The second pillar from the east on the south side is called Pike’s - Pillar, and retains faint traces of a mural painting of the - Annunciation; the nave aisles have some good vaulting. A plain - stone bench runs along the walls. This was common in old churches - and was the origin of the saying ‘Let the weakest go to the wall,’ - where they could sit and rest, as the days of pews were not yet. - The only original Norman window which remains is at the west end of - the north aisle.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =Transepts= are Norman. At the east end of each the original plan -included an apsidal chapel. The south transept still retains the arch -with its zigzag and cable mouldings that connected it with the transept. -The chapel at the east end of the north transept has also gone, but here -we find on its site a Late Early English construction, with still later -windows (Decorated). In the upper floor the Library is situated. - -The =Tower= is Norman, built in 1150. A cable moulding runs around the -four large arches. It contains a peal of bells. - - “A stone screen of rich Decorated work separates the transept from - the choir, over which is now the organ (a modern instrument). The - screen is richly ornamented, and a noble specimen of the work of - the period. There are three arches opening to the space beneath the - tower, separated by slight piers of clustered shafts, the capitals - carved with foliage of a Late Decorated character. The walls of the - screen support the old rood-loft, access to which is gained by two - staircases. - - “Entering the Choir we see on each side of the doorway three - prebendal stalls with _misereres_, on which are carved some - foliage. The Bishop’s Stall was once occupied by Cardinal Wolsey. - The choir was built by Archbishop Grey in Early English style - (1230-1250). There are six arches, with piers of eight clustered - shafts. The dogtooth moulding is conspicuous in the arches and on - the vaulting of the roof. It will be noticed that the triforium and - clerestory are blended together. The east window consists of two - rows of lancets, the lower ones containing old glass brought from - Paris in 1815, where it was formerly in the Chapel of the Knights - Templar. The Baptism of Our Lord; Raising of Lazarus (Francis I. is - to be seen in a crimson cap); Christ entering Jerusalem (Luther is - near Our Lord, Louis XI. and the Duke of Orleans); the Mocking of - Our Lord (the figure of Dante appears). - - “The Sedilia were erected in 1350 and are good Decorated - -[Illustration: SOUTHWELL: CHAPTER-HOUSE AND DOOR] - -[Illustration: PETERBOROUGH: WEST FRONT] - - work. They have the unusual number of five seats on the same level. - The arches are ogee-shaped and are richly carved. The sculptured - figures are remarkable, and represent the Creation and the - Redemption. Beginning at the east we see the Father holding the - world (two groups uncertain), Joseph’s Dream, the Nativity and - Flight into Egypt. - - “The Lectern belonged to the monks of Newstead Abbey, who threw it - into the lake to hide it from the commissioners of Henry VIII. Its - date is about 1500.”--(P. H. D.) - -Entering a beautiful doorway in the north-choir-aisle we pass through a -vestibule into the =Chapter-House=. - - “The transition between the Early English work of the choir and the - Decorated style of the Chapter-House is very gradual. The doorway, - with its two arches and shafts of Purbeck marble, is remarkably - fine. There is a small cloister court, with a stone-covered well. - In the vestibule we see the walls covered with beautiful arcading - of lancet arches of an Early English character. The capitals are - beautifully carved with foliage. There is a curious boss of - sculpture representing a secular priest shaking the regular monk by - the hair, which figuratively depicts the supremacy of the former in - the church of Southwell. - - “The Chapter-House (1285-1300) is described by Ruskin as ‘the gem - of English architecture,’ and all architects agree in singing the - praises of this noble building. It much resembles that of York, but - is smaller and perhaps more beautiful. It is octagonal, has no - central pillar, and is remarkable for its fine sculpture. The - historian of Southwell says: ‘The foliage everywhere is most - beautiful: the oak, the vine, the maple, the white-thorn, the rose, - with a vast variety of other plants, are sculptured with exquisite - freedom and delicacy; and no two capitals, or bosses or spandrels - are found alike. Everywhere we meet, in ever-changing and - ever-charming variety, with some fresh object of interest and - admiration. Figures are introduced amid the foliage, heads with - branches issuing out of their mouths, birds and lizard-like - monsters. In the capitals a man reclines beneath a tree, puffing - lustily at a horn, or a goat is gnawing the leaves, or a bird - pecking the berries, or a pair of pigs are grunting up the acorns, - or a brace of hounds just grabbing a hare. All this is the work of - no mere chiseller of stone, but of a consummate artist; than whom - it may be doubted whether any sculptor of any age or country ever - produced anything more life-like and exquisitely graceful.’ The - entrance doorway is remarkably fine and is worthy of close study. - The main arch is divided into two by a slender shaft, and over them - is a quatrefoiled circle of beautiful design. The leaf ornament is - largely used, both in the smaller arches and in the main arch. - Filleted rounds and hollows are the other mouldings used.”--(P. H. - D.) - - - - -PETERBOROUGH - -DEDICATION: ST. PETER. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - -SPECIAL FEATURES: THE WEST FRONT; THE NEW BUILDING. - - -The great fenland monastery of St. Peter, the holy house of -Medeshampstead, attracting houses around it, grew into a borough, and -finally into a city--Peterborough. The village was first called -Medeshampstead--homestead in the meadows. For centuries the settlement -had no interests outside the monastery. In the Seventh Century Penda, -King of Mercia, and his family were converted to Christianity, and it -was his son Penda who founded the monastery here in 654. The first -monastery was destroyed by the Danes in 870. It lay in ruins for a -hundred years. With the religious revival under Duncan and King Edgar, -the holy house of Medeshampstead was rebuilt by Bishop Ethelwold, of -Winchester, and henceforth known as the Burgh. - -The foundations of the old Saxon church still remain under the east wall -of the south transept. It is related that when King Edgar visited the -monastery and saw some old deeds he wept for joy on reading the -privileges of the place and granted a new charter renewing and -confirming these. The church seems to have been, even in those days, -dedicated to St. Peter. The Abbey flourished for a time; then it was -plundered by Hereward, the Saxon leader, and suffered also from fire -while the monks were carousing. In the time of Henry I. a great fire -destroyed the whole building. The picturesque imagination of the period -attributed it to a servant, who, trying unsuccessfully to light a fire -in the bakehouse, lost his temper and called upon Satan for aid, crying -“_Veni, Diabole, et insuffla ignem._” - -John de Sais, who was then Abbot (1114-1125), began the building of a -new minster, the one that we now see. As usual the work was begun at the -east end. The choir was finished with an apse. A small apse also -terminated each choir-aisle. The whole church was in progress of -building for eighty years. This was all Norman work of course. - -The western transept, dating from the close of the Twelfth and beginning -of the Thirteenth Century, shows a change. - - “The Norman style was giving place to the lighter and more elegant - architecture of the Early English period, the round arch was - beginning to be superseded by the pointed arch, and the massive - ornamentation which marks the earlier style was displaced by the - conventional foliage that soon came to be very generally employed. - Most wisely, however, the Peterborough builders made their work at - the west end of the nave intentionally uniform with what was - already built. Very numerous indications of this can be seen by - careful observers. The bases of the western pillars, the change in - the depth of the mouldings, characteristic changes in the capitals - in the triforium range, and especially the grand arches below the - transept towers, which are pointed but enriched with ornamentation - of pronounced Norman character, all point to the later date of this - western transept. - - “At the west wall of the church all trace of Norman work - disappears. The arcade near the ground, the large round arch above - the door, the great west window and its adjacent arches (not, of - course, including the late tracery), are all of distinct Early - English character. The whole of this wall may be held to be an - integral part of the west front, and not of the transept which it - bounds. - - “When we come to the most distinctive feature of the cathedral, the - glorious west front, we find we have no help whatever from the - chronicles. Nowhere is there the smallest reference to its - building. Other works raised by the Abbots of the period are named, - but the noble western portico is never once mentioned.”--(W. D. S.) - -According to Matthew Paris the church was dedicated in 1238 by the -Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Grosseteste. - -In the Thirteenth Century many changes were made. The bell-tower was -built, and bells from London, called _Les Londreis_, were hung in it. -The Lady-Chapel (now destroyed) was built in 1272 at the east of the -north transept (as at Ely). - -In the Fourteenth Century the great round east and west arches of the -central tower were changed into pointed ones, perhaps because the tower -at Ely had fallen in 1321 and the monks wanted to strengthen theirs. -Then they began to change all the triforium windows in the nave and -choir from Norman to Decorated. Next, the central porch was added to the -west front. During the Perpendicular period all the Norman windows that -had not been altered were now filled with Perpendicular tracery; the -great west window was also brought up to date, the battlements were -added to the corner turrets, and the New Building tacked on to the East -End of the choir. - -A popular story related that Henry VIII. spared the church because his -queen, Katherine of Aragon, was buried there. At any rate, he made -Peterborough a cathedral in 1541, when he suppressed the monasteries. - -The great historical event in connection with Peterborough was the -burial of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587. - -Cromwell’s soldiers made sad havoc. Dean Patrick informs us that - - “The next day after their arrival, early in the morning they break - open the church doors, pull down the organs of which there were two - pair. - - “Then the soldiers enter the quire, and their first business was to - tear in pieces all the common prayer-books that could be found. - Next they break down all the seats, stalls and wainscot that was - behind them, being adorned with several historical passages out of - the Old Testament. - - “Now behind the communion-table there stood a curious piece of - stone-work, admired much by strangers and travellers: a stately - skreen it was, well wrought, painted and gilt, which rose up as - high almost as the roof of the church, in a row of three lofty - spires, with other lesser spires growing out of them. This now had - no imagery work upon it, or anything else that might justly give - offence, and yet because it bore the name of the high altar, was - pulled down with ropes, lay’d low and level with the ground. - - “Over this place, in the roof of the church, in a large oval yet to - be seen, was the picture of Our Saviour seated on a throne; one - hand erected and holding a globe in the other, attended with the - four Evangelists and saints on each side, with crowns in their - hands, intended, I suppose, for a representation of Our Saviour’s - coming to judgment. This was defaced and spoilt by the discharge of - muskets. - - “Then they rob and rifle the tombs and violate the monuments of the - dead.... - - “When they had thus demolished the chief monuments, at length the - very gravestones and marbles on the floor did not escape their - sacrilegious hands. For where there was anything on them of - sculptures or inscriptions in brass, these they force and tear off. - - “Having thus done their work on the floor below, they are now at - leisure to look up at the windows above. - - “Now the windows of this church were very fair, being adorned and - beautified with several historical passages out of Scripture and - ecclesiastical story; such were those in the body of the church, in - the aisles, in the New Building, and elsewhere. But the cloister - windows were most famed of all, for their great art and pleasing - variety. One side of the quadrangle containing the history of the - Old Testament; another, that of the New; a third, the founding and - founders of the church; a fourth, all the kings of England - downwards from the first Saxon king. All which notwithstanding were - most shamefully broken and destroyed. Yea, to encourage them the - more in this trade of breaking and battering windows down, Cromwell - himself (as ’twas reported) espying a little crucifix in a window - aloft, which none perhaps before had scarce observed, gets a ladder - and breaks it down zealously with his own hand. - - “Thus, in a short time, a fair and goodly structure was quite - stript of all its ornamental beauty, and made a ruthful spectacle, - a very chaos of desolation and confusion, nothing scarce remaining - but only bare walls, broken seats and shattr’d windows on every - side.”--(P.) - -The old story of neglect--“scarce any cathedral in England is more -neglected,” wrote Browne Willis in 1742--is told of Peterborough in the -Eighteenth Century; but in 1764-1791 Dean Tarrant collected all the -fragments of stained glass and inserted them in the two central windows -of the apse. They deal chiefly with scenes in the life of St. Peter. The -late history of the Cathedral is only that of repairs, restorations, and -gifts. - -We enter the Minster Precincts by the western gateway, built by Abbot -Benedict, in the Norman style, in the Twelfth Century. It was altered at -the end of the Fourteenth Century. The approach is monastic in the -extreme. The room over the gate was once the Chapel of St. Nicholas. -After passing through this gate, on the left hand we see all that -remains of the Chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury (Fourteenth Century). -The various gateways, doors, arcades, and remains of ancient buildings -harmonize well with the venerable and elegant Cathedral. - - “A fine view of the best feature of Peterborough, the west front, - is immediately opened with a foreground of smooth turf. The great - portico, with its three arches, eighty feet high, of pure Early - English style, is unlike anything else in England, and inspires - universal surprise and admiration. It was built on the old Norman - church, but does not actually touch the western walls. - - “The spires of the portico are of different sizes and designs. The - northern does not group well with the transeptal tower behind it, - and there is a certain confusion to the eye when so many towers are - in our view. The southern transeptal tower was never carried above - the roof. The central tower over the choir after being repeatedly - repaired and restored, fell in 1884, destroying the interior - fittings and stalls, but, on the whole, doing less damage than - might have been expected. The tower has been rebuilt, but not to - the old pattern, and the four corner turrets have - disappeared.”--(W. J. L.) - -The =West Front=, with its three magnificent doorways and original wooden -doors, was the work of Abbots Zachary and Robert of Lindsay (about 1200 -to 1222). - - “Immediately before us we see the noble West Front ‘the pride and - glory of Peterborough,’ the finest portico in Europe. With the - exception of the porch, the style is pure Early English. On the - north and south are two lofty turrets, flanked at the angles with - clustered shafts, and crowned with spires. Between these are three - pointed arches, supported by clustered shafts, six on each side - with foliated capitals. The central arch is narrower than the rest, - but its mouldings are ornamented with crockets and dog-tooth. A - string-course runs along the top of the arches, and the spandrels - have trefoils, quatrefoils and niches with statues. Above the - string-course is a series of trefoiled arches, some of which have - statues. Between the three gables are pinnacles much ornamented. - The gables have circular windows of beautiful design and a cross - on the apex; they are ornamented with dog-tooth and have niches - with statues--St. Peter in the centre, with SS. John and Andrew on - either side. The turrets on the north and south have six stages - panelled with arches. The spires are good examples of the - difference between those of the Early Decorated and Perpendicular - periods. The south spire is connected with the pinnacles of the - tower by clustered pinnacles springing from an arch; these are - decorated with crockets, and the spire belongs to the early - Fourteenth Century; whereas the spire on the north has no such - connection and is Early Perpendicular. - - “We now notice the Porch with the parvise over it. This was built - late in the Fourteenth Century in order to give additional strength - to the west front and act as a kind of buttress to the piers of the - central arch. The design is very beautiful. The entrance has an - obtuse arch, and above a Perpendicular window with elliptical arch. - Buttresses empanelled with niches stand on each side. It has a - stone vault of good design. One boss is curious, representing the - Trinity. The attitude of the Saviour shows that the figure was - designed by a freemason, and bears witness to the antiquity of that - fraternity. The parvise is now a library.”--(P. H. D.) - -In the latter years of the Fourteenth Century the central porch, with -its upper room, =Parvise=, was added between the two middle piers of the -west front. It has been regarded by some critics as a blemish and by -others as an improvement, but it was probably a necessity for the -purpose of extra stability. - - “The construction of this elegant little edifice is extremely - scientific, especially in the matter in which the thrust is - distributed through the medium of the side turrets so as to fall - upon the buttresses in front. These turrets being erected against - one side of the triangular columns, on the right and the left hand, - support them in two directions at once, viz., from collapsing - towards each other, and from falling forward. The latter pressure - is thrown wholly upon the buttresses in front, which project seven - feet beyond the base of the great pillars.”--(F. A. P.) - -Turning now to a description: - - “It is vaulted in two bays, the first being of the same dimensions - as the inner width of the portico; the western bay (of the same - size) thus reaches beyond the two great piers and the corner - turrets and buttresses in all project about seven feet. This gives - a very substantial support to the piers. The whole composition is - very fine, and quite worthy of the great portico to which it is an - adjunct. It must be left to each spectator to decide for himself if - it improves or diminishes the effect of the whole. It is of late - Decorated date, highly enriched with profuse carving. The staircase - turrets, as well as the great window, are embattled. The spaces - north and south, and within the portico, have tracery on the walls - similar to the window. The groining is very fine. One of the - central bosses has a representation of the Trinity. The Father is - represented as the Ancient of Days, with a Dove for the Holy Spirit - above the shoulder and the figure of the Saviour on the Cross in - front. Freemasons are recommended to look for a special symbol - which they alone can understand and appreciate. The floor of the - portico is paved with gravestones, some apparently in their - original position. The place was at one time appropriated as a - burial-place for the Minor Canons.”--(W. D. S.) - -This porch hides the fine central doorway, which is divided by a central -pillar. A Benedictine monk tortured by demons--probably a hint to the -brothers--is carved upon it. - - “With a few exceptions, the whole of the interior of the Cathedral - is in the Norman style, and many judge it to be the most perfect - specimen in England. The plan consists of a nave of ten bays, with - aisles and a western transept; transepts of four bays, terminating - in an apse, nearly semicircular, with aisles; and beyond the apse a - large square-ended addition for more chapels having a groined - stone-roof of fan-tracery, now known as the New Building. The - ritual choir, as distinguished from the architectural choir, - extends two bays into the nave. This arrangement is a return to the - ancient one used by the Benedictines, the choir in Dean Monk’s - alterations having been limited to the position east of the central - tower. - - “As we enter at the west door we see at a glance the entire length - and the whole beauty of the admirable proportion of the several - parts. While many may wish that the great arches of the tower which - can be seen from the west end had never been altered from the round - form of the Norman builders, few will regret that the Decorated - arches which took their place were retained when the tower was - rebuilt, instead of having new arches in the Norman style - substituted. The want of colour which is so marked a defect in many - English cathedrals is not so conspicuous here, because of the - painted ceiling.”--(W. D. S.) - -There is no Norman work at the west wall. The great doorway has a round -arch, but the arcade at the base consists of pointed arches. The -mouldings here are Early English; and it is inside an Early English arch -that the =West Window= of Perpendicular tracery is set. We may note that -the glass is modern and a memorial to officers and soldiers who were -killed in the South African War. - -The =West Transept= extends beyond the aisles. The enormous pointed arches -have Norman mouldings. In the south end is a =Font= of the Thirteenth -Century; the north end is a vestry. - - “As we enter we notice the distinctive character of the Norman work - of which this Cathedral is a notable and excellent example. In the - extreme west there is a blending of the two styles of Norman and - Early English, but the monks of Peterborough clung tenaciously to - their old ideas and to Norman and Romanesque models, and right up - to the end of the Twelfth Century built in this style, not from any - desire to imitate the work of their predecessors (as some writers - assert), but from an obstinate adherence to conservative tradition. - Even when the glorious tide of English Gothic was rising, and they - could no longer resist the flood, they clung to the old zigzag - mouldings. It is evident from the construction of the third column - that they intended to end their church there; but happily the - Thirteenth Century brethren decided to rear the noble twin-towered - front and the perfect portico. Some of the later columns show - Transition work; on one side we see a Norman base or capital, on - the other an Early English. - - “There is a grand uninterrupted view of the whole length of the - Cathedral from west to east. It will be observed that the lower - arch is Decorated, and this adds to the beauty of this view. Before - leaving the west we notice some dog-tooth carved in wood, which is - somewhat rare.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =Nave= consists of ten bays, with Norman arches. The triforium arches -are Norman; the clerestory windows are Perpendicular. The ceiling is -very peculiar and very interesting, and is, moreover, original Norman. - - “All agree that the style of the painting is perfectly - characteristic of the period. The divisions are of the lozenge - shape; in each lozenge of the central line is a figure, and in each - alternate one of the sides. The middle set has more elongated - lozenges than the others. The borders are black and white, with - some coloured lines, in odd zigzag patterns. The figures, which are - mostly seated, are very quaint and strange. Some are sacred, some - grotesque. We can see St. Peter with the keys, kings, queens and - minstrels; we find also a head with two faces, a monkey riding - backwards on a goat, a human figure with head and hoof of an ass, a - horse playing a harp, a winged dragon, a dancing lion, an eagle, - and other curious devices.”--(W. D. S.) - -The =Choir= begins with the two east bays of the nave (the same -arrangement occurs at Norwich), and runs through the space under the -tower and - -[Illustration: PETERBOROUGH: CHOIR, EAST] - -[Illustration: PETERBOROUGH: SOUTH] - -takes up four bays east of the tower. The piers are alternately round -and polygonal. - - “This portion was the earliest part of the Cathedral, and was - constructed by Abbot de Sais (1114-1125). The hatchet moulding is - conspicuous. The triforium arches are double like the nave, and the - clerestory has triple arches, the centre one being the highest. The - apse is particularly fine. The Decorated style is evident in the - windows, which were inserted in the Fourteenth Century instead of - the old Norman ones, and the hanging tracery of graceful design was - then added. The roof of the choir is late Fourteenth Century work - except at the east end where the roof is flat. Here Cromwell’s - soldiers discharged their muskets at the figure of our Lord in - glory, which they deemed to be an idol. This ceiling was decorated - in 1884 by Sir Gilbert Scott. The bosses of the rest of the roof - are curious. Nearly all the old glass was destroyed in the Puritan - desecration; the remaining fragments have been placed in the two - highest east windows. The fittings of the choir are modern except - an ancient lectern of Fifteenth Century date, given by Abbot Ramsay - and Prior Malden, as the inscription testifies, though it is now - scarcely legible. The choir-stalls are remarkably fine. The carved - figures contain a history of the Cathedral written in wood.”--(P. - H. D.) - -Passing behind the High Altar we come to the Retro-Choir, or =New -Building=: - - “The New Building built beyond the apse is a very noble specimen of - late Perpendicular work. It was begun by Abbot Richard Ashton - (1438-1471) and completed by Abbot Robert Kirton (1496-1528): the - works seem to have been suspended between these periods. The roof - has the beautiful fan tracery, very similar on a small scale to - that at King’s College Chapel at Cambridge. The building is of the - width of the choir and aisles together. - - “The junction of this addition with the original Norman apse is - admirable, and should be specially noticed. Parts of the original - external string-course of the apse can be seen. The ornamentation - on the bosses of the roof and in the cavetto below the windows, and - round the great arches from the choir aisles, is very varied. - - “It must be sufficient here to indicate some of the designs. Most - need little explanation, but a few are hard to understand. On the - roof may be seen the three lions of England, a cross between four - martlets, three crowns each pierced by an arrow, and another - design. The smaller designs include four-leaved flowers, Tudor - roses, fleur-de-lys, the portcullis, some undescribable creatures, - crossed keys, crossed swords, crossed crosiers, crosses, crowns, - crowns pierced with arrows, crowned female head, an eagle, the head - of the Baptist in a charger, an angel, mitres, three feathers - rising from a crown, St. Andrew’s cross, and perhaps others. There - are also some rebuses and some lettering. On the north wall, in six - several scrolls, the letters AR before a church and a bird on a tun - occur more than once. This certainly refers to Abbot Robert Kirton; - but what the bird means is not clear. In the moulding over the - large arch to the south choir are four sets of letters. They form - the last verse of the psalter. The words are contracted: they stand - for _Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum_.”--(W. D. S.) - -The relic of greatest interest in the New Building is the famous =Monks’ -Stone=, which, according to tradition, was constructed in commemoration -of the massacre of Abbot Hedda and his monks by the Danes in 870. -Critics are divided in opinion. Some think it Norman, but many accept -the theory that it is Saxon work. In 1887 remains were found of the -original Saxon church, which was sacked by the Danes, rebuilt and -visited by King Edgar and Dunstan. Traces of the fire that destroyed it -were also found. The east wall stood at the piers of the present south -transept. - -Queen Katherine of Aragon was buried in the north-choir-aisle outside -the most eastern arch (1535). This was violated by the Puritans. Dean -Patrick says: “First they demolish Queen Katherine’s tomb; they break -down the rails that enclosed the place and take away the black velvet -pall which covered the hearse; overthrow the hearse itself, displace the -gravestone that lay over her body, and have left nothing now remaining -of that tomb, but only a monument of their own shame and villainy.” A -few slabs were recently found beneath the floor; and a marble stone -bearing coats-of-arms and inscription has lately been placed over this -spot. - -In the south-choir-aisle a tablet tells us that here Mary Stuart was -buried in 1587, just within the choir. The body was removed to -Westminster Abbey in 1612. Remains of the hearse between the pillars -were seen as late as 1800. These royal arms and escutcheons were also -defaced and torn by the Puritans. - -The =Transepts= are Norman, and characteristic Norman mouldings are -universal. A Perpendicular screen in each separates the transept from a -sort of eastern aisle, divided by pillars into chapels. In the =North -Transept= the two chapels of St. John and St. James have been thrown into -one--now the =Morning Chapel=. Some old Saxon coffin lids are preserved -here. - -The chapels of St. Oswald, St. Benedict, and St. Kyneburga and St. -Kyneswitha still remain in the =South Transept=. West of the South -Transept we come to the old =Chapter-House= (very small), now a music -room. It is late Norman, but it has a Perpendicular doorway. - -At the north-east corner of the close we come to the =Deanery Gateway=, -leading to the Deanery. It is a fine specimen of Late Perpendicular, and -was erected by Abbot Kirton (Kirkton), whose rebus (a church on a tun) -appears over the side-door. It has a Tudor arch, with the arms of the -See in spandrels, and is also ornamented with the Tudor rose and -portcullis and the Prince of Wales’s feathers. We gain here a very good -view of the north side of the Cathedral. - -The north side is very fine. The arcading on the side of the tower is -identical with that on the west front. Next we must notice the big -windows of the western transept, early and fine specimens of cusped and -traceried windows. The jambs are very peculiar because one side is -Norman with square capitals, and the other side Early English. The arch -of the window reaches as high as those of the triforium. Above is a -round-headed window, and the gable, surmounted by a cross and bordered -with the wavy ornament, contains a rose-window. Pinnacles, resembling -those on the west front, adorn the sides of this west transept. The nave -rises in five stages: a tier of small lights separates the triforium -from the aisle. - -The =Dean’s Door= on this side of the nave is Norman. The three shafts on -either side, with their cushion capitals, carry round arches with -characteristic and different mouldings. There are ten windows, very -broad, of five lights each, under depressed arches. They were inserted -in the Thirteenth Century. The parapet at the top is Early English. - -The north transept has seven stages of windows (Perpendicular), and -blind arcades and a battlemented gable, flanked by octagonal turrets. - -Here we gain a view of the lantern tower, rebuilt in 1884. Then we come -to the choir, and lastly to the =New Building=. The Decorated windows of -the apse are particularly fine. - - “The east end of Peterborough is rather peculiar. There remains the - old Norman apse with Decorated windows inserted, and this is - surrounded by what is called the New Building, though it is 400 - years old, formed by extending the walls of the choir and building - a square end to the Cathedral. This was erected by Abbot Kirton. - His work possesses the best features of Perpendicular style. It is - richly ornamented and when we examine his work we cannot say that - the glories of Gothic achievement had quite departed. We see the - twelve buttresses, each terminated with a seated figure, usually - said to be one of the Apostles.”--(P. H. D.) - -Turning round the east end we come to the ruins of the Infirmary, -erected about 1260. Some fine arcading is still to be seen. Afterwards -we come to the =Slype=, once vaulted, but now open to the sky, which -formerly connected the Refectory with the Chapter-House, on the east -side of the =Cloister=. Only the south and west walls of the =Cloister -Court= remain. This is always called =Laurel Court=, though the origin is -unknown. - -The south side of the Cathedral is more beautiful than the north, from -which it differs by having two doorways into the nave from the -cloisters, and a very fine south-west spire, early Fourteenth Century -work. A beautiful view of this spire and the bell-tower is obtained from -=Laurel Court=. - - - - -ELY - - DEDICATION: ST. ETHELREDA. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: THE OCTAGON; GALILEE PORCH; LADY-CHAPEL; BISHOP - ALCOCK’S CHAPEL; BISHOP WEST’S CHAPEL; MONK’S DOOR. - - -Ely is perhaps the most singular and beautiful of English cathedrals, -when seen from a distance; for the massive building, with its turrets, -buttresses, and pinnacles, rises with splendid majesty from the green -meads that make a perfect foreground. - - “The first glimpse of Ely overwhelms us, not only by its - stateliness and variety of its outline, but by its utter - strangeness, its unlikeness to anything else. Ely, with its vast - single western tower, with its central octagon unlike anything else - in the whole world, has an outline altogether peculiar to - itself.”--(E. A. F.) - -About 655 Etheldreda, daughter of the King of East Anglia, went to live -in the fen-land district, known as the Isle of Ely, that had come into -her possession according to the terms of her marriage settlement with -Tonbert, one of the noblemen of her father’s court. The civil government -of her territory she gave to a steward named Ovin, while she devoted -herself to good works. She was induced to marry Egfrid, son of Oswy, -King of Northumberland, who became king in 670. Etheldreda, wearied of -court life, became a nun; and when Egfrid determined to force her to -return to court she fled from Coldingham to the Isle of Ely, where she -established a religious house. She began to build in 673. The monastery -over which Etheldreda presided as abbess was a mixed community. Bede -calls it a nunnery. Etheldreda died in 679 and was buried, according to -her own request, in the nuns’ graveyard. Her body was, however, removed -into the church on October 17, 695. When the body was placed in a marble -sarcophagus it was found in perfect preservation, and miracles took -place. Two hundred years later the Danes ravaged Ely and destroyed the -monastery (870), which was rebuilt in 970 by King Edgar and Bishop -Ethelwold, of Winchester. The prior of Winchester, Brithnoth (970-981), -was appointed its first abbot. There were no nuns in the new monastery. - -The monks of Ely educated Edward the Confessor, who had been offered on -this altar in infancy by his parents. After he became king he continued -his “favourable regard to the place.” His brother, Alfred, whose eyes -were put out by Earl Godwin, died and was buried in Ely. Ely was the -last stronghold of Hereward; and it took the monks a long time to make -their peace with the Conqueror. In order to raise enough money to -purchase forgiveness they were forced to sell almost every article of -gold and silver that they owned. Thurston, the last Saxon abbot -(1066-1072), remained in charge of the monastery until his death. When -Simeon, prior of Winchester, and brother of Walkelyn, Bishop of -Winchester, was made abbot in 1081, it was deemed necessary to build a -more sumptuous church. Simeon contributed a great part of his large -fortune. He began with the transepts; and built the central tower, often -called “Simeon’s Tower.” - -Richard (1100-1107), a Norman, and relative of the king, finished the -east end in 1106. Two bays of the nave next to the tower were also his -work, and he continued Simeon’s Tower. During Richard’s rule the remains -of St. Etheldreda, St. Sexburga, St. Ermenilda, and St. Withburga, the -first four abbesses, were re-buried before the high altar. - -In 1109 Ely was made a cathedral; but nothing seems to have been done to -the building until Bishop Riddell (1174-1189) “carried on the new work -and Tower at the west end of the church, almost to the top.” - -Eustache (1198-1215), one of the bishops appointed to excommunicate King -John, built the celebrated =Galilee Porch= at the west end. He contributed -large sums out of his private fortune. - -Hugh Norwold, or Northwold (1229-1254), built the six eastern bays of -the presbytery, and the palace. Again were the remains of St. -Etheldreda, St. Sexburga, St. Ermenilda, and St. Withburga removed to -this part of the church, and the Cathedral was dedicated in 1252. King -Henry III. and Prince Edward were present. When Bishop Norwold died -(1254), he was buried at the feet of St. Etheldreda. His monument was -removed to the north side of the presbytery, third arch from the east. - -John Hotham (1316-1337) built the choir. It was during his bishopric -that the Tower fell, and he provided for the building of the wrecked -western bays. - -The Fourteenth Century brings us to the greatest of all the Ely -builders, the supreme artist and architect, Alan de Walsingham, -sub-prior, sacrist, and finally prior. In 1321 he began the =Lady-Chapel=, -which was finished in 1349. Its position is - -[Illustration: ELY: WEST TOWERS] - -[Illustration: ELY: CHOIR, EAST] - -peculiar--north-east of the north transept. Its site was chosen in all -probability because St. Etheldreda’s shrine occupied the sacred east -end. Walsingham’s great work, however, is the celebrated =Octagon=. - -On the eve of St. Ermenilda’s Day, February 12, 1322, just after the -monks had finished matins, the central tower fell and destroyed three -bays of the choir. There was no wicked king in this case to blame for -the calamity, as was the case with the similar tower built by Simeon’s -brother at Winchester (see pages 55-56). - - “No one could possibly have been found in the whole kingdom better - qualified to cope with the great disaster that took place at Ely in - 1322 than the officer of the house who had the special custody of - the fabric. The originality and skill with which he designed and - carried out the noble work that takes the place of the central - tower, which is without a rival in the architecture of the whole - world, are beyond all praise. The exquisite work in the Lady-Chapel - would in itself have been sufficient to establish Walsingham’s - reputation as an architect of the very highest order of merit; but - it would have revealed nothing, if it stood alone, of the - consummate constructive genius which he displayed in the conception - of the octagon. - - “The building was begun as soon as the space was cleared. The - stonework was finished in 1328, little more than six years after - the tower fell. The woodwork of the vaulting and lantern took - longer time; but this also was quite complete in 1342. Walsingham - had become prior in the previous year. The weight of the lantern, - it need hardly be said, is not borne, though it looks like it from - below, by the vaulting that we see. There is a perfect forest of - oak hidden from sight, the eight great angle posts being no less - than 3 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 8 inches in section. - - “With such a man as Walsingham on the spot we cannot be wrong in - assigning to him the authorship of all the architectural designs - that were carried out in his lifetime. It is believed--for the - date is not exactly known--that he died in 1364. Besides the - Lady-Chapel and Octagon, he must have designed the singularly - beautiful bays of the presbytery between the Octagon and - Northwold’s work. The exquisite way in which the main - characteristics of the Early English work are adapted to the - Decorated style demands our highest admiration. The arrangement of - the three western bays on each side is exactly like Northwold’s - work, while the additional grace and beauty of ornamentation mark - the advance in taste that distinguished the Decorated period. - Bishop Hotham undertook the whole expense of rebuilding this - portion of the cathedral. He did not live to see it completed, as - he died in 1337, but he left money for the purpose.”--(W. D. S.) - -Walsingham, though elected bishop by the monks, was not confirmed by the -Pope. However, when they placed the brass over his resting-place in -front of the choir they represented “The Flower of Craftsmen” (_Flos -operatorum_ was his epitaph), with mitre and crozier. - -Ely suffered less than many churches during the Puritan wars. - -The most important work of late years has been the restoration of the -octagon and lantern, as originally designed by Alan de Walsingham. - -The great =West Tower= (Early English and Decorated) was built before the -Galilee Porch, about the last year of the Twelfth Century. It is -surmounted by an octagon with a window of three lights in each face. An -octagonal turret ornaments each corner. Windows and arcades mark each -story. A fine view of it is obtained from the south side. - -The =Galilee Porch= is one of the finest examples of Early English in -existence and is only surpassed by Bishop Hugh’s Choir at Lincoln. - - “Each side externally, is covered with lancet arcading in four - tiers. In the upper tier the lancets are trefoiled with dog-tooth - in the moulding; in the next lower tier the lancets are - cinquefoiled, with two sets of dog-tooth. The lancets in the west - face are all cinquefoiled, and the three lower tiers have trefoils - in the spandrels. Nearly all are highly enriched with dog-tooth; - while the mouldings of the west door have conventional foliage as - well. The lancets here are deeper than on the sides of the porch, - and were probably designed to hold figures. Of the three large - lancets in the west window the central one is slightly more lofty - than the others. - - “The interior of the porch is even more beautiful; the profusion of - ornamentation on the inner doorway and the exceeding gracefulness - of the double arcades in the sides are quite unsurpassed. Both - doorways are divided by a shaft and both have open tracery of - exceptional beauty above.”--(W. D. S.) - -In addition to this feature, Ely has the unique =Octagon=, a good view of -which is obtained from the north-west. It is beautifully proportioned -and beautifully decorated with windows of exquisite tracery. - - “The way in which the octagon and lantern combine in producing a - perfectly harmonious composition is in great part due to two points - of difference, points which very few observers detect. These are, - firstly, that the lantern is a regular octagon, having all its - sides equal, in this respect being unlike the stone octagon beneath - it; and, secondly, that the eight faces of the lantern are not - parallel to the eight faces of the octagon. The new windows of the - lantern are similar to the large ones below, but are not mere - copies of them. The upper stage of the lantern, above the roof as - seen from within, was once a bell-chamber; its lights are not, and - never have been, glazed. The whole of the lantern is of wood, - covered with lead. Two flying-buttresses rise from the corners of - the nave and transept aisles to the corbel table of the clerestory - range. There are also eight elegant flying-buttresses, one to each - of the angles of the lantern. These are part of the new work, the - originals having long disappeared.”--(W. D. S.) - -The north-western part of the north transept fell in 1699, and was -rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, nephew of Bishop Wren, then in office. -The north end of the transept contains Norman windows, and above them -are two Perpendicular windows, each of three lights. In the east wall of -the transept the lower lights are Decorated; the upper windows are the -original Norman. - -Next we come to the =Lady-Chapel=, the east window of which (seven lights) -was inserted by Bishop Barnet (1366-1373), who also “beautified five of -the windows in the presbytery.” The west window (eight lights) is of a -little later date. In the side walls of the Lady-Chapel are five large -windows, the tracery of which is very beautiful. - -The =East End= is a superb illustration of Early English, although -slightly altered from its original state by the introduction of the -windows in the chapels of Alcock and West, and a plain wall for the -original windows in the south aisle. - -Flying-buttresses support the roof of the presbytery and choir. The -Perpendicular window of seven lights attracts our notice in the south -end of the south transept. - -The entrance to the Cathedral from the south opens from the eastern end -of the cloisters and is called the =Monks’ Door=. - -The ornamentation is very rich. One spiral column is especially fine. -The arch is trefoiled with cusps, having circular terminations with star -ornament, and in the spandrels are quaint, crouching monks, each -holding a pastoral staff. Two twisted dragons writhe above. - -At the west end of the north alley of the cloisters we come to the -=Prior’s Door=, a fine specimen of late Norman. In the tympanum is a -carving in high relief of the Saviour. - -Entering through the West we have a full view of the Cathedral, the -vista fortunately not broken, for the open screen permits the gaze to -wander the whole length to the east end. The massive Perpendicular -arches here were built beneath the Norman ones to secure stability for -the big tower that we have just examined. - -The =Nave= is one of the most perfect specimens of late Norman. It is very -similar to that of Peterborough. Ely, however, offers no suggestion of -the transition of the next style, as does Peterborough. The Ely nave is -supposed to have been finished before 1173, a little before -Peterborough’s, and after that of Norwich. It contains twelve bays and -measures 208 feet. The piers are of alternate design. In front of each a -shaft runs up to the roof. As we follow this with our eyes we see that -the ceiling is painted with Biblical subjects; but these pictures need -not detain us, as they are modern. The billet moulding decorates the -string-course above the main arcade. Most of the capitals are cushion. - -The =Octagon= is the gem of the whole Cathedral. - - “Few visitors will perhaps be disposed to examine any of the - objects of interest in the cathedral before an inspection of the - beauties of this magnificent erection, the first sight of which, - from one of the smaller arches towards the aisles, is a thing never - to be forgotten. There is not one of the many able artists and - architects who have written about the Octagon that has not spoken - of it as being without rival in the whole world; and the admiration - that was expressed fifty and more years ago would have been far - greater, and the enthusiasm more profound, had the writers seen it - in its present state of perfect restoration. No description can do - adequate justice to the grandeur of the conception or to the - brilliancy of the execution of this renowned work. - - “The four great arches rise to the full height of the roof; that to - the east, indeed, is higher than the vaulted roof of the choir and - presbytery, the intervening space being occupied with tracery of - woodwork on painted boards, the Saviour on the Cross being painted - in the middle. The wooden vaulting of the Octagon springs from the - capitals on the same level as those of the great arches. The four - small arches to the aisles are of course no higher than the roofs - of the aisles: above these, on each side, are three figures of - apostles, under canopies with crockets. The figures are seated, and - each holds an emblem, by which it can be seen for whom the figure - is intended. It may be noticed (in the central figure on the - south-west side) that St. Paul, not St. Matthias, is put in the - place of Iscariot. The hood-moulds of the arches are terminated by - heads, of which six are portraits. King Edward III. and Queen - Philippa are at the north-east, Bishop Hotham and Prior Crauden at - the south-east, Walsingham and his master-mason (so it is believed) - at the north-west; those to the south-west are mere grotesques. - Above the seated figures on each side is a window of four broad - lights, filled with stained glass. The eight chief vaulting shafts - rise from the ground as slight triple shafts; they support, a - little above the spring of the side arches, large corbels, which - form bases for exquisitely designed niches, and through these - spring more shafts reaching to the vault. On each of the corbels is - a boldly carved scene from the career of St. Etheldreda; they - commence at the north-west arch. The subjects (two to each arch) - are as follows: - - “North-west arch: St. Etheldreda’s second marriage. Her taking the - veil at Coldingham. - - “North-east arch: Her staff taking root. Her preservation in the - flood at St. Abb’s Head. - - “South-east arch: Her installation as Abbess of Ely. Her death and - burial (two scenes). - - “South-west arch: One of her miracles. Her translation. - - “In order to understand these wonderful sculptures more fully we - refer to the _Liber Eliensis_ which describes Etheldreda as - hurrying away from Coldingham with two ladies, Sewenna and Sewara, - and as reaching a rocky place on the coast where they were - overtaken by the king, but the three ladies crossed the Humber and - proceeded south, dressed as pilgrims. One night, while the queen - slept, her staff, placed in the ground, burst into leaf and flower. - On this spot a church was built and dedicated to St. Etheldreda. - When the three pilgrims arrived in the Isle of Ely, they were - joined by Wilfrid, the archbishop of York, who induced Etheldreda - to take the veil. The miracle referred to in the south-west arch - shows St. Etheldreda and St. Benedict appearing to a monk named - Brytstan, who was charged with seeking refuge in a monastery in - order to escape punishment for robberies of which he had been - guilty. The miracle was told to Queen Matilda, who freed - Brytstan.”--(W. D. S.) - -The =Screen= separating the choir from the Octagon was designed by Scott. -It is of oak, delicately carved in geometric patterns, and bearing a -cross on the cresting that runs along the top. The gates are brass. - -The first three bays of the choir were begun about 1240; the last six, -forming the presbytery, were finished in 1340. The space of a hundred -years thus lies between them. - - “In the juxtaposition of these two magnificent specimens of the - Early English and Decorated periods of architecture there is an - opportunity of comparison which on such a scale occurs nowhere - else. It is to be remembered that in neither case is the treatment - of the upper part quite in accordance with the usual practice of - the period. When the presbytery was being built there were still - standing east of the central tower the four original bays of the - Norman choir. These, it may be assumed, were very similar in - character to those in the nave. There would, beyond question, have - been in each bay large triforium arches, each with a couple of - subordinate arches; and a single window in the clerestory with a - blank arch on each side. Bishop Northwold’s work was purposely made - to correspond with these bays as far as Early English work could do - so; and when after the fall of the tower it became necessary to - rebuild the choir, Bishop Hotham in like manner made his Decorated - work correspond with the Early English presbytery. The choir is, as - would be expected, richer in detail as well as more elaborate in - design; and it would be difficult to find in England anything to - surpass the tracery of the clerestory windows and triforium arches, - the beautiful cusped inner arches of the clerestory range, the open - parapets at the base of the two stages, or the long corbels, - covered with foliage, that support the vaulting shafts. In the - choir the clerestory windows have four lights each; in the - presbytery are triplets. The old colouring has been renewed - throughout. On the north side of the choir the three bays are - precisely alike; but on the south there is a variation in the - tracery of the western triforium arch. There are also shields of - arms (of the See of Ely and of Bishop Hotham) in the spandrels of - the triforium and arch below; and the shaft between this arch and - the next is enlarged at the top into a base for a statue (probably - of St. Etheldreda); while level with the string above is a very - fine large canopy (called by the workmen ‘the table’), which is - like nothing else in the cathedral. The clerestory windows also on - the south have different tracery. - - “The difference between the two styles of architecture is well - marked in the groining of the roof, the Decorated portion being - much more elaborate. Some of the bosses are very remarkable: one - has St. Etheldreda with pastoral staff; one has the coronation of - the Virgin Mary; one has the foundress bearing the model of a - church, in which (as Dean Stubbs has pointed out) both arms of the - western transept are represented, so that it is a fair inference - that at the time this roof was constructed the whole of the western - transept was standing. - - “Between the choir and presbytery there rise the massive Norman - piers built as the entrance to the apse; and these are the only - remains of the Norman church east of the octagon.”--(W. D. S.) - -The magnificent =Choir-Stalls=, with their beautiful canopies, are thought -to be Walsingham’s work. They are considered the finest Decorated stalls -in existence. The misereres show wonderful carvings. - -The =Reredos=, of alabaster, designed by Scott, stands in the centre of -the screen of stone that runs along the whole of the presbytery, the -lower part of which is a diaper pattern and the upper portion an open -arcade of six arches (Early Decorated style). - - “The east end of Ely is the grandest example of the grouping of - lancets.... Ely is also undoubtedly the head of all east ends and - eastern limbs of that class in which the main body of the church is - of the same height throughout, and in which the aisles are brought - out to the full length of the building.”--(E. A. F.) - -At the end of the north-choir-aisle we come to the =Chapel of Bishop -Alcock= (died 1500), Bishop of Ely from 1486 to 1500. He was a great -architect, built the great hall in the Bishop’s palace at Ely and also -this very ornate chapel. It dates from 1488. The roof is composed of -fan-tracery, with a large pendant; and the walls are covered with -canopies, tabernacles, crockets, niches, panels and other decorations -with lavish display. The figures have gone from the niches. A cock on a -globe--Alcock’s rebus--occurs on the stone-work very frequently. - -At the end of the south-choir-aisle we find the corresponding =Chapel of -Bishop West= (died 1533). This is similar in style to the Alcock chapel, -but less ornate. - -Several bishops are buried in this chapel. Though we may care little or -nothing for the careers of the dignitaries who lie there, or who are -perpetuated by monuments, we find among the tombs some fine examples of -sculpture and ornament of the past. - -For instance, that of =Bishop Louth= (died 1298), under the first arch of -the presbytery in the south-choir-aisle, is a fine example of Early -Decorated. - -In the last arch, before reaching Bishop West’s Chapel, the tomb of -=Bishop Hotham= (died 1337) calls for attention. - -Under the four arches of the presbytery on the north, between the stalls -and the altar, is that of =Bishop Redman= (died 1505), a very fine -specimen of enriched Perpendicular work. - -Next is the effigy of =Bishop Kilkenny= (died 1256), a fine example of -Early English. - -In the next arch a large Decorated structure of two stories, believed by -Scott to have been built by Walsingham as the base for the =Shrine of St. -Etheldreda=, was formerly known as Bishop Hotham’s shrine. - -In the arch north of the altar is the tomb of the builder of the -presbytery, =Bishop Northwold= (died 1254), who is represented in full -vestments. - -It is only natural that the transepts should show similarity with those -of Winchester, consecrated in 1093, seven years before Simeon of -Winchester came to Ely. He began his work, as we have seen, here, and -got up as far as the triforium. The clerestory was added by his -successor. Alterations took place at later periods, and now both -triforium and clerestory are almost identical with those in the nave. - -In the south transept Perpendicular windows of - -[Illustration: ELY: EAST END AND LADY-CHAPEL] - -[Illustration: ELY: LADY-CHAPEL] - -three lights have replaced the western windows of the triforium. Two -large Perpendicular windows ornament the north end and a curious window -of seven lights adorns the south. Galleries, arches, and arcades afford -exceedingly interesting study. - -On the east of the north transept are three chapels, one of which has -been restored for private devotion. Old paintings of the Martyrdom of -St. Edmund on the roof have given it the name of =St. Edmund’s Chapel=. -The screen in front dates from about 1350. - -From the north transept we enter the =Lady-Chapel=. - - “Notwithstanding the cruel mutilation of the sculpture all round - this chapel, it can be seen that for perfection of exquisite work - there is no building of the size in this country worthy for one - moment to be compared with this in its unmutilated state. Its - single defect strikes the beholder at once: the span of the roof is - too broad and the vaulting too depressed for the size of the - chapel. The windows on the north have been restored. The end - windows, which are of great size, are of later date; that to the - east has a look of Transition work about it. The building was - finished in 1349, and the east window was inserted by Bishop - Barnet, _circa_ 1373. The great beauty of the interior consists in - the series of tabernacle work and canopies that run round all the - four sides below and between the windows. The heads of the canopies - project. In the tracery beneath, at the head of the mullion, was a - statue. The delicate carving of the cusps and other tracery is - varied throughout. On the spandrels were incidents connected with - the history of the Virgin Mary (mainly legendary) and of Julian the - Apostate; and though in no single instance is a perfect uninjured - specimen left, yet enough remains, in all but a few cases, for the - original subjects to be identified. All was once enriched with - colour, and many traces remain; and in various parts of the windows - there are fragments of stained glass. Most of the monumental - tablets which once disfigured the arcade below the windows have - been happily removed into the vestibule. The arches and canopies at - the east end are arranged differently from those on the sides. In - the roof, which reminds us of the contemporary roof in the choir, - are some carved bosses, not large, but singularly good. Among the - subjects can be recognised a Crucifixion, with half-figures beside - the cross; Adam and Eve; the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, holding - between them a book inscribed ‘Magnificat’; the Annunciation, with - ‘Ave Maria Gratia plena’; the Ascension, indicated by the skirt and - feet of the Saviour and five heads of apostles; the Coronation of - the Virgin; and the Virgin in an aureole.”--(W. D. S.) - - - - -NORWICH - - DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - - -This Cathedral was begun in 1096 by Herbert de Losinga, the bishop -appointed by William Rufus, who had received his education in Normandy, -and who became prior of Fécamp. No earlier church stood on the site. It -was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. - - “The characteristics of the cathedral are--its long nave, which is - typical of the Norman church; its glorious apsidal termination, - encircled by a procession path, which recalls the plan of a French - cathedral; and the form of this, with the remains of its old - bishops’ chair centrally placed, and with the westward position, of - the throne at Torcello and other Italian churches, of the basilican - type of plan. - - “It is interesting to note that Herbert’s early French training - influenced him in the planning of the beautiful eastern termination - to his cathedral, and the grand sweep of the procession path. - Similar apsidal terminations, of slightly later date, once existed - at Ely, and still remain in a modified form at Peterborough and St. - Bartholomew’s. - - “It is probable, and the more generally accredited supposition, - that Herbert built the presbytery with its encircling procession - path and the original trefoil of Norman chapel radiating - therefrom;--the choir and transepts with the two chapels projecting - eastwards and the first two bays of the nave. Harrod advances a - theory that he completely finished the whole of the cathedral - church, as well as the offices for the housing of the sixty monks - who were placed therein, in 1101.”--(C. H. B. Q.) - -Norwich acquired its chief saint in the Twelfth Century, and a saint, -moreover, that much resembled Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln. A young -boy, William, the child of simple country people, was murdered by the -Jews in the city. Immediately after his death miracles took place. The -monks placed his altar near the ante-choir, and raked in the offerings. - -The Cathedral suffered from fires, and the tower was struck by lightning -in 1271. There was also a terrible riot between the people and the monks -in the Thirteenth Century, when the Cathedral was besieged. The -monastery and the Cathedral were burned, and many monks were killed. -Some citizens of Norwich were hanged, drawn and quartered, and the city -had to repair the church. The monks were compelled to erect new gates -and entrances, one of which, St. Ethelbert’s Gate, still exists (see -page 351). - -About 1361 the spire and parts of the tower were blown down, and the -presbytery was damaged. Therefore, the clerestory was rebuilt, and in -the transitional style from Decorated to Perpendicular. The Cloisters -date from about this time, and so does the Erpingham Gate. In the middle -of the Fifteenth Century the nave vault was constructed; and it was -under the two rules of Bishop Lyhart and Bishop Goldwell that the -Cathedral was practically completed as we see it to-day. Dean Gardiner -pulled down the Lady-Chapel and the Chapter-House in the Sixteenth -Century, and in the Seventeenth Century Cromwell’s soldiers took -possession. - -Bishop Hall tells us how they behaved: - - “Lord, what work was here, what clattering of glasses, what beating - down the Walls, what tearing up of Monuments, what pulling down of - Seats, what wresting out of Irons and Brass from the Windows and - Graves! What defacing of Armes, what demolishing of curious stone - work, that had not any representation in the World, but only of the - cost of the Founder and skill of the Mason, what toting and piping - upon the destroyed Organ pipes, and what a hideous triumph on the - Market day before all the Countrey, when, in a kind of Sacrilegious - and profane procession, all the Organ pipes, Vestments, both Copes - and Surplices, together with the Leaden Crosse which had been newly - sawne down from over the Green-Yard Pulpit, and the Service books - and singing books that could be had, were carried to the fire in - the publick Market place; A leud wretch walking before the Train, - in his Cope trailing in the dirt, with a Service book in his hand, - imitating in an impious scorne the tune, and usurping the words of - the Letany; neer the Publick Crosse, all these monuments of - Idolatry must be sacrificed to the fire, not without much - Ostentation of a zealous joy.” - -The Precincts are, like those of all English cathedrals, lovely, and -these are fortunate enough to be entered by several ancient gates. The -one on the south, =St. Ethelbert’s Gate= (Early Decorated), was built in -the Thirteenth Century, after the riots and fire of 1272. The =Gate House= -(Perpendicular), on the north, is the entrance to the Bishop’s Palace. - -Opposite the west front we find the =Erpingham Gate=, built about 1420, by -Sir Thomas Erpingham, whose figure stands in the niche over the wide -arch. It is a greatly admired piece of Perpendicular work. - -The =West Front= (Perpendicular) clearly defines the width of the nave and -the aisles on either side. Over the centre door is the large west window -of nine lights, often compared to the window of Westminster Hall. Above -is a gable, surmounted by a cross. The doors date from 1436, and the -west window from Bishop Lyhart’s time (1446-1472). There are no towers -here; for the pinnacles placed on the side turrets in 1875 are not -deserving of this name. - - “The Tower and Spire stand at the intersection of the choir and - transepts, covered with vertical shafts on the face of each. The - tower is Norman buttress, which is finished by a crocketed - pinnacle. Between these buttresses are horizontal bands of design: - the lowest, a Norman arcade of nine arches, three of which are - pierced as windows; then, above this, a smaller wall arcade with - interlaced arches; and then, above again, the principal feature, an - arcading of nine arches, three pierced for windows, and the others - filled with wall tracery of diamonds and circles; then, between - this last and the battlemented parapet, occur five vertical panels, - each comprising two circles, the upper pierced for a window. Above, - soaring upward, rises the later crocketed spire. The rest of the - tower was finished during the reign of Henry I., and is a beautiful - specimen of the work of that time; the stonework was almost - entirely refaced in 1856. The tower was crowned by a wooden spire - from 1297; this was blown down in 1361, damaging the presbytery so - badly that the clerestory had to be rebuilt. The wooden spire was - constructed probably at the same time, and the present Early - Perpendicular turrets were added. The spire was again in 1463 - struck by lightning, and again falling eastward, went through the - presbytery roof. The present spire was then constructed in stone by - Bishop Lyhart (1446-72), and was finished by his successor, Bishop - Goldwell (1472-99), who added the battlements. - - “It will hardly be necessary to enlarge on the beauty of this spire - of Norwich, as the dominant feature, seen from the south-east, - rising above the curved sweep of the apse, and strongly buttressed - by the south transept, it stands up, clearly defined against the - western sky, and points upward, significant and symbolical at once - of the ends and aspirations of the church below. - - “The eastern arm, or presbytery, takes its history from the tower. - Here, as in the nave, the original triforium windows are blocked - up, and a range of Perpendicular work superimposed on the old. - Above and beyond this, supported between each bay by - flying-buttresses, comes the transitional Decorated to - Perpendicular clerestory, higher than the original Norman - clerestory remaining to the nave. At the base of each - flying-buttress are figures of saints. The roof and Norman - clerestory were damaged by the falling tower in 1361, but were - rebuilt by Bishop Percy, 1355-69. This work is transitional - Decorated to Perpendicular. The presbytery was then re-roofed with - a framed timber construction, which was consumed by the falling of - the burning spire, struck by lightning in 1463. The present stone - vault was added in its place by Bishop Goldwell, 1472-99. This - necessitated the addition as well of flying-buttresses to take the - thrust of the vault. - - “The battlementing to the presbytery also was added at the same - time as the flying-buttresses. - - “It will also be noted that here, as in the nave, an addition was - made in the way of a range of later ‘Perpendicular’ windows - superimposed over the original Norman triforium, which was blocked - up.”--(C. H. B. Q.) - -The south transept projects under the central tower. - -Next follows the =Chapel of St. Mary the Less= (Fourteenth Century) -projecting southward, then the circular =Chapel of St. Luke= (Norman), -very peculiar in form, with two rows of arcading. - -The north side is well viewed from the =Bishop’s Gardens=. It differs -little from the south side, except in the fact that it has been less -restored. The chapel corresponding with the Chapel of St. Luke is the -=Jesus Chapel=, and is also circular. Here we find Perpendicular windows -inserted in the Norman work. - - “The nave on the south side can be seen well either from the upper - or lower Close, and can be better examined in detail from the - interior of the cloisters. Its elevation consists of fourteen bays - divided by flat Norman buttresses. In height it is composed of - what, at first sight, appears a bewildering confusion of arches, - arcades and windows. Over the aisle windows, hidden by the north - walk of cloisters, comes a Norman wall arcading; and over this the - Norman triforium windows blocked up, and again, above the later - Perpendicular triforium, superimposed on the old, and finished with - a battlemented parapet. Behind this come the triforium roof, and - then beyond the original Norman clerestory, each bay with a triple - arch formation, the centre arch pierced for a window. And then - above all, the lead roof over the nave vault. - - “The radical changes that have taken place since the nave was built - by Bishop Eborard (1121-45) consist of the insertion in the aisles - of later ‘Decorated’ traceried windows in place of the original - Norman ones, and of the superimposition, before referred to, at - triforium level, of a whole range of ‘Perpendicular’ windows over - the old Norman work, which were blocked up at this period. The - battlementing, too, over the clerestory to the nave is later work, - to correspond with battlementing over the triforium windows. It - will be noticed that the two bays next the transept in the - triforium are higher than the others, in order to throw additional - light into the choir. - - “Also on this same south side, in the seventh and eighth bays from - the west end, two very late windows occur, inserted in the Norman - arcading under the original triforium windows; these were inserted - by Bishop Nykke to light the chapel he built in two bays of the - south aisle of the nave. - - “The curious raking of the lead rolls to the nave roof is - noticeable; the mediæval builders did this with a view of - counteracting the ‘crawl’ of the lead.”--(C. H. B. Q.) - -Norwich Cathedral is famous for its magnificent interior. A noble view -is obtained on entering, for the great =Nave= reaches 200 feet to the -choir-screen; and if the organ on the latter were removed, the view -would be longer, for the extreme length of the Cathedral is 407 feet. -The perspective is splendid, as it is, and very largely is it so because -of the lierne vault of Perpendicular days, which relieves the severity -of the Norman work below. - -The nave consists of seven double bays (fourteen compartments) from the -west end to the transepts. The main piers are, of course, large, and the -arcade arches are ornamented with the billet. The triforium arches are -decorated with a chevron or zigzag. Over it is the typical Norman -clerestory and above all spreads the handsome lierne vault -(Perpendicular). This splendid vault (72 feet), built by Bishop Lyhart -(1446-1472), after the Norman roof had been destroyed by fire in 1463, -is of great value to the student. There are 328 carved bosses at the -intersection of the ribs, the subjects of which are taken from Biblical -history. - - “The vault is of Perpendicular design, and known as _lierne_; such - vaults may be distinguished by the fact that between the main ribs, - springing from the vaulting shafts, are placed cross ribs forming a - pattern, as it were, and bracing the main ribs, but not in any - great measure structural. This vault at Norwich may be taken as - typical of the last legitimate development of the stone roof; it - was the precursor of the later fan-vaulting, such as we find in - Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster, where legitimate construction - was replaced by ostentatious ingenuity and the accumulation of - needless ornament and detail. - - “To all those who take an interest in early stone-cutting, this - vault of Norwich is a store of inexhaustible treasure; the bosses, - rudely cut as they are, tell their own tales with singular truth - and directness. Their sculpture may not display the anatomical - knowledge of the work of the Renaissance; yet it has a distinct - decorative value that has been seldom equalled in the later - decadent period. The fourteen large central bosses on the main - longitudinal ribs present in themselves an epitome not only of - Bible history, but of the connecting incidents forming the theme of - Christian teaching. In the tenth bay, on the longitudinal rib, - there is, in place of a boss, a circular hole through the vault. - It is supposed to have been formed to allow a thurible to be - suspended therefrom into the church below. Harrod, quoting from - Lambard’s ‘Topographical Dictionary,’ says: ‘I myself, being a - child, once saw in Poule’s Church at London, at a feast of - Whitsontide, wheare the comyng down of the Holy Gost was set forth - by a white pigeon that was let to fly _out of a hole that is yet to - be seen in the mydst of the roof of the great ile_, and by a long - censer which, descending out of the same place almost to the very - ground, was swinged up and down at such a length that it reached at - one swepe _almost to the west gate of the church, and with the - other to the queer [quire] stairs of the same_, breathing out over - the whole church and companie a most pleasant perfume of such sweet - things as burned therein.’ - - “It is probable that the hole in the nave vault at Norwich was used - for a similar purpose; and its position would seem to agree with - such use, situated as it is about midway between the west end and - where the front of the mediæval rood loft occurred.”--(C. H. B. Q.) - -In the aisles we find Decorated windows, and in the triforium, -Perpendicular windows. - -The =Choir-Screen= was erected by Bishop Lyhart in 1446-1472, but only the -lower part survived the fury of the Puritan mob. The organ was placed in -its present position in 1833. Immediately under the organ loft is a -single compartment, blocked off from the north and south aisles by -screens that originally belonged to one old screen (Perpendicular). This -=ante-chapel= was formerly the chapel of Our Lady of Pity. - -The =Choir= extends a little into the nave, and, therefore, beyond the -tower and transepts. There are sixty splendid =Choir-stalls= of the -Fifteenth Century, with ornate _misereres_. The Bishop’s Throne and -Pulpit are modern. The old Pelican Lectern, in the Decorated style, -should be noticed. - -[Illustration: NORWICH: EAST] - -[Illustration: NORWICH: CHOIR] - -The =Presbytery= is the earliest part of the cathedral. It consists of -four compartments, or bays, and terminates in a semicircular apse of -five compartments. We find here Perpendicular arches, a lofty Norman -triforium, and clerestory windows of the transitional period from -Decorated to Perpendicular. The whole effect is Norman and noble. -Unfortunately the old glass of the windows has perished. - -The aisles of the presbytery are also called the =Processional Path=, and -consist of four bays, and five around the apse. A door in the north -aisle opens into the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace; and in this aisle, -at the fourth bay east of the tower, there is a very peculiar -bridge-chapel that spans the aisle. Critics say that it formed the -ante-chapel to the reliquary chapel projecting northward from the outer -wall of the Cathedral, and that it was probably built as a bridge for -exhibiting relics as the processions passed along underneath. - -On the south side of the presbytery (third bay) is the =Chapel of St. -Mary the Less=, or =Bauchon Chapel= (Fourteenth Century). It projects -beyond the wall. The vault is Fifteenth Century, and the bosses -represent the Life, Death and Assumption of the Virgin. This is now the -Consistory Court. - -The =north transept= is without aisles or triforium. Arcading decorates -the wall up to the clerestory. Above is a lierne vault of later date, of -course, than the transept. The old apsidal chapel on the east (dedicated -to St. Anne) is now used as a storeroom. - -A staircase in the east wall of the north transept leads to the -tower-galleries and walks, very interesting in themselves and affording -glimpses through their openings into the nave, presbytery and transepts -below. - -Between the south aisle of the presbytery and the =south transept= a -beautiful screen of late Perpendicular tracery fills the Norman arch. -The roof, like that of the north transept, originally of wood, was -destroyed by fire in 1509, and a new vault added in Perpendicular times. - -Of the three chapels grouped around the presbytery the =Jesus Chapel= on -the north and the chapel on the south, =St. Luke’s=, remain. The -=Lady-Chapel=, at the extreme east, has perished. - -The Norman Lady-Chapel was partly destroyed by the fire of 1169, and was -succeeded by an Early English chapel of the Thirteenth Century. This was -destroyed in the Sixteenth Century; but the finely proportioned entrance -arches still remain. They are ornamented with the dog-tooth. - -It is not often that ancient altar-pieces are found in the English -cathedrals; but Norwich possesses a =Retable=, supposed to be the work of -an Italian painter of the Fourteenth Century. It is in five panels--The -Scourging, Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. -It was formerly in the Jesus Chapel. - -The =Cloisters= are in their usual position--on the south. Originally -these were Norman, and perished by fire in 1272. The present ones were -133 years in building, and so they reveal the developments of -architecture during 1297-1430. The cloister garth is about 145 feet -square. - - “The arches are filled with open tracery carried by two mullions. - - “On the east side it is geometrical in character, the work being - transitional between Early English and Decorated; on the south - side the tracery is more flowing and has advanced to Decorated; on - the west side again, we get the transitional style between - Decorated and Perpendicular, with some _flamboyant_ or flame-like - detail; while on the north and latest side it is frankly - Perpendicular.”--(C. H. B. Q.) - -They are entered from the south side of the nave, of course. The =Monk’s -Door=, opening into the East Walk, is an ornate specimen of -Perpendicular; and the =Prior’s Door=, opening into the West Walk, a fine -specimen of Early Decorated. - - - - -ST. ALBANS - - DEDICATION: ST. ALBAN. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - - -When Sir Gilbert Scott began to restore and repair the old abbey church -of St. Albans, in 1870, he found it in a very dilapidated condition. -Among other base uses to which various parts of the Cathedral had been -put, the Lady-Chapel had been converted into a grammar-school, and a -thoroughfare had been made through the retro-choir. After Scott’s death, -in 1878, Lord Grimthorpe, who had been diligent and liberal for years -regarding restorations, succeeded in getting control of the entire work. -He made various changes and additions, and inserted windows at his own -pleasure, not always with judgment, nor in the best taste. The -consequence is that St. Albans is open to much criticism. Yet it remains -an interesting old pile in many respects. - -St. Albans did not become a cathedral until 1877. It was a famous old -abbey church, dating back to the days of Offa II., King of the Mercians, -who founded a Benedictine monastery here about 793. From this time until -the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the Abbey of St. -Albans was of the greatest importance. Its Abbot had a seat in the House -of Lords, and took precedence of all the abbots in the kingdom. -Naturally, therefore, the list of abbots is notable. Some of them were -related to the royal family. Among those especially distinguished were: -Paul of Caen, John de Cella, William of Trumpington, John of Hertford, -Roger of Norton, Hugh of Eversden, Richard of Wallingford, Thomas de la -Mare, John de la Moote, John of Wheathampstead, and Thomas Wolsey, the -great cardinal. - -Royalty was entertained in the Abbey on many occasions as both guest and -prisoner. When the Abbey was consecrated in 1115 by the Archbishop of -Rouen, Henry I. and his queen, Matilda, with their courtiers, were -entertained from December 27 until January 6; Richard II. stayed here -for eight days after Wat Tyler’s rebellion had subsided; and here the -conspiracy against him was planned, when the Duke of Gloucester and the -Prior of Westminster were dining with the abbot, John de la Moote. In -1399 John of Gaunt’s body rested here; and Richard II., and Henry, Duke -of Lancaster (Henry IV.) were here in the same year. During the Wars of -the Roses the Abbey of St. Albans was frequently used as a prison. In -the first battle of St. Albans (May 23, 1455), when the White Roses were -victorious, Henry was confined in the monastery; but in the second -battle (February 17, 1461), the king, having been captured, was set at -liberty by his brave wife, Margaret of Anjou, who marched from Wakefield -with 18,000 men. The royal party went to the Abbey, where the monks -chanted thanksgiving and in every way received them with delight. The -undisciplined horde of soldiers unfortunately ran wild in the town and -plundered the Abbey. Their behaviour was such that Abbot John Stokes -changed his politics, and became an ardent Yorkist. - -Among the celebrated monks of St. Albans Matthew Paris takes the lead, -the great historian whose book begins with the creation and continues to -1259. - -St. Albans for a long period received “Peter’s Pence.” This was first -levied by the King of the West Saxons in 727, and was a tax of one penny -on each family owning lands. The receipt amounted to thirty pence a year -and went to the support of a Saxon College at Rome; and because it was -collected on August 1 (the day of St. Peter ad Vincula) it was called -“Peter’s Pence.” Offa induced the Pope to give it to the Abbey of St. -Albans. - -The monastic buildings have all perished, and the only remnant of the -Abbey is the =Great Gate=, built in the days of Thomas de la Mare, about -1365. Over the archway there is a large room in which sessions used to -be held, and below the road the curious may inspect the dungeons. This -Gateway was a law-court and prison; and, as the Abbot of St. Albans had -civil jurisdiction over all the town, as well as his monastery, many -offenders were tried and condemned here. In the days of Wat Tyler’s -rebellion John Ball and his seventeen companions were tried here and -spent their last days in the dungeons. Another scene that we can picture -is that of the monks bringing out ale and wine to quell the fury of the -mob that stormed the Gatehouse before the news of Wat Tyler’s death -arrived. - -St. Albans was a favorite place of pilgrimage, for it sheltered the -remains of the first Christian martyr in Britain. Alban, or Albans, was -a young soldier, who, during the persecution of the Christians in the -Fourth Century, befriended a deacon named Amphibalus by receiving him in -his house. Amphibalus converted him. Alban exchanged clothing with him -so that he might escape. Amphibalus was captured, however, and executed -near Verulamium. Alban was also beheaded; and a few years after his -death a church was built over the spot where his blood had been shed. -The north transept of the existing church is said to cover this place. - -Matthew Paris states that the body of St. Alban was, during an invasion, -removed from the church for safety, and afterward placed in its original -grave. Offa II. found the coffin containing the remains of the martyr -and laid them in a splendid reliquary, taking care first to place a -golden band around the head with the inscription “_Hoc est caput Sancti -Albani_.” Offa also had the martyr canonized. With a miracle-working -shrine, the richly-endowed monastery continued to flourish. - -The Abbey Church was deemed quite large enough until Paul of Caen -(1077-1093) was appointed abbot by William the Conqueror. In about -eleven years only (1077-1088) he rebuilt St. Albans, using many of the -Roman bricks from the ruins of the neighbouring Verulamium and timber -already collected. His was an enormous Norman edifice (460 feet), longer -even than Canterbury (290 feet). - -After a hundred years or so, Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) made -various changes. Money was raised in various ways for the purpose, and -among them the abbot persuaded his monks to do without wine for fifteen -years and contribute the savings to the fund for building. - -After him came William of Trumpington (1214-1235), who continued the -work of building. He also constructed the cloister. Let us see exactly -in what their work consisted: - - “Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) pulled down the west front and - began to build a new one in its place. He laid the foundation of - the whole front, but then went on with the north side first. The - north porch was nearly finished in his time; the central porch was - carried up as far as the spring of the arch; the southern porch was - carried hardly any way up from the foundations. The porches are - described by those who saw them before Lord Grimthorpe swept away - the whole west front as some of the choicest specimens of - Thirteenth Century work in England. The mouldings were of great - delicacy, and were enriched with dog-tooth ornament. It is said - that Abbot John was not a good man of business, and that he was - sorely robbed and cheated by his builders, and so had not money - enough to finish the work that he had planned. To his successor, - William of Trumpington, it therefore fell to carry on the work. He - was a man of a more practical character, though not equal to his - predecessor in matters of taste. He finished the main part of the - western front. Oddly enough no dog-tooth ornament was used in the - central and southern porches, and the character of the carved - foliage differs also from that of the north porch. In Abbot John’s - undoubted work the curling leaves overlap, and have strongly - defined stems resembling the foliage of Lincoln choir, while that - of Abbot William’s time had the ordinary character of the Early - English style. There is evidence to show that he intended to vault - the church with a stone roof; this may be seen from the marble - vaulting-shafts on the north side of the nave between the arches of - the main arcade, which, however, are not carried higher than the - string-course below the triforium. The idea of a stone vault was, - however, abandoned before the two eastern Early English bays on the - south side were built, for no preparation for vaulting shafts - exists there. - - “Abbot John de Cella had begun to build afresh the western towers, - or, according to some authorities, to build the first western - towers that the church ever had; we have no record of their - completion, and it is said that Abbot William abandoned the idea. - We have only the foundations by which we can determine their size. - William of Trumpington transformed the windows of the aisles into - Early English ones. He also added a wooden lantern to the tower, - somewhat in the style of the wooden octagon on the central tower of - Ely.”--(T. P.) - -The next changes were made in the east end. These were begun in the last -half of the Thirteenth Century. The walls of the presbytery were raised; -the Saint’s Chapel built; then the retro-choir; and then the Lady-Chapel -(1326). - -Then Hugh of Eversden (1308-1326) became abbot and had to rebuild the -part of the nave that fell in 1323. His work was continued by Richard of -Wallingford (1326-1335) and completed by Michael of Mentmore in 1345. - -John de Wheathampstead, who was twice abbot (1420-1440, and 1451-1464), -rebuilt the upper part of the west front, made changes in the roofs, -inserted Perpendicular windows in the ends of the transept, and also -converted the Norman triforium arches into windows by filling them with -Perpendicular tracery. His chantry was built after his death. William of -Wallingford (1476-1484) contributed the gorgeous screen. - -The exterior has no interest for the student of architecture. The -enormous church is plain, and Lord Grimthorpe has been at work -everywhere. The only feature that has any real beauty is the fine Norman -tower. - - “It is 144 feet high and is not quite square in plan, measuring 47 - feet from east to west, and two feet less from north to south. The - walls are about seven feet thick; in the thickness, however, - passages are cut. It has three stages above the ridges of the roof. - The lower stage has plain windows in each face, lighting the church - below; the next stage, or ringing room, has two pairs of double - windows; and the upper or belfry stage, two double windows of large - size, furnished with louvre boards. The parapet is battlemented, - and of course of later work than the tower itself. The tower is - flanked by pilaster buttresses, which merge into cylindrical - turrets in the upper story. For simple dignity the tower stands - unrivalled in this country. It must have been splendidly built to - have stood as it has done so many centuries without accident. - Winchester tower fell not long after its building, Peterborough - tower has been rebuilt in modern days; but Paul of Caen did not - scamp his work as the monks of Peterborough did, and no evil-living - king was buried below the tower, as was the case at Winchester, - thus, according to the beliefs of the time, leading to its - downfall. Tewkesbury tower alone can vie with that of St. Albans, - and the Seventeenth Century pinnacles on that tower spoil the - general effect, so that the foremost place among central Norman - towers as we see them to-day may safely be claimed for that at St. - Albans. Few more beautiful architectural objects can be seen than - this tower of Roman brick, especially when the warmth of its colour - is accentuated by the ruddy flush thrown over it by the rays of a - setting sun.”--(T. P.) - -The pilgrims to St. Alban’s shrine used to enter by the =North Door of -the Transept=, carrying the candles that they had bought at the Waxhouse -Gate. This Norman doorway, with a Norman window on each side (modern -glass), still exists. The upper part of the north wall with the wheel -window was rebuilt by Lord Grimthorpe. - -The nave is immensely long--about a tenth of a mile. It is Norman, grim, -and cold, but impressive. - - “As we stand just inside the west door of the church we are struck - by the length of ritual nave, about 200 feet, the flatness of the - roofs, and the massiveness of the arcading dividing the nave from - the aisles; for, though the four western bays on the north side and - five on the south are Early English in date, there is none of that - lightness and grace that we are accustomed to associate with work - of this period, no detached shafts of Purbeck marble such as we see - at Salisbury, no exquisitely carved capitals such - -[Illustration: ST. ALBANS: NORTH] - -[Illustration: ST. ALBANS: NAVE, EAST] - - as we meet with at Wells. William of Trumpington seems to have - aimed at making his work harmonize with the Norman work that he - left untouched; and when the rest of the main arcade on the south - side was rebuilt in the next century, it was made to differ but - little in general appearance and dimensions from Abbot William’s. - - “On entering by the west door a peculiarity will at once be - noticed. About fifteen feet from the inner side of the west wall - there is a rise of five steps which stretch right across the church - from north to south. The floor to the east of these steps slopes - imperceptibly upwards for eight bays, when a rise of three more - steps is met with. On this higher level stands the altar, which is - backed up by the rood screen. There is another step to be ascended - to the level of the choir, and another to reach the space below the - tower. Five steps lead from this into the presbytery; there is - another step at the high altar rails, and four more lead up to the - platform on which the high altar will stand. From the space below - the tower one step leads up into the north aisle and two more into - the north arm of the transept. From the level of the south choir - aisle and south transept two steps lead up into the south aisle of - the presbytery; from this aisle there is a rise of four steps into - the aisle south of the Saint’s Chapel, and from this into the - chapel itself a rise of four more. So that the floor of this chapel - is, with the exception of the high altar platform, which is one - step higher, the highest in the whole church, or nineteen steps - above the floor just inside the west door. From the aisle of the - Saint’s Chapel one step leads into the retro-choir, and two more - into the Lady-Chapel; hence the floor of the Lady-Chapel is one - step lower than that of the Saint’s Chapel. If we take seven inches - as the average height of a step, it would appear that the floor of - the Lady-Chapel is about ten feet higher than the floor at the west - end of the nave.”--(T. P.) - -The nave is blocked behind the altar with a =Rood screen=, of Fourteenth -Century work, much restored. It is pierced by two doors (also Fourteenth -Century), through which processions passed into the choir. Upon it the -organ is placed. - -The eastern part of the nave was rebuilt after the calamity that -happened on St. Paulinus’s Day (October 10), 1323. Mass had just been -celebrated, and the church was still crowded with men, women and -children, when two of the great piers of the main arcade on the south -side fell outwards, crushing the south wall of the aisle and cloisters. -Soon the wooden roof of the nave also fell. Strange to relate nobody was -injured; and although the shrine of St. Amphibalus was damaged, still -the chest that contained his relics suffered no harm. - -All this part of the church had to be rebuilt; and, of course, the south -arcade differs from the northern one. - -A massive pier, either the original Norman or one rebuilt in the Norman -style, divides the five Early English bays on the west from the -Decorated ones on the east. West we find the characteristic tooth -ornament; and east, the characteristic ball-flower. - -When the pestilence was raging in London (only twenty miles away) in -1543, 1589, and 1593, courts of justice were held in this nave. On the -north side a pier bears an inscription to the memory of Sir John -Mandeville, the famous traveller, who was born at St. Albans in the -Fourteenth Century and educated in the monastery school. - -The massive piers were coated with plaster and then painted. Each has -traces of the same picture of the Crucifixion, with a second subject -below it. This subject differs on every column. The soffits of the -arches were also bright with colour, so that the severity and plainness -that we now feel were originally missing. - - “Although in the four western bays of the main arcade the Early - English work is very plain, yet the triforium is ornate. The - arcading consists of two pointed arches in each bay, each - comprising two sub-arches; the supporting columns are slender and - enriched with dog-tooth mouldings, with which also the - string-course below the triforium is decorated. The shafts, which - probably were intended to support a stone vault over the nave, - should be noticed. - - “The triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large, - wide-splayed, round-headed openings, in which the tracery and - glazing introduced in the Fifteenth Century, when the aisle roof - was lowered in pitch so as to expose the north side of the - triforium to the sky, still remains. One of the triforium arches, - namely, the third from the tower, was simply walled up at this - time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory in this part - of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. Between - each bay the outer southern face of each Norman pier is continued - in the form of the flat pilaster buttress up to the roof.”--(T. P.) - -The piers of the choir, like those of the nave, were originally painted. -So was the ceiling. Wall-paintings were likewise discovered between the -clerestory windows in 1875. The choir-stalls and Bishop’s Throne are -modern. In the south-choir-aisle the tomb of =Roger and Sigar=, two local -hermits, was once a place of pious pilgrimage. - -The arches of the =Tower= are fifty-five feet high. The four inside faces -of the lantern contain windows above the arcade, and the ceiling of the -lantern (102 feet from the floor) is painted with the red and white -roses of Lancaster and York, and various coats-of-arms. The effect of -the tower is impressive. The peal consists of eight bells, cast in -London in 1699. Some of the bells have been recast. - -Beneath the =Presbytery= notable abbots, monks and laymen were given -burial. The presbytery is divided from the aisles by solid walls, broken -by the Ramryge and Wheathampstead chantries, and two doorways: it is -closed in on the east side by a magnificent screen, constructed during -William of Wallingford’s rule (1476-1484), and generally known as the -=Wallingford Screen=. It is hard to realize that the lace-like canopies, -of which it is composed, are made of stone. The material is clunch, a -hard stone from the lower chalk formation. This great reredos has been -restored of late years and filled with statues. There are no records to -describe or even name the original figures; but those now occupying the -niches, by Mr. H. Hems, of Exeter, are, beginning on the left and -reading downwards: (1) St. Titus, St. Timothy, St. Barnabas, Angel -Gabriel; (2) King Edmund, St. Cuthbert, St. Augustine; (3) St. Oswyn, -St. Giles, St. Cecilia, St. Boniface, St. Katherine, St. David; (4) King -Offa, St. Helen, oak door; (5) St. Ethelbert, St. Leonard, St. Agnes, -St. Nicholas, St. Frideswide, St. Chad; (6) Edward the Confessor, St. -Benedict, St. Alban; (7) Angel, Angel, Angel; (8) Angel, Blessed Virgin -Mary; (9) Crucifix; (10) Angel, St. John; (11) Angel, Angel, Angel; (12) -St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. Patrick, St. Amphibalus; (13) Edward King of -West Saxons, St. Lawrence, St. Lucy, St. Wolfstan, St. Osyth, St. -Alphege; (14) Pope Adrian IV., St. Etheldreda, oak door; (15) St. -George, St. Benedict, Biscop, St. Ethelberga, St. Richard; (17) The -Venerable Bede, St. Germain, St. Erkenwald, St. Margaret, St. Ælfric; -(18) St. Paul, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Mary the Virgin. Below the -Crucifix stands a row of smaller statues representing Christ and the -Twelve Apostles. On Christ’s right: St. James Minor, St. Philip, St. -John, St. James Major, St. Andrew, St. Peter; and on his left: St. -Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon, St. Matthias and St. -Jude. - -On the right and left of the altar are chantries. The south one is that -of =John of Wheathampstead=, who was twice Abbot (1420-1440, and -1451-1464). His effigy is robed in full vestments, carries a pastoral -staff and wears a mitre. His rebus--three ears of wheat--and his -motto--_Valles habundabunt_--appear in various places. - -On the other side of the steps the handsomer =Ramryge Chantry= -commemorates Abbot Thomas Ramryge, who also has a rebus--a ram wearing a -collar with the letters R. Y. G. E. upon it. He entered office in 1492, -and, strange to relate, no details of his rule are known. The date of -his death is also a blank. Yet here is his fine monument in the -Perpendicular style. - -Behind the Wallingford Screen lies the =Saint’s Chapel=, with the =Shrine -of St. Alban= in the centre. - - “The bones of St. Alban were of course counted as the chief - treasure of the Abbey, in some respects the most valuable relics in - the kingdom, since they were the bones of the first Christian - martyr in the island. It was meet and fitting, then, that the most - splendid resting-place should be chosen for them. The bones - themselves were enclosed in an outer and an inner case; the inner - was the work of the sixteenth Abbot, Geoffrey of Gorham - (1119-1149), and the outer of the nineteenth Abbot, Symeon - (1167-1183). These coffers were of special metal encrusted with - rich gems. It is recorded that the reliquary was so heavy that it - required four men to carry it, which they probably did by two - poles, each passing through two rings on either side of the coffer. - It is said to have been placed in a lofty position by Abbot Symeon; - but the pedestal of which we see the reconstruction to-day was - erected during the early part of the Fourteenth Century, in the - time of the twenty-sixth Abbot, John de Marinis (1302-1308). This - was built of Purbeck marble and consists of a basement 2 feet 6 - inches high, 8 feet 6 inches long, and 3 feet 2 inches wide, above - which were four canopied niches at each side and one at each end; - these were richly painted and probably contained other relics; in - the spandrels were carved figures, at the corners angels censing. - At the west end was a representation of St. Alban’s martyrdom; on - the south side in the centre was, and still is, a figure of King - Offa holding the model of a church; in the next spandrel to the - east the figure of another king; on the east side a representation - of the scourging of St. Alban, and on the north other figures, of - which the only one remaining is that of a bishop or mitred abbot. - In the pediments or gables were carvings of foliage, and round the - top of the pedestal ran a richly-carved cornice; round the base - stood fourteen detached shafts, on which perhaps the movable canopy - rested, and outside three other shafts of twisted pattern on each - side, which carried six huge candles, probably kept burning day and - night, certainly during the night, to light the chamber holding the - shrine. On this lofty pedestal, 8 feet 3 inches high, the glorious - shrine rested. It was rendered still more ornate than it was in - Abbot Symeon’s time by the addition of a silver-gilt turret, on the - lower part of which was a representation of the Resurrection with - two angels and four knights (suggested by the guard of Roman - soldiers) keeping the tomb. A silver-gilt eagle of cunning - craftsmanship stood on the shrine. All these additions were given - by Abbot Thomas de la Mare (1349-1396). A certain monk also gave - two representations of the sun in solid gold, surrounded by rays of - silver tipped with precious stones. Over all was a canopy which, - like many modern font-covers, was probably suspended by a rope - running over a pulley in the roof, by which it might be raised. - There is a mark in the roof remaining, possibly caused by the - fastening of the pulley. An altar, dedicated to St. Alban, stood at - the west end of the pedestal. - - “Such a precious thing as this jewelled shrine and the still more - precious bones within it could not be left for a moment unguarded - and unwatched, for stealing relics, when a favourable opportunity - arose, was a temptation too great to be resisted by any monks, - however holy. So on the south side of the shrine was erected a - watching loft; the one that remains was constructed probably during - the reign of Richard II., and his badge appears on it, but, no - doubt, from the first there was some such place provided for the - purpose of keeping guard. The chamber had two stories: the lower - contained cupboards, in which vestments and relics were kept, these - are now filled with various antiquarian curiosities, Roman pottery - from Verulamium, architectural fragments, etc. An oaken staircase - leads up into the chamber where the ‘custos feretri’ sat watching - the shrine day and night, guard of course being changed at - intervals. It must have been trying work watching there during the - night-time in frosty weather, but monks were accustomed to bear - cold. The watching chamber was built of oak and was richly carved. - On the south side of the cornice are angels, the hart--badge of - Richard II., the martyrdom of St. Alban, Time the reaper, and the - seasons; on the north the months of the year are represented.”--(T. - P.) - -On the south side is buried =Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester=, son of Henry -IV., brother of Henry V., and uncle of Henry VI. He died in 1447. The -handsome tomb was probably erected by the Abbot Wheathampstead, who was -a great friend of Duke Humphrey’s. - -In the north aisle of the Saint’s Chapel we come to the pedestal of the -=Shrine of St. Amphibalus= (see page 362). It stood in the centre of the -retro-choir until Lord Grimthorpe removed it to its present position. - -An oak screen separates the Saint’s Chapel from the =Retro-Choir=. This is -Lord Grimthorpe’s work, and through it we pass. The Retro-Choir dates -from the end of the Thirteenth Century, and has been greatly restored. -In the centre once stood the shrine of St. Amphibalus (now removed to -the north aisle of the Saint’s Chapel), and there were several altars: -to Our Lady of the Four Tapers; to St. Michael; to St. Edmund, King and -Martyr; to St. Peter; and to St. Amphibalus. - -The =Lady-Chapel=, greatly restored, dates from the latter part of the -Thirteenth and early part of the Fourteenth Centuries. Several changes -of style may be noted. The side windows are fine examples of the -Decorated, and the statuettes ornamenting the jambs and mullions still -remain. The eastern window of five lights is a strange combination of -tracery and tabernacle work. Originally the Lady-Chapel was separated -from the retro-choir by a screen. The glass in the windows is modern, -and the stone vaulting is also modern. Historical associations are -numerous. - -Beneath the floor lie the hated Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, -grandson of John of Gaunt; Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, son of -the famous Hotspur; and Thomas, Lord Clifford: whose bodies were found -lying dead in the streets of St. Albans, after the first battle in 1455, -in which they fell fighting for the Red Rose party. - -Beyond the eastern bay on the south side was built the =Chapel of the -Transfiguration=, dedicated in 1430. Of late years this addition was -rebuilt for a vestry. The walls were made lower than the original ones, -so as to show the fine window above that consists of a traceried arch -within a curvilinear triangle, beneath which is a row of niches. Beneath -these is a very fine row of _sedilia_ and _piscinœ_. The carving in the -new chapel is very naturalistic, and represents the poppy, buttercup, -primrose, gooseberry, rose, blackberry, pansy, ivy, maple, and -convolvulus and other local flowers and leaves. - - - - -OXFORD - - DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY, ST. MARY AND ST. FRIDESWIDE. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: CEILING IN CHOIR; WINDOWS; SHRINE OF ST. - FRIDESWIDE. - - -This Cathedral is peculiar in being almost hidden from sight in a series -of college buildings, gardens and quadrangles. It is the chapel of -Christ Church, as well as a cathedral; and to enter it we have to pass -through the gateway of the famous =Tom Tower=, and across the great -quadrangle, familiarly known as =Tom Quad=. - -The big bell =Tom= gives its name to the tower and quadrangle, is seven -feet one inch in diameter, and weighs 17,000 tons. It was brought from -Oseney Abbey with the other bells, the “merry Christ Church bells,” that -now hang in the bell-tower above the =hall staircase=. Tom was recast in -1680. - -The lower story of Tom Tower was built by Cardinal Wolsey. The cupola -was added by Sir Christopher Wren. Three sides of the quadrangle were -built by Wolsey, and the north side by Bishop Fell. As we pass through -Tom Tower we note that a statue of Cardinal Wolsey faces St. Aldgate’s, -and a statue of Queen Anne faces the quadrangle. - -=Christ Church= is the largest college in the University of Oxford, and -stands on the site of the ancient priory of St. Frideswide. - -In 1524 Cardinal Wolsey obtained authority from Henry VIII. and Clement -VIII. to suppress a number of religious houses in various parts of -England, and to appropriate their revenues to the building and endowing -of a College. After he had made considerable progress in the building of -Christ Church he fell into disgrace with the King, who seized the -property and distributed it among his courtiers. At a later period Henry -VIII. refounded the establishment, and added to it the Abbey of Oseney, -which was then the Cathedral of the See of Oxford. Christ Church (the -present Cathedral) was at that time called the College of Henry VIII., -and was a Collegiate Church. In 1546, on the suppression of Oseney -Abbey, St. Frideswide became the Cathedral Church of Oxford. Oseney is -depicted in the King window (see page 391). - -The foundation was converted into one of secular canons in the Eighth or -Ninth Century; and these were in turn succeeded by the regular canons, -who built their chapter-house, dormitory, refectory and cloisters. In -1158 they began the present Cathedral, which was completed in 1180, -having swept away the Saxon church rebuilt by King Ethelred in 1004, -according to some critics, while other antiquaries think that much of -the present Cathedral is St. Ethelred’s. The church was dedicated to the -Holy Trinity, St. Mary, and St. Frideswide, and was somewhat peculiar -for the Twelfth Century, in being more elegant than was usual at that -time. Cramped for room the south transept was cut off for the sake of -the cloisters; and aisles were given to the north transept. There was no -room for a Lady-Chapel at the east end; and, consequently, an additional -aisle north of the north aisle of the choir was built. The same -arrangement occurs at Ripon; the Elder Lady Chapel at Bristol holds a -similar position. - - “St. Frideswide Church, now Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is a - fine example of late Norman and transitional work of early - character. It was consecrated in 1180, and was probably building - for about twenty years previously: the confirmation, by Pope - Hadrian IV. (Breakspeare, the only English Pope), of the charters - granting the Saxon monastery of St. Frideswide to the Norman monks - was not obtained until 1158, and it is not probable that they began - to rebuild their church until their property was secured. The Prior - at this period was Robert of Cricklade, called Canutus, a man of - considerable eminence, some of whose writings were in existence in - the time of Leland. Under his superintendence the church was - entirely rebuilt from the foundations, and without doubt on a - larger scale than before, as the Saxon church does not appear to - have been destroyed until this period. - - “The design of the present structure is very remarkable; the lofty - arched recesses, which are carried up over the actual arches and - the triforium, giving the idea of a subsequent work carried over - the older work; but an examination of the construction shows that - this is not the case, that it was all built at one time, and that - none of it is earlier than about 1160. In this church the central - tower is not square, the nave and choir being wider than the - transepts, and consequently the east and west arches are - round-headed, while the north and south are pointed: this would not - in itself be any proof of transition, but the whole character of - the work is late, though very rich and good, and the clerestory - windows of the nave are pointed without any necessity for it, which - is then a mark of transition.”--(J. H. P.) - -St. Frideswide (Bond of Peace), or “the Lady,” as she was called in -Oxford, lived early in the Eighth Century, when Ethelbald was king of -Mercia. Her father, Didan, was a prince who lived in the city of Oxford -about 727, where Frideswide was born. Of her early piety, her refusal of -marriage, her foundation of this nunnery at Oxford, her miracles of -healing and her “glorious death,” there are many pretty stories. - -St. Frideswide’s Church was burned in 1002, when Ethelred the Unready -ordained the Massacre of the Danes. - -Ethelred afterwards made a vow that he would rebuild St. Frideswide’s -Church; and in 1004 he began the splendid edifice, of unusual -magnificence for the period. - -Robert of Cricklade, prior from 1141 to 1180, seems to have restored -Ethelred’s church; and in that year the relics of St. Frideswide were -translated to a more conspicuous place in the church. - -Many distinguished noblemen and prelates were present: - - “After they were meet, and injoyned fasting and prayers were past, - as also those ceremonies that are used at such times was with all - decency performed, then those bishops that were appointed, - accompanied with Alexio, the pope’s legat for Scotland, went to the - place where she was buried, and opening the sepulchre, took out - with great devotion the remainder of her body that was left after - it had rested there 480 yeares, and with all the sweet odours and - spices imaginable to the great rejoycing of the multitude then - present mingled them amongst her bones and laid them up in a rich - gilt coffer made and consecrated for that purpose, and placed it on - the north side of the quire, somewhat distant from the ground, and - inclosed it with a partition from the sight hereafter of the - vulgar.”--(A.-à-W.) - -In 1289 these relics were again translated and placed in the position of -the old shrine, probably in the north-choir-aisle, where the marble base -recently discovered now stands (see page 385). - - “In the Lancet period (1190-1245) the works went on apace. An upper - stage was added to the tower and on that the spire was built--the - first large stone spire in England. It is a Broach spire, i.e., the - cardinal sides of the spire are built right out to the eaves, so - that there is no parapet. On the other hand, instead of having - broaches at the angle it has pinnacles. Moreover, to bring down the - thrusts more vertically, heavy dormer windows are inserted at the - foot of each of the cardinal sides of the spire,--altogether a very - logical and scientific piece of engineering, much more common in - the early spires of Northern France than in England.”--(F. B.) - -About the Thirteenth Century the monks built the Chapter-House now -standing; then the Lady-Chapel; altered the Norman windows to Decorated; -and in the Fifteenth Century made many changes in the new Perpendicular -style. - -Wolsey destroyed half of the nave in order to build Tom Quad. His idea -was to erect a magnificent church on a large scale; but in the meantime -his fall occurred. In 1546 St. Frideswide’s was made, as already noted, -the Cathedral Church of Oxford. - -In the Seventeenth Century the tracery of many windows was altered for -the sake of glass by the Dutchman Abraham Van Ling, for which old -windows depicting scenes from St. Frideswide’s life and ancient arms -were sacrificed. In later times some of Van Ling’s windows suffered the -same fate, for modern work. One of his windows, however, remains (see -page 382). Some of the windows were smashed during the Puritan wars; but -on the whole the Cathedral escaped damage. - -Christ Church being a royal college, during the Civil War a University -regiment of Cavaliers was drilled in Tom Quad; and when Charles I. -occupied Oxford, after Edgehill, he held court in Christ Church. - -The Cathedral went through the fate of all English cathedrals in the -Nineteenth Century; and finally, in 1870, a thorough restoration was -undertaken by Dean Liddell and Sir Gilbert Scott, whose conservative -alterations and restorations of windows, etc., have brought all the -parts of the Cathedral into harmony. The windows of Burne-Jones are a -great addition to the charm of the interior. - - “The whole church is exceedingly interesting. It fills a niche in - the history of English architecture all by itself. It is not the - early and rude Traditional work of the Cistercians. On the other - hand, it has not yet the lightness and grace of Ripon; still less - the charm of the Canterbury choir, Chichester presbytery, Wells and - Abbey Dore--Gothic in all but name. In spite of a pointed arch here - and there, it is a Romanesque design. - - “The work commenced, as usual, at the east, as is shown by the - gradual improvement westward in the designs of the capitals. The - evidence of the vaulting, too, points in the same direction. In the - choir-aisle the ribs are massive and heavy; in the western aisle of - the north transept they are lighted; in the south aisle of the nave - they are pointed and filleted.”--(F. B.) - -Owing to its secluded position it is almost impossible to get a view of -the Cathedral; but the tower and spire can be seen from the cloisters. - -The =Cloisters= line three sides of the square only, for the west side was -destroyed by Wolsey for the hall staircase, which is surmounted by the -=Bell Tower=, in which the bells from the Abbey of Oseney hang. - - “From the same position at the west of the cloister one can enjoy - the best view of the tower and spire of the church. One is close - enough to see all the detail and yet from this angle nothing is - lost of the general effect. On a moonlit evening the effect is - particularly solemn and beautiful. From this point also should be - noticed the difference in the masonry of the south transept. The - lower story is entirely rubble, while the upper story is partly of - good ashlar work. - - “On the south side of the cloister is the Old Library, as it is now - called, which was formerly the refectory of the monastery, and is - all that now remains of the conventual buildings. Its large - Perpendicular windows, rising like a clerestory above it, look on - to the cloister, but they were spoilt on the inside by a staircase, - when the building was turned into undergraduates’ rooms. On the - other side, facing the meadow buildings, there is a curious little - oriel window, its lights now walled up, that once contained the - pulpit whence the lessons were read during meals.”--(P. D.) - -We may remember, as we stand here, that Cranmer was unfrocked in this -quadrangle. - -Entering through the porch in Tom Quad, cut through one of the canonical -houses, we come into a sort of ante-chapel with the organ screen before -us. Passing under the screen we have an unbroken view of the =Nave=, the -Choir with its wonderful ceiling and the handsome wheel-window rising -above the arcade and two round-headed windows at the east end. - - “Christ Church is the smallest of our cathedrals; for even with the - new ante-chapel it measures about 175 feet in length. Instead of - being of the usual cruciform plan, it is now almost square,--in - fact, the length from the reredos to the organ-screen is 132 feet, - while the breadth across from the Latin Chapel to St. Lucy’s Chapel - is 108 feet. The church is made up of the shortened nave with its - two aisles, and ante-chapel, the central tower, the north transept - with its one aisle, the south transept, and the eastern half of the - church, which itself contains no less than six divisions,--the - choir, with its two aisles, the Lady-Chapel on the north, and the - Latin Chapel (or St. Catherine’s) on the north again of that, while - on the south is the small chapel of St. Lucy. - - “If the unusual appearance of the cathedral is partly due to - Wolsey’s destruction, it is partly due also to its being used as a - college chapel, and partly to the fact that in general plan, and to - some extent in detail, it is Ethelred’s design, commenced seventy - years before the great developments of Norman architecture - began.”--(P. D.) - -We stop at the west end of the north aisle of the nave to examine the -one remaining window designed by Van Ling. - - “There are various opinions about this window, which represents - Jonah sitting under his gourd, and the town of Nineveh in the - distance. We must confess to a great admiration for it; the foliage - is fine and rich, and if it is a little over-strong in its green, - that only makes it more characteristic of its age. And, however - that may be, there cannot be two opinions as to beauty of the town - in the background, which reminds one irresistibly of Dürer; and, - with its rich brown houses, bluish roofs, touches of greenery, and - fair purple hills beyond, makes the right-hand light of the window - a picture of which one never wearies. The whole is leaded in - rectangular panes, like Bishop King’s window.”--(P. D.) - -We now cross to the west end of the south aisle of the nave to see -Burne-Jones’s =Faith, Hope and Charity= window, a memorial to Edward -Denison (died 1870), son of the Bishop of Salisbury, and a pioneer -worker in the East End of London. - - “The figure of Hope has a greyish-blue drapery, varied in tint and - diapered with the pattern of a flower in stain. The scarf floating - round the figure is sky-blue in tone and lighter than the dress. - The figure of Charity has a ruby over-mantle, with a white dress - underneath; while the figure of Faith has a blue dress beautifully - and richly diapered, the upper portion with a sumptuous Venetian - design familiar on the brocades of the Sixteenth Century, and the - lower portion with a sprig of foliage. The tone of the backgrounds - is a rich, warm green, and is very carefully painted with foliage, - and the contrast yielded by - -[Illustration: OXFORD: TOWER AND ENTRANCE] - -[Illustration: OXFORD: CHOIR, EAST] - - the pale blue of the drapery, and the rich, warm green of the - background in the two outside windows, is most harmonious and - striking. The detail in this window is very elaborate, and every - part of it bears traces of care and thought.”--(P. D.) - -The =Choir= consists of four bays, with the presbytery beyond. -Perpendicular alterations are noticeable in the upper part. The -triforium is late Norman. The pillars are larger than those in the nave -and their capitals are very fine specimens of stone carving. Some -critics go so far as to say they are Saxon. - -The most striking feature of the whole Cathedral is the pendant =ceiling= -of the Choir. - - “Fergusson considers this work to be the most satisfactory attempt - ever made to surmount the great difficulty presented in all - fan-tracery by the awkward, flat, central space which is left in - each bay by the four cones of the vault. At Gloucester, King’s - College Chapel, Cambridge, Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster, and - other places, various attempts were made to deceive the eye, and - hide the unmanageable space; in Henry VII.’s Chapel the well-known - pendants were boldly introduced with this object. None were wholly - satisfactory, but, says Fergusson:-- - - “‘Strange as it may appear from its date, the most satisfactory - roof of this class is that erected by Cardinal Wolsey over the - choir of Oxford Cathedral. In this instance the pendants are thrust - so far forward, and made so important, that the central part of the - roof is practically quadripartite. The remaining difficulty was - obviated by abandoning the circular, horizontal outline of true - fan-tracery, and adopting a polygonal form instead. As the whole is - done in a constructive manner and with appropriate detail, this - roof, except in size, is one of the best and most remarkable ever - executed.’ - - “Fan-tracery is a peculiarly English feature, and was invented, - according to Fergusson, in order to get rid of the endless - repetition of inverted pyramids which earlier vaulting produced. He - therefore considers it an improvement on the vaulting of the early - English and Decorated periods; and, as he thinks the ceiling of - Christ Church Cathedral to be the best example of fan-tracery, he - comes near to pronouncing it the finest in the world.”--(P. D.) - -The East End is Scott’s restoration in the style of the Twelfth Century. -The large wheel-window (an imitation from Canterbury) and the two -round-headed windows below produce a fine effect. - -On the left of the Choir we come to the most curious part of the -Cathedral. Columns and arches mark the divisions of the -north-choir-aisle, the =Lady-Chapel= further north and the =Latin Chapel= -beyond--practically three aisles. The east end of each aisle contains a -beautiful Burne-Jones window. The north transept forms the western -boundary of these three aisles, which are in reality only an extension -of this transept. - - “Here the eye wanders among pillars and arches which branch away in - so many directions that the grandest churches can scarcely give - more thoroughly the idea of infinity. And here one stands on the - site of St. Frideswide’s first little church, with the very arches - that she had built for her, still standing in all their primitive - simplicity. - - “At the end of the north-choir-aisle is the St. Cecilia window, - presented in honour of the patroness of music by Dr. Corfe, a - former organist, in 1873. In the centre light the saint is - represented playing her regal or small hand-organ; two angels - holding other musical instruments, with palms in their hands, stand - by her. The drapery is wrought in white glass, the angels have - pale-blue wings, and the flesh tints matted over with red tell warm - against the drapery. In the lower panels are three scenes from her - life: ‘Here St. Cecilia teaches her husband,’ ‘Here an angel of the - Lord teaches St. Cecilia,’ ‘Here St. Cecilia wins a heavenly - crown;’ the saint’s figure in the last panel is most touchingly - drawn. These lower panels are richer in colour than the rest, and a - greater variety of tints is introduced; but the colours are so - delicate, and so skilfully blended, that they fall in most - harmoniously with the main parts of the window.”--(P. D.) - -In the most eastern arch between the north-choir-aisle and the -Lady-Chapel we stop to examine the =Shrine of St. Frideswide=. - - “The coffer or shrine, which was made for the translation in 1289 - (its base being therefore the most ancient monument in the - cathedral), was knocked to pieces at the Reformation (1538), and, - being of wood, must have entirely perished. But gradually, and from - different places, fragments of the base were brought together: - first, several pieces of delicately carved marble were discovered - in the sides of a square well in the yard south-west of the - cathedral; then a part of the plinth on the south side was found to - be in use as a step, luckily with the carved portion turned - inwards; next a spandrel was detected by Mr. Francis, the head - verger, in the wall of the cemetery; and last of all a piece of the - plinth was found in a wall in Tom Quad. Though some portions are - still wanting, it is not impossible that more may yet be found. - - “As the monument stands now, it cannot, of course, impress one as - it would have done in its perfect state, with the rich - superstructure crowning it: especially as the restored shafts are - merely square stone supports of the clumsiest description, so - studiously careful has the restorer been not to confuse them with - the original work. Still, though the base of St. Frideswide’s - shrine is only a collection of fragments, these fragments are of - remarkable beauty and interest. It is of Forest marble, measuring - seven feet by three and a half; and consists of an arcade of two - richly cusped arches at the sides and one at each end. On the top - of this was fixed the _feretrum_, containing the jewelled casket - that held the relics themselves. The spandrels are filled with - wonderfully carved foliage, unusually naturalistic, and preserving - still the traces of colour and gilding to remind one of its former - glories. On the south side there is maple in the central spandrel, - with a wreath of what is probably crow’s-foot in a boss below: the - two side spandrels contain columbine and the greater celandine. On - the north side the foliage is mostly oak, with acorns and numerous - empty cups; sycamore and ivy filling the adjoining spandrels. At - the east end one of the spandrels contains vine leaves and grapes, - the other fig-leaves, but without the fruit; the cusp under the - vine has a leaf which may be that of hog-leaf. At the west end - there is hawthorn and bryony. The choice of all this foliage was - doubtless made for symbolical reasons, referring first to St. - Frideswide’s life in the oak woods near Abingdon, and next to her - care for the sick and suffering at Thornberrie (now Binsey). And in - this connection it is pleasant to think that the sculptor, with - tender fancy, chose plants which were famous for their healing - virtue.”--(P. D.) - -The =Lady-Chapel= (Thirteenth Century and Early English) is sometimes -called the Dormitory, because many canons are buried here. -Characteristic curling foliage decorates the capitals. The shafts are -filleted. Traces of colouring can be observed here and there and also -figures of angels on the roof. The Decorated window (restored) at the -east end contains glass designed by Burne-Jones and made by William -Morris, a memorial to Frederick Vyner, murdered by brigands at Marathon -in 1870. - -The figures represent Samuel the Prophet, David, King of Israel, John -the Evangelist, and Timothy the Bishop. In the panels beneath are, Eli -instructing the young Samuel, David slaying Goliath, St. John at the -Last Supper, and Timothy as a little boy learning from his mother. - -Here also is the tomb of =Elizabeth Lady Montacute=, who gave Christ -Church Meadow to the Priory for the support of two priests for her -chantry in this Lady-Chapel. Her effigy lies on the top of the tomb, and -portraits of her children appear in the panels below. The whole was -originally brilliantly coloured. - -Four arches divide the Lady-Chapel. Under the easternmost one is a -large tomb known as the =Watching Chamber=. - - “Its real nature is still a matter of dispute: some maintaining it - to have been used as a chantry chapel for the welfare of those who - were buried below; others, that it served as a ‘watching chamber’ - to protect the gold and jewels which hung about the shrine of St. - Frideswide. - - “Most elaborately carved and crocketed, the ‘watching chamber’ is a - beautiful example of full-blown Perpendicular workmanship; ‘most - lovely English work, both of heart and hand,’ according to Mr. - Ruskin. It consists of four stories, the two lower, in stone, - forming an altar tomb and canopy, and the two upper in wood. A door - from the Latin Chapel leads one up a small and well-worn stone - staircase into the interior of the little upper chapel, which is - now a rough wooden room. Its extreme roughness suggests that it was - once panelled and otherwise adorned, while there are marks at its - east end, which may be the site of an altar, or of the _feretrum_ - itself.”--(P. D.) - -Lastly we come to the =Latin-Chapel= also called =St. Catherine’s=, in -honour of the patron of students of theology. - - “The Decorated vaulting was built when the chapel was enlarged in - the Fourteenth Century. The foliage of its bosses is very - beautiful; the water-lilies especially of the third boss, so - suggestive of Oxford streams, and the roses a little further east, - are a happy combination of naturalistic treatment with decorative - restraint. It will be noticed that the vaulting does not run true - in the third bay, the Decorated work there having been somewhat - awkwardly joined to the Early English of the second bay. - - “A prominent feature in the Latin-Chapel is the old oak stalling, - which a second inspection proves to be patchwork. The returned - stalls at the west end probably belonged to the choir of the - conventual church, and in that case would have been fitted in here - when Dean Duppa ‘adorned’ the choir by destroying the old - wood-work. Near to these is some of the work prepared for Cardinal - Wolsey’s new chapel. The poppy-heads are good specimens of - wood-carving, and contain a monogram I.H.S., a heart in a crown of - thorns, a cardinal’s hat, and other devices. The pulpit, with its - delicate canopy, an excellent specimen of Seventeenth Century - wood-work, was formerly the Vice-Chancellor’s seat in another part - of the church, occupied by him during university sermons. It was - then used by the Regius Professor of Divinity for his lectures, but - since the altar was restored six years ago, the chapel has been no - longer used as a lecture-room.”--(P. D.) - -Here we find some of the best glass in the Cathedral. At the east end is -the famous =St. Frideswide window= by Burne-Jones; and the three windows -on the north are beautiful specimens of the Fourteenth Century, replaced -here by Dean Liddell. In the middle of each light is a figure and the -rest of the space is covered with the diamond-shaped pieces of glass -bearing leaves and flowers, technically called “quarries.” Medallions -and borders with various beasts--even monkeys--decorate the spaces in -the tracery. The first window depicts St. Catherine, a Virgin and Child, -and next a figure, probably St. Frideswide; the second window represents -an archbishop and angels; and the third, St. Frideswide with St. -Margaret on one side and St. Catherine on the other. It is very -interesting to compare these with the Burne-Jones’s St. Frideswide at -the east end: - - “Though this is one of the first windows that Burne-Jones ever - designed it is one of his best. Better suited (as many think) to - the purpose of a window, at all events in this enclosed chapel, - than the freer method of the other glass, it carries on the best - traditions of the craft, in its infinite variety of gem-like colour - and complexity of detail; while it attains a degree of perfection - in pictorial effect and figure-drawing which was impossible during - the great era of mediæval glass-painting. The death of the saint, - with its lovely effect of light through the latticed window, for - instance, and the picture of her in the pig-sty, would be perfect - as finished pictures, and yet do not for an instant outstep the - convention which is necessary for their function as part of a - window. - - “The colour is, in spite (or rather because) of its radiant - variety, not so immediately attractive to every one as that of the - other Burne-Jones windows; but when one has sat down for five or - ten minutes and deciphered the various scenes, its unapproachable - beauty becomes apparent, and each succeeding visit deepens the - impression of the splendour and poetry of this incomparable work. - - “The scenes depicted are, by the artist’s own account, as - follows:-- - - “_First Light_: St. Frideswide and her companions brought up by St. - Cecilia and St. Catherine; St. Frideswide founds her first convent; - A messenger from the King of Mercia demands her in marriage; The - King comes to take her by force, and the first convent is broken - up. - - “_Second Light_: Flight of St. Frideswide to Abingdon; The King of - Mercia and his soldiers in pursuit; The Flight continued; The - Pursuit continued; St. Frideswide takes refuge in a pig-sty. - - “_Third Light_: Flight of St. Frideswide to Binsey; The King of - Mercia in pursuit; St. Frideswide founds a new convent at Binsey; - Her merciful deeds. - - “_Fourth Light_: Return of St. Frideswide to Oxford; The Siege of - Oxford by the King of Mercia; The Siege continued; The King struck - blind; The Death of St. Frideswide. - - “In the tracery above are the trees of life and of knowledge, and a - ship of souls convoyed by angels.”--(P. D.) - -Passing into the north transept we note that the eastern aisle has been -merged into the Lady-Chapel and Latin-Chapel of which it forms the -western bays; but that the western aisle remains. - -The north window (modern glass) was restored back to its original design -by Sir Gilbert Scott. Beneath it is a panelled tomb of Henry VII.’s -period. It is supposed to be that of a monk named =Zouch= (died 1503), -probably a scribe, because his ink-horn and pen-case appear on the -shields of his tomb. He left a bequest to pay for the vaulting. - -The =Tower= is not perfectly square. The nave and choir sides are wider -than those of the transepts, and therefore the north and south arches -are pointed and the east and west arches are round. Foliage decorates -the capitals of the shafts. The lantern is open and is ornamented with -arcades and arches. At the south-east pier the break in the masonry -indicates, in the opinion of some students, the place where the builders -stopped work when Sweyn drove Ethelred out of England. - -The fine Jacobean =Pulpit= (1635), elaborately carved with grotesques on -the panels, deserves at least a passing glance. - -The south transept has no aisles, for the western aisle was cut off by -the cloisters and the eastern aisle became =St. Lucy’s Chapel=, in the -second bay. Though there are many old royalist tombs the chief interest -here is the beautiful =Window= of three lights, the Flamboyant tracery of -which frames the most splendid glass in the whole cathedral. It dates -from about 1330. - - “In the uppermost compartment of the tracery is a figure of our - Lord seated in glory; below there are angels with censers, and next - two Augustinian monks in blue and white robes, kneeling with - outstretched arms; then come coats-of-arms, and various grotesque - beasts, all most richly coloured in ruby and blue and green and - gold. Below, in the principal spaces, are (1) St. Martin on - horseback giving his coat to the beggar; (2) the martyrdom of St. - Thomas à Becket: St. Thomas’ head has been knocked out by some - fanatic, and replaced with white glass; the armour and shields of - the knights should be noticed; (3) St. Augustine, who holds a - pastoral staff, is teaching his monks and others. In the next four - spaces are:--The head of a king; St. Cuthbert, carrying the head - of St. Oswald, and wearing a green chasuble; St. Blaise, in a - mulberry-coloured chasuble; the head of a queen. The glass in the - three main lights was destroyed, and then replaced by some of - Seventeenth Century work, but this too is now gone, all except a - portion of the upper part which shows that the design was - architectural in character and the colour that of fog-smitten - stone-work.”--(P. D.) - -The =South-Choir-Aisle= is of earlier date than the nave and transept -aisles. Scott rebuilt the southern windows in the Norman style. Heads of -men and monkeys decorate the corbels that support the vault. The -original half-flower moulding adorns the Decorated east window -(restored) which contains one of Burne-Jones’s famous designs. It is a -memorial to =Edith Liddell= (1876), whose portrait appears in the central -figure as St. Catherine. In the tracery above angels are playing musical -instruments and in the panels below are scenes from the life and death -of St. Catherine. - -The third window in the wall near St. Lucy’s Chapel is of great -interest. It is the only one of the original Romanesque windows that -remains. The old glass shows a portrait of =Bishop King=, Abbot of Oseney -and first Bishop of Oxford. He died in 1557 and was buried in Christ -Church Cathedral. - - “This window, with some others, was taken down during the Civil - War, buried for safety by a member of the family, and put up again - at the Restoration. The Bishop is represented standing vested in a - jewelled cope of cloth of gold, and mitre, a pastoral staff in his - gloved hand. In the background, among the trees, is a picture of - Oseney Abbey in its already ruined condition (c. 1630), drawn - without much feeling for its architecture, but of great value as - almost the only picture of the place we possess. The western tower - was the first home of what are now the Christ Church bells. Three - coats-of-arms (being those of the Bishop, impaled with the Abbey - of Oseney and the See of Oxford) complete the richness of what is a - very good example of Seventeenth Century _painted_ glass, in the - strict sense of the word.”--(P. D.) - -South of the South Transept the slype, a vaulted passage including part -of the transept, leads into the Cloisters. - -South of the slype lies the =Chapter-House=, deserving a visit because it -is a fine example of Early English. The monks’ heads carved on the -corbels, the bosses of the roof, and the arcade of five arches at the -east end are the chief features of the interior. - -[Illustration: OXFORD: LATIN CHAPEL] - -[Illustration: ST. PAUL’S: WEST FRONT] - - - - -ST. PAUL’S, LONDON - - DEDICATION: ST. PAUL. A CHURCH FORMERLY SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: DOME; CHOIR STALLS; TOMBS AND MONUMENTS. - - -The present building in the Renaissance style is the third Christian -church erected on this site. It is said that a Roman temple to Diana -stood here; but the earliest church of which records exist was erected -by Ethelbert, King of Kent, in 610, in which he was assisted by Siebert, -King of the East Saxons, his nephew, who founded the monastery of St. -Peter, called Westminster, on Thorney Island. This Cathedral, which owed -much of its prosperity to St. Erkenwald, fourth Bishop of London, to -whose memory a golden shrine was erected here, suffered from fire in 961 -and was completely destroyed in 1086. On the ruins a Norman church was -immediately erected, the architect for which was Bishop Maurice. Though -injured by fire in 1193 it was a stately and beautiful building, in the -Norman style. It was cruciform, with two western towers for bells and a -high tower in the centre with a spire. In addition to the high altar -there were seventy or eighty chantries with their own altars, and behind -the high altar the golden shrine containing the body of St. Erkenwald. -The nave contained twelve bays and also the choir rebuilt in 1221. The -Lady-Chapel was added in 1225. It was the largest Cathedral in England. -St. Paul’s was rich in relics and in treasure of all kinds--pictures -and frescoes, vestments, gold, silver and jewels. In 1312 the nave was -paved with marble and in 1315 a new wooden spire 460 feet high was -added. - -This great Cathedral became the very centre of the life of the citizens. -Here men met to defend their liberties, summoned by the great bells of -St. Paul’s, from the days of King Stephen until the magnificent -Cathedral perished in the Great Fire. - - “Again and again the tocsin sounded, as St. Paul’s bell rang clear - and loud, and the citizens seized their weapons and formed their - battalions beneath the shadow of the great church. Now it was to - help Simon de Montfort against the King; now to seize the person of - the obnoxious Queen Eleanor, who was trying to escape by water from - the Tower to Windsor, and who was rescued from their hands by the - Bishop of London, and found refuge in his palace. Now the - favourites of Edward II. excited their rage, especially the Bishop - of Exeter, the King’s regent, who dared to ask the Lord Mayor for - the keys of the city and paid for his temerity with his life.[9] - - “The chronicles of the Cathedral tell the story of the troublous - times of the Wars of the Roses. We see Henry IV. pretending bitter - sorrow for the death of the murdered Richard, and covering with - cloth-of-gold the body, which had been exhibited to the people in - St. Paul’s. We see Henry V. returning in triumph from the French - wars, riding in state to the Cathedral attended by ‘the mayor and - brethren of the City companies, wearing red gowns with hoods of red - and white, well-mounted and gorgeously horsed with rich collars and - great chains, rejoicing at his victorious return.’ Then came Henry - VI. attended by bishops, the dean and canons, to make his offering - at the altar. Here the false Duke of York took his oath on the - Blessed Sacrament to be loyal to the King. Here the rival houses - swore to lay aside their differences, and to live at peace. But a - few years later saw the new King Edward IV., at St. Paul’s, - attended by great Warwick, the king-maker, with his body-guard of - 800 men-at-arms. Strange were the changes of fortune in those days. - Soon St. Paul’s saw the exhibition of the dead body of the - king-maker, and not long afterwards that of the poor dethroned - Henry, and Richard came in state here amid the shouts of the - populace. After the defeat of the conspiracy of Lambert Simnel, - Henry VII. celebrated a joyous thanksgiving in the Cathedral, and - here, amid much rejoicing, the youthful marriage of Prince Arthur - with Katherine of Aragon took place, when the conduits of Cheapside - and on the west of the Cathedral ran with wine, and the bells rang - joyfully, and all wished happiness to the Royal children whose - wedded life was destined to be so brief. - - “St. Paul’s became the gathering-place for lords and courtiers and - professional people, who met every day from eleven till twelve and - from three till six to discuss the news of the day and to transact - business. - - “Here lawyers received their clients; here men sought service; here - usurers met their victims, and the tombs and font were mightily - convenient for counters for the exchange of money and the - transaction of bargains, and the rattle of gold and silver was - constantly heard amidst the loud talking of the crowd. Gallants - enter the Cathedral wearing spurs, having just left their steeds at - The Bell and Savage and are immediately besieged by the choristers, - who have the right of demanding spur money from any one entering - the building wearing spurs. Nor are the fair sex absent, and Paul’s - Walk was used as a convenient place for assignations. Old plays are - full of references to this practice. Later on the nave was nothing - but a public thoroughfare, where men tramped, carrying baskets of - bread and fish, flesh and fruit, vessels of ale, sacks of coal, and - even dead mules and horses and other beasts. Hucksters and peddlers - sold their wares. Duke Humphrey’s tomb was the great meeting-place - of all beggars and low rascals, and they euphemistically called - their gathering ‘a dining with Duke Humphrey.’ Much more could be - written of this assembly of all sorts and conditions of men, but we - have said enough to show that the Cathedral had suffered greatly - from desecration and abuse. Indeed an old writer in 1561 declared - that the burning of the steeple in that year was a judgment for the - scenes of profanation which were daily witnessed in old St. - Paul’s.”--(P. H. D.) - -Cromwell’s army demolished shrines and destroyed all the relics and -works of art, and seamstresses and hucksters took up their abode in the -western portico, built by Charles I. after designs by Inigo Jones. At -the Restoration plans to repair and restore the Cathedral were being -made by Wren when the Great Fire destroyed it. Wren had the task of -rebuilding it, and produced a masterpiece that takes rank with St. -Peter’s in Rome and even surpasses it in some of its details. - -“The stones of Paul’s,” wrote Evelyn, “flew like granados, the melting -lead running down the streets in a stream and the very pavements glowing -with fiery redness, so as no horse or man was able to tread on them, and -the demolition had stopped all the passages, so that no help could be -applied.” - -It took a long time to remove the ruins and to decide upon the plan for -the successor of Old St. Paul’s. Wren made numerous designs and drawings -and there was great delay. At length the royal warrant was obtained and -the first stone was laid June 21, 1675, at the south-east corner of the -choir. The Cathedral was building for thirty-five years. The choir was -finished and service held in it on December 2, 1697. It is sad to -remember that the great architect was a victim of jealousy and intrigue, -and pleasant to know that he lived to see the glorious church that had -taken form in his mind completed. It was finished in 1710. - - “Was there ever known in the history of the world any cathedral - which suffered from fire like St. Paul’s? The whole career of the - church was an ordeal by fire. It was injured by fire a hundred - years before Westminster Hall was built; it was totally destroyed - by fire in the Eleventh Century and it took nearly two centuries to - restore it to anything like its former magnificence. ‘Away! we - lose ourselves in light,’ might have been its motto, for it was all - but completely destroyed by fire in the Fifteenth Century, and its - spire, which was then claimed to be the highest in the world, was - destroyed by fire a century later. Thus we have brought it to the - terrible days of 1666, when it went under with so much of London to - accompany it--one of the most tremendous conflagrations recorded in - the history of great cities. Then came the Commission to rebuild - it, of which brave John Evelyn was a member, and then Sir - Christopher Wren raised the monument to his fame which those who - would question his renown have only to look upon and be - satisfied.”--(J. McC.) - -Coming along from Ludgate Hill we gain a splendid view of the impressive -Dome emerging through the mists in the very heart of the City. - - “St. Paul’s is often called Classical, or Roman, or Italian; it is - not one of these three: it is English Renaissance. It was, too, a - distinctly happy thought of Fergusson to suggest that the Cathedral - takes a like place in English architecture to that which the - immortal ‘Paradise Lost’ does in English literature. The plan is - that of a mediæval church; the pilasters and entablature are Roman; - the round arch is found in both Roman and Romanesque, and that - commanding feature, the Dome, is the common property of many styles - and many ages. The general plan resembles the long or Latin Cross, - with transepts of greater breadth than length; and the uniformity - is broken by an apse at the east, and the two chapels at the west - end.”--(A. D.) - -Before we begin our tour of the Cathedral let us take a little note of -our surroundings. - - “In olden times St. Paul’s Churchyard was one of the great business - centres of London. About the church men met to discuss the doings - of the day, the last piece of news from Flanders, France or Spain, - or the rumours from the country. Here the citizens gathered angrily - when there was any talk of an invasion of their cherished - liberties, grumbled over the benevolence demanded by his Majesty - for the pay of the troops engaged in the French war, or jeered at - some poor wretch nailed by his ears in the pillory. Here the - heralds would proclaim the news of our victories by sea and land; - here the public newsmen would read out their budgets; vendors of - infallible nostrums would wax eloquent as to the virtues of their - wares; and the wives and daughters of the citizens would gather to - gossip and flirt. It was at once the exchange, the club, and the - meeting-place of London. Paul’s Cross was the heart of the City; - here men threw up their bonnets when they heard of Crécy and of - Agincourt; here they listened to the preachings of the first - followers of Wycliffe; here they erected their choicest pageants - when a new sovereign visited the City for the first time, or - brought his new-made spouse to show her to his lieges; and gathered - with frowning brows beneath iron caps when London threw in its lot - with the Parliament, and the train bands marched off to fight the - King’s forces. The business mart of the City lies now in front of - the Mansion House, but a great deal of business is still done under - the shadow of the Cathedral.”--(C. D.) - -All the streets bear names that remind us of the vicinity of St. -Paul’s--Creed Lane, Ave Maria Lane, Sermon Lane, Canon Alley, Amen -Corner and Paternoster Row known throughout the world as the -headquarters of the book trade and publishers, while Cheapside, Ludgate -Hill, Fleet Street and St. Paul’s Churchyard swarm with ghosts and -memories of London’s stirring events. - - “The modern passenger through St. Paul’s Churchyard has not only - the last home of Nelson and others to venerate as he goes by. In - the ground of the old church were buried, and here therefore - remains whatever dust may survive them, the gallant Sir Philip - Sidney (the _beau idéal_ of the age of Elizabeth), and Vandyke, who - immortalised the youth and beauty of the court of Charles the - First. One of Elizabeth’s great statesmen also lay - there--Walsingham--who died so poor that he was buried by stealth - to prevent his body from being arrested. Another, Sir Christopher - Hatton, who is supposed to have danced himself into the office of - Her Majesty’s Chancellor, had a tomb which his contemporaries - thought too magnificent, and which was accused of ‘shouldering the - altar.’ - - “Old St. Paul’s was much larger than now, and the Churchyard was of - proportionate dimensions. The wall by which it was bounded ran - along by the present streets of Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, - Old Change, Carter Lane and Creed Lane; and therefore included a - large space and many buildings which are not now considered to be - within the precincts of the Cathedral. This spacious area had grass - inside, and contained a variety of appendages to the establishment. - One of these was the cross of which Stow did not know the - antiquity. It was called Paul’s Cross, and stood on the north side - of the church, a little to the east of the entrance of Cannon - Alley.”--(L. H.) - -At first the space around it was used for the meeting of the -populace--the Folkmote--when their magistrates were elected, public -affairs discussed and criminals tried and sentenced. At a later period -=Paul’s Cross= was chiefly used for proclamations, and from the pulpit, -which in Stow’s time was an hexagonal piece of wood “covered with lead, -elevated upon a flight of stone steps and surmounted by a large cross,” -sermons were preached. - -In 1879 the foundations of Paul’s Cross were discovered on the -north-east side of the present Choir. A monument is now being erected on -the spot. - -If we wish to examine the north and south fronts more particularly we -first go to the former and - - “We note the two-storied constructions, the graceful Corinthian - pillars, arranged in pairs, with round-headed windows between - them; the entablature; and then, in the second story, another row - of beautiful pilasters of the Composite order. Between these are - niches where one would have expected windows; but this story is - simply a screen to hide the flying-buttresses supporting the - clerestory, as Wren thought them a disfigurement. The walls are - finished with a cornice, which Wren was compelled by hostile - critics to add, much against his own judgment. There are some - excellently carved festoons of foliage and birds and cherubs, which - are well worthy of close observation. The North and South Fronts - have Corinthian pillars, which support a semicircular entablature. - Figures of the Apostles adorn the triangular-shaped heads and - balustrade. The Royal Arms appear on the north side, and a Phœnix - is the suitable ornament on the south, signifying the resurrection - of the building from its ashes. The south side is almost similar to - the north. The east end has an apse.”--(P. H. D.) - -On the south-west is the Dean’s yard, leading past the Deanery to the -Choir House in Great Carter Lane where the choir-boys are trained. -Doctors’ Commons, where marriage licenses used to be issued, only -survives in name. - -Opposite the north porch of the Cathedral is the Chapter-House and from -this side St. Paul’s Bridge, the plan for which was adopted in 1909, -will start. It will cost no less than £1,600,000, and will cross the -Thames between Blackfriars and Southwark. - -Facing Ludgate Hill stands a statue of Queen Anne, a modern replica of -the original statue by Bird. At the foot of the 22 marble steps leading -up to the doorway is a marble slab commemorating the Diamond Jubilee -Thanksgiving (June 22, 1897). From time immemorial national thanksgiving -services have been offered at St. Paul’s. The first in this building was -a special thanksgiving for the Peace of Ryswick. Queen Anne returned -thanks for Marlborough’s victories in the Low Countries and the -destruction of the Spanish fleet at Vigo and for the victory of Blenheim -(1702 and 1704). Here thanks were also offered for the recovery of the -Prince of Wales (Edward VII.) from a serious illness in 1872 and by -Queen Victoria for the sixtieth anniversary of her reign (1897); by King -Edward and Queen Alexandra for the restoration of peace in South Africa -(June 8, 1902); by King Edward on October 18, 1902, for his recovery -from the illness that delayed the Coronation; and by King George and -Queen Mary. - - “The WEST FRONT has a magnificent portico, divided, like the rest - of the building, into two stories. The lower consists of twelve - coupled and fluted columns; that, above, has only eight, which bear - an entablature and pediment of which the tympanum is sculptured in - bas-relief, representing the conversion of St. Paul. On the apex of - the pediment is a figure of the Saint himself, and at its - extremities, on the right and left of St. Paul, are figures of St. - Peter and St. James. The transepts are terminated upwards by - pediments, over coupled pilasters at the quoins, and two single - pilasters in the intermediate space. On each side of the western - portico a square pedestal rises over the upper order, and on each - pedestal a steeple, or campanile tower, supported upon triangular - groups of Corinthian columns finishing in small domes formed by - curves of contrary flexure very like bells. Lower down in front of - these campaniles, the Four Evangelists are represented with their - emblems. In the face of the southern campanile a clock is inserted. - A flight of steps extending the whole length of the portico forms - the basement. In the southwest tower is the Great Bell of St. - Paul’s, cast in 1709 by Richard Phelps and Langley Bradley. It is - ten feet in diameter, ten inches thick in metal and weighs 11,474 - pounds.”--(M.) - -First we will take a general view of the exterior: - - “The form of St. Paul’s is that of the long or Latin cross. Its - extreme length, including the porch, is 500 feet; the greatest - breadth, that is to say across the transept but within the doors of - the porticoes, 250 feet; the width of the nave, 118 feet. There - are, however, at the foot or western end of the cross, projections - northward and southward, which make the breadth 190 feet. One of - these, namely, on the north side, is used as a morning chapel, and - the other, on the south side, contains the Wellington Monument, but - was formerly used as the Consistory Court. At the internal angle of - the cross are small square bastion-like adjuncts, whose real use is - to strengthen the piers of the dome; but they are inwardly - serviceable as vestries and a staircase. The height of the - Cathedral on the south side to the top of the cross is 365 feet. - - “The exterior consists throughout of two orders, the lower being - Corinthian, the upper composite. It is built externally in two - stories, in both of which, except at the north and south porticoes - and at the west front, the whole of the entablatures rest on - coupled pilasters, between which in the lower order a range of - circular-headed windows is introduced. But in the order above, the - corresponding spaces are occupied by dressed niches, standing on - pedestals pierced with openings to light the passages in the roof - over the side aisles. The upper order is nothing but a screen to - hide the flying-buttresses carried across from the outer walls to - resist the thrust of the great vaulting.”--(M.) - -The =Dome=, the great feature of the church, is very beautiful when seen -from a distance, as from one of the bridges, rising with its graceful -curves far above the roofs and other spires. - - “The dome, which is by far the most magnificent and elegant feature - in the building, rises from the body of the church in great - majesty. It is 145 feet in outward and 108 feet in inward diameter. - Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of - twenty-two columns, every fourth intercolumniation being filled - with masonry, so disposed as to form an ornamental niche or recess, - by which arrangement the projecting buttresses of the cupola are - concealed. These, which form a peristyle of the Composite Order, - with an unbroken entablature, enclose the interior order. They - support a handsome gallery adorned with a balustrade. Above these - columns is a range of pilasters, with windows between them, forming - an attic order, and on these the great dome stands. The general - idea of the cupola, as appears from the _Parentalia_, was taken - from the Pantheon at Rome. On the summit of the dome, which is - covered with lead, is a gilt circular balcony, and from its centre - rises the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns. The whole is - terminated by a gilt ball and cross. - - “But with the matchless exterior ceases the superiority, and - likewise, to a great degree, the responsibility of Wren. His - designs for the interior were not only carried out, but he was in - every way thwarted, controlled, baffled in his old age to the - eternal disgrace of all concerned; the victim of the pitiful - jealousy of some, the ignorance of others, the ingratitude of - all.”--(M.) - -It is singular to note that when Wren laid the corner-stone on June 11, -1675, there was no solemn ceremonial. The King, the Court, the -Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Mayor of London were all notably -absent, but when he laid the last stone in the lantern of the cupola in -1710 - - “all London poured forth for the spectacle, which had been publicly - announced, and were looking up in wonder to the old man, or his - son, if not the old man himself, who was, on that wondrous height, - setting the seal, as it were, to his august labours. - - “When one enters the west door one cannot fail to be struck with - the vastness of the space enclosed within its massive walls; there - is no screen to break the view towards the east, and, as one stands - beneath the dome and looks up into its enormous hollow, the sense - of overpowering height is felt as in no other church in - England.”--(T. P.) - -Entering through the western door we are struck with the immensity of -the =Nave= and overspreading dome, the effect of the lights, and, if -service is being held, the peculiar beauty of the chants of the -choristers, whose voices seem to come from the dome and float through -the misty light to our ears. - -It would be interesting to know if Wagner ever heard the choir-boys of -St. Paul’s and sought to reproduce the effect in _Parsifal_, by -arranging the voices of knights, squires and youths at various stages in -the dome of Montsalvat to sing softly of the “wondrous work of mercy and -salvation.” - - “The interior of the nave is formed by an arcade resting on massive - pillars and dividing the church into a body and two aisles. The - eastern piers of the nave serve at the same time for the supports - of the cupola. They are wider than the other piers, and are flanked - by pilasters at their angles and have shallow oblong recesses in - the intercolumniations. The roof over these piers is a boldly - coffered waggon-vault, which contrasts very effectively with the - rest of the vaulting. - - “The nave is separated from the choir by the area over which the - cupola rises. From the centre of this area, the transepts, or - traverse of the cross, diverge to the north and south, each - extending one severy, or arch, in length. The choir, which is - vaulted and domed over, like the nave and transepts, from the top - of the attic order, is terminated eastward by a semicircular - tribune, of which the diameter is, in general terms, the same as - the width of the choir itself. The western end of the choir has - pillars similar to those at the eastern end of the nave, uniform - with which there are at its eastern end piers of the same extent - and form, except that they are pierced for a communication with the - side aisles. Above the entablature and under the cupola is the - Whispering Gallery, and in the concave above are representations of - the principal passages of St. Paul’s life in eight compartments, - painted by Sir James Thornhill.”--(M.) - -We should note that there are three stages--the main arcade, the -triforium and the clerestory. The piers are faced with Corinthian -pilasters that divide off the bays east and west. The arches spring from -an entablature. They are very high. The “triforium belt,” as the “attic” -is termed by those critics who have dropped the Classical nomenclature, -and clerestory above are easily understood at a glance. - - “The great arches overhead divide the vault as the greater - pilasters and their continuations do the walls. Between these - arches are the small saucer-shaped domes, 26 feet in diameter. The - reason for these and their accessories, the pendentives, may best - be understood from Wren’s own words. He says that his method of - vaulting is the most geometrical, and ‘_is composed of Hemispheres, - and their Sections only; and whereas a Sphere may be cut all Manner - of Ways, and that still into Circles.... I have for just Reasons - followed this way in the Vaulting of the Church of St. Paul’s.... - It is the lightest Manner, and requires less Butment than the - Cross-vaulting, as well that it is of an agreeable View.... - Vaulting by Parts of Hemispheres I have therefore followed in the - Vaultings of St. Paul’s, and with good reason preferred it above - any other way used by Architects._’ The saucer-shaped domes are - sections of spheres, as are both the pendentives, and the sides of - the clerestory windows. The wreaths, garlands, and festoons, and - the various conventional patterns with which the edges and surfaces - of the various parts of the vaulting is adorned cannot be estimated - from the pavement.”--(A. D.) - -From the Crypt to the dome the space measures 190 feet. - - “When Wren planned his dome interior he had the difficulty caused - by the four limbs and their side aisles to overcome. He must have - turned to his uncle’s cathedral at Ely for enlightenment. In the - earlier years of the Fourteenth Century the central tower of Ely - collapsed, and the sacrist Alan de Walsingham, who acted as - architect, seeing that the breadth of his nave, choir and transepts - happened to agree, took for his base this common breadth, and - cutting off the angles, obtained a spacious octagon. The four sides - terminating the main aisles are longer than the four alternate - aisles at the angles of the side aisles; but at Ely this presents - no difficulty, owing to the use of the pointed arch. As you stand - in the centre of the octagon under the lantern you see eight - spacious arches of two different widths, all springing from the - same level and rising to the same height of eighty-five feet, the - terminal arch of the Norman nave pointed like its opposite - neighbour of the choir. Amongst Gothic churches the interior of Ely - reigns unique and supreme, certainly in England if not in Europe. - Wren was familiar with this cathedral, and even designed some - restorations for it; and he adopted the eight arches in preference - to any possible scheme of four great arches of sixty feet: but the - use of the round arch, as distinct from the pointed, deprived him - of Sacrist Alan’s liberty, who without incongruity made his - intermediate arches of the shorter sides, springing from the same - level, rise to the same height as the others. Wren was compelled to - make use of some expedient to reconcile his two different spaces - between piers of forty feet and twenty-six feet, and accordingly - arched these four smaller intermediate spaces as follows. A smaller - arch, rising from the architrave of the great pier, spans each - shorter side of the octagon, and has a ceiling or semi-dome in the - background, coming down to the terminal arches of the side aisles. - A blank wall space above is relieved by a section of an ornamental - arch of larger span, resting on the centre of the cornice; and - above this a third arch, rising from the level of the triforium - cornice, rests more upon the _outer_ side of the great supporting - pier, and thereby obtains the required equal span of forty feet, - and equal height of eighty-nine feet from the ground. This also has - a semi-dome; and the platform beneath on a level with the - clerestory is railed. - - “The reduction of the octagon to the circle is facilitated by - giving the spandrels between the arches the necessary concave - surface; and this stage is finished off with a cantilever cornice, - the work (at least in part) of one Jonathan Maine. The eight great - keystones of the arches by Caius Gabriel Cibber are seven feet by - five, and eighteen inches in relief.”--(A. D.) - -About a hundred feet from the pavement and the same distance across is -the celebrated =Whispering Gallery=, where a curious effect is obtained. - -The attendant whispering across the whole area can be distinctly heard, -an acoustic property seemingly caused by the nearness of the concave -hemisphere above. - -The =Cross= is quite 260 feet above us. The gallery projects so that the -lectern steps and the pulpit are underneath. - -Now we come to the =Drum=. The actual bend inwards now begins, but for -this part only in straight lines. First comes the plain band or Podium, -panelled and of a height of twenty feet. On this stand thirty-two -pilasters, in reality, as well as in appearance, out of the horizontal. -Three out of each four - - “intervening spaces are pierced with square-headed windows; and - from them such light as the dome receives, streams down through the - windows of the exterior colonnade. The alternate fourth recesses, - apparently nothing more than ornamental niches, conceal the - supports which bear the weight above. In the recent scheme of - decoration they have been filled with statues of Early Fathers--the - four eastern, SS. Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, and - Athanasius; and the four western, SS. Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, - Jerome, and Gregory. - - “The straight lines bearing inwards give way to the sphere; and - here, too, the three separate coverings, which constitute the dome, - begin. The circular opening below the lantern coincides with the - lower edge of the fluting of the exterior shell, and is about two - hundred and fifteen feet from the pavement. - - “These upper regions, hidden in an almost perpetual gloom, were - decorated in monochrome by Sir James Thornhill; but his work has - failed to resist the chemical action of the surcharged atmosphere. - In these compartments are scenes from the life of the patronal - saint: (1) The Conversion, (2) Elymas, (3) Cripple at Lystra, (4) - Jailer at Philippi, (5) Mars Hill, (6) Burning Books at Ephesus, - (7) Before Agrippa, (8) Shipwreck. We have all heard the story of - the painter, on a platform at a great height, who stepped back to - get a better view of his work. As he did so, an assistant, standing - by, brush in hand, observed with alarm that the slightest further - backward step would entail his falling headlong and being dashed to - pieces. He deliberately daubed the painting; and the artist, - stepping instinctively forward to prevent this, saved his life. The - painter is said to be Thornhill: the scene, the giddy height under - the dome.”--(A. D.) - -The beautiful iron-work of the gates is by Tijou, both at the ends of -the aisles and doorways of the reredos arch. The =Choir-stalls= are by -Grinling Gibbons and are very ornate and handsome. The Lord Mayor’s -stall is on the left, or north side, and the Bishop of London’s on the -right, or south. The latter’s throne is near the altar. There are -thirty-one stalls altogether. - - “The exquisite carvings of Grinling Gibbons in the stall-work of - the choir were not merely in themselves admirable, but in perfect - harmony with the character of the architecture. They rivalled, if - they did not surpass, all Mediæval works of their class in grace, - variety, richness; they kept up an inimitable unison of the lines - of the building and the decoration. In the words of Walpole ‘there - is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose - and airy lightness of flowers and chained together the various - productions of the elements with a fine disorder natural to each - species.’”--(M.) - -The =Organ= is one of the finest in the world. It was reconstructed by -Willis in 1897, and still contains parts of the original organ built by -the German, Schmidt, in 1697. It consists of 4,822 pipes and 102 stops -and is divided into two parts, placed on either side of the choir. These -are connected by pneumatic tubes beneath the floor. The keyboard is on -the north side. - -The older part of the case with its foliage, figures and architectural -devices was also designed by Grinling Gibbons. - -The =Altar= stands between the great eastern piers and is surmounted by a -tall reredos of white marble. - - “The symbolism is expressed in the frieze above the Crucifixion, - ‘Sic Deus dilexit mundum’ (‘God so loved the world’). The lower - part is pierced with doors on either side; and ‘Vas Electionis’ (‘A - chosen vessel’) over the north door refers to St. Paul, and ‘Pasce - oves meos’ (‘Feed my sheep’) over the other to St. Peter; and here - are the crossed swords, the arms of the diocese. The section above - has the Entombment in the centre, and the Nativity and Resurrection - on either side. A Crucifixion occupies the central position. The - framework is of Roman design, with pilasters and a round arch; and - remembering Wren’s conception, it is interesting that the columns - of Brescia marble, supporting the entablature above, are twisted. - This is flanked with a colonnade; the figure on the north being the - Angel Gabriel, and to the south the Virgin. Above the pediment is a - canopy with the Virgin and Child, and St. Peter and St. Paul to the - north and south; and above all, and nearly seventy feet from the - ground, the Risen Christ completes this most reverent design. - - “The altar cross is adorned with precious stones and lapis lazuli; - and the massive copper candlesticks are imitations of the original - four said to have been sold during the Protectorate.”--(A. D.) - -The apse behind the altar cut off by the reredos is now called the =Jesus -Chapel=. Over the altar here is a copy of Cima de Conegliano’s _Doubting -Thomas_ (in the National Gallery). - -The apse and the vaulting and the walls of the choir and ambulatory have -in recent years been decorated by Sir William Richmond with -richly-coloured mosaics. The chief panels of the apse represent our -Lord enthroned, with recording angels on either side. In the choir the -three “saucer domes,” or cupolas, represent three Days of Creation: -Beasts, Fishes and birds. The four pendentives of each bay are decorated -with herald Angels, with extended arms. Mosaics of the Crucifixion, -Entombment, Resurrection and Ascension, also by Sir William Richmond, -adorn the “quarter domes.” - -The eight paintings by Thornhill, of scenes from the life of St. Paul, -can be viewed properly only from the Whispering Gallery. In the niches -above this Gallery are statues of the Fathers of the Church. The -spandrels between the great arches are decorated by eight large mosaics -representing apostles and prophets: St. Matthew and St. John are by G. -F. Watts; St. Mark and St. Luke, by A. Brittan; and the four prophets -are the work of Alfred Stevens. - -The =Transepts= are of one arch only. The windows are modern and represent -bishops and kings of early days. In the south transept aisle there is a -window commemorating the recovery of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII.) -in 1872; and a bronze tablet by Princess Louise in memory of “4,300 sons -of Britain beyond the seas” who were killed in the South African war of -1899-1901. - -To the left of the chief entrance is =St. Dunstan’s Chapel=, sometimes -called the =North-West=, or =Morning Chapel=. It is richly decorated and -contains a Salviati mosaic representing the _Three Marys at the -Sepulchre_. - -In the south aisle, opposite, is the =Chapel of the Order of St. Michael -and St. George=, a Colonial order, conferred only for distinguished -services beyond the seas. The Sovereign’s stall is at the western end; -and on each side of it is that of the Grand Master (Prince of Wales) and -the Duke of Connaught. From these diverge the oak stalls of the Knights -Grand Cross of the Order, over each of which is suspended a silk banner -with his personal arms. The richly-gilded ceiling is decorated with the -arms of the King, the Prince of Wales, the late Duke of Cambridge and -Sir Robert Herbert, who were responsible for the scheme. In the south -window is a kneeling figure of the donor, Sir Walter Wilkin. The chapel -was dedicated on June 13, 1906, in the presence of King Edward, the -Prince of Wales and many Knights. - -Above this chapel the Library is situated to which the curious -=Geometrical Staircase= leads. This is circular, of a diameter of -twenty-five feet, and each step is supported by the one below it. This -is in the South tower. - -St. Paul’s is second only to Westminster Abbey in the number of -Monuments to the celebrated dead. Immediately within the west door -stands a gilt monument to the officers and men of the =Coldstream Guards= -who fell in the South African War. In the north aisle of the nave we -come to monuments of =General Gordon=, a recumbent figure on a sarcophagus -by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm; =Wellington=, by Alfred Stevens; =Lord Leighton=; -=Lord Melbourne=. In the north transept =Sir Joshua Reynolds=, by Flaxman; -and =Admiral Rodney=, by Rossi; in the south transept =Nelson=, by Flaxman, -who thus describes his work: - - “Britannia is directing the young seamen’s attention to their great - example, Lord Nelson. On the die of the pedestal which supports - the hero’s statue are figures in basso-relievo, representing the - Frozen Ocean, the German Ocean, the Nile, and the Mediterranean. On - the cornice and in the frieze of laurel wreaths are the words, - Copenhagen, Nile, Trafalgar. The British Lion sits on the plinth, - guarding the pedestal.” - -In the South transept: =Lord Cornwallis=, by Rossi, commemorates his -Indian career. He appears in his mantle of the Garter, with an -allegorical female figure of the Eastern Empire and a male figure -representing an Indian river. - -At the east side of the south transept is the entrance to the =Crypt=, -sombre, dimly lighted and sepulchral. In the centre a circle of pillars -surrounds the tomb of =Nelson=, whose remains lie in a plain tomb under a -black-and-white sarcophagus (Sixteenth Century), which was made for -Cardinal Wolsey’s monument and confiscated with his other possessions. -Through a grating here the dim light from the far-away dome sifts down -upon England’s great admiral. To the left of Nelson lies =Collingwood=, -and, to the right, =Cornwallis=. Not far away we come to the simple tomb -of =Arthur, Duke of Wellington=, a great block of porphyry on a granite -base. - -In the east recess of the south-choir-aisle is the grave of Sir -Christopher Wren marked by a plain black marble slab. On the wall is the -celebrated inscription: “_Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice_.” -Then comes =Painters’ Corner= with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, -Lawrence, Turner, Landseer, Millais, Leighton and others. - -We have yet to make the ascent of St. Paul’s. The way is long and grows -more tedious and steeper as we ascend. It will be well to stop at the -Stone Gallery (200 feet high), for although the Golden Gallery, at the -top of the dome, is a hundred feet higher, the view is not so distinct. -The Stone Gallery is safe, and delightful views are to be had in the -spaces between the balustrades. The view extends from Harrow on the -north-west, to the Crystal Palace, Shooter’s Hill and Greenwich -Observatory in the south-east. The tourist will, however, take more -pleasure in looking over the territory covered by the Great Fire of 1666 -and all the Wren steeples (there are thirty at least) that rise through -the mists below us. Here we again think of Sir Christopher’s genius and -remember again his epitaph: “If you wish an estimate of his genius, look -around.” It is interesting, too, to trace Fleet Street, Cheapside and -the other great arteries of traffic and travel, to look at the Thames -and understand its peculiar windings and to view from this height the -grim old Tower half a mile below London Bridge--the oldest building in -England and the most romantic. Without the Tower of London and without -St. Paul’s what would London be? Westminster Abbey is the church of the -King and the government; St. Paul’s is the church of the citizens, the -church that, as we have seen, has been a central point for the stirring -events of the City of London. Whenever the traveller thinks of London, -he sees its majestic dome rising above London Bridge or Ludgate Hill, or -Cheapside, purple in the mists, golden in the sunlight--the emblem of -London’s antiquity and its present immensity. - - “I always endow St. Paul’s Cathedral with life and human nature and - sympathy. I cannot well explain what early associations and chances - have made St. Paul’s a more living influence to me than the much - grander and nobler Westminster Abbey; but so it is and I feel as - if St. Paul’s were a living influence over all that region of the - metropolis which is surveyed by its ball and its cross. But in - another sense it is unlike other buildings to me. It is not one - long-lived, long-living cathedral; it is rather a generation of - cathedrals. Westminster Abbey takes us back in unbroken continuity - of history to the earlier days of England’s budding greatness. - Westminster itself, nevertheless, was only called so in the - beginning to distinguish it from the earlier East Minster, which - was either the existing St. Paul’s or a cathedral standing on Tower - Hill. It would seem, then, that St. Paul’s rather than Westminster - Abbey ought to represent the gradual movement of English history - and English thought and the growth of the metropolis. But observe - the difference. Westminster Abbey has always since its erection - been sedately watching over London. It has been reconstructed here - and there, of course--repaired and renovated, touched up and - decorated with new adornments in tribute of grateful piety; but it - is ever and always the same Westminster Abbey. Now observe the - history of St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s has fallen and died time after - time, and been revived and restored. It has risen new upon new - generations. It has perished in flame again and again, like a - succession of martyrs, and has come up afresh and with new spangled - ore flamed in the forehead of the morning sky. St. Paul’s is a - religious or ecclesiastical dynasty rather than a cathedral. It has - been destroyed so often and risen again in so many different - shapes, that it seems as if each succeeding age were putting its - fresh stamp and mint-mark on it and so commending it to the special - service of each new generation.”--(J. McC.) - -[Illustration: ST. PAUL’S: CHOIR, EAST] - -[Illustration: ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK] - - - - -ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK - - FORMERLY THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. SAVIOUR; AND ST. MARY OVERIE, - SOUTHWARK. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: CENTRAL TOWER; CHOIR-SCREEN; TOMB OF JOHN GOWER; - HARVARD WINDOW; WINDOWS TO ELIZABETHAN DRAMATISTS. - - -Although St. Saviour’s, Southwark, is one of the oldest buildings in -London, it is one of the youngest of cathedrals in England, having been -formally inaugurated as a Cathedral by King Edward on July 3, 1905. It -was recently restored at a cost of £40,000. Parts of the Norman nave, -dating from the Twelfth Century, were incorporated by Sir Arthur -Blomfield in the new nave built in 1891-1896. - -St. Saviour’s stands on the south or Surrey side of London in the -Borough, a district of very little interest in comparison with London -north of the Thames; but very rich in historical associations. After -crossing London Bridge we find this church on our right on a lower level -than the road, which sunken situation prevents a good view of the -venerable pile. Adjoining the church is the Borough Market for fruit and -vegetables and west of it in Park Street, close to Southwark Bridge, is -Barclay’s Brewery on the site of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Going down -Borough High Street we pass the site of the old _Tabard Inn_, from which -Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims started on their journey; and still lower -down the street, the successor to the _White Hart_, where Mr. Pickwick -found the immortal Sam Weller. In the vicinity the Marshalsea prison -stood until the middle of the Nineteenth Century, within the sound of -St. Saviour’s bells. - -St. Saviour’s is now almost the only remaining landmark of “Old -Southwark.” - -Its early history is lost in legend. Stow, on the authority of Linstede, -the last of the priors, attributed the building of the original London -Bridge to the profits made by a ferryman here, who left his money to his -daughter Mary. He tells the story as follows: - - “East from the Bishop of Winchester’s house, directly over against - it, standeth a fair church called St. Mary-over-the-Rie, or Overie; - that is, over the water. This church, or some other in place - thereof, was, of old time, long before the Conquest, a house of - sisters, founded by a maiden named Mary; unto the which house and - sisters she left, as was left to her by her parents, the oversight - and profits of a cross ferry, or traverse ferry over the Thames, - there kept before that any bridge was built. This house of sisters - was after by Swithun, a noble lady, converted into a college of - priests, who in place of the ferry built a bridge of timber, and - from time to time kept the place in good reparations; but lastly, - the same bridge was built of stone; and then in the year 1106 was - this church again founded for canons regular by William Pont de la - Arch, and William Dauncey, Knights, Normans.” - -Modern historians have made a few corrections in this statement, -particularly as regards the person who changed the nunnery into a -college of priests. This was not a “noble lady,” but St. Swithun, Bishop -of Winchester (832-856) (see page 46). It became a monastery of the -Augustinian order in 1106, and the Norman knights who aided in its -foundation also built the new Norman nave. After a severe fire that -occurred early in the Thirteenth Century, when much of Southwark was -destroyed, the church suffered greatly. Repairs were, of course, -necessary; and the Bishop of Winchester, who took charge, rebuilt the -nave in the lighter Early English style and also the choir and -retro-choir. - -Another fire in the reign of Richard II. occasioned other repairs in the -new Perpendicular style which was continued by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop -of Winchester (1405-1447), who restored the south transept. The Cardinal -was the son of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford. In this church he -married his niece Jane Beaufort to James I. of Scotland in 1423, with -whom the royal poet fell in love during his imprisonment at Windsor. - -After the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 St. Mary Overy, which -had already been united with St. Mary Magdalene, was now combined with -St. Margaret’s and in the year of Linstede’s surrender to Henry VIII. -(1540) the three parishes were united under the name of the Collegiate -Church of St. Saviour. - -St. Saviour’s was several times repaired and altered in the Eighteenth -Century, and then fell into neglect. - -The East End is an enlargement or addition to the choir. It consists, as -we see, of four bays separated by buttresses and surmounted by gables. -Each gable is lighted by a triplet of lancet windows. Larger windows of -the same general style light the bays below. At the north-east corner is -a short hexagonal stair turret. Above the Lady-Chapel rises the East End -or gable of the choir. This has also a three-light lancet window, with a -small circular window with seven cusps above. On the north-east corner -the turret is capped by a pinnacle. Above rises the venerable square -tower--St. Saviour’s best feature. - -The =Tower= at the intersection of the nave and transepts was partly built -by Bishop Fox in the Perpendicular style. - - “At the intersection of the nave, transepts and choir, rises a - noble tower, thirty-five feet square and one hundred and fifty feet - in height, resting on four massive pillars adorned with clustered - columns. The sharp-pointed arches are very lofty. The interior of - the tower is in four stories, in the uppermost of which is a fine - peal of twelve bells. Externally the tower, which is not older than - the Sixteenth Century, somewhat resembles that of St. Sepulchre’s - Church, close by Newgate. It is divided into two parts, with - handsome pointed windows, in two stories, on each front; it has - tall pinnacles at each corner, and the battlements are of flint, in - squares or chequer-work.”--(E. W.) - -The South transept, like the north transept, was built in the Decorated -style in the first half of the Fourteenth Century, but was rebuilt by -Cardinal Beaufort. It has been restored in the style of his time, and -the window of five lights is Transitional in style from Decorated to -Perpendicular. - -We enter by the =Doorway= at the south-west, the principal entrance to the -Cathedral. - - “In all probability the door was placed in this position when the - Norman nave was built by Bishop Giffard (_circa_ 1106); but its - character was altered by Peter de Rupibus, a century later, to - bring it into harmony with the rest of his Early English work, when - he remodelled the nave in that style. - - “The porch that we now have agrees in its main features with the - drawings taken of the earlier one before it was destroyed. A deeply - recessed and acutely pointed arch is divided into two by a central - shaft, with moulded base and foliaged capital. The jambs contain - five shafts on each side, which differ from that in the centre, in - that they are of Purbeck marble, and banded, in pleasing contrast - to the plain stone of their own bases and capitals, and of the - (unbanded) central shaft. In the tympanum of the double doorway - thus formed, there is a pointed arcading, consisting of a central - arch and two smaller arches on either side. The deep soffit of the - arch in which this elegant arcading is enclosed, is adorned with a - series of quatrefoil panels.”--(Geo. W.) - -On entering we get a fine view of more than two hundred feet. - -The =Nave= was rebuilt in 1890-1897 and is a reproduction of the Early -English nave in nearly every detail. As we look down the long vista we -are reminded of Salisbury. Here, however, we have the magnificent screen -and the handsome East window above it. The clerestory is lighted by -plain lancet windows, enclosed in an elegant arcading. - -Walking down the north aisle of the nave we soon come to the most -interesting monument in the Cathedral--the tomb of =John Gower=, who died -in 1408, eight years after his friend Chaucer, to whom the window above -(1900) is appropriately enough a memorial and bears the latter’s -portrait. - - “He had been a liberal benefactor to the Church, and founded a - chantry in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was - eventually buried. The chapel and chantry are no more, but the - monument marks the spot, having been restored in 1894 to its first - position. It is in the Perpendicular style, and consists of an - altar-tomb, with a dado, ornamented by seven panels in front, on - which lies the effigy of the poet, surmounted by a canopy of three - ogee arches, with an inner order of five cusps, and terminating in - crocketed pinnacles. There is a pilaster set angle-wise at each - end, banded at the separate divisions of the monument, and also - rising into crocketed pinnacles. There are similar pinnacles - between the arches of the canopy. Behind the canopy is a screen, - divided into open panels of three trefoil-headed lights. The - cornice at the top is modern, and the hands and nose of the figure - are restorations. - - “The poet is represented lying on his back, with his hands joined - in prayer, and his head resting upon the three volumes on which his - fame depends, the _Speculum Meditantis_, _Vox Clamantis_, and - _Confessio Amantis_. He is vested in a long dark habit, buttoned - down to the feet, after the manner of a cassock, the ordinary dress - of an English gentleman at the time. There is a garland of four - roses round his head, and at his feet a lion couchant. The SS. - collar adorns the neck, with a pendant jewel, on which a swan is - engraved--the device of Richard II., to whom Gower was Poet - Laureate. On the wall of the canopy, at the foot of the tomb, there - is a sculptured and coloured representation of the poet’s own - shield of arms, crest and helmet. On the back wall of the recess, - above the effigy, there were formerly three painted figures, - representing Charity, Mercy, and Piety, each bearing a scroll with - an invocation, in Norman-French, for the soul of the departed. - After undergoing repainting more than once, with modifications, the - figures were scarcely recognisable in 1832, when the monument was - repaired, but the figures were unfortunately obliterated. The - inscription along the ledge of the tomb, which had also been - destroyed, is now replaced: ‘Hic jacet I. Gower, Arm. Angl: poeta - celeberrimus ac hoc sacro benefac. insignis. Vixit temporibus Edw. - III., Ric. II., et Henri IV.’”--(Geo. W.) - -Now we have reached the =North Transept=, supposed to have been originally -a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. It is now used as a sort of museum for -the relics and antiquities of the church--old bosses, chests, -stone-coffins, etc. The large north window was unveiled in 1898 to -commemorate doubly the Prince Consort and Queen Victoria’s Diamond -Jubilee. Its four lights depict Gregory the Great, King Ethelbert, -Stephen Langton and William of Wykeham. - -Passing to the tower we can now look upward as far as the floor of the -bell-ringers. The bosses on the new oaken roof date from the Fifteenth -Century. From it hangs a fine =Chandelier= of 1680. - -The =South Transept= was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort, whose arms we see -on a pier by the transept door. The great south window of five lights, -described by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the designer, as “transitional -between Flowing Decorated and Perpendicular,” is filled with modern -glass. The design is a “Tree of Jesse.” - -Returning now to the =Choir= we pause here to study it in detail. It was -built by Peter de Rupibus in the Thirteenth Century, and is Early -English. It consists of five bays. The piers are alternate circular and -octagonal, with plain capitals and well-cut base mouldings. Four arched -openings occur in each bay of the triforium. Corbels with sculptured -heads occur on the arches of the south side. - -The =Altar= stands on a platform and above it rises the wonderful =Screen=, -erected by Bishop Fox in 1520. It almost fills the entire eastern end of -the choir. - - “The screen is about thirty feet in height, and extends to the main - arcades on either side. Three tiers of canopied niches, ten in each - tier, divided down the centre by a Perpendicular series of three - large niches, all occupied by statues, made up a composition which - was at once ‘a thing of beauty’ and an object lesson on the - Incarnation. The total number of niches (thirty-three) suggested a - mystic reference to the years of our Lord’s earthly life, while the - image of the Pelican ‘in her piety,’ here and there, besides being - a reminder of Bishop Fox (whose peculiar device it was), also - typified the sacrament of the altar. The original materials of - which the screen was built are quoted as ‘Caen and fire-stone,’ for - which Mr. Wallace substituted stone from Painswick in - Gloucestershire, as more easily obtained and agreeing in colour - with the old work. - - “The doors on each side will be noticed, with their depressed ogee - headings, which indicate that this screen is of somewhat later date - than the corresponding one (also by Bishop Fox) at Winchester. - Another indication to the same effect has been detected in the - grotesque carvings in the spandrels, which are here of a humorous - character, whereas at Winchester the minor decorations are entirely - sacred, e.g., the Annunciation and Visitation.”--(Geo. W.) - -The =East Window= above contains three lancets, the glass representing the -Crucifixion in the centre with St. John on one side and the Virgin on -the other. It is placed in a quintuple arcade. The prevailing colour is -blue. - -On the north side of the choir under the first arch we notice the -=Monument of Richard Humble=, a good specimen of the Jacobean period. -Here, under an arched canopy, Richard Humble is kneeling before an -altar, with his two wives behind him. The second one wears a conical -hat. - -The =Retro-Choir=, now called the =Lady-Chapel=, was erected by Peter de -Rupibus. It is one of the best examples of Early English extant. Six -slender columns support the groined vault. If we look at it from the -south-east corner we gain a good view showing the altar on the north -side and the =tomb of Bishop Andrews= (died 1626) on the west, an example -of the Renaissance style, with a painted effigy. This Bishop of -Winchester (who often visited St. Saviour’s, the most important church -in his diocese after the Cathedral of Winchester) was buried in a little -chapel east of the retro-choir. The “Bishop’s Chapel,” as it was called, -was destroyed in 1830 and the body of Bishop Andrews was transferred to -its present place. - -Of the windows in the Retro-Choir the most admired is the one in the -north side of three lights containing figures of Charles I., Thomas à -Becket and Archbishop Laud. The tracery is in the Decorated style. - -Walking along the north-choir-aisle we pass the effigy of a knight and -soon come to the most conspicuous monument in this aisle, that of =John -Trehearne=, servant to Queen Elizabeth and “Gentleman Portar” to James I. -On the top of the tomb are Trehearne and his wife with big ruffs. They -proudly hold a tablet which is a eulogy of Trehearne’s remarkable -qualities. Their four children kneel on a bas-relief below. It is a very -interesting example of Seventeenth Century mortuary art. - -A door leads from the north-choir-aisle into the =Chapel of St. John the -Divine=, now famous for the =Harvard Window= in its eastern wall. - - “Henceforth the chapel will be associated with the name of John - Harvard, who was born in the parish, and baptised in the church on - 29th November, 1607, and its restoration is intended to take the - form of a memorial to that great and good man. - - “The first practical step in this direction was taken by the Hon. - Joseph H. Choate, who manifested great interest in the ancient - fabric while he was American Ambassador, and presented the east - window to the chapel in commemoration of John Harvard, founder of - the renowned university which bears his name. The window, unveiled - by Mr. Choate on Monday, 2nd May, 1905, is of three lights, - transomed, as designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons, the glass - being made in America under the supervision of Mr. Charles F. - McKim, the famous American architect. The design is by Mr. John La - Farge. In the central light of the lower division the Baptism of - Christ is depicted, attendant angels occupying the sides. The upper - division contains the arms of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where - John Harvard was educated, and of the Harvard University, with its - mottoes, _Veritas_ and _Christo et Ecclesiae_. The base bears the - inscription, ‘In memory of John Harvard, founder of Harvard - University in America, baptised in this church, Nov. 29, 1607.’ - - “The window is a noteworthy example of modern work, and the - treatment of the familiar subject is distinctly original, in which - respect, as well as in colouring, it presents a very striking - contrast to the other windows, especially to those of mediæval - character, throughout the church. Perhaps it is fortunate that it - occupies an isolated position in the chapel, where the brilliance - and peculiarity of the colouring are seen to full advantage without - detriment to the other windows.”--(Geo. W.) - -We again find our way back to the tower and into the south-aisle of the -nave for the particular purpose of looking at the windows representing -the =Elizabethan players and dramatists=, associated with the Southwark -theatres. Some of them, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger and Edmund -Shakespeare, are buried here. The first of this series of windows is a -memorial to =Edward Alleyn= (1566-1626); next to =Francis Beaumont= -(1585-1616); next to =John Fletcher= (1579-1625); next to =Philip Massinger= -(1583-1639); next to =Shakespeare=, who lived not far from his theatre, -the Globe, in the parish of St. Saviour’s Church. - -[Illustration: ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK: NAVE, EAST] - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: WEST FRONT] - - - - -WESTMINSTER ABBEY - - DEDICATED TO ST. PETER. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY. - - SPECIAL FEATURES: EDWARD THE CONFESSOR’S CHAPEL; SHRINE OF THE - CONFESSOR; THE “POETS’ CORNER”; HENRY VII.’S CHAPEL. - - -Westminster Abbey, though not a cathedral, is, perhaps, the most famous -church in England. It is, however, visited on account of its historical -associations rather than because of its architecture. Yet architects -know full well that it is the equal of Salisbury, Lincoln, Ely, or -Canterbury. In it all British sovereigns have been crowned since the -days of the Conqueror and in it rest the remains of the nation’s most -honoured dead. - -According to tradition, in the Seventh Century, Siebert, King of the -East Saxons, built a church to St. Peter on what was then Thorney -Island. It became known as Westminster. - -Dunstan established a Benedictine monastery here; but the Abbey that we -know was begun by Edward the Confessor in 1050. This King died soon -after the Choir was finished in 1065, and was buried there. We gain an -idea of his church from the Bayeux tapestry, which depicts Edward the -Confessor’s funeral. Some portions of it remain below the present Choir. - -During William Rufus’s reign the transepts and first bay of the nave -were finished. - -Henry III. determined to build a new church in the French style; and -this was begun in 1245 and completed as far as the fourth bay of the -nave in 1269. It is the most finished production of the first half of -the Thirteenth Century in England. - -Henry III. also built a Lady-Chapel, afterwards destroyed by Henry VII. -for his exquisite chapel--the most perfect example of Perpendicular -work. During the reign of Richard II. the old nave was reconstructed. - -To many, the exterior of Westminster Abbey is not as impressive as St. -Paul’s. It is disappointing in size and somewhat too narrow for its -height. It is only when we enter and see the superb architecture and -impressive monuments that its grandeur and solemnity grow upon us, -notwithstanding the fact that the black-gowned vergers conducting -parties of tourists from tomb to tomb and chapel to chapel, in -business-like fashion, do all they can to dispel reverence by rattling -off stories of Queen Hanne and ‘Enery VII., not always with -unimpeachable accuracy. - - “The WEST FRONT is flanked by two towers 225 feet high, built by - Wren and finished by his pupil Hawksmoor, about 1740. In the centre - of the front is the great Perpendicular window, beneath which is a - row of niches. The entrance porch has a groined roof. The nave is - remarkable for its length and height. On the north side we notice - that there is a wealth of buttresses. Strong buttresses support the - aisle walls, and from these flying-buttresses stretch across to the - walls built on the central arcade. The four eastern buttresses - comprise the part of the church finished by Henry III.; the rest of - the nave, with the exception of Wren’s towers, was built during the - last half of the Fourteenth Century and the beginning of the - Fifteenth. The figures in the niches are modern.”--(P. H. D.) - -The =North Front= is new, designed by Sir G. Scott and Mr. Pearson. - - “It is a very elaborate work and much of it is beautiful; but it - does not seem to harmonise with the rest of the building. There is - a large rose-window; on each side tall buttresses crowned with - turrets and covered with niches. There is an arcade of open-work - below and then some deeply-recessed Early English windows, and - below three doorways under one string-course, the centre one having - a high gable. The door is divided by a pier having a finely-carved - figure of the Virgin and Child. The tympanum is divided into three - panels. In the highest is Our Lord in glory surrounded by angels - and below him are the Twelve Apostles, while in the lowest tier are - figures representing Art, History, Philosophy, War, Legislation and - Science, with the builders of the Abbey, Edward the Confessor, - Henry III. and Richard II. The niches are filled with figures of - persons in some way connected with the Abbey. The Choir is in the - form of an apse, with radiating chapels, planned on the model of - the French _chevet_, according to the taste of Henry III., which he - had cultivated during his sojourn in France. The Lady-Chapel at the - east end, commonly called Henry VII.’s Chapel, is one of the - noblest examples of the best Perpendicular work in the kingdom, and - ranks with St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and King’s College, - Cambridge. The monastic buildings are on the south side of the - Abbey.”--(P. H. D.) - -The ground plan is French, with a French _chevet_ and chapels radiating -from the Choir, and not only in the plan but in the narrowness and -height of the bays of the Choir and in the tracery of the windows. -French characteristics declare themselves. The nave is bordered with -aisles. Beyond the Choir rises the central tower; and on either side the -north and south transepts. The latter is known as the “Poets’ Corner.” -Beyond comes the altar, around which many tombs crowd closely; and -beyond them the North and South Ambulatory. Beyond again runs a circle -of chapels. Then beyond this apse a flight of steps leading to Henry -VII.’s Chapel, also crowded with tombs. - -The Cloisters and Chapter-House lie on the south side of the Abbey; and -on the right of the chief or West entrance, we find the famous Jerusalem -Chamber, Jericho, and the Dining-Hall and Court--all part of the old -Palace and demonstrating to strangers from over-sea the close connection -between the religious and civic life of the British nation. - - “One never enters the Abbey Church without a thrill of admiration - for the daring genius who raised those lofty vaults. That they were - the first of their kind in England is almost certain, but the name - of their designer does not seem to have been preserved. It is more - likely that he was an Englishman who had studied in France, than - that he was a Frenchman. Certain it is that though the plan, if not - all the design, is purely French, the arrangement of the chapels - being in fact peculiar to Westminster amongst English churches, the - workmanship is very superior to that in any contemporary building - on the Continent.”--(W. J. L.) - -The =Nave= is the loftiest in England. It is two feet higher than that of -York Minster. - - “The view of the interior is very impressive. Standing at the west - end of the nave we cannot fail to admire the magnificent beauty of - this noble shrine. This nave of twelve bays, with its clustered - columns, its beautiful triforium, and its lofty and firmly - proportioned roof soaring to the height of 101 feet, is very - striking. A close inspection will show the difference between the - piers of the portion finished by Henry III. and the newer work of - the Fourteenth Century. The tracery of the triforium openings is - very fine. The choir-screen which crosses the nave at the eighth - pier, is modern, and also the pulpit. The west window is - Perpendicular, and has some Georgian glass containing figures of - the Patriarchs. Much architectural beauty has been sacrificed for - the sake of ponderous monuments, but many of these have much - interest and for many visitors will prove the most attractive - features of the Abbey.”--(P. H. D.) - -The general effect of the interior has changed little since Washington -Irving wrote his sympathetic essay on England’s Walhalla: - - “I pursued my walk to an arched door opening to the interior of the - Abbey. On entering here the magnitude of the building breaks fully - upon the mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eye - gazes with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic dimensions with - arches springing from them to such an amazing height; and man - wandering about their bases shrunk into insignificance in - comparison with his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom of - this vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step - cautiously and softly about as if fearful of disturbing the - hallowed silence of the tomb; while every footfall whispers along - the walls, and chatters among the sepulchres, making us more - sensible of the quiet we have interrupted. - - “It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon the - soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless reverence. We feel - that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of - past times who have filled history with their deeds and the earth - with their renown. - - “I passed some time in Poets’ Corner, which occupies an end of one - of the transepts, or cross aisles of the Abbey. The monuments are - generally simple; for the lives of literary men afford no striking - themes for the sculptor. Shakespeare and Addison have statues - erected to their memories, but the greater part have busts, - medallions and sometimes mere inscriptions. - - “From Poets’ Corner I continued my stroll towards that part of the - Abbey which contains the sepulchres of the kings. I wandered among - what once were chapels, but which are now occupied by the tombs and - monuments of the great. At every turn I met with some illustrious - name, or the cognizance of some powerful house renowned in history. - As the eye darts into these dusky chambers of death, it catches - glimpses of quaint effigies: some kneeling in niches, as if in - devotion; others stretched upon the tombs, with hands piously - pressed together; warriors in armour, as if reposing after battle; - prelates, with crosiers and mitres; and nobles in robes and - coronets, lying as it were in state. In glancing over this scene, - so strangely populous, yet where every form is so still and silent, - it seems almost as if we were treading a mansion of that fabled - city, where every being had been suddenly transmuted into stone.” - -The =West Window= dates from the reign of George II., whose arms are in -the centre. It contains twenty-four large and fourteen small -compartments depicting Moses, Aaron and the patriarchs. - -The =North-west Tower=, also called =Belfry Tower=, has been called the -“Whigs’ Corner,” on account of the monuments there. The glass in the -window is old. The =south-west=, or =Baptistery Tower=, used to contain the -font (now in Henry VII.’s Chapel). Here are also many monuments and -busts. The stained glass window, in memory of George Herbert and William -Cowper, was the gift of Mr. G. W. Childs, of Philadelphia. - -The nave pulpit was placed here in 1862; and though the inner stone-work -of the =Choir-screen= is of the Thirteenth Century, what is visible is -modern. - - “The splendid arcade which forms the TRIFORIUM is one of the - greatest glories of Westminster, for it is filled with tracery - similar in every respect to the best window tracery of the Early - English period. Above the triforium comes the grand tier of windows - composing the clerestory. Each is divided by a single central - mullion which, in the older portions, terminates with two plain - arches surmounted by a circle foliated in six divisions, and in the - newer portions with trefoil-headed arches surmounted by a circle - divided into only four parts. The fine vaulting, of which the - rib-work is enriched with sculptured bosses at its points of - intersection, completes the centre of the nave in such a fashion - that its decorative effect is in complete harmony with the richness - of the arch mouldings.”--(C. H.) - -The aisles are greatly disfigured by the innumerable monuments. Much -beautiful sculpture has been cut away to make room for them. The north -aisle has one doorway; the south aisle has three, two of which lead into -the Cloisters and the third (the most western one) into the Deanery. -Above it is the =Abbot’s Pew=, an oaken gallery built by Abbot Islip early -in the Sixteenth Century. - -The most important monument in the north aisle is that of =Ben Jonson=, -with the famous inscription “O rare Ben Jonson.” In the south aisle lies -=Major John André=. - -The =Transepts= of Westminster Abbey contain some of the most beautiful -work that can be found anywhere. - -The =North Transept= is entered by the famous =Solomon’s Porch=. It consists -of four bays and is bordered with aisles. The eastern aisle is divided -into three chapels--St. Andrew, St. Michael and St. John the -Evangelist--all of which are filled with monuments. - - “The transept end consists of five stages, of which the lowest is - composed of four obtusely pointed arches, two of them being - doorways. The spandrels are very richly sculptured. In the second - compartment is an arcade of six trefoil-headed arches springing - from clustered columns. Above this arcade are six lancet windows on - slender columns. The soffits of the arches are decorated with - sculpture and at both ends there are statues in niches. The fourth - stage is a continuation of the triforium arcade. There are three - arches, each enclosing two trefoiled arches, with a cinquefoiled - circle between them. It is possible that there were once windows in - this compartment, but these have been filled up. The transept end - is completed by a great rose-window filled with modern stained - glass representing the Apostles and Evangelists. Here we find the - celebrated CENSING ANGELS. - - “The triforium is the place from which we can best see those famous - sculptures known as the ‘censing angels.’ The artist who placed - these figures in the north and south transepts must have had a - genius which brought him nearer to the great Greek sculptors of the - Periclean period than any who has lived since their time. What must - the central statues have been like to be worthy of such - accessories? Perhaps if one had to select the best public statue in - England, it would be impossible to overlook the angel on the north - transept on the western side. He appears to be literally hovering - in the air, or rather--for this the sculptor has most marvellously - expressed--he is supposed to be swinging his censer in the presence - of his Lord, and to be floating in a sea of light, which forces him - to bow his head and avert his face from its dazzling - effulgence.”--(W. J. L.) - -Among the monuments in the north transept the most interesting are to -Admiral Vernon, George Canning, D’Israeli, Gladstone, Sir Robert Peel, -William Pitt and Warren Hastings. - -The =South Transept= is popularly known as the =Poets’ Corner=, a name given -by Goldsmith. It is so crowded with tombs and cenotaphs that the -architectural features are rarely noticed. It is not uniform with the -north transept though both are of Henry III.’s reign, Early English -merging into Decorated. A door in the south wall leads into the =Chapel -of St. Faith=, long used as a vestry and now as a chapel for private -prayer. - -The most interesting tomb here is that of =Geoffrey Chaucer=, who for -years lived in a house in the monastery garden pulled down to make room - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: POETS’ CORNER] - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: CHOIR, EAST] - -for Henry VII.’s Chapel. It is a small altar-tomb supposed to date from -1451, with a canopy of Purbeck marble of later date. The memorial window -above dates from 1868. Here lie Dryden, Francis Beaumont, Browning, -Tennyson and Edmund Spencer among others; and a bust of Longfellow was -placed here in 1884. - - “The Choir, which has been the scene of so many solemn and - memorable services, has no ancient woodwork. The stalls were - erected about the middle of the last century. The altar and reredos - are modern. There are some large figures, and a mosaic of the Last - Supper. Here the coronations of our monarchs take place. The - pavement is interesting, as it was brought from Rome by Abbot Ware - in 1268, and beneath it he rests with other abbots of Westminster. - The sedilia are Thirteenth Century work, and were decorated with - paintings. The figures of King Siebert, the first founder, and of - Henry III., the munificent re-founder, remain. Above the base of - the tomb of Anne of Cleves, one of Henry VIII.’s many wives, is a - remarkable painting of Richard II., and behind it some ancient - tapestry.”--(P. H. D.) - -On the north side of the sanctuary three ancient tombs harmonise -perfectly with their architectural surroundings. The most westerly is -that of =Aveline of Lancaster=, who died about 1273, a wealthy heiress, -daughter of the Earl of Albemarle, who was married in the Abbey in 1269 -to Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, younger son of Henry III. A -single cusped arch with a high gable in the spandrel of which is a -trefoiled panel forms the canopy. Two dogs are at the feet of the effigy -draped in flowing mantle. The tomb is Early Decorated. Next comes the -tomb of =Aymer de Valence=, Earl of Pembroke (died 1323). The Earl, in -full armour, rests his feet on a lion couchant. Beyond is the tomb of -=Edmund Crouchback= (died 1296). The effigy of the Earl in chain armour -lies under a triple canopy, richly ornamented. The aisles are crowded -with tombs and monuments. The aisles of the choir are filled with tombs -and monuments. - -Behind the altar is situated the =Confessor’s Chapel= containing the -famous =Shrine of Edward the Confessor=. - - “When we enter St. Edward’s Chapel, or the Chapel of the Kings - (_Capella Regum_), we find ourselves in what may fairly be - described as the most important part of the Abbey, alike from the - ecclesiastical and historical points of view. The chapel is - distinguished from the rest of the church by its superior height - above the ground. In the centre is the Confessor’s shrine, around - which are the tombs of five Kings and six Queens of England. The - entrance is by some wooden steps through a small space between one - of the columns and Edward I.’s tomb. The chapel is separated from - the sanctuary by a Fifteenth Century screen, which, though much - mutilated, is still beautiful. The sculptures deal with the life - and visions of the Confessor.”--(C. H.) - -The =Confessor’s Shrine=, though mutilated, is the most important monument -in the Abbey. The present tomb was finished in 1269 at the instance of -King Henry, and was the work of one Peter, a Roman citizen. At the -Dissolution of the Monasteries the body of the King was removed and the -golden ornaments of the tomb disappeared; but in Queen Mary’s time Abbot -Feckenham had the body re-interred, the shrine repaired and the wooden -superstructure erected. James II. had the old coffin enclosed in another -case. This remains still within the shrine. - -On the north side of the shrine is the =Tomb of Henry III.=, of two -stages, in the upper one of which the body rests. An effigy in gilt -bronze rests on the top. Next is the tomb of =Edward I.= On the other side -(east) lies =Eleanor of Castile= (died 1290) in a tomb of Purbeck marble, -the sides of which are embellished with trefoiled heads, a fine example -of Gothic, probably designed by Torel. Immediately behind the -Confessor’s Shrine comes the =Chantry of Henry V.= (where an altar once -stood). It is a splendid piece of ornate Perpendicular work, with -elaborate sculptured figures representing St. George, St. Denys and the -story of the hero’s life--his fights, coronation and court. The effigy -is mutilated. Above the tomb hang the monarch’s shield, saddle and -helmet, which were carried in his funeral procession. - -The next tomb is that of =Queen Philippa of Hainault=, Queen of Edward -III., who died in 1369. Next comes =Edward III.= (died 1377) and next that -of =Richard II.= and his first wife, =Anne of Bohemia=. Next, =Siebert’s -Tomb=, consisting of an arched recess in the wall and supposed to contain -the body of the legendary founder of the Abbey. It dates from 1308. Next -comes the tomb of =Anne of Cleves=. - -In this chapel stand the =Coronation Chairs=. The one on the left was made -in the reign of Edward I. to enclose the stone of Scone, supposed to be -the stone on which Jacob slept at Beth-el. The chair was once painted -and jewelled. The other chair was made for the coronation of William and -Mary. Between these hang the sword and shield of state of Edward III., -used at his and all other coronations. - -The little =Chapel of St. Benedict= is closed to the public. Under an arch -is an altar tomb of four children of Henry III. and four of Edward I. - -Then comes =St. Edmund’s Chapel=, filled with tombs; then =St. Nicholas’s -Chapel=, separated from the ambulatory by an embattled stone screen -(Perpendicular), probably erected in the reign of Henry IV. On the other -side of the steps leading to Henry VII.’s Chapel is =St. Paul’s Chapel=, -corresponding with St. Nicholas’s Chapel. Next we find the =Chapel of St. -John Baptist= with the =Chapel of St. Erasmus= forming the entrance. The -doorway, dating from the reign of Richard II., is beautiful, a low arch, -supported by clustered pillars. Next to this comes =Islip’s Chapel=, -screened off and vaulted by Abbot Islip (died 1532), to hold his own -tomb. The abbot’s rebus, an eye with a slip of a tree grasped in a hand, -or a man slipping from the branch of a tree, occurs frequently inside -and outside the chapel. In the upper part of Islip’s chapel are -preserved the remarkable collection of wax-works. - - “The wax-works of Westminster Abbey have not been seen by many - people, but are deservedly famous. At first, it was customary when - a king or any other great personage was to be buried, to place on - the coffin his effigy formed of boiled leather. When the art of - modelling in _cuir bouilli_ was lost, wax was employed for making - the image, and wax, notwithstanding its proverbial pliancy, is a - very enduring substance. From the north aisle of the apse we ascend - a narrow staircase, passing by the way some of the most beautiful - sculpture in the Abbey fronting the chapel of Abbot Islip. At a - turn in the stair which leads to a kind of upper gallery we are - suddenly confronted with the lifelike figure of King Charles II., - whose face, as rendered familiar by numerous and contemporary - engravings, with its black eyes and swarthy complexion, looks out - from behind the glass of a cupboard only a few inches from the spot - we have reached. The royal figure is dressed in crimson velvet, now - sadly browned, and adorned - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: CHAPEL AND SHRINE OF EDWARD THE -CONFESSOR] - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: HENRY VII’S CHAPEL] - - with the finest lace of the period. When we have recovered - composure and breath, and can look around, we find ourselves in the - presence of a series of most interesting and curious portraits. The - wooden presses, with glass fronts, are, to judge from the pattern - of the hinges, of about the time of the monarch whose effigy was - the first to confront us. The rest, taken chronologically, consist - of ten figures beginning with Queen Elizabeth and ending with Lord - Nelson, but neither of these, the first and last, were really - funeral effigies.”--(W. J. L.) - -Directly behind the Confessor’s Chapel we come to =Henry VII.’s Chapel=, -originally designed to hold the remains of Henry VI., who was buried at -Windsor, but the plan was not carried out. - - “At the entrance to the chapel we are brought to what Dean Stanley - calls a ‘solemn architectural pause.’ Here we may study three - distinct architectural periods. ‘First,’ as Mr. Loftie says, ‘there - is the early work of Henry III., who, it will be remembered, made a - Lady-Chapel here before he recommenced the rebuilding of the - Confessor’s church. Secondly, the next pier shows us the work done - when the body of Henry V. was brought hither from France in 1422. - Lastly, alongside of these two is the first column of the new and - gorgeous structure with which Henry VII. replaced the Lady-Chapel - of Henry III.’ The dimness of the approach materially enhances the - effect of the superb building beyond, and it cannot be doubted that - this comparative gloom, so far from being an accident, was - deliberately intended. The building of the chapel occupied the - first twelve years of the Sixteenth Century. It measures inside 104 - feet 6 inches long by 69 feet 10 inches broad, and consists of a - nave and aisles of four bays, the nave terminating in five small - polygonal chapels, the style throughout being Perpendicular. The - entrance is under a large central and two smaller side arches, - which have six bronze doors of superb design and splendid - workmanship, in which a number of Henry VII.’s devices - appear.”--(C. H.) - -Washington Irving’s impressions were as follows: - - “I stood before the entrance to Henry the Seventh’s Chapel. A - flight of steps leads up to it, through a deep and gloomy, but - magnificent arch. Great gates of brass, rich and delicately - wrought, turn heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to - admit the feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of - sepulchres. - - “On entering, the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture and - the elaborate beauty of sculptured detail. The very walls are - wrought into universal ornament, encrusted with tracery and scooped - into niches, crowded with the statues of saints and martyrs. Stone - seems, by the cunning labour of the chisel, to have been robbed of - its weight and density, suspended aloft, as if by magic, and the - fretted roof achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy - security of a cobweb. - - “Along the sides of the chapel are the lofty stalls of the Knights - of the Bath, richly carved of oak, though with the grotesque - decorations of Gothic architecture. On the pinnacles of the stalls - are affixed the helmets and crests of the knights with their scarfs - and swords; and above them are suspended their banners, emblazoned - with armorial bearings, and contrasting the splendour of gold and - purple and crimson, with the cold grey fretwork of the roof. In the - midst of this grand mausoleum stands the sepulchre of its - founder,--his effigy, with that of his queen, extended on a - sumptuous tomb, and the whole surrounded by a superbly wrought - brazen railing. - - “There is a sad dreariness in this magnificence; this strange - mixture of tombs and trophies; these emblems of living and aspiring - ambition, close beside mementoes which show the dust and oblivion - in which all must sooner or later terminate. - - “Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching - instance of the equality of the grave, which brings down the - oppressor to a level with the oppressed, and mingles the dust of - the bitterest enemies together. In one is the sepulchre of the - haughty Elizabeth; in the other is that of her victim, the lovely - and unfortunate Mary. Not an hour in the day but some ejaculation - of pity is uttered over the fate of the latter, mingled with - indignation at her oppressor. The walls of Elizabeth’s sepulchre - continually echo with the sighs of sympathy heaved at the grave of - her rival. - - “A peculiar melancholy reigns over the aisle where Mary lies - buried. The light struggles dimly through windows darkened by dust. - The greater part of the place is in deep shadow, and the walls are - stained and tinted by time and weather. A marble figure of Mary is - stretched upon the tomb, round which is an iron railing much - corroded, bearing her national emblem--the thistle.” - -Dean Stanley writes: - - “It was to be his chantry as well as his tomb, for he was - determined not to be behind the Lancastrian princes in devotion; - and this unusual anxiety for the sake of a soul not too heavenward - in its affections expended itself in the immense apparatus of - service which he provided. Almost a second Abbey was needed to - contain the new establishment of monks who were to sing in their - stalls ‘as long as the world shall endure.’ Almost a second shrine - surrounded by its blazing tapers and shining like gold with its - glittering bronze, was to contain his remains. - - “To the Virgin Mary, to whom the chapel was dedicated, he had a - special devotion. Her ‘in all his necessities he had made his - continual refuge’; and her figure, accordingly, looks down upon his - grave from the east end, between the apostolic patrons of the - Abbey, Peter and Paul, with ‘the holy company of heaven--that is to - say, angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, - evangelists, martyrs, confessors and virgins,’ to ‘whose singular - mediation and prayers he also trusted,’ including the royal saints - of Britain, St. Edward, St. Edmund, St. Oswald, St. Margaret of - Scotland, who stand, as he directed, sculptured tier above tier, on - every side of the Chapel; some retained from the ancient - Lady-Chapel; the greater part of the work of his own age. Around - his tomb stand his ‘accustomed Avours or guardian saints to whom he - calls and cries’--St. Michael, St. John the Baptist, St. John the - Evangelist, St. George, St. Anthony, St. Edward, St. Vincent, St. - Anne, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Barbara, each with their peculiar - emblems--‘so to aid, succour and defend him, that the ancient and - ghostly enemy, nor none other evil or damnable spirit, have no - power to invade him, nor with their wickedness to annoy him, but - with holy prayers to be intercessors to his Maker and Redeemer.’ - These were the adjurations of the last Mediæval King, as the Chapel - was the climax of the latest Mediæval architecture.” - - “But although the Chapel hangs on tenaciously to the skirts of the - ancient Abbey and the ancient Church, yet that solemn architectural - pause between the two--which arrests the most careless observer, - and renders it a separate structure, a foundation ‘adjoining the - Abbey,’ rather than forming part of it--corresponds with marvellous - fidelity to the pause and break in English history of which Henry - VII.’s reign is the expression. It is the close of the Middle Ages: - the apple of Granada in its ornaments shows that the last Crusade - was over; its flowing draperies and classical attributes indicate - that the Renaissance had already begun. It is the end of the Wars - of the Roses combining Henry’s right of conquest with his fragile - claim of hereditary descent. On the one hand, it is a glorification - of the victory of Bosworth. The angels at the four corners of the - tomb, held or hold the likeness of the crown which he won on that - famous day. In the stained glass we see the same crown hanging on - the green bush in the fields of Leicestershire. On the other hand, - like the Chapel of King’s College at Cambridge, it asserts - everywhere the memory of the ‘holy Henry’s shade’; the Red Rose of - Lancaster appears in every pane of glass: in every corner is the - Portcullis--the _Alters securitas_, as he termed it, with an - allusion to its own meaning, and the double safeguard of his - succession--which he derived through John of Gaunt from the - Beaufort Castle in Anjou inherited from Blanche of Navarre by - Edmund Crouchback; whilst Edward IV. and Elizabeth of York are - commemorated by intertwining these Lancastrian symbols with the - Greyhound of Cecilia Neville, wife of Richard, Duke of York, with - the Rose in the Sun, which scattered the mist at Barnet, and the - Falcon on the Fetterlock, by which the first Duke of York expressed - to his descendants that ‘he was locked up from the hope of the - kingdom, but advising them to be quiet and silent, as God knoweth - what may come to pass.’ - - “It is also the revival of the ancient Celtic-British - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: CLOISTERS] - -[Illustration: WESTMINSTER ABBEY: SOUTH-WEST] - - element in the English monarchy, after centuries of eclipse. It is - a strange and striking thought, as we mount the steps of Henry - VII.’s Chapel, that we enter there a mausoleum of princes, whose - boast it was to be descended not from the Confessor or the - Conqueror, but from Arthur and Llewellyn; and that roundabout the - tomb, side by side with the emblems of the great English Houses, is - to be seen the Red Dragon of the last British King - Cadwallader--‘the dragon of the great Pendragonship,’ of Wales, - thrust forward by the Tudor King in every direction, to supplant - the hated White Boar of his departed enemy--the fulfilment, in - another sense than the old Welsh bards had dreamt, of their - prediction that the progeny of Cadwallader should reign - again.”--(A. P. S.) - -And now we will begin a more detailed survey: - - “We now enter Henry VII.’s Chapel, the most perfect example of the - Perpendicular style at its best in the country. At the entrance are - beautiful bronze doors covered with designs symbolical of the - titles of the Royal founder. It is impossible to describe in words - the richness and beauty of the interior of this noble chapel. The - vault is very beautiful with fan-tracery. The banners of the - Knights of the Order of the Bath hang over their stalls. The - _misereres_ are wonderfully carved, and are worthy of close - examination. The black marble tomb of the founder is considered to - be the best example of the Renaissance style in England. It was - fashioned by Torregiano. Very numerous monuments are found here. - The tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and of Queen Elizabeth have - especial interest. Oliver Cromwell’s body once lay in the most - eastern chapel, but the Royalists at the Restoration wrought - vengeance on his corpse, and on that of other regicides, and did - not suffer them to remain in these hallowed precincts.”--(P. H. D.) - -The tombs that attract the most attention are those of =Queen Elizabeth= -and =Mary, Queen of Scots=. Queen Elizabeth’s, erected by James I., -consists of a canopy supported on ten Corinthian pillars, under which -the effigy of the queen lies on a slab borne by lions. Mary I. rests in -the same tomb. Mary Stuart’s tomb bears an effigy. At her feet is the -crowned lion of Scotland. Her body was removed from Peterborough (see -page 331) by James I. - -From the east walk of the Cloisters, finished in 1345, we enter the -=Chapter-House=, dating from 1350. It is octagonal and is noted for its -fine tracery. The House of Commons used to meet here (before 1340). The -speaker sat in the abbot’s seat. - - “The Chapter-House is visited by comparatively few of the myriads - who come to the Abbey; but those who know what to look for may well - linger for some time in this deeply interesting building. The - splendour and loveliness of the entrance to it show the important - place which it held in the general estimation; the stones under the - left arcade of the vestibule are still deeply worn by the feet of - generations of monks, as they walked two and two to their weekly - assemblies. The vaulting and its bosses are quaint and rich. The - quaint entrance door itself, bleared and ruined as it now is, was - once rich with gold and scarlet. - - “Entering the Chapter-House we see at a glance an octagon of the - noblest proportions, of which the roof is supported by a slender - and graceful pillar of polished Purbeck, thirty-five feet high, - ‘surrounded by eight subordinate shafts, attached to it by three - moulded bands.’ The painted windows were placed there as a memorial - to Dean Stanley. One was given by the Queen, and one by Americans. - In the central light at the summit of each is represented the - greatest man of each century--the Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, Roger - Bacon, Chaucer, Caxton and Shakespeare. In the window over the door - is Queen Victoria. The central band of the windows represents many - of the great historical events connected with the Abbey.”--(F. W. - F.) - - “The Chapel of the Pyx is approached from the East Cloister Walk by - a massive door with seven locks. It is beneath the old dormitory - and occupies two bays of the Confessor’s building, and, - historically considered, is perhaps the most interesting portion of - the Abbey buildings. The pyx is a box containing the standard - pieces of gold and silver coin of the realm which were used for - testing the accuracy of the currency. It has now been removed to - the Mint, where the trial of the pyx takes place.”--(C. H.) - -The =Cloisters= with their arches, beautiful tracery and ancient memorials -are strangely impressive, particularly as they are situated in the midst -of London’s roar; yet here there is quiet. - -The most famous part of the =Deanery= is the =Jerusalem Chamber= projecting -just beyond the south-west tower. It probably was so called on account -of the tapestry representing the history of Jerusalem that adorned it. -Henry IV. died in it in 1413, according to the prophecy that he should -die in Jerusalem. (See _Henry IV._, Part II., Act IV., Scene 4.) In this -room the Assembly of Divines met in 1643; and the Revisers of the Old -and New Testaments of late years. A small room with carved panelling, -built by Abbot Islip, leading from it, is known as the =Jericho -Parlour=. - - - - -INDEX - - -Abbey of St. Werburgh, 215. - -Abbot’s Cloister, 171. - -Abbot’s Pew, 431. - -Abbots of St. Albans, 360-361. - -Aisles, Five, 71. - -Aldred, 152, 153. - -Alfred, King, 46, 47, 49. - -Alleyn, Edward, 424. - -Altar:--Canterbury, 16; - Chester, 219; - of the Martyrdom, 3; - St. Paul’s, 409; - of the Sword’s Point, 3; - of the Virgin, 4. - -Ambulatories:--Exeter, 102; - Gloucester, 162. - -Amen Corner, 398. - -André, Major John (tomb), 431. - -Andrews, Bishop (tomb), 422. - -Angel Choir, 285, 289, 298-300, 307, 309. - -Angel Tower (Canterbury), 9, 10, 11, 13, 30. - -Angel Windows (Salisbury), 88. - -Anne of Bohemia (tomb), 435. - -Anne of Cleves (tomb), 435. - -Anselm, 12; - burial-place of, 25. - -Aquablanca, Thomas, 174, 177, 180. - -Arcade, Winchester, 60. - -Archbishop of Canterbury, 2, 263. - -Archbishop of York, 263, 265. - -Arches, Inverted (Wells), 110, 116. - -Arundel, Earl, and Maud (tomb), 72. - -Arundel Tower, 9, 11. - -Athelstan, 90. - -Atholl, Countess (tomb), 30. - -Austen, Jane (brass), 54. - -Aveline of Lancaster (tomb), 433. - -Ave Maria Lane, 398. - - -Ball-flower, 143, 159, 163, 175. - -Ball and Cross, St. Paul’s, 403. - -Baptistry Tower, 430. - -Bath Abbey, 134-139. - -Bayeux Tapestry, 425. - -Beauchamp, James de (effigy), 198. - -Beauchamp, John (tomb), 192. - -Beaufort, Cardinal, 53, 59, 417, 418. - -Beaufort, Jane, 417, 421. - -Beaumont, Francis, 424, 433. - -Becket, Thomas à, 2, 3, 10, 18, 19, 249, 262. - -Becket’s Crown, 19, 23-24. - -Beckington, Bishop, 108, 110, 119. - -Beckington (tomb), 129. - -Bede, Venerable, grave of, 242-243. - -Belfry Tower, 430. - -Bell Harry Tower, 11, 30. - -Bell Tower, 380. - -Bell:--Dunstan (Canterbury), 11; - (Rochester), 36; - Great Peter, 268; - Peter, 98; - Tom of Lincoln, 310-311; - Tom of Oxford, 375. - -Bells:--Canterbury, 36; - Exeter, 92; - Gloucester, 152; - Lincoln, 310-311; - Oxford, 375, 380; - Peterborough, 321; - St. Albans, 369; - St. Saviour’s, 418; - Winchester, 65; - York, 268. - -Bell Ringer’s Gallery, 238. - -Ben Jonson, 431. - -Berkeley, Maurice (tomb), 145. - -Birde, William, 134-135. - -Bishop’s Cloisters (Hereford), 175. - -Bishops’ Gardens (Norwich), 303, 357. - -Bishop’s Eye (Lincoln), 305, 308. - -Bishop’s Palace (Wells), 132, 133. - -Bishop’s Throne:--Chester, 219; - Exeter, 99, 100-101; - Hereford, 183; - Lincoln, 297; - Ripon, 258. - -Bitton, Bishop, 90. - -Black Prince (tomb), 9, 20-21. - -Blois, William de (effigy), 198. - -Blue Dick, 9, 13, 27. - -Bohun, Joanne de, 185. - -Booth, Bishop (effigy), 176. - -Booth (tomb), 176. - -Borough, The, 415. - -Bouchier, Cardinal, 16. - -Bowet, Archbishop (tomb), 274. - -Boy Bishop, 82-83. - -Boys, Dean (tomb), 27. - -Brantingham, 91, 100. - -Bridport, Giles de (tomb), 86-87. - -Brithnoth, 335. - -Bristol, 140-150. - -Bronescomb, Bishop, 91, 102. - -Bronescomb (tomb), 103. - -Browne’s Gate, 108. - -Bruce, Robert, 227. - -Bubwith, Bishop, 110. - -Bubwith Tower, 113, 114, 118. - -Burne-Jones, Windows by, 88, 380, 382, 384, 386, 388, 391. - -Butler, Bishop (tomb), 149. - -Butler Tower, 140. - -Bytton, St. William (tomb), 129. - - -Campanile, 69. - -Canon Alley, 398. - -Cantelupe, Walter de (effigy), 198. - -Canterbury, 1-32. - -Carileph, 244. - -Carlisle, 227-232. - -Carving:--Carlisle, 228; - Exeter, 95, 96; - Lincoln, 285, 295-296; - Wells, 117-118, 120-122, 130; - Worcester, 196-197; - York, 280; - Southwell, 317-318. - -Cathedral Pool, 201, 203. - -Celia, John de, 363, 364. - -Cemetery, 5. - -Cemetery Gate, 38. - -Censing Angels, 432. - -Cerdic, 46. - -Chain-Gate, 102, 112, 113, 124. - -Chantry:--Audley, 85, 175, 185-186; - Beaufort, 62; - Birde, 139; - Bubwith, 122; - Edington, 54, 162; - Fleming, 302, 309; - Fox, 62, 85; - Gardiner, 62; - Henry IV, 22; - Henry V, 435; - Hungerford, 85; - Langton, 60, 61; - Longland, 302, 308; - Oldham, 102, 104-105; - Prince Arthur, 195-196; - Ramryge, 370, 371; - Russell, 302, 308; - Speke, 102; - St. George, 104; - St. Radegunde, 97; - Stanbery, 181; - Sugar, 122; - Sylke, 98; - Waynflete, 62; - Wheathampstead, 370, 371; - William of Wykeham, 54-55. - -Chapel:--Alcock, Bishop, 345; - Berkeley, 141, 146; - Botelers, 168; - Christ Church, 375; - Derby, 223, 226; - Dean’s (Canterbury), 22, 26, 27; - Dean’s (Lincoln), 306; - Ducie, 222, 225; - Four Virgins, 72; - Fraser, 223, 226; - Guardian Angels, 60, 61; - Holy Cross, 118, 123; - Holy Ghost, 99; - Holy Sepulchre, 64; - Holy Trinity, 224; - Islip, 436; - Jesus, 192, 222, 223, 225, 409; - Mallory, 255, 259; - Morning, 410; - Newton, 141, 145; - Nine Altars, 130, 236, 237, 238, 240, 246-247; - of the Pyx, 443; - Order of St. Michael and St. George, 410; - Ringers, 309; - Saints, 367, 371; - Seabroke, 169; - Silkstede’s, 64; - of the Transfiguration, 374; - Warriors’, 18, 25, 26; - West, Bishop, 345; - St. Andrews, 102, 169; - St. Benedict, 331, 435; - St. Calixtus, 123; - St. Catherine, 129, 387; - St. Chad, 210-211, 213; - St. David, 123; - St. Dunstan, 410; - St. Edward the Confessor, 434; - St. Edmund, 45, 97, 436; - St. Erasmus, 436; - St. Faith, 75, 432; - St. Gabriel, 30, 105; - St. George, 224; - St. Hugh, 309; - St. James, 102, 224; - St. John, 193, 196; - St. John the Baptist, 43, 98, 129, 436; - St. John the Baptist and St. Edmund the King, 73; - St. John the Divine, 423; - St. Katherine, 73; - St. Kyneburga, 331; - St. Kyneswitha, 331; - St. Lucy, 381, 390; - St. Luke, 353, 358; - St. Martin, 123; - St. Mary the Less, 353, 357; - St. Mary Magdalene, 73, 105; - St. Nicholas, 224, 436; - St. Oswald, 331; - St. Paul, 98, 168, 436; - St. Philip, 169; - St. Stephen, 129; - St. Thomas of Canterbury, 323; - Trinity, 6, 9, 12, 18, 19, 20; - Warner, 43. - -Chapels:--Ely, 223, 226; - Lincoln, 292. - -Chapter-House:--Bristol, 141; - Carlisle, 232; - Chester, 221, 225; - Durham, 237, 248; - Gloucester, 149-150, 151, 172; - Lichfield, 130, 207, 213, 214; - Lincoln, 307; - Peterborough, 331; - Oxford, 379, 392; - Ripon, 259; - Salisbury, 78, 88-89; - Southwell, 313, 317-318; - Wells, 112, 113, 124, 125-126; - Westminster Abbey, 428, 442; - Winchester, 64; - Worcester, 199; - York, 261, 280, 281, 282. - -Chapter-House Doorway (Rochester), 44-45. - -Charles Edward, 228. - -Charlton, Bishop (tomb), 180. - -Chaucer, 1, 10, 415. - -Chaucer (tomb), 432, 433. - -Chaucer Window, 419. - -Cheapside, 398. - -Chequers Inn, 8, 10. - -Chertsey’s Gate, 38. - -Chests, Mortuary, 57. - -Chester, 215-221. - -Chichele Tower, 11, 12. - -Chichele, Archbishop (tomb), 17. - -Chichester, 66-75. - -Chillenden, Prior, 9, 12, 13, 31, 32. - -Choate, Joseph H., 423. - -Choir:--Bath Abbey, 138; - Bristol, 142; - Canterbury, 14-17; - Carlisle, 227, 228, 230-232; - Chester, 218; - Chichester, 73; - Durham, 237, 244; - Ely, 343-345; - Exeter, 99-102; - Gloucester, 53, 160-163; - Hereford, 182-183; - Lincoln, 295-297; - Lichfield, 209-211; - Manchester, 225; - Norwich, 356; - Oxford, 381, 383; - Peterborough, 328-329; - Ripon, 255-256; - Rochester, 42; - Salisbury, 84-85; - Southwell, 316; - St. Alban’s, 356; - St. Paul’s, 404; - St. Saviour’s, 421; - Wells, 126-129; - Westminster Abbey, 427, 433; - Winchester, 55; - Worcester, 193-194; - York, 271-272, 281. - -Choir of Conrad, glorious, 2, 4, 12, 14. - -Choir-screen (Lichfield), 211. - -Choir-screen (Southwell), 313, 316. - -Choir-stalls:--Canterbury, 9, 14; - Carlisle, 231; - Chester, 218-219; - Chichester, 73; - Durham, 245; - Ely, 345; - Exeter, 57; - Gloucester, 161; - Hereford, 183; - Manchester, 225; - Norwich, 356; - Peterborough, 329; - Ripon, 256-257; - Rochester, 43; - Salisbury, 85; - St. Albans, 369; - St. Paul’s, 408; - Winchester, 56-57; - Worcester, 194; - York, 271. - -Choristers’ Green, 80. - -Choristers’ Vestry, 306. - -Christ Church Gate, 10. - -Christ Church, Oxford, 375. - -Clive, Geoffrey de (tomb), 180. - -Clock (Exeter), 98. - -Cloisters:--Bristol, 141, 149; - Canterbury, 28, 31-32; - Chester, 220-221; - Chichester, 75; - Durham, 248; - Ely, 340, 341; - Exeter, 99; - Gloucester, 151, 159, 170-172; - Oxford, 350, 358, 359, 380, 392; - Peterborough, 333; - Salisbury, 78, 89; - Wells, 110, 132; - Westminster Abbey, 428; - Worcester, 198-199. - -Cloister Court, 333. - -Close (Salisbury), 80; - (Wells), 108. - -Close Gate, 80. - -Coldstream Guards, 411. - -College Gate, 37. - -Collingwood, 412. - -Colston Tower, 140. - -Conrad, Prior, 2, 14. - -Cornish, Bishop (tomb), 123. - -Cornwallis, Lord, 412. - -Constantine, 46, 262. - -Corona, 12, 23-24. - -Coronation Chairs, 435. - -Courtenay, Archbishop, 21. - -Creed Lane, 398. - -Cricklade, Robert of, 377, 378. - -Cross, St. Paul’s, 407. - -Crouchback, Edmund (tomb), 434. - -Crypt:--Canterbury, 29-31; - Exeter, 102; - Gloucester, 169-170; - Hereford, 186; - Ripon, 254, 259; - Rochester, 45; - St. Paul’s, 412; - Wells, 126; - Winchester, 64; - Worcester, 198; - York, 279-280. - - -Dark Entry, 31. - -Davenport, Bishop, 85. - -Deanery (Carlisle), 232, 443. - -Deanery Gate, 38. - -Deanery Gateway, 331-332. - -Dean’s Door, 332. - -Dean’s Eye (Lincoln), 304, 309. - -Dean’s Yard, St. Paul’s, 400. - -Decorated:--Bristol, 145, 147; - Canterbury, 32; - Carlisle, 227, 231, 232; - Chester, 215, 217; - Ely, 338, 343, 344, 345, 346; - Exeter, 90; - Hereford, 175, 180, 182; - Lichfield, 202, 207, 209, 210; - Lincoln, 301, 305, 307; - Norwich, 350, 353, 354, 359; - Oxford, 379, 387; - Peterborough, 321, 325, 326, 327, 329, 333; - Ripon, 250, 252; - Rochester, 38, 41, 44-45; - Southwell, 315, 316, 317; - St. Albans, 368, 374; - St. Saviour’s, 418; - Wells, 111, 112, 114; - Worcester, 191, 192; - York, 279, 280, 281. - -Devil Looking over Lincoln, 301, 309. - -Dickens, Charles, 38, 41. - -Diocletian, 46. - -Doddridge, Sir John and Lady (tomb), 103. - -Dog-tooth, 207, 208, 214, 230, 231, 251, 307, 315, 324, 368. - -Dome (St. Paul’s), 397, 402, 412. - -Doorway, Southwest (St. Saviour’s), 418. - -Drum (St. Paul’s), 407. - -Duncan, 319, 330. - -Dun Cow, 234, 338. - -Dunstan, 425. - -Durham, 233-248. - - -Earl of Hertford (monument), 87. - -Early Decorated:--Hereford, 181; - Lichfield, 201; - Wells, 130; - York, 267, 282. - -Early English:--Bristol, 141, 144; - Carlisle, 230; - Chester, 215, 217, 220, 221; - Chichester, 70; - Durham, 236; - Ely, 338, 340, 344, 346; - Exeter, 97; - Gloucester, 168; - Hereford, 184; - Lichfield, 201, 207, 210, 214; - Lincoln, 292, 295; - Oxford, 386; - Peterborough, 320, 324, 327, 328, 332; - Ripon, 250, 252; - Rochester, 38, 40, 41; - Salisbury, 76, 78; - Southwell, 315, 316; - St. Albans, 364, 368; - Wells, 111, 118, 119, 127, 133; - Westminster Abbey, 430, 432; - Winchester, 48, 57, 60; - Worcester, 196; - York, 202, 282. - -Earthquakes, 109, 153, 287. - -Easter Sepulchre, 301. - -Eastern Transept (Lincoln), 297-298. - -East End:--Hereford, 184; - Wells, 130, 131; - St. Saviour’s, 417. - -East Front (York), 281. - -East Window:--Bristol, 147-148; - Canterbury, 28; - Carlisle, 227, 228, 231; - Chichester, 70; - Exeter, 100, 103; - Gloucester, 164-166, 167; - Hereford, 184; - Lincoln, 302-303; - Oxford, 391; - Ripon, 252; - Southwell, 316; - St. Saviour’s, 419, 422; - Wells, 132; - Winchester, 58; - York, 261, 264, 273-274, 281. - -Eboracum, 262. - -Edfrid, 334. - -Edgar, 313, 317, 330, 335. - -Edgar, Coronation of, 135. - -Edington, Bishop, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54. - -Edward I., 265, 274. - -Edward I. (tomb), 435. - -Edward II. (tomb), 152, 161-162. - -Edward III. (tomb), 435. - -Edward IV., 5. - -Edward of Caernarvon (tomb), 162. - -Edward the Confessor, 335, 425. - -Edwin Drood, 38. - -Edwin, King, 263. - -Eleanor, Queen (monument), 300; - (tomb), 435. - -Elder Lady Chapel (Bristol), 141, 144. - -Elias of Dereham, 77. - -Elizabeth, Queen (tomb), 438, 441. - -Elizabeth, Lady Montacute (tomb), 386. - -Elizabethan Players and Dramatists, 424. - -Ely, 19, 63, 334-348; - Isle of, 334. - -Erasmus, 29. - -Ernulf, 2, 14, 25, 30, 31, 34. - -Erpingham Gate, 350, 351. - -Ethelbert, King of Kent, 2, 33. - -Ethelred, the Unready, 376, 378. - -Ethelwold, St., 46, 47, 48, 319, 335. - -Evelyn, John, 290, 396. - -Exchequer Gate, 311. - -Exeter, 90-106. - - -Faith, Hope and Charity (window), 382. - -Fan-tracery, 22, 27, 126, 137, 138, 170, 329, 383. - -Feretory, 59. - -Fire:--Bath Abbey 136; - Canterbury, 4, 9, 14-15, 17, 18; - Carlisle, 227; - Chichester, 66, 67; - Exeter, 91; - Gloucester, 153, 158; - Lincoln, 286; - Norwich, 350, 355, 358; - Peterborough, 319, 330; - Rochester, 35; - St. Paul’s, 393; - St. Saviour’s, 416, 417; - York, 266-267. - -Fitzhardinge, Robert, 141, 149, 150. - -Fitzjocelyn, Bishop, 108, 117. - -Five Sisters (York), 261, 269-270, 282. - -Flambard, Randolph, 235, 242. - -Fleet Street, 398. - -Fletcher, John, 424. - -Flos Florum, 261, 280. - -Flying-buttresses:--Canterbury, 12; - Ely, 339, 340; - Gloucester, 164. - -Font:--Durham, 240; - Hereford, 176; - Lincoln, 294; - Peterborough, 327; - Ripon, 253; - Wells, 122; - Winchester, 53-64. - -Four Doctors of the Church (Durham), 237, 244. - -Fox, Bishop, 55, 57, 59, 421. - -French Church (Canterbury), 29. - - -Galilee Chapel (Durham), 233, 236, 240-242; - Porch (Ely), 336, 338; - Porch (Lincoln), 305-306. - -Garrick, David, 208. - -Gateway, Great (Bristol), 150. - -Geometrical Staircase, 411. - -Gibbons, Grinling, 9, 14, 408-409. - -Gibbons, Orlando, 17. - -Glass:--Lincoln, 294; - Oxford, 390-391; - York, 261-262, 264, 269, 270, 272. - -Glastonbury, 107. - -Glastonbury Clock, 124. - -Glenham Window (Bristol), 143, 145. - -Globe Theatre, 424. - -Gloucester, 151-173. - -Godelee, John de, 109. - -Goldstone II, 9, 10, 11, 13, 27, 31. - -Goldwell, Bishop, 350, 352. - -Golden Gallery, 413. - -Gorges, Thomas (monument), 87. - -Gordon, General, 411. - -Gower, John (tomb), 419-420. - -Grandison, Bishop, 90, 91, 92, 97, 99. - -Grandison, Sir Peter, 185. - -Gray (Grey), Walter de, 250, 264, 313, 316; - (tomb), 270. - -Great Fire, 396, 412. - -Great Gate, St. Albans, 362. - -Grecian Stairs, 312. - -Green Church Haw, 37. - -Green Court, 10, 31. - -Gregory, Pope, 1, 2. - -Grimthorpe, Lord, 360, 364, 365, 373. - -Grosseteste, Robert, 289, 293, 310, 321. - -Gundulf, 33, 40, 153; - (tomb), 44; - (tower), 35, 37. - -Gunthorpe, Dean, 110. - - -Hackett, Bishop, 204. - -Hackett (tomb), 210. - -Hadrian, 262. - -Hagiscopes, 28. - -Hamo de Hythe, 36. - -Harbledown, 1. - -Harewell, Bishop, 110. - -Harewell Tower, 113, 114, 118. - -Harnham Gate, 80. - -Harvard Window, 423. - -Hatfield, Bishop (tomb), 245. - -Hawford (effigy), 198. - -Henry III., 4, 77, 78, 425; - (tomb), 434-435. - -Henry IV. (tomb), 21-22. - -Henry V., Chantry, 435. - -Henry VII.’s Chapel, 427, 437-441. - -Henry VIII., 6, 9, 321, 360, 376. - -Henry of Huntingdon, 286, 301. - -Hereford, 35, 67, 130, 174-187. - -Hereward, 319. - -Herkenrode Glass, 209, 212-213. - -Hugh of Avalon, 287. - -Hugh of Eversden, 365. - -Hugh de Wells, 288, 289. - -Hodson of Hodson’s Horse, 211. - -Holland, Lady M., 26. - -Holy Hole, 60. - -Hotham, John, 336, 338, 342, 343; - (tomb), 346. - -House of the Six Poor Travellers, 41. - -Howley, Archbishop, 16. - -Humble Richard (tomb), 422. - -Hunton, Prior, 61. - -Husse, Dean (tomb), 123. - - -Imp on Back of Witch, 308. - -Ina, King, 107. - -Ingoldsby Legends, 31, 76. - -Islip, Abbot, 431, 436, 443. - -Irving, W., 429, 438. - - -Jack Blandiver, 124. - -James I., 417. - -Jericho Parlour, 428, 443. - -Jerusalem Chamber, 428, 443. - -Jesse Window (Wells), 128. - -Jesus Chapel, Norwich, 353, 358. - -Jesus Tower, 200. - -Jewell, Bishop, 78. - -Joan of Navarre (tomb), 21-22. - -Jocelin, Bishop, 108, 109, 111, 117. - -John, King (tomb), 194-195. - -John of Canterbury, 34. - -John Le Romeyn, 267. - -John of Thorsby, 264, 283. - -Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 208. - -Joseph of Arimathea, 107. - -Joseph’s Window (Durham), 248. - -Justus, 33. - - -Katherine of Aragon, 321, 330. - -Kemp, Cardinal, 16. - -Kenwalk, 46. - -Kilkenny, Bishop, 346. - -“King of Bath,” 135. - -King, Oliver, 134. - -King Window, 391. - -Kirton, Abbott, 332, 333. - -Knight (effigy), 62 (Fourteenth Century). - -Knight (tomb), 104. - -Knowle, Abbot, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147. - -Kyneburga, 152. - -Kynegils, 46. - - -Lacey, Bishop (tomb), 101. - -Lady Arbour, 175. - -Lady Bells, Lincoln, 294,311. - -Lady Chapel:--Bristol, 141, 147; - Canterbury, 27; - Chester, 220; - Chichester, 67, 69, 74-75; - Durham, 236; - Ely, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 347; - Exeter, 102; - Gloucester, 151, 154-155, 166-167; - Hereford, 175, 183-184; - Lichfield, 203, 207, 211-212; - Manchester, 222, 223, 225; - Oxford, 374, 379, 384, 385, 386; - Peterborough, 321; - Ripon, 259; - Rochester, 37, 38, 41; - St. Alban’s, 367; - St. Saviour’s, 417, 422; - Wells, 109, 112, 126, 129, 130-131; - Westminster Abbey, 426; Winchester, 60; - Worcester, 196, 197, 198; - York, 264, 273, 282. - -Lady Lisle (tomb), 123. - -Lady Loft, 259. - -Lady, Fourteenth Century (effigy), 97. - -La Farge, John, 423. - -Lancet, 67. - -Lanfranc, 2, 13, 18, 33. - -Langley, Cardinal (tomb), 242. - -Langton, John de, 68. - -Langton, Stephen, 4, 77. - -Langton, Stephen (tomb), 26. - -Langton, Walter de, 203. - -Lantern (Ely), 339; - York, 269. - -Lantern of the West, 137. - -Late Decorated (York), 267. - -Latin Chapel, 381, 384, 387. - -Laurel Court, 333. - -Lee, Archbishop, 266. - -Leighton, Lord, 411. - -Library:--Chichester, 73; - Gloucester, 151, 171; - Hereford, 181; - St. Paul’s, 411; - Wells, 110. - -Lichfield, 200-214. - -Liddell, Edith (window), 391. - -Lincoln, 284. - -Lincoln Imp, 301. - -Ling, A. Van, 379, 382. - -Lollards’ Prison, 74. - -London Bridge, 415-416. - -Longespée, William, 77; - (tomb), 82. - -Longfellow (bust), 433. - -Losinga, Robert de, 174; - (tomb), 182. - -Losinga, Herbert de, 349. - -Louth, Bishop (tomb), 346. - -Louis VII., 4, 8. - -Lucius, King, 2, 46. - -Lucy, Bishop, 48, 57, 61; - (tomb), 60. - -Ludgate Hill, 398, 400. - -Luffa, Bishop, 66. - -Lyhard, Bishop, 350, 352, 355, 356. - - -Manchester, 222-226. - -Mandeville, Sir John, 368. - -Map of the World, 182. - -Marchia, Bishop (tomb), 123. - -Margaret of Anjou, 361. - -Massinger, Philip, 424. - -Maurice, Lord Berkeley (effigy), 145. - -Mary, Queen of Scots, 322, 331; - (tomb), 438, 439, 441, 442. - -Meist’ Omers, 31. - -Melbourne, Lord, 411. - -Melrose Abbey, 249. - -Melton Arch, 275. - -Mercery Lane, 8, 10. - -Merton, Walter de, 43. - -Minster Yard, 311. - -Minstrels’ Gallery:--Exeter, 96; - Winchester, 54; - Lichfield, 210-211. - -Misereres, Exeter, 99-100. - -Misericords, Wells, 128; - Bristol, 142. - -Mitford, Bishop (tomb), 85. - -Mompesson, Sir Richard (tomb), 85. - -Monks’ Door:--Ely, 340; - Norwich, 359. - -Monks’ Stone, 330. - -Monmouth Rebellion, 111. - -Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 208. - -Montague, Bishop, 135; - (tomb), 139. - -Morning Chapel, 331. - -Morton, Cardinal (tomb), 30. - -Morwent, Abbot, 156, 158, 159. - -Music Gallery (Wells), 119. - - -Nave:--Bath, 137; - Bristol, 141; - Canterbury, 12-13; - Carlisle, 229; - Chester, 217; - Chichester, 71-72; - Durham, 239-240; - Ely, 341; - Exeter, 95-96; - Gloucester, 156-158; - Hereford, 175-176; - Lichfield, 207-208; - Lincoln, 292-294, 309; - Manchester, 223-224; - Norwich, 353, 354-355, 366; - Oxford, 381; - Peterborough, 328; - Ripon, 252-253; - Rochester, 40-41; - Salisbury, 81-82; - Southwell, 315; - St. Albans, 367, 368; - St. Paul’s, 404; - St. Saviour’s, 419; - Wells, 115-120; - Westminster Abbey, 428; - Winchester, 12, 51-53; - Worcester, 191-192; - York, 274-276, 282. - -Nelson, Lord, 411-412. - -Neville, Lady Alice, 243. - -Neville, Lord John (tomb), 243, 245. - -Neville, Lord Ralph (tomb), 243. - -Neville Screen, 240, 245-246. - -New Building, 321, 329-330, 333. - -New Work (Durham), 246. - -Nicholas of Portland, 77. - -Norman:--Bristol, 141, 149, 150; - Canterbury, 25, 29, 32; - Carlisle, 229; - Chester, 220; - Durham, 238, 241; - Ely, 340, 341, 344; - Exeter, 91, 92; - Gloucester, 151, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 168, 172; - Hereford, 175, 176, 178; - Lincoln, 286; - Norwich, 349, 352, 353, 354, 355, 357, 358; - Oxford, 383; - Peterborough, 320, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333; - Rochester, 34, 38, 40, 41; - Southwell, 314, 315, 316; - St. Albans, 363, 365, 369; - Welles, 110, 111, 114-115; - Winchester, 48, 52, 57, 63; - Worcester, 191, 192; - York, 202, 264, 279. - -Northcote (Chantreys), 105. - -North Door:--Durham, 238; - Lichfield, 206-207. - -North Front (Westminster Abbey), 426-427. - -North Porch:--Bristol, 141; - Exeter, 97, 190-191; - Hereford, 175, 177; - Manchester, 223; - Southwell, 315; - Wells, 114-115; - Worcester, 190-191. - -North Transept:--Hereford, 174, 177-180; - Norwich, 357; - St. Saviour’s, 420; - Westminster Abbey, 431-432; - York, 282. - -Northwold (Norwold), Bishop, 336, 337, 343; - (tomb), 346. - -Norwich, 349-359. - - -Octagon (Ely), 334, 338, 339, 341. - -Offa, King, 135, 136, 174, 360, 363. - -Old St. Paul’s, 393-395. - -Osric, 152, 156. - -Osric (monument), 162. - -Oswald, 188, 216. - -Organ:--Canterbury, 16; - Gloucester, 159; - Hereford, 182; - Rochester, 37; - Salisbury, 84; - St. Paul’s, 408-409. - -Organs, Ancient, 47. - -Oseney Abbey, 380, 391. - -Oxford, 375-392. - - -Painters’ Corner, 412. - -Palace Green, 237. - -Paris, Matthew, 321, 362, 363. - -Parker, Abbot (tomb), 161. - -Parvise, 325-326. - -Paternoster Row, 398. - -Paulinus, 33, 34, 263, 285. - -Paul of Caen, 363. - -Paul’s Cross, 398, 399. - -Paul’s Walk, 395. - -Peckham, Archbishop, 27. - -Pembridge, Sir Richard (effigy), 176. - -Penda, 319. - -Penniless Porch, 108. - -Pepys, Samuel, 37. - -Perpendicular:--Bath Abbey, 136; - Canterbury, 12, 26; - Chester, 215, 217, 220; - Ely, 340, 341, 347; - Gloucester, 157, 158, 159, 160, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172; - Hereford, 175, 181, 187; - Lichfield, 204, 209, 210; - Lincoln, 294, 308; - Manchester, 222; - Norwich, 350, 352, 353, 354, 359; - Oxford, 379, 383; - Peterborough, 321, 325, 328, 329, 331, 332, 333; - Ripon, 251, 252; - Rochester, 38, 41; - Southwell, 314; - St. Albans, 365; - St. Saviour’s, 418; - Wells, 111, 113, 118, 119; - Winchester, 48, 49, 51, 52, 57; - Worcester, 191, 192; York, 267, 268, 271, 273, 281. - -Peterborough, 319-333. - -Peter’s Pence, 362. - -Philippa of Hainault (tomb), 435. - -Pilgrimage of Grace, 266. - -Pilgrims, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 17, 18, 31, 43, 68, 168, 235, 265, 366, 415. - -Piscina:--Ripon, 253, 258; - Rochester, 43; - Wells, 129. - -Poets’ Corner, 427, 429, 432. - -Pole, Cardinal, 37; - (tomb), 23. - -Pont l’Évêque, Roger de, 249, 250, 262, 263. - -Poore, Bishop, 77, 236. - -Porch (Central), Chichester, 70. - -Portico (Peterborough), 324. - -Pottergate Arch, 312. - -Precincts (Canterbury), 10. - -Presbytery:--Norwich, 357; - St. Alban’s, 369-370; - Winchester, 57. - -Primate of England, 2, 263. - -Primate of All England, 263. - -Priors’ Court, 31. - -Priors’ Door:--Ely, 341; - Norwich, 359. - -Priors’ Gate, 38. - -Processional Path, 357. - -Pudsey, Hugh, 236. - -Pulpit:--Oxford, 390; - Wells, 122. - -Puritans, desecrations by, 9, 27, 37, 216, - 204, 228, 322-323, 330-331, 350-351, 379. - - -Quivil, Bishop, 90, 91, 98, 99, 102; - (tomb), 102. - - -Ralph, Bishop (tomb), 75. - -Ralph of Shrewsbury, 110. - -Redman, Bishop, 346. - -Refectory:--Carlisle, 232; - Worcester, 199. - -Regale of France, 4, 7. - -Relics of St. Thomas, 3, 5, 6. - -Relics, 368, 378. - -Remigins, 286, 294. - -Reredos:--Bristol, 147; - Canterbury, 16; - Gloucester (Lady Chapel), 167; - Hereford, 183; - Lincoln, 297; - St. Albans, 59; - Winchester, 59; - Worcester, 194. - -Retable (Italian), 358. - -Retro-Choir:--Canterbury, 18; - Carlisle, 232; - Chichester, 67, 74; - Peterborough, 329-330; - Salisbury, 130, 131; - St. Albans, 373; - St. Saviour’s, 422; - Wells, 126, 129-130. - -Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 411. - -Reynolds, Archbishop (tomb), 25. - -Richard of Fairleigh, 77. - -Richard of Wallingford, 365. - -Richard, Sir W., 409-410. - -Ringers’ Chapel, 291, 292. - -Robert of Lewes, 135. - -Robert, Bishop, 108. - -Robert, Duke of Normandy (effigy), 168. - -Rochester, 33-45. - -Rodney, Admiral, 411. - -Roger de Norbury, 200. - -Roger and Sigar, 369. - -Romeyn, John, 264, 313. - -Romeyn, John II., 264. - -Rood-Screen:--Exeter, 99; - Lincoln, 294; - Ripon, 255; - St. Albans, 367; - York, 270. - -Roofs (Winchester), 65. - -Royal Children (tomb), 435. - -Rupibus, Peter de, 418, 421, 422. - - -Sacrarium, 44. - -Sais, John de, 320, 329. - -Salisbury, 76-89. - -Sanctuary (Durham), 239. - -Saxon:--Oxford, 376, 383; - Peterborough, 330; - Ripon, 254; - Winchester, 47; - York, 279. - -Scott, Sir G., 68, 70, 82, 85, - 99, 192, 211, 250, 256, 258, 329, 343, 345, 360, 380. - -Screen:--Canterbury, 13, 29; - Ely, 343; - Exeter, 99; - Lincoln, 306; - St. Saviour’s, 421; - Winchester, 55. - -Screen (exterior):--Exeter, 92-93; - Wells, 126. - -Scrope, Richard, 265; - (tomb), 279. - -Sedilia:--Bristol, 147; - Exeter, 101; - Gloucester, 161; - Ripon, 258; Rochester, 43; - Southwell, 316; - St. Albans, 374. - -Seffrid II., 66, 68, 72. - -Selwyn, Bishop (effigy), 213. - -Serlo, 153, 156, 157. - -Sermon Lane, 398. - -Shakespeare, 424. - -Sherborne, Bishop, 68. - -Sheppy, John de (tomb), 43-44. - -Shrine of:--St. Alban, 371-373; - St. Amphibalus, 368, 373; - Cantilupe, 178, 179; - Edward the Confessor, 434; - St. Etheldreda, 346, 357; - St. Erkenwald, 393; - St. Frideswide, 378, 385-386; - John of Dalderby, 305; - Little St. Hugh, 302; - St. Albans, 371; - St. Chad, 203, 204; - St. Cuthbert, 235, 246; - St. Hugh, 299, 300; - St. Paulinus, 34, 36; - St. Richard, 74; - St. Swithun, 48, 59; - St. Thomas, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 18; - St. Werburgh, 19; - St. Wilfrid, 250; - St. William, 43, - St. Ythmar, 36. - -Siebert, 425; - (tomb), 435. - -Silkstede, Prior, 59, 64; - pulpit of, 57. - -Simcoe, General, 105. - -Simeon of Ely, 63, 64, 335, 337, 346. - -Simeon’s Tower, 335, 336, 337. - -Simon de Montfort, 36. - -Skirlowe, Walter, 268. - -Slabs, carved, 73. - -Sleeping Children (Chantrey), 211. - -Slype:--Oxford, 392; - Peterborough, 333. - -Solomon’s Porch, 431. - -South Porch:--Canterbury, 12; - Chester, 217; - Gloucester, 156; - Manchester, 222. - -Southwark Bridge, 415. - -South Transept:--Chester, 217; - Lichfield, 207; - Westminster Abbey (see Poets’ Corner); - York, 269, 282, 358, 432. - -Southwell, 35, 313-318. - -South Door:--Lichfield, 207; - Lincoln, 308. - -Spire:--Chichester, 68, 69, 79; - Norwich, 79, 352; - Oxford, 379; - Peterborough, 333; - Salisbury, 77, 78, 79, 81, 249. - -Spires (Lichfield), 200. - -St. Aiden, 233. - -St. Alban, 362, 363. - -St. Albans, 360-374. - -St. Albans, Battle of, 361. - -St. Alphege, 47. - -St. Amphibalus, 362-363. - -St. Augustine, 1, 2, 33. - -St. Birinus, 46. - -St. Chad, 203. - -St. Columba, 249. - -St. Cuthbert, 233-234, 235, 240. - -St. Ermenilda, 336. - -St. Etheldreda, 215, 334, 335, 336, 342-343, 344. - -St. Frideswide, 377. - -St. Helena, 262. - -St. Hugh of Grenoble, 287-289. - -St. Hugh of Lincoln, 108, 298, 300, 306. - -St. Hugh, Little, 302. - -St. Mary Overie, 416, 417. - -St. Paul’s, 393-414. - -St. Saviour’s, 415-424. - -St. Sexburga, 336. - -St. Swithun, 46, 51, 416. - -St. Thomas, 3, 6-9. - -St. Werburgh, 215. - -St. Wilfrid, 249, 250. - -St. William, 264, 265. - -St. William of Perth, 35. - -St. William Bytton, 109, 121, 122. - -St. William of Norwich, 350. - -St. Withburga, 336. - -St. Andrew’s Chapel, 28. - -St. Andrew’s Tower, 18, 19. - -St. Anne’s Gate, 80. - -St. Anselm’s Chapel, 25. - -St. Anselm’s Tower, 19, 25. - -St. Augustine’s Choir, 28-29. - -St. Catherine’s Window, 391. - -St. Cecelia’s Window, 384-385. - -St. Cuthbert’s Window, 248, 261, 273. - -St. Dunstan’s Tower, 11. - -St. Edmund’s Chapel, 347. - -St. Ethelbert’s Gate, 350, 351. - -St. Frideswide’s Priory, 375. - -St. Frideswide’s Window, 388-389. - -St. Hugh’s Choir, 67, 285, 287-289, 295, 306. - -St. Hugh’s Tower, 297. - -St. Hugh’s Transept, 35, 308. - -St. Lucy’s Chapel, 381. - -St. Mary’s Gate, 173. - -St. Mary’s Tower, 291, 292. - -St. Michael’s Chapel, 25. - -St. Oswald, Church of, 216-217, 218. - -St. Paul’s Bridge, 400. - -St. Paul’s Cathedral, 392-414. - -St. Paul’s Churchyard, 397-398. - -St. Richard’s Walk, 75. - -St. Wilfrid’s Needle, 254. - -St. William’s Head, 264, 266. - -St. William’s Window, 261, 273. - -St. William, Tomb of, 43. - -Stafford, Bishop (tomb), 103. - -Staircase (Wells), 124. - -Stanley, Sir John, 211. - -Stapledon, Bishop (tomb), 101. - -Still, Bishop (effigy), 123. - -Stone Gallery (St. Paul’s), 412-413. - -Stratford, Archbishop, 16. - -Strickland, Bishop, 227, 228. - -Swinfield, Bishop (tomb), 180. - -Swynford, Catherine (tomb), 301. - - -Tabard Inn, 415. - -Tait, Archbishop, 28. - -Te Deum Window, 244. - -Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s, 400. - -Thomas of Bayeux, 263. - -Thomas, Lord Berkeley (tomb), 145. - -Throne, Archbishop’s, 16. - -Tijou, 408. - -Tom of Lincoln, Great, 291, 310. - -Tom of Oxford, 375. - -Tom Quad, 375, 379. - -Tom Tower, 375. - -Tower, Central:--Bath, 136-137; - Bristol, 140; - Carlisle, 228; - Chichester, 68, 69; - Durham, 235, 238, 244, 268; - Ely, 63, 321, 336, 337; - Gloucester, 153, 154; - Hereford, 175, 177; - Lincoln, 294, 310; - Oxford, 378, 390; - Peterborough, 324; - Ripon, 251; Rochester, 36; - St. Albans, 365, 369; - St. Saviour’s, 418; - Wells, 109, 114; - Winchester, 55-56, 63, 64; - Worcester, 190; - York, 265-266, 268. - -Tower:--North, Exeter, 98; - Simeon’s, Ely, 64, 405, 406; - Salisbury, 81; - Walkelyn’s, Winchester, 64. - -Towers:--Lincoln, 291-292; - Norwich, 352; - Wells, 113; - York, 268. - -Tracery:--Exeter, 95; - Hereford, 187; - Lincoln, 291, 294, 302, 304; - Wells, 128; York, 278. - -Transept of the Martyrdom, 3, 5, 17, 18, 26. - -Transepts:--Canterbury, 15, 17, 25, 28; - Carlisle, 229, 230; - Chester, 218; - Durham, 243; - Ely, 346; - Exeter, 98; - Gloucester, 168-169; - Hereford, 181, 182; - Lichfield, 209; - Peterborough, -331; - Ripon, 254-255; - Rochester, 41, 42-43; - Salisbury, 83-84; - St. Hugh’s, 308; - St. Paul’s, 410; - St. Saviour’s, 418; - Wells, 120; - Winchester, 63, 64, 196; - Worcester, 192-193; - York, 269-270, 272. - -Translation of St. Thomas, 4, 19; - St. Swithun, 47. - -Trehearne, John, 423. - -Tully, 154. - - -Valence, A. de (tomb), 433. - -Vaulting (Norwich), 355-356. - -Vicars’ Cloister, 187. - -Vicars’ Close (Lichfield), 201. - -Vicars’ College, 108, 112. - -Vigil of the Translation, 4. - -Villula, John de, 135. - - -Wakefield, Battle of, 361. - -Walkelyn, Bishop, 47, 48, 64. - -Walsingham, Alan, 336, 337, 338, 342, 345, 405. - -Waller, Lady (monument), 139. - -Wallingford, William of, 365. - -Wallingford Screen, 370-371. - -Walter, Hubert, 25. - -Walton, Izaak (tomb), 64. - -Warelwast, William, 90, 100. - -Warham, Archbishop (tomb), 27. - -Wars of the Roses, 361. - -Watching Chamber, 19, 25, 387. - -Wat Tyler’s Rebellion, 361, 362. - -Watts, Richard, 41. - -Waxhouse Gate, 366. - -Waxworks (Westminster Abbey), 436-437. - -Waynflete, Bishop, 53. - -Well, Sacred (Winchester), 65. - -Well of St. Thomas, 31. - -Wellington, 411, 412. - -Wells, 107-133. - -West Door:--Durham, 242; - Lichfield, 206; - Rochester, 38-39. - -West End (Worcester), 190. - -West Front:--Bath, 134, 136; - Bristol, 140; - Canterbury, 11; - Chester, 217; - Chichester, 70; - Durham, 233; - Exeter, 92; - Ely, 338; - Gloucester, 155-156; - Lichfield, 204-205; - Lincoln, 290-291; - Norwich, 351; - Peterborough, 324-325; - Ripon, 250, 251; - Rochester, 38; - Southwell, 314; - St. Paul’s, 401; - Westminster Abbey, 426; - Winchester, 51; - Wells, 113, 114; - York, 267-268. - -West Tower (Ely), 338. - -West Window:--Bristol, 142; - Canterbury, 13, 14; - Chichester, 70; - Gloucester, 162; - Lichfield, 205; - Lincoln, 293-294; - Peterborough, 327; - Rochester, 40-41; - Wells, 120; - Westminster Abbey, 430; - Winchester, 51; - York, 275. - -West, Benjamin, 43, 59. - -Western Porch (Manchester), 222. - -Western Transept:--Lincoln, 303; - Peterborough, 327. - -Westminster Abbey, 78, 414, 425-443. - -Wheathampstead, John de, 365. - -Wheel of Fortune, 42. - -Whispering Gallery:--Gloucester, 155, 164; - St. Paul’s, 404, 407, 410. - -White Church, 234. - -Winchester, 46-65; - burials in, 63; - coronations in, 49-50. - -Winchester Historical Associations, 49-50, 58. - -William the Conqueror, 235. - -William, Earl of Dudley (effigy), 198. - -William, English, 4, 18, 25, 36. - -William, Fitzherbert (tomb), 263. - -William of Hatfield (tomb), 274. - -William de Hoo, 36, 43, 44. - -William of Malmsbury, 263. - -William Rufus, 47, 55-56, 58, 157, 359, 425. - -William of Sens, 4, 12, 15, 18, 25, 36. - -William of St. Carileph, 234. - -William of Trumpington, 363, 364, 367. - -William of Wykeham, 48, 49, 51, 53. - -William La Zouche, 265. - -Window (Decorated):--Chichester, 68; - Diamond Jubilee, 420; - Edward IV. (Canterbury), 5, 26-27; - Edward VII., 410; - Flamboyant (Oxford), 390; - South (St. Saviour’s), 421. - -Windows:--Bath, 136, 137, 138; - Bristol, 142, 144, 145, 146, 148; - Canterbury, 11, 13, 17, 22-23, 24, 25; - Carlisle, 229; - Durham, 243, 248; - Ely, 340, 346, 347; - Exeter, 94, 97; - Gloucester, 159; - Hereford, 181, 182, 186-187; - Lichfield, 209, 212; - Lincoln, 291, 307; - Norwalk, 356; - Oxford, 379, 380; - Peterborough, 328, 332; - Rochester, 37, 38; - Salisbury, 84, 87-88; - Southwell, 314, 315, 316; - St. Saviour’s, 423, 424; - Wells, 118, 119, 128; - Westminster Abbey, 430; - Winchester, 58; - York, 276-279. - -Wolsey, Thomas, 266, 316, 375, 379, 412. - -Worcester, 188-199. - -Wordsworth, Bishop (tomb), 301. - -Wren, Bishop, 340. - -Wren, Sir C., 69, 78, 85, 307, 340, 375, 396, 397, 403, 405-406, 412, 426. - -Wulstan, 153, 188, 189. - -Wyatt, 78, 84, 175, 237, 248. - -Wyvill, Bishop (brass), 85-86. - -Wych, Richard de la, 68. - - -York, 202, 260-283. - -York and Lichfield, 202. - -Young, Sir John (tomb), 147. - -Ythamar, 33. - - -Zouch (tomb), 390. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] The dog-tooth being in the form of a four-leaved flower with a -projecting centre, has caused some authorities to think it derived from -the dog-tooth violet.--(E. S.) - -[2] The Regale of France, the glory of the Shrine, was long worn -by Henry himself in the ring which after the manner of those times -encircled his enormous thumb. It last appears in history among the -“diamonds” of the golden collar of his daughter, Queen Mary. - -[3] See page 4. - -[4] See p. 120. - -[5] Canterbury, Rochester, Winchester, Worcester, Gloucester. - -[6] Similar stalls, or carrels, existed at Durham. - -[7] The cloister, of which the inner walls only remain, itself extended -beyond this passage eastward. - -[8] A triforium in purely Perpendicular buildings is rare. - -[9] See pp. 99, 101. - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Visit the English Cathedrals, by -Esther Singleton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO VISIT THE ENGLISH *** - -***** This file should be named 62810-0.txt or 62810-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/8/1/62810/ - -Produced by Sonya Schermann, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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