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 I.OM AXOKI.KK.C.M.IK 
 
 WILLIAM MYCAJAH CLARKE < ;
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 ARCHITECTURE AND 
 
 ALLIED ARTS 
 
 Gift of 
 WILLIAM M.
 
 THE CATHEDRALS OF 
 ENGLAND AND WALES
 
 THE CATHEDRALS OF 
 ENGLAND AND WALES 
 
 BKI.\(; A FOURTH KDITION Ol 
 ENGLISH CATH MORALS ILLUSTRATE) 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANCIS BOND 
 
 M.A.. LINCOLN Col. I. Mil- OXKOKli; IIONOKAKY ASSOCIATE OF THE 
 
 I-.KITIM! AICCIII I l-.l 'I s I ['! I.I O\V (IK 1 I1F 
 
 ! \! ' II'. IN'. Ii'NlMix; Al'THUI; cif i;i>T||H A 'i( ' 1 1 I I I '( - 
 
 IN KM, I, AND. " WKSTMINS-I'KK AliflKY,' SCREENS AN] 
 
 ,AI I.KKIKs IN ]-:N(il.[slI CHI KCHKS, 1C 1C. E 
 
 Illustrated by over 200 reproductions from photo- 
 graphs and a series of ground plans to a uniform scale 
 
 LONDON 
 
 R. T. BATSFORI), 94 HIGH HOLBORN 
 \KW YORK: CHAS. SCRIBNER'S SONS
 
 [><' 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 Till-: first edition of (i English Cathedrals Illus- 
 trated" \vas published in 1899; in the second 
 edition a few verbal corrections were inserted ; 
 the third edition was published without revision. In 
 the present edition man}- important changes have 
 been made. In its original form the book had two 
 grave defects. One was that it contained no ground 
 plans, which are indispensable to reader and visitor 
 alike, and have been supplied in the present 
 volume; they are reproduced to a uniform scale 
 of 100 ft. to the inch. One or two plans of 
 parish churches now forming cathedrals, such as 
 Newcastle, are omitted, being of parochial rather 
 than cathedral type. Secondly, in conformity with 
 Mr Kiel-email's nomenclature, the attempt was made 
 to thrust the history of everv cathedral into his 
 Procustcan framework of Norman, Karly Knglish, 
 Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The result 
 was disastrous. Such an arrangement is a whole- 
 sale perversion of architectural historv. No cathedral 
 was ever built in just four building periods these 
 and no other. In some cathedrals, <._<,''., Salisbury, 
 there are less than four building periods; in most 
 cases then- are seven, eight, or even more. In this 
 volume the actual building periods are treated separ- 
 ately, and no attempt is made to cram them into 
 arbitrary imaginarv compartments.
 
 The hook has been re-illustrated in a much more 
 comprehensive manner, only a few examples of detail 
 bein^ retained from the earlier editions. With the 
 exception of the ground plans, the illustrations are 
 from photographs, the sources of which are i;"iven in 
 the note of acknowledgment. The more important 
 features of each cathedral are represented, and it is 
 hoped that this will tend materially to elucidate and 
 increase the interest of the text: neither the text, 
 however, nor the illustrations are intended as a sub- 
 stitute for personal stud} 1 of the cathedrals on the 
 spot, which it is the purpose of the book to foster and 
 facilitate. 
 
 Short bibliographies are appended to the accounts 
 of the various cathedrals. In addition, the student is 
 referred to the following: Browne Willis' Surrey oj 
 tlh' Cathedrals <>f York, Durham, Carlisle, Chester, 
 I. i eli field, Hereford, Gloucester, Bristol, Lincoln, /:7r, 
 Oxford, and Peterborough, 2 vols., Svo, London. 1730: 
 Britton's I listory and Antiquities of Canterbury, York, 
 Bristol, l'..\eter, Gloucester, Hereford, Lielifield, Xor- 
 r.vV//, Oxford, l^etci borough, Salisbury, \Vtlls, M'in- 
 cliester, }] 'orcester L \tthedrals, \ >< melon, [ S2I- 1 836 I 
 CatJiedrals of lin^land and \\'ales, published by 
 "/'//r Jlitilder" London, 1904; Murray's Handbooks 
 to the Cathedrals of l : .ngland and \\'alcs, S vols,, 
 3rd edition, London, 1903. In linglish Minsters 
 by Rev. M. L. ( '. \\'alc"tt, pa^es XV. to xix., is a 
 bibliography of each cathedral. 
 
 All the cathedrals were visited by the- writer when 
 the tirst edition o| this work \\ as in preparation, and 
 in recent years they have been revisited a^'ain and 
 a;_;ain. 1 he result <>| continuous and comparative 
 -tudv of the Ln^'lish churche-- in general has been t<> 
 shew the writer that in many cases conclusions 
 originally accepted by himself and others are un-
 
 PREFACE ix 
 
 tenable: to a large extent, therefore, it has been 
 found necessary to rewrite the book; the changes 
 made in the account of the architectural history of the 
 cathedrals of Lincoln, Worcester, Llandaff, Kxcter, 
 and Hereford are very considerable. That a higher 
 standard of accuracy has been reached than in the 
 earlier editions of the book may be fairly assumed. 
 Complete accuracy, however, is impossible in dealing 
 with a subject so vast. It is impossible even to know 
 a single cathedral. As has been finely said by Mr 
 Fergusson : " Xot only is there built into a medi;eval 
 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 clcrgv for whom it 
 was designed ; the master-mason's skilled construc- 
 tinn ; the work of the carver, the painter, the gla/.ier, 
 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 fore- 
 fathers. 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 purposes 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." 
 
 FRANCIS BOM).
 
 NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
 
 THE writer has had the good fortune to secure the 
 assistance of numerous local experts in revising the 
 proofs of various chapters: acknowledgments are due 
 to Rev. A. M. Alston, M.A., Rev. John liailey, M.A., Miss 
 Maude E. lUill, Cieorge Benson, Esq., A.R.I. 15. A.. Canon 
 Church, F.S.A., \V. Eaton, Esq., A. R.I. 15. A., the Dean of 
 Fly, Rev. Edward Korse, M.A., Rev. J. T. Fowler, D.C.I,, 
 \V. Francis, Esq., Miss Kdith Hoskyns, P. M. Johnston. 
 Esq., F.S.A., the Dean of Lichfield, the Hon. Mrs O'C.rady. 
 II. Plowman, Esq., Miss Edith K. Prideaux, Professor 
 S. II. Reynolds, the Dean of Ripon, C. 15. Shuttleworth, 
 Esc}., \V. Wheeler, Esq., and Canon J. M. Wilson, I ). D. 
 
 For photographs the author is indebted to the following : 
 to II. W. ]5ennett, Esq., for the' illustrations given on pp. 
 
 5, 59, 61, 87, 109, 374: W. M. Dodson, Esq. (I>eltws-y- 
 Coed), pp. 112, 469 : W. Francis, Esq., pp. 243, 250, 254: 
 Messrs F. Frith \: Co., Ltd., pp. 216, 2*4, 484; J. dale, Esq.. 
 ]). 28: J. P. (lihson, Esq., pp. 85, 88, 208; The' Hereford- 
 shire Photographic Society, pp. 156, 160, 165, 169; The 
 London Stereoscopic Co. Ltd., p. 215; C. F. Nunneley, 
 Esq., pp. 101, 103, 138, 230, 233, 307; The Photochrom 
 Company Ltd., the frontispiece and pp. 31, 47, 48. 50, 80, 
 96,99. 117. 123. 145, 148, 153. 174. 188,220,226.260, 
 261, 263, 270, 277, 21)7, 313, 315, 346, 363, 381, 386, 387, 
 394, 407, 485 ; S. Smith, Esq. (Lincoln), pp. 11)5, 11)7. 203 : 
 the Rev. I 1 '. Sunnier, pp. 68, 7^. 77, 168. 247, 302, 306, 
 326, 32(), 375. 376, 392, 400: F. R. P. Sunnier, Esq., pp. 
 
 6. 71, 151, 249, 304, 305, 308, 328, 330. 377. 402 :
 
 xii XOTK ()!' ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 
 
 Yallance, Esq., M.A., K.S.A., pp. 25, 35, 38, 40 : and 
 A. K. \\"alshani, Ksq., pp. 248 and 253. To Sir Arthur 
 IMoinfield <X: Sons the author is indebted lor the plan of 
 Soutlnvark Cathedral, and to G. Gilbert Scott, Ks<]., for 
 the plan and two views of Liverpool Cathedral. The 
 illustrations on pp. 26, 44, 45, 46, 65, 104, 161, 163, 183, 
 365, 421, 463, and 474, are from photographs by the 
 author. Thanks are also due to Mr (1. K. Kru^er for his 
 design ot the rover.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I'Al.K 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF CATHEDRALS xxii 
 
 INTRODUCTION - 
 
 BRISTOL The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity- <; 
 
 Au^uMinian 1 '.siablishmcnt. 9 : KiK^r Iirii.in\i; I'l.uion 
 ( Xoiman Church). 1O : Xorman Remains. II ; SErONP 
 I'KKIOD, 1 2 ; Mldor I.ady Chapel, 12: 'I'lIIKh I'KKInn. 1 3 ; 
 relmildinL;, I]; li^htini; problems. 15: Vaulting. 14: Lad\- 
 Chapel, 17; Choir. 17; licrkclcy Chapel, 17: Chancel, iS; 
 decorative detail, iS: Newtmi ( 'liapel. 19: I-'oruni l'i-;ui('h, 
 19; Transepts remodelled, 19: I'll ill 1'KKion, 20; 
 modern executions, 20. 
 
 CANTERBURY The Cathedral of Christ Church 
 
 KIK^I l'KKH>i>. 22: Prc-('onc[uest remains, 22: Lanlranc's 
 
 ( 'alhcilral and lienedictine Monastery. 22: site of lu'ckel's 
 martyi'dom. 24: Si-;(i)N|i 1'KKlop. 24: Anselm'> \\orU, 24: 
 <'liapels. 2<) : l'resliyier\-. 27: the Choir. 27. }o : TIMKII 
 I'KKi'Mi. 28 ; I )estruction and Restoration of Choir, 2S : 
 liecket's Corona, ^n; French Inlluence-. ^2: Stained (da--., 
 i ^ : Forum ]'i-: Kini), ^4; Crynl, ^ : l''irin I'l^'Kii'ii. ^; 
 Xorman \\"ork Removi'd. ^5 : Cleresiorv. 50 : Sixi II I'l'.Kii'ii. 
 .57; Cloisters, 37: SKVKNMI I'I-;KII>, 57; Central Tower. 
 37 ; C'hapter lloii>e. jS ; \\'e>t l-'ronl, 40. 
 xiii
 
 Kiv CONTFNTS 
 
 I AC-I-. 
 
 CARLISLE The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity 4.3 
 
 Aii!_;uMinian Establishment. 43; FIK^I I'i;k|(>h. 43: ihe 
 Norman Church, 43 ; SK.CI>\II I'KKII >\ >. 44 ; Gothic Chancel 
 Built. 4^: Tiuuii i'lOKloii, 46: destruction by lire. 4') : 
 the Fa>i Front. 47: FnriMii rh.KiiMi, 4(1; ('enlral Tower 
 and Na\e, 40: I'll III I'lvRIop, 50; Gulldebuur's illumina- 
 tion.-,. 50 ; Six 1 11 I'KKIOM, 51. 
 
 CHESTER The Cathedral Church of Cliri,t and the 
 
 Blessed \ irgm - 
 
 heiiediclinc Muna>tcrv. 52: I-'IK>I I'lOKHiii. ^2 ; Norman 
 Work extant, 52; Cloisters, 55; SK<O\I> I'I-.KK.)!'. ^^ ; 
 THIRD I'KKHH>, 55; Lady ('hapel, 57: the Choir. 57: 
 FoaUTII I'F.KMD. 5N; extensive relmildin;;. 58: St. 
 ( )>\vald's Church. 59: C'entral Tower and Nave, oo : Finn 
 I'KKion, 02; Nave. Ili,L;h Altar, and Cloister-. ()2 ; Minor 
 \\ orks. 63 : Stalls. 63. 
 
 CHICHESTER The Cathedral Church of the Holy 
 
 6. 
 
 } ' umdalioii of ihe See. 07 : ihe Norman Clmicn. t)^ : the 
 I ,ady ( 'h ipel. 70: destruction hy lire and re>to|-ation. 71 : the 
 To\\er.-. 70; ( 'iui|)cl>. 70; \\indow Tracer\'. 78: detached 
 ( 'ampamle. 71*: liernardis paintings, Su : rebuilding oi 'lie 
 To\\ er> and Spire. Si . 
 
 DURHAM The Cathedral Church of Christ and the 
 
 l>le--ed \ irgm Mar\' 
 
 Foundation ni" ihe See. N2 : UeiKdictiiie I i !>t.ililislin 
 S4 : F]'i>i'op:il |uri>diction. S4 : I-'IK^I I'KI, i< >1 >. So : the 
 Norman Cathedral. So: Vaulting. SS : Internal Klevation. 
 So: SKCO.MI l'i.i;iiiii. Sit : (r.aliic -nirit. 90: Tiiii,:- 
 l'Ki;i"i>. oo : "Chapel of ihe Nine Altars," oi : F<'KIH 
 I'KKinii. 93: \\indo\\ Tracery. <>',: Altar Reretln>. <}]: 
 I'll III I'l-.KIi'K <!,: the ('eiitral To\Ver. 113 ; Six I II 
 1'i.uii'ii, 1,14: the Sanctuary Knocker. 94.
 
 CONTKNTS xv 
 
 I'At.E 
 
 ELY -The Cathedral Cluuvli of the Holy and I'n- 
 
 divisiblc Trmitv 0,6 
 
 Benedictine Kstiiblishnient, <)S ; KIK-T I'KK h>i >, oS ; I'lan 
 and Construction ol Norman Cathedral, cjS ; Sr.ro.ND 
 I'KKII MI, 102: The (lalilee I'orch, 102 : Reconstruction of 
 Kast I-'.nd. 102: TllIKD I'KKloD, 104; tin- Lady Chapel. 
 K>T; Collap-e of Central Tower, lo'>: ( 'onslruciion ol the 
 < )ctai;on, io() ; the rebuilt ( 'liojr, 1 08 ; Stall>, no: 
 I'OcKin I'KKioD, 110; IjLjIiiiiiL; impruvcinents, i 10 ; 
 Clianlry Chaprls, no; 1'IKIII I'l^Klon. ill; \Vn-n'> 
 ( 'lairal I)iMir\\a\, n I : Mi\ou \\'OKK>, ill. 
 
 EXETER 'I'hc Cathedra! Church of St. Peter i 14 
 
 l-'oundatinn of the See, 114: KIK.VI I'KKIOD, n<>; con- 
 stiuciion iif the Norman ('alhedral. in ; SK<O\D I'I-.KIOD. 
 ilS; the Chapler House. iiS: TllIKD I'KKInD. l I <) ; the 
 Chapel.-, 110: IMICKTII I'KKIOD. 121 : various onnpletion>. 
 121 ; the Arrades, 122: I-'n III I'I-.KIOD, 123; the Choir 
 remodelled, 123; Six 111 I'KKIOD, 124; completion of the 
 Choir. 124: the I Si.shop'.s Throne, 125 ; the 1 1 iidi Aliar, i jo : 
 Si. \l.\l II I'KKIiiI), 127: the design of the Cathedral. 150: 
 Interior I'rohlems, 1 30 : \\mdow 'I'racery, 151 ; symmetiy 
 of the design, 1.51 : KiciiTli 1'KKioD, 133; the Chantrie>. 
 1.54- 
 
 GLOUCESTER The Cathedral Church of St. Peter 
 
 llenedictine Estuhlishmenl, 1 ](> ; l''lk-'l' ]'KKlol>. i ](> ; 
 the Crypl. I .JO: SHCOND I'KKIOD, 138: the rebuilding, 
 i .yS ; the ( 'hoir and Na\e. 1 O; TllIKD I'I';KIO|), 142: 
 To\\ers, 142: de>truclion by lires, 14.5; l-'ol'KIH I'lOkli'D. 
 
 143: Strengthening b\' i;uitre>>e--. 143: \\'imlo\\-, 144: 
 IMIMII I'KKIOD, 144: Tomb of Edward II.. 144: Sixin 
 1'KKioD, 14(1; Liiditint; improvements. 14!) : South Tran- 
 >ept, 140; X'aultiiiL;. I4<): The Ivast I-Jid. i y) : SKVK.NIII 
 I'KKIOD, 151; rebuilding of Cloisters, 131: KK;IIIII I'KKIOD, 
 l^l; \\\-.-t Kroiil, i^i : N IN Ml 1'KRIOD, 1^2: Central 
 Tower, 152; TKNIII I'lCKhiD, 152 : lebuildin.L;' of I.ad\ 
 Chapel, 152 ; The Cloister, Chapter House, etc., i ^ i : Minor 
 \\ i ii ks and Mi liniment.-, I S-l-
 
 HEREFORD The (Jatlia.lr.il Church of St. Mary .uul 
 
 St. Kthclbcrt 
 
 FIRM I'KKinh. i vS ; tin' Norman Church, i =;8 : Si:o>\ii 
 I'KKloli, M)o; Nave and renovation of ( 'hoir, Idl ; TlllKh 
 I'KKIOII. 161 : the Chapels. 162; IMICIMII I'KKinii, 102 ; 
 completion .if I.ady Chapel, I'),; I'll III I'KUloh, 1(14; 
 Li^hlinL; Problems. 1(14: Six 111 1'hkloh. 164; North Tran- 
 sept rebuilt, 104: SKVKVIII li;ui<u>, 10, : Si. ( 'antchipe'.- 
 Shrine, 106 : various impro\ emcnts. l(>0: Kic.in II I'KK 1< >l >. 
 1(17; ('ential 'I'i)\\er rebuilt. 107: S. I'.. 'l"iaii-rpt rebuilt. 
 inS; \INIII I'KRloii, i6S: South Transept \Yind<>\\>. ii)S; 
 t'bantry ('Impels. 1(19; T !:.%' I H I'lCRii'ii. 170: Modern 
 Ke.-toratiuns, I 70. 
 
 LICHFIELD Tlie Cathedral Church of St. Mary 
 
 l-'oundatioii of the See, 172; stor\- of St. (Jhad. 1 7 j ; 
 llistnry of the See. 175; ihe ('atheihal durin:;' tbe Ci\il 
 \\"ar. 170: 1'uritanical Devastations, 177; Re-erection of 
 Central Touer. 178: KIK^T I'I^KIMII. I7S: the Norman 
 Cathedral. 178: SKC<>M> I'KKIDD. i-i): ibu Norman Cathe- 
 dral rebuilt. 170: TltlKH I'KKIOD, I Sj : the Traiisepts and 
 Chapler I I. HIM.-. 1^2: KoCRTII I'l-.RIOM. I S ^ : the Na\e, 
 185: l-'ll III I'l'lKIiili. iS^; tile \\'est |-'ront. |S^: the 
 
 I.ady Chapel. iS^: Six'in I'EKIOH. iS(>: St. Chad's Shrine. 
 
 186-7 : Li;j;liiin;j; impro\ emeiit-. I Sf> : Si'.\"i;\ I II |'KI;|( .| >. 
 187; Altai Screen, 187; completion of St. Chad's Shrine. 
 1 88 ; Minor Works, 180. 
 
 LINCOLN The Cathedral Church of St. Man 
 
 KIK.VI I'KKIOD. MM : Norman Remains. 101 : M-.' D\IP 
 I'KKlnlt. I'i^; the Towel's. Hi^; TlllKli I'l-.Ki'iD, 104: 
 ilie ivbuildiiiL, r . 104; St. I lush's \Vnrk, 196. etc.; ForKin 
 I'KKI'ih. i<8; Hi ill 1'KKIc]). M)8; [be Xa\e, l<)8: the 
 \Ye--1 l-'rolit, 201 ; SlX III I'KKIiil), 2(Jl : i-iilLlp- . I 
 
 1 n if C nlr: 1 T< i\\ er. 201 : ( 'Imir and Tran>ept-. 2- .2 : 
 
 S!--VK\TII I'KKIuJ), 2' 14 : the An^el Choir. 2O,: C 
 
 Iral To\\er : >:' : i , 205: [-'II.UTH I'KKIOJI. ju5: l!i>hop 
 Dalderby"> Shrine. 200: NlNllI I'KKIOI>. 207: ( : :: 
 Stall-, 2^7: '['KM 11 1'KKinn. 207: \\\--i Windnw^. 207: 
 ( 'hanii ii -. 208 : Ki KVK.N i n I'KKH M L j> <n.
 
 CONTENTS XV11 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 LONDON -The Cathedral Church of St. Paul 210 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren, 2IO; the original design, 212; 
 the Dome, 214-221 ; the Interior, 217 ; the Exterior, 217. 
 
 MANCHESTER-The Cathedral Church of St. Mary 224 
 
 NEWCASTLE The Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas- 226 
 
 NORWICH -The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity 227 
 
 The See, 227 ; commencement of present Cathedral, 227 ; 
 the Plan, 229; damage by fire and storm : improvements to 
 Lighting, 235 ; making the Cathedral fireproof, 237 ; Vaulting, 
 238 ; the Interior, 240. 
 
 OXFORD The Cathedra] Church of Christ 243 
 
 St. Frideswide, 243; FIRST I'F.KIOD. 245; Saxon Remains, 
 245; SECOND PERIOD, 245; Augustinian Establishment, 
 245; the Twelfth-Century Cathedral, 246; the Fast End, 
 247; THIRD PERIOD, 250; Tower and Chapter House, 250; 
 FOURTH PERIOD, 251; Lighting, 251; St. Catherine's 
 Chapel, 252; FIFTH PERIOD, 252; Vaulting the Choir. 
 253; SIXTH PERIOD, 254; Foundation of Bishopric, 254; 
 Chronological Notes, 255. 
 
 PETERBOROUGH-The Cathedral Church of St. Peter 257 
 
 Establishment of the Monastery. 257 ; Legendary History, 
 257 ; FIRST PERIOD, 259; destruction of Saxon Church by 
 P'ire, 259; SECOND PERIOD, 260; commencement of 
 Present Cathedral, 260; THIRD PERIOD, 261 ; Transepts 
 and Nave. 262; FOURTH PERIOD, 264; extension of Nave, 
 264; New West Transept. 265; FIFTH PERIOD, 265; 
 SIXTH PERIOD, 265: the West Front, 266; SEVENTH 
 PERIOD, 268; Lady Chapel, 268; Fir.iiiH PERIOD, 268; 
 Norman 'Power, 268; Lighting, 268: NINTH PERIOD, 
 209 ; Windows, 269; 'PEN I'll PERIOD, 270; Procession 
 Path and Chapels. 270; ELEVENTH PERIOD, 271: Parlia- 
 mentarian mal-treatment, 271.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 RIPON The Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. 
 Wilfrid 
 
 FIRST I'KKlop, 272: tin.- Seveiith-Centurv Cliurcli. 272; 
 SuroM) I'KKion, 273; tlu- Norman Cliurcli, 275; THIRD 
 I'KKIOD. 274: the ( 'athedral rehuilt, 274; St Wilfrid's 
 Shrine. 275: the Nave. 275: (Yntral Touer and Choir. 
 27*) : Forkiii I'KKiun. 279: the West From. 279: I'll in 
 i'KRIOD. 279: the Fast Fnd. 279; SIX III I'KKIOD. 2<So ; 
 
 Sedilia and Ladv Chapel. 280; SKYKNTH I'KKIOD. 2X0; 
 collapse i if Central Tower, 281 ; Woodwork, 2X2: FILHIH 
 1'KKion. 282; addition <if Aisles. 282: NINTH I'KRIOD. 
 reiinival <if Spires. 282. 
 
 ROCHESTER The Cathedral Church of St. Andre\ 
 
 Si Augustine's Mission. 283; FIRST I'KKIOD, 284: llie 
 Farly Church. 284; SKCOND I'KKioi). 284; the Xornian 
 Cathedral, 284; THIRD I'p'.kh'i), 28(1; the Nave, 287: the 
 \\V-t Fnmt, 287: FnfiMii J'KKIOD. 288: Fa-tern l.iinh 
 
 l\elillilt. 288; FlI'Tll I'KKKH). 290: evtellsioll of Choir. 
 
 290; SIXTH I'I'.KIOD. 290; SKVKXTII I'KKKHI, 290 : Cen- 
 ii-al T'>\\er. 290; ]',!( ; 1 1 I'll I'l-'.Kioii. 290; NINTH I'KKion. 
 2<)0 ; removal of Southern Tower. 290: St. \Villiam, 2<)l : 
 TKX i M I'KKIOD. 292: various U'orks, 2<)2 : KI.KVKNTII 
 1'iCKioi), 292; Li-htin^ Improved. 292 : TWKI.KTH I'KKIOD. 
 20 i : iMilar^'eineiil ol Ladx ( 'hapel and Sout h Transep! . 295: 
 'I'ltiu i I-;I'.NTH I'F.Rini). 2<)_5 : Tower and Spire replaced, 
 20 v 
 
 ST. ALBANS The Cathedral Church of St. Alhan 
 
 (ieneral Survey, 204 : IScnedictine I-'otindalioi), 298; tlie 
 Uituali-tic I)i\ision>. 201) : 1'iR-i I'I-.RII>I>. ^01 : Norman 
 \\ork. ^oi : X'oi'man Nave. ;O2 ; Aisles and Transept -. ,< S : 
 SKCdNIi I'E:;I')|>. ,04: Arcade and Doorway. 304: TlllKU 
 I'KRIiil), JO5; the West Fr^ni. 3(15: ForKTll I'KKlnD, 505; 
 Westernmost Bays. 305; FII-TII TKRICID, ^oh; Sanctuary. 
 300; Chapels. 307; Si.xin |'I-:RIOII. ^07 ; the Fad\- ( 'hajiel, 
 ]n- -. SKVKXTII I'KRIOH, 307: collapse of Nave and rotnra 
 ': : . 307: KliMlTli I'KKI'U'. 307: Minor \\orks. juS.
 
 CONTENTS XIX 
 
 I'ACH 
 
 SALISBURY -The Cathedral Church of St. Mary 310 
 
 The Norman Cathedral, 310; commencement of the 
 1 'resent Cathedra', 312; comparative Survey of the 
 Cathedral, 312-316; the Plan, 316; the Tower and Spire, 
 317; the External Aspect, 320; the Lighting, 325; the 
 Interior, 326 : the East End, 328. 
 
 SOUTHWARK-Thc Cathedral Church of St. Saviour - 331 
 
 Foundation of St. Mary Overie, 331 ; Establishment as 
 Augustinian Priory, 331: FIRST IT.K1OP, 332; Norman 
 remains, 332 ; SF.CONP PKRIOP, 333 ; rebuilding Eastern 
 and Western Limbs, 333 ; the Presbytery, 334 ; the Nave. 
 335; THIRD PKKIOP. 335: EOUKTH PKRIOP, 336; the 
 Lady Chapel, 336; Fil-'Tll I'KKIOP. 337: Tracer}'. 337; 
 SIXTH PKKIOP, } }S : Keredos and Western Facade. 338: 
 MINOR DKTAII.S, 338. 
 
 SOUTHWELL The Cathedral Church of St. Mary 342 
 
 Eoundation of the See. 342; I-'IKST i'KKIop, 343: SKCOXD 
 PKKIOP. 343: THIKP PKRIOP. 344: the Norman Church. 
 ^4\: EiHTKTil PKKIOD. 348; the Exterior of the Eastern 
 Limb. 348; the Choir. 349: FIKTII PKRIOP. 353; SIXTH 
 I'KKIOP, 353; Cloister. 353; SKVKNTII PKKIOP, 353; 
 Chapter House. 3S3; EIGHTH PKKIOP, 554; Choir Screen, 
 354: NINTH PKRIOP. 3SS : Tracery, 3SS: TKNTH I'KKIOP. 
 355 ; Minor Works. 355. 
 
 WAKEFIELD The Cathedral Church of All Saints 357 
 
 WELLS -The Cathedral Church of St. Andrew 360 
 
 Its Charming Aspect, 360; FIRST PKKIOP, 364; Norman 
 remains. 364: SKCONP I'KKIOP, 364; commencement of 
 Present Cathedral. 364; the Design, }66 : Vaulting, 507 ; 
 the Lighting System, 3(><); order of execution. 372: THIKP 
 PKRIOP. 373; the Western Facade, 374 ; Western ChapeN, 
 37<> : ForKTU I'KRiop, 37(1; the Chapter House, 377: 
 I-ii-TH PKRIOP, 377; extension of Choir, 378: Lady 
 Cliapel, 379; Central Tower heightened, 381: SIXTH 
 
 I'KK , 382; the \\"e>tern Towers heightened, 382: the 
 
 present Cloisters. 382.
 
 XX CONTEXTS 
 
 I'AC.F. 
 
 WINCHESTER The Cathedral Church of the Holy 
 
 and Indivisible Trinity 3X4 
 
 Proportions of the Cathedral, 3X4; FIRST PKRIOD, 387; 
 Remains <>f the Early Church, 387; the Crypt, 390; South 
 Transept, 390; the Central Tower, 391 ; SKCO.ND PKRIOD, 
 391 ; Norman Doorway and Font, 391: THIRD PKRIOD, 392; 
 Retro-Choir, 392; Chapel of Holy Sepulchre, 393; Stalls. 
 393: FOURTH PKRIOD, 393; restoration of Presbytery, 394; 
 FIFTH I'KRIOD, 395; Ke-erection of Nave, 395; SIXTH 
 PKRIOD, 401; the Fast End, 401; Langton's Chantry, 
 402 ; the Ritualistic Division, 403. 
 
 WORCESTER-- The Cathedral Church of Christ and 
 
 the Blessed Mary the Virgin of Worcester - 404 
 
 Establishment of Benedictine Order, 404; FIRST I'I-'.KK ID, 
 406; Anglo-Norman Church, 406; SKCOND PKRIOD, 408; 
 CiiAi'TKR HorsK, 408; THIRD PKRIOD, 409: completion 
 of Nave. 409: FOURTH PKRIOD. 412: repairs through 
 damage by tire. 412: FIFTH PKRIOD, 413: St. Wulfstan, 
 413; The Presbytery, 414; Lady Chapel, 415; completion 
 of East End. 417: SIXTH I'KRIOD, 418; lower part of 
 Tower rebuilt, 419: SKVKNTH PKRIOD, 419; Bishop Cob- 
 ham's minor Works, 420; FICHTH PKRIOD. 421 : Cloisters 
 and upper pan of Tower rebuilt. 421 : NINTH PKRIOD, 
 421; Vaultings, 422; TK.NTH PKKIOD, 422: remodelling 
 of Chapter House. 423 ; Prince Arthur's Chantry, 423 : 
 EI.KVKNTH PKRIOD. 423: Jacobean Pulpit. 423: T \\KI.ITH 
 PKRIOD, 423: Modern Furniture, etc.. 423: lour of the 
 Cloister. 424. 
 
 YORK -The Cathedral Church of St. Peter - 4.26 
 
 FIR-T PKRIOD. 428; South Transept, 428; SKCOND 
 PKRIOD, 430; the Nave. 430: THIRD PKRIOD, 433; 
 Chapter Hou<e. 433: FOURTH PKRIOD, 433 ; extensions to 
 tin Fa>t, 433 : the exterior aspect. 4^7. 
 
 THE WELSH CATHEDRALS 
 
 BAM, OR 442 
 
 The Norman Church. 442 ; work of Bishop Anian. 442-3 : 
 destruction l,y tire. 445 : Restoration.-,, 44 ,.
 
 CONTENTS xxi 
 
 THE WELSH CATHEDRALS Continued 
 
 LLANDAKK 446 
 
 FIRST PERIOD, 447 ; Urhan's Norman Cathedral, 447-456 ; 
 SECOND PERIOD, 456 ; completion of Urhan's Cathedral, 
 456; THIRD PKRIOD, 460; Campanile and Chapter House, 
 460; IMH'KTH PKRIOD, 460; Ladv Chapel, 460; FIFTH 
 PERIOD, 461 ; Improvements to Li^litinLj, 461 ; SIXTH 
 PKRIOD, 462 ; New Doorways, 462 ; SEVENTH PERIOD, 462 ; 
 North-West Tower, 462 ; KK;HTH PERIOD, 463; Kestora- 
 linns, 463. 
 
 ST. ASAPH'S - 464 
 
 ST. DAVID'S - 466 
 
 P'IRST PERIOD, 466 ; commencement of the Present 
 Church, 466; the Aisles, 468; SECOND PERIOD, 468; 
 Presbytery and Transepts remodelled, 469; THIRD PERIOD, 
 470; I)e I.eia's Church, 470; FOURTH PERIOD, 471; 
 Chapel of St Thomas the Martyr, 471 ; Shrines, 471 ; 
 FIFTH PKRIOD, 471 ; the Chantry, 471 ; SIXTH PERIOD, 
 471; the Chapels. 472; SEVENTH PERIOD, 473; Wood- 
 work, 473 ; FIOHTH PERIOD, 473 ; completion of F.astern 
 Chapels, 473 ; Exterior, 474. 
 
 MODERN CATHEDRALS- 
 BIRMINGHAM - 477 
 
 LIVERPOOL 479 
 
 TRURO 483 
 
 INDEX _ _ 487
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF THE 
 CATHEDRALS 
 
 TlIIKTKKN ('. \THF.MRAI.S OK THK OLD FOUNDATION" (I'l'C- 
 
 Conqucst . Bangor, Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, 
 Lincoln, Llandaff. London, St. Asaph, St. David's. Salisbury, 
 Wells, York. These \vere served by secular canons. Not beniL;" 
 served by monks, they required none of the monastic buildings, 
 except the chapter-house. Some, however, have cloisters. The 
 establishments of these cathedrals were not suppressed, as were 
 other ecclesiastical colleges, at the Reformation. 
 
 THIKTFKN CATHEDRALS OF THK XK\V FOUNDATION. - 
 (d; Pre-Reformation Sees. Seven cathedrals attached to Bene- 
 
 dictine monasteries viz., Canterbury. Durham, Ely, Norwich. 
 
 Rochester, Winchester, Worcester ; one, Carlisle, attached to a 
 
 house of Augustinian canons. 
 
 (b) Sees founded by Henry I'll I., who converted into cathedrals 
 three Benedictine churches vi/.. Chester. Gloucester, and Peter- 
 borough : and two Augustinian churches viz., Bn>tol and < >xtord. 
 
 All the above thirteen churches ceased at the Reformation to 
 be served by monks or regular canons, and received a new founda- 
 tion of dean and secular canons.
 
 THE CATHEDRALS OF 
 ENGLAND AND WALES 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 THE following pages arc an attempt to make: the study 
 of the English cathedrals more interesting. Every 
 
 ancient building has a life history of its own, and 
 should be studied biographically I Jut open a guide-book, 
 or visit the different portions of a cathedral (Winchester, 
 for example) in the regulation order, and what you read of 
 or see will probably be, first, what was done in the nave in 
 the 1 latter part of the fourteenth and in the fifteenth century ; 
 then the work done in the crossing in the twelfth century ; 
 then work done in the transepts in the eleventh century; then 
 the work in the choir in the first half of the fourteenth 
 century ; then the work done in the retro-choir early in the 
 thirteenth century ; finally, sixteenth-century work in the 
 Lady chapel. To the reader this hop, skip, and jump 
 method if it deserves to be called a method --is simply 
 maddening. For the visitor it has one merit, and one merit 
 only: it saves his legs. It is not desired, however, to save the 
 visitor's legs : it must candidly be confessed that the bio- 
 graphical method of studying a cathedral involves a certain 
 amount of marching and countermarching. It is to be 
 hoped that there are some visitors who will not be deterred 
 by a little additional bodily fatigue from studying the cathe 
 drals aright. With what horror a reader would study a 
 biography of the Great I hike which commenced with the 
 Peninsular War, then described his school days at Eton, 
 followed these up by the battle <>l Waterloo, digressed into 
 
 i
 
 2 INTRODUCTION 
 
 a description of his childhood and ancestry, described his 
 career as a Tory Prime Minister, and wound up with his 
 campaigns in India ! Yet that is how the Knglish cathedrals 
 are studied. 
 
 Hut it is not sufficient to study the different parts of a 
 cathedral in chronological order. It would be a dull bio- 
 graphy of a man, and a dull history of a people, which put 
 events correctly in chronological order, but did not point 
 out the causal connection between them. It is just when 
 we reach this point that the real interest begins. It does 
 not interest one much to hear that an acquaintance whom 
 we saw in London in the spring is now in the Australian 
 bush : it does interest one when one hears that he had to 
 leave the country because three months ago he was detected 
 cheating at cards. So, in a cathedral, it is not enough to 
 know that such a vault was put up or such a row of windows 
 inserted in the fifteenth century. \Ve want to know why the 
 cathedral people constructed the vault or the windows just 
 then : also, why they were not satisfied with what was there 
 before ; also, what was there before. And with the latter 
 query comes in a fine field ol action lor what is called the 
 '' constructive imagination.'' 
 
 On the motives which influenced mediaeval builders 
 considerable stress is laid throughout the book, simply 
 because, if it has occurred at all to writers to ask why stieh 
 and such a change was made, the answer Usually has been 
 
 the quotation is from an article on one ol the cathedrals 
 " simply a desire tor what was thought a tar superior kind 
 of beauty led to the alteration of this work " : /.<'.. the ( lot hie 
 builders were aesthetic dilettanti, striving alter pivttmes- 
 tor prettmess sake: on a level with painters and poets and 
 musicians. Now. some changes were due. it must be 
 admitted, to aesthetic considerations simply: e.g., the sub 
 stitution of the present choir lor the former twelfth centun 
 choir at York : so also one of every pair of towers at the 
 west end ol a cathedral : and every spire in the country. 
 
 Hut the more the hi-tory of the cathedrals is studied, 
 the more el.-arlv it will be seen that the invat majority o|
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 the alterations in the structure were Forced on the ecclesi- 
 astical authorities of the day by practical considerations. 
 The monastery was large, as at Canterbury, and the church 
 the seat of an archbishop : Lanfranc's short choir had to 
 
 lie replaced by a longer one. Saint-worship increased: 
 pilgrimages increased : pilgrims came in thousands and tens 
 of thousands. They could not be accommodated in the 
 crypts as before; room had to be lound on die lloor ot 
 the choir for shrines transferred Imm the crypt : and aisles
 
 4 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 had to be constructed round the shrines, that then.- might 
 be a free passage, and no dangerous block in the stream 
 of pilgrims. For the local saint the St. Thomas of Canter- 
 bury, the St. I high of Lincoln accommodation on a vast 
 scale had to be provided. But beside the local saints, 
 there were the great saints of the Church : for them special 
 chapels, with altars, had to be provided, either in a new 
 eastern transept or in the aisles of a central transept. There 
 was. moreover, especial!}' in the first halt of the thirteenth 
 
 century, a great in- 
 crease in the number 
 and dimensions of 
 
 t 
 
 Lady chapels. For 
 these reasons, then 
 what we may call 
 ritualistic reasons 
 vast eastern exten- 
 sions were' made in 
 nearly every cathe- 
 dral. ' 
 
 lUit the original 
 Norman cathedrals 
 were not only small 
 and inconvenient to 
 the east, but were 
 throughout very badly 
 lighted : a very large 
 amount of history, as 
 is pointed out in 
 
 speaking ol Gloucester, Hereford, and Norwich, consists 
 of attempts to improve the lighting of the cathedral. 
 Sometimes, indeed, the improvement took the shape of 
 total destruction ol the old gloomy church, and its 
 replacement by a brilliantly illuminated successor, as 
 at York. Connected with this was the mania lor an 
 increased acreage of stained glass an aesthetic motive, 
 which, however, had its practical side; the stained 
 glass justifying itsell to the monks and canons as pro-
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 viding ;i series of lessons in Scripture history or Church 
 history. 
 
 Many changes were due to damage from fire or storm,
 
 church, because fires 111 146} and 1509 shewed them the 
 necessity of it. 1 >y burning down successively the wooden 
 roofs, first of the nave and choir, then of the transept. 
 It our documentary evidence were not so deplorably in- 
 complete. \ve should find that very many other alterations 
 were due to the eltect of lire and tempest : in which case 
 the list of aesthetic changes would be yet further cut down. 
 
 Add to these 
 causes the Ire- 
 i|uent collapses 
 due to niedueval 
 jerry - bu i 1 d i n g. 
 both Xorman and 
 (iothic. Many 
 central towers col 
 lapsed - <'.,;''.. a t 
 W i n c h e s t e r. 
 Ripon. Kly. 1'eter 
 borough, Lincoln ; 
 and doubtless 
 there were col 
 lap>cs of main' 
 other towers. (-I 
 \vlneh we have IK > 
 record. I leinv. 
 tor example, the 
 I o 11 rte ell t h-ce 11- 
 tury choir of Kl\ . 
 \\'hole sections 
 of a cathedra! 
 tumbl'-d down 
 t.',^'., in St. Alban's nave. I h.e early nia>onry \vas but skm 
 deep : inside the thin casing ot ashlar the core ol pu-r> and 
 w.ill- alike crumbled into powder; foundations were in 
 sufficient, or were omitted altogether. The object wa-. 
 but too often, not to build soundly, but to build as >juickh
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 it may be useful to mention that the high altar is to the 
 east ; and that, lacing the east, the visitor has the south 
 transept and south aisles on his right, and the north transept 
 and north aisles on his left hand. Standing at the altar or 
 tin 1 choir-screen, and looking down the nave to the great 
 doors, he has the north transept and north aisle ol the nave 
 on Ins right, and the south transept and south aisle ol the 
 nave on his lelt. 
 
 The western limb ol the cathedral is called the nave. 
 The term "choir ' is sometimes loosely applied to the 
 whole of the eastern limb. Strictly it applies just to that 
 part ol the church where the stalls are : and that part, as in 
 St. Alban's and Norwich, need not necessarily be in the 
 eastern limb at all, but in the crossing and in the eastern- 
 most bays ol the nave. In a cathedral with a hilly developed 
 plan <'.,;'., St. Alban s or Winchester the following ritualistic 
 divisions will be met with in passing Ironi west to east : 
 ( i ) The nave : (2) the choir : (3) the presbytery or sanctuary ;
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 (4) the R-trorhoir, containing (a) Saint's chapel or feretory. 
 (/') procession path, (f) Lady chapel. Sometimes these 
 ritualistic divisions correspond with the architectural divisions 
 of the church : sometimes they do not : e.g., the ritualistic 
 divisions of the eastern limbs of York and Lincoln were not 
 shown in the structure, hut merely marked off by screens, 
 most of which have been destroyed. 
 
 As a rule, architectural detail is not described. The 
 visitor to the cathedral does not need the description ; tin- 
 reader does not need it, if he has an illustration before him : 
 if he has not, no amount of verbiage will make clear to him 
 what, for instance, a bay of the Angel triforium of Lincoln 
 is like. 
 
 The writer has followed the convenient custom of ascribing 
 the design of different parts of the cathedrals to various 
 bishops and abbots and priors. Such names, however, are 
 merely convenient chronological fixtures, not intended to 
 signify that the- dignitaries of the church personally designed 
 and erected them, but simply that the}' were in office when 
 the work was done.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED 
 TRINITY, BRISTOL 
 
 BUILT KOK At'GUsTiMAN CANONS 
 
 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL was originally a church of 
 the Regular Canons of the Augustinian Order, who 
 settled at Bristol in 1142. These canons were 
 Regulars; i.e., they lived in accordance with a regitla or 
 code, which in their case was based on the precepts of St. 
 Augustine of Hippo. Like monks, they lived a ceenobitic 
 life : but unlike: monks, they are found taking part in 
 parochial work, and the naves of their churches were open, 
 much more than those 1 of monks, for lay use ; moreover, 
 they were all of them priests, whereas at this period monks 
 as a rule were laymen. The staircase in the south transept 
 is that by which they descended from their dormitory into 
 church lor the service o! matins at or soon after midnight. 
 Their chapter house remains on the' east side of the cloister : 
 and on the: south side- the fine thirteenth-century doorway 
 to their relcctorv. The principal entrance to their precincts 
 was by the great gateway, which appears to have been 
 rebuilt, but with the same Norman detail, c. 15 1=5. Another 
 rich Norman gateway, strengthened about the same time, in 
 Lower College Green led to the Abbot's hall. The good 
 lord Sir Robert and Lady Eva his wife, up to the Pissolu 
 lion, had an anniversary with special service's and great 
 giving of alms to the: canons, their servants, and te) poor 
 men and prisoner's ; also daily inlcnvssion was made' tor 
 the'iii both in church and chapter house. 
 
 In 1542, like the Augiistinian churches of Carlisle' and 
 Oxlord, it be/came' a cathedral. In 1836 the; diocese was
 
 10 
 
 united to that of ( tloiicester : ii 
 
 dependent status. 
 
 Fiksr I'KKIOD. The Norman church, be^un in 1142, 
 is said, somewhat doubtfully, to have been consecrated in 
 i i 4<S. In 1155 Us founder, Robert Fit/harding, ancestor 
 
 of the Fit/hardin-s 
 of Berkeley castle. 
 received a -rant 
 :?";'".. ,._. ,. of the forfeited 
 :'V;:V.. " estates ot l\o-er de 
 Berkeley, and with 
 ;-';; these a< Mill nal 
 resources would 
 be able to carry 
 (Mil the work with 
 the increased rich 
 ness of detail 
 which is note- 
 worthy in the 
 ( 'hapter house. 
 The church had 
 an aisled nave 
 whti 'h. internalh . 
 was 109 ft. Ion-, 
 and, including the 
 a isles. -6 ft. broad : 
 a transept : and a 
 p r e s b v 1 1 r v with 
 aisles which wen 
 about o n i ; i i i ;- 1 i 
 :..". : narrower than at 
 
 i i <, \ present, 'file 
 
 p re s by 1 1 i v w,i -- 
 
 three ba\s Ion-, At the end oi the third ba\" from tin 
 central tower a --trai-ht wall was loiind beneath the pa\'e 
 incut in iSi;|: but as no measurements were taken, it 
 is impossible to say whether it was the foundation of tin 
 mam east wall o! the church, or mere!} 1 the sleeping wall of
 
 HKlSTnl. (. \TIIKI R.\I. 
 
 I I 
 
 a central apse or ol an arch or arches leading into a procession 
 path. The church provided a spacious nave lor the laity : 
 as well as a choir, probably placed in the crossing, and a 
 presbytery, for the daily services of the canons. In i .pj i 
 there were ten canons in priest s orders and eight novices. 
 
 Mere and then- the work begun by the founder, Robert 
 Kit/harding, survives. This includes (i) the end wall of the 
 soulh transept. Inside the transept are two Norman cushion- 
 corbels supporting later capitals. (2) Outside the south 
 transept an: Hat 
 pilaster buttresses 
 at the angles ; the 
 set i ill" of the- an- 
 cient parapet : and 
 a plain gable win- 
 dow, set in a rough 
 wall, on which may 
 be seen the wea 
 thering ol the on 
 :_Miial sleep rool. 
 ( $) The coursed 
 masonry below the 
 I ML; window of the 
 north transept. 
 ( j ) The lower ] >arl 
 
 ol 1 he lower piers ; 
 
 lor their mold 
 ings, as in the ear -,,,,.. CHA,,, KK ma >K 
 
 her remodelling 
 
 nl \\inehcster nave, are those ol a Norman compound 
 pier. (5) The corbels reused in the staircase on the north 
 side ol the choir. (0) The two gatehouses. (7) The 
 Chapter house, which is said to have been one bay longer to 
 the eaM, and to have had an eastern apse : but Archdeacon 
 Norris had a hole dug, (i It. deep, in a line with the south 
 wall, and no foundations ol' an eastern wall were found. ( X ) 
 In the vestibule to the Chapter house, the bays being oblong. 
 pointed arches were used on the short skies of each bay. so
 
 12 
 
 1IKISTOL CATIIKDRAL 
 
 that their crowns might rise to the same height as those of 
 tin- semicircular arches on tin.- longer sides, as the builders 
 thought was demanded l>y the requirements of vaulting. In 
 the same way, beneath the central towers of Oxford Cathedral 
 and liolton Priory, pointed arches were built over the 
 narrow transepts; while over the broader nave and choir 
 the semicircular arch was employed. The vestibule must 
 be well advanced in the third quarter ol the twelfth century. 
 
 SECOND I'KKIOD. 
 The Norman 
 church must have 
 been dark, and pre- 
 parations were made 
 to improve the light- 
 ing of the north tran 
 sept by the insertion 
 of a big window in 
 its north wall. The 
 tracer}' of the pre- 
 sent window is later : 
 but its inner jamb-,, 
 moldings, and shafts, 
 and the external cill 
 and string, as well 
 as a great part of the 
 buttresses, seem to 
 have been executed 
 C. 1250. In the 
 same century a 
 ctuiL!' eastward from 
 
 wall ol the choir. The same position wa> adopted later 
 for the Lady chapels of Peterborough and Ely. This 
 chapel is the artistic gem of the cathedral : it is surrounded 
 by arcades ol the greatest beauty, with sculptured grotesques 
 interspersed among the .scrolls of the foliage. Later on it 
 received the name of the elder Lady chapel : another Lady 
 chapel having been built in the more normal position at
 
 MRISTOL CATIIKDUAL 13 
 
 the extreme east of the- choir. The chapel is earlier than 
 1253, for in that year ex-abbot David was buried in it. Abbot 
 Bradeston (1234-1236) founded a chantry in it, and may 
 have built the chapel ; or it may be the work of his 
 predecessor, David (1225-1234). It was originally without 
 a vault. The present vault has a ridge rib. the ribs an; 
 molded on the chamfer plane, and the bosses are some 
 of naturalistic, and some of undulatory foliage. The east 
 window has tracery of rather advanced geometrical type : 
 it is of earlier type, than in Knowlc's work, begun in 1298; 
 probably both vault and window are c. 1290. The addition 
 of the vault ultimately necessitated the reconstruction of 
 the- buttresses and the pinnacles, probably in the fifteenth 
 century. Of the original pinnacles only one, at the north- 
 eastern corner, remains. The southern entrance to the 
 Lady chapel was probably added in 1491. 
 
 THIRD PKKIOH. The great building period at Bristol 
 commences in i29<S, when Edmund Knowle was Treasurer, 
 and includes the abbacy both of Knowle himself ( i 306-1 332 ), 
 and of John Snow (1332 1341). In their time 1 the canons 
 set to work to rebuild the whole church from cast to west. 
 The Norman transepts do not appear to have been touched; 
 but the whole of the eastern limb with its chapels was 
 completed, and at least one' bay of the nave ; it is likely 
 also that the foundations of the whole of a new nave were 
 laid outside of and not interfering with the Norman nave, 
 and that a new west front was commenced. The system ol 
 construction adopted is very remarkable and makes the 
 church quite unique among our cathedrals. All other 
 cathedral authorities had agreed long ago that the cardinal 
 fault in the earlier vaulted churches was the bad system of 
 lighting, but that the remedy was to be found mainly in 
 improving the top-lighting -i.e., in increasing the dimensions 
 ol the clerestory. Beverley clerestory had taller windows 
 than Durham: Salisbury clerestory had three windows I "or 
 every one of Be\vrle\ : Kxeter spread out ils windows in 
 increasing breadth till they touched the buttresses on 
 either side ; the clerestories of the choir of ( 'Join-ester, now
 
 14 BRISTOL CATIIKDRAI, 
 
 ;il)out to In 1 erected, were a vast, lolly, continuous sheet of 
 glass. Hut there \vas an alternative system of improving 
 
 the lighting, which in parisli churches, such as (Irantham, 
 Ledbury, and Leommster, was the result of fortuitous 
 growth. It was to magnify the aisles at the expense of the 
 nave, to lift them up so high that windows of vast height 
 could he placed in their walls, to dispense with a clerestory 
 altogether, and to give to the pier arcade of the nave- the 
 additional height gained by the suppression of the clerestory. 
 It was to substitute side-lighting for top-lighting; to rely 
 exclusively on the flood of light passing from vast, loft\ 
 aisle windows into the nave through elevated arches. I lence 
 the big windows of Bristol choir, each representing a pair 
 ol windows : the lower half the usual small window of an 
 aisle, the upper half the larger window which elsewhere 
 would be found in the clerestory. 
 
 I5ut the new design had another merit, which probably 
 weighed still more with the .Bristol builders. The cardinal 
 difficulty of the mediaeval builders was how to keep up on 
 the lop of lofty clerestory walls a heavy stone vault which 
 was always striving to push them asunder. They succeeded 
 at length in keeping the clerestory walls from being thrust 
 out by propping them up with ilying buttresses, perilously 
 exposed, however, to all the vicissitudes ol Knglish weather. 
 lUit there was anotln r solution ol the problem. It was to 
 stop the outward thrusts ol the nave vault, not by the 
 combined resistance ol buttress, pinnacle, and flying buttress, 
 but by bringing into play opposing thrusts 7.?., the inward 
 thrusts of vaults built over the aisles. l!ut to make these 
 outward and inward thrusts exactly balance and neutralise 
 one another, the aisle vaults must be ol the same height and 
 span as those of the nave. The nave must be lowered or 
 the aisles must be raisi d. or both. At Bristol the archilci t 
 has preferred to raise the aisles. Then, the siabihu of the 
 nave vault being secured, all the builder has to do is to 
 slop the outward thrusts ol the vaults ol the aisles. 
 This it is easy enough to do by a row ol buttresses 
 weJLiht'-d with pinnacles. So Bristol f'athedral. to e\, -
 
 [6 
 
 I'-RISTOL CATHEDRAL 
 
 accustomed to contemporary cathedrals, presents the 
 strange solecism of having neither triforium, clerestory, nor 
 flying buttresses. 
 
 There was one further difficulty. Where nave and aisles 
 were of the same span, the 1 opposing thrusts of their vaults 
 might he made to balance one another exactly. Hut at 
 liristol the nave is nearly twice as broad as each aisle, and 
 the outward thrusts of its vaults, if no remedy were applied, 
 
 would quite over- 
 JH1H & power the inward 
 thrusts of the vaults 
 of the narrow aisles. 
 The latter vaults, 
 therefore, had to 
 be reinforced. This 
 might have been 
 done by inserting 
 internal flying but- 
 tresses. The effect, 
 however, would 
 have been ugly. In- 
 stead of this, the 
 architect putsa stone 
 beam or transom 
 across, and props it 
 up with a pointed 
 arch. This transom 
 effectually prevents 
 the [tiers from bulg- 
 
 aisle. Here and there a similar system 
 ewhere, c.^., in the choir oi the Temple 
 church, London. In France one. great architectural school, 
 what the' I'Yench call the IMantagenel school, because at 
 the period of its dominance the English Plantagenets 
 ruled in Anjou and 1'oitou, normally constructed their 
 churches in this fashion, with parallel naves ot similar 
 height and span, and destitute of triforium and cleiv
 
 1IKISTOI. CATHKDRAI, \J 
 
 dial of Poitiers, in which Kleanor of (anemic, Oueeii of 
 Ilciiry II., had a hand. P>ut it is not necessary to go 
 abroad lor precedents. Many a monastic refectory and 
 chapter house had two or I hrce parallel aisles of the same 
 height and span, and these' were 1 constructed without cleiv 
 >tories or living buttresses, adequate light being obtainable 
 from windows in the 1 end and side walls. 
 
 In the new work the altar stood in the same position as 
 at present; this is proved by the fact that over it is a vault- 
 in- arch more important than the rest, and that west of it 
 the centre-pieces of the lierne vaults arc' cusped, while- to the 
 east they are not. The bay at the back ot it funned the 
 procession path : next came a new unaisled Lady chapel of 
 two bays, with an axis deviating ^ It. to the north. 
 South of the I.ady chapel is a double chapel, the IVrkcley 
 chapel. 1 he molds and ornaments agree with those of 
 Knowle s work, but it is an afterthought. It was built alter 
 the south aisle wall was erected, and so an entrance had to 
 be contrived from the sacristy, and not direct Irom the aisle; 
 its east wall does not line with that ol the aisle, and it has 
 a different external plinth. Probably Knowle's original plan 
 \\as to have an altar in the eastern bay of each choir aisle : 
 but a> this would have blocked the procession path, a 
 d uible chapel was built to hold the two altars. Knowle is 
 specifically recorded to have built the sacrist}-, so we may 
 perhaps attribute the Derkeley chapel to Snow. The latter 
 is the only one ol the abbots who was enrolled among the 
 .ibliot benefactors, and he was buried, like Knowle, in front 
 ol the rood screen: we may tairly conclude that he did a 
 good deal of the work usually ascribed to Knowle. who is 
 merely recorded in a vague way to have "built the whole 
 area ol the church. '1 he choir screen ol the iii>niin c^its 
 stood as at present under the eastern arch ol the tower, and 
 there was a rood screen under the western arch. The two 
 western bavs ol the chancel formed the choir; the two 
 i astern ihe | nvsl >\ lery. 
 
 All this was the work of a man ol the highest genius: 
 only to be paralleled b\ that other architect who was to
 
 IS I5UISTOL ('ATIlKI)kAL 
 
 commence the great work at Gloucester c. 1330. The design 
 is not only remarkable as an exhibition of sound and original 
 engineering which has stood stable to this day, but because 
 it reveals high artistic qualities. This chancel, with arches 
 rising to the height of 52 ft., beyond those of any other of 
 our cathedrals, full of light and spaciousness and atmosphere, 
 is as interesting in detail as it is in its general ensemble. 
 There is indeed no triforium or clerestory, but at the level 
 of the window rills runs a continuous wall passage, as in 
 Henry III.'s work at Westminster. Externally, the ground 
 course, buttress and pinnacle are a vigorous and fresh com- 
 position : above, where is now a battlement, there seems 
 originally to have reigned a pierced parapet of singular 
 beauty. The piers as seen on plan, are an entire novelty, 
 and were to be copied all over England in later Gothic. 
 The capitals, corbels, and bosses are admirable examples of 
 the transition from naturalistic to undulatory foliage. The 
 skeleton vaulting of the sacristy is a novelty, speedily copied 
 at St. David's. "The stellate tomb-recesses, also reproduced 
 at St. David's, are also original, though we may cite some- 
 thing similar in the western procession doorway of Norwich 
 nave. The reredos and sedilia of the Lad)' chapel are of 
 the richest and most novel design. So is the eastern window, 
 from which were evolved the designs of the windows of St. 
 Mary Redcliffe. (L T nlike the rest of the windows, the 
 mullionsand tracery are not bonded into the cill, jambs, and 
 arch, but were inserted subsequently.) Not content with 
 further renderings of oak, maple, vine, and the like, the 
 carver reproduces pomegranates, medlars, maple seeds, and 
 ammonites. Ammonites occur in abundance at Keynsham 
 a lew miles away, and were believed to be snakes which 
 had been turned into stone by St. Keyne, who had a 
 hermitage there' ; one ot the altars in the Herkeley chapel 
 may have been dedicated to her. In the head of the east 
 window and in the side windows ot the Lady chapel line 
 original glass remains, which the heraldry shews was made 
 between 1312 and 1322. In the sacristy there are three 
 recesses ; the eastern one has a well-built flue to carrv off
 
 HKISTOL CATUKDRAI. \<) 
 
 the charcoal fumes produced in baking the sacramental 
 wafers on a brazier ; or it may have been employed when 
 tin: charcoal for the censers was being kindled. Its chimney 
 may be seen outside. Opposite is a long cupboard for tin- 
 abbot's crosier. Formerly there was a room for the sacristan 
 above the Berkeley chapel ; the stairs remain in the corner 
 of the chapel, but the roof has been flattened and the room 
 has gone. 
 
 The Newton chapel in the south aisle is also an after- 
 thought ; for though the masonry of its east wall is coursed 
 exactly with that of the south wall of the aisle, there is a 
 straight joint between the two. Knowle's string of ball 
 flower appears within, but there is no ball flower in the 
 tracery of the east window, and it has supermtilhons ; it 
 would seem that the east wall is part of the work of Knowle 
 and Snow, but that the window was not inserted till late in 
 the fourteenth century : to which date also probably belongs 
 the simple quadripartite vaulting in the chapel and the 
 adjoining bay of the aisle. 
 
 FOURTH PKK ion. --From the middle of the fifteenth 
 century up to the Dissolution important work was going on. 
 The bishop of bath and Wells in 1466 leased to the canons 
 a ([uarry at 1 Hmdry, Somerset ; with this stone probably the 
 central tower was built ; old prints shew that it once had 
 pinnacles. To the end of this century and the first part of 
 the next belongs the remodelling of the: transepts. Much 
 was done by Abbot Xailheart or Newland, who ruled the 
 abbey from 14X1 to 1515; the best thing he did was to 
 leave behind him a chronicle of the history of the abbey, 
 lie went on with the new nave begun by Knowle and 
 Snow, both working at the west front and carrying up tin- 
 walls ol the north aisle to the nils ol the windows. lie i> 
 buried on the south side' ol the western bay of the Lady 
 chapel: his rebus is, "a bleeding heart with three nails. 
 Across tin- entrance of the Lady chapel originally there was 
 a screen carrying an organ, like that remaining at (Htery 
 St. Mary. (Near Newland's tomb is a bra^s plate in 
 memory of Joseph butler, the author of "The Analogy of
 
 20 
 
 IJKISTOL CATIIKhRAI. 
 
 Religion ; he was bishop of Bristol Irom 1738 to 1750.) 
 To the sixteenth ci'iitury belongs the remodelling ol the 
 threat gateway, c. 1515. To Abbot \\'ilham liurton is due 
 the cresting ol' the reredos in the Lady chapel, on which 
 appeal' his initial and re-bus, "burs on a tun. Between 
 i 542 and 1547 was erected a handsome stone choir screen : 
 this was demolished in 1860 by I )ean Elliott, who did 
 much work in tin- cathedral, both ^ootl and evil part ol 
 
 the screen has recently been re erected as a parclose screen 
 to the south side ol the chancel. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. At the hissolution the original dedica 
 tion to St. Augustine was abolished. Ktther at or alter tin 
 I Ms-solution, all the nave walls were reino\ed : both those of 
 Snow and Xewland as well as those of Fit/hardiiiL:. if the 
 latter were still standing. Between i86S and iS, v S sva- 
 built the present nave with the west front : the interior is
 
 I'.RISTOL CATIIKDKAI, 21 
 
 successful, hut is greatly darkened hy inferior local glass. 
 In i S<ji) the ivredos ol the prc-shyti'ry was creeled, and in 
 i go:; the choir screen : hoth designed hy Mr Pearson. 
 
 Una KM;I< AIMIV. Mr (ioduin's paper on Bristol Cailicdral in 
 .li'clitcofogical Journal, vul. x\. 
 
 Mr ( '. \\'in>ion in thr Iliistnl vdluniL' of tlic Hrilhli Archicolo^ical 
 I it iti title. 
 
 Dall.i\\:iy'- edition of nmcs nKide liv l\'i'li,un of \Vofti-sli-r, .. 
 i 4 So. 
 
 Mr U. II. \\';iri\-n in CHiloii .Jiifii/itiiriaii Sofit'ty, v. 1(17. 
 
 Mi '!'. S. I'njH 1 in l'//'fi>ii . I n! /i/iiitriii/l .S'<), v''/r. i. .7^1.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST 
 CHURCH, CANTERBURY 
 
 lil'lI.T FOR I5KNKDUTJNK MONKS 
 
 OF all our cathedrals none is of such absorbing interest 
 as Canterbury. It is vast in scale : the problems 
 presented by the incorporation of fragments of its 
 predecessors are fascinating to the antiquary; its eastern 
 limb as set out in the eleventh century changed the whole 
 direction of English church planning ; its twelfth-century 
 successor introduced into England important features of the 
 ( iothic architecture- of France; and laid the foundations of 
 the south eastern school of English (iothic : in spite of much 
 destruction its walls yet hold a wealth of noble monuments, 
 unequalled except at Westminster : it has preserved treasures 
 of early glass beyond compare ; important portions of its 
 monastic buildings survive ; it has one of the noblest central 
 towers in the world; like Gloucester, its masses group IIKIL; 
 nificently seen far away : finally great historical scenes have 
 been enacted within its walls above all. that greatest of all 
 historical tragedies to the mind of the mediieval Englishman, 
 the murder of ISecket. To Canterbury, as in the days of 
 old, every Englishman owes a pilgrimage. 
 
 Fiksi I'KKIOD.- Of the pre-Conquest cathedrals of 
 Canterbury nothing remains, unless it be fragments of rude 
 masonry in crypt and cloister. In 1067 the last Anglo 
 Saxon cathedral was consumed by I "ire. I.anlranc. the lir-t 
 N'orman archbishop, in 1070 commenced the rebuilding of 
 the church and monastery, and is recorded to have finished 
 the work in seven years. 
 
 Of Fanfranc's cathedral, built, together with the Ueiie 
 dietine monastery, between 1070 and 1077. there remains
 
 TO MONUMENTS ETC 
 
 7 C/JJSDINAL CHATILLIOW HCHRY JVJ 
 
 2 ARCHBISHOP COURTNEY CHAHTRY CHAPCL 
 5 EDWAKD THE BLACK PHINCE 
 
 4- A/ecu* S/MUM or MEPHAM 
 
 SUDB'JSY 
 
 STZATFO/ZD 
 KEMPE: 
 HUBERT WALTLK. 
 
 REYNOLDS 
 
 11 LADY HOLLANDS 
 
 12 51 E J HALES 
 
 TOMB 
 
 14 ARCH'' PECK HAM 
 /J f)KCH r WfiiSH/IM 
 /6 DEAN ISOGE&S 
 
 17 DEAN 
 
 /9 DE/1M BOYS 
 VODEAN rOTHEKBY 
 21 /1KCH* CH/GHELC. 
 
 Ti HENGY W-i MT 
 
 24 DEAN WOT TON 
 
 25 CARDINAL POLE: 
 
 /? BECKFTS SHGINE 
 B O&CAN &CGZCN 
 C GREAT TOWEfS 
 TO 
 
 ST/llfSCASE 
 r. SPOT WHC/3C 
 
 SECRET 
 C Mae TYfSDOM 
 fi L aDY CHAPEL 
 J S 
 K CONDUI'i 
 
 N I/V. TOWEP 
 
 WEST OOO/? 
 
 SC/ILC of
 
 24 CANTKKMURY ( 'ATI I K I )R AL 
 
 tlu 1 internal plinth of tin 1 walls of nave and transept. In 
 the north transept some of his small square blocks of Caen 
 stone are well seen close to the site of the martyrdom, as 
 well as his turret in the north-we t st corner. (The site ol the 
 martyrdom is marked by a small square stone with a square 
 sinking in the centre ; it is near the south-east corner of the 
 north transept). His nave and transepts wen- allowed to 
 remain till the fourteenth century. Lanlranc's cathedral 
 was an unambitious building, built in a hurry: closely 
 copied, to save time probably, both in plan and dimensions, 
 from William the Conqueror's abbey church at Caen. Ironi 
 which Lanlranc came to nil'- at Canterbury. Its nave and 
 transepts were of the same si/.e as at present : in each Iran 
 sept was a vaulted gallery, as at Winchester, Hlv. and the 
 Confessor's church at Westminster: the eastern limb pro- 
 bably had but two bays and terminated, as also its aisles, in 
 an apse. 
 
 SKCOXD PKKIOD. Such a building was altogether mi- 
 worth}' to be the seat of the Primate of all Kngland and the 
 church of a monastery in which Lanlranc had placed more 
 than a hundred monks. The short eastern limb formed a 
 presbytery, the transepts were without aisles, the nave was 
 short, and a considerable part was occupied by tin- stalls ol 
 the monks. There was a great defieienc\ ol chapels: and. 
 above all. there was no procession aisle. Very soon, then - 
 lore, in ioe/>, the remodelling ol the cathedral was under 
 tak en. and was carried out. in the time of Archbishop Ansel m, 
 first by Prior Krnulph, and afterwards by Prior Conrad : the 
 church, as enlarged, being finished in i i i; and recon 
 secrated in i i }o. It was impossible to extend the church 
 to the west, because of the western towers. The hrst thin- 
 to secure was that there should be no interruption in the 
 daily services. This is expressly stated bv the monastic 
 chronicler. Accordingly, Lanfrane s eastern limb was not 
 pulled down at llrst. but the new arcade was built outside 
 the old one. This made the new presbytery considerabh
 
 CANTKKIU'kY ( ' ATI I KI )RA I. 
 
 plan, was itself practically a complete cathedral with nave 
 transept, presbytery, procession aisle, and three radiatim. 
 chapels, of which the easternmost was rectangular. Thb 
 vast eastern limb 
 was longer than 
 the nave. It was 
 portioned out as 
 follows. The west 
 ern bays were 
 utilised as choir, 
 the monks' stalls 
 being transferred 
 to them from the 
 crossing and easl 
 ern bays of the 
 nave. In some 
 churches they oc 
 ( upy the latter 
 position to this 
 lav, <-'.. St. Ah 
 ban's, Norwich, 
 Westminster ; but 
 after this date 
 most ot the 
 greater Knglish 
 churches transfer- 
 red their choir to 
 ihi- easl ern limb. 
 This made the 
 eastern limb of 
 the normal KIIL; 
 lish church e\ 
 cessively 1. >ng. and 
 dilfereliliated il NORM \N ro\vi 
 mere than any 
 
 thing else Irom its continental brethren. Secondly, in 
 each ol the new eastern transepts two apsidal chapels were 
 built, and three more largei chapels were sel tangentially
 
 26 
 
 CANTERBURY CATIIKDRAL 
 
 to the procession path ; thus seven eastern chapels were 
 gained instead of the t\vo in Lanfrane's eastern limb. 
 Professor Willis was of opinion that the gradual acquire- 
 ment of relies and the accumulation of canonised arch- 
 bishops for whose shrines and tombs accommodation had 
 to be- provided was one of the principal reasons why 
 the extension was made : this view has truth in it, but is 
 put much too strongly. More important was the necessity 
 
 of having numerous 
 altars at which each 
 of the hundred or 
 more monks could 
 say his individual 
 mass each day, and 
 the great use at all 
 times in the English 
 ( Ihurch of procession- 
 al ritual. Moreover. 
 Canterbury was the 
 most famous pilgrim 
 church in England, 
 and the procession 
 path could he utilised 
 to provide a way by 
 which the crowded 
 throng should be able 
 to make the round of 
 the eastern limb, 
 viewing in turn tin- 
 numerous relics exposed on the altars and the tombs of 
 tin: many sainted archbishops. It is noteworthy that 
 the north-eastern and south eastern chapels are twisted 
 round, so as to get the altar more nearly north and south : 
 at \Vinchester they were made to point exactly due east. 
 It is probable that the whole plan is a derivative from 
 Lewes and ultimately from Cluny. of which the choir was 
 begun in 1089 and consecrated in 101)5, the year before 
 Prior Ernulph began work at Canterbury. At Lewes, itself
 
 CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 27 
 
 a Cluniac church, the: eastern transept, procession path, and 
 five tangential chapels were in progress between 1091 and 
 logS. A similar eastern extension was carried out in tin- 
 thirteenth century at Bavham abbey, Sussex. Like the 
 elongation of the eastern limb, the addition of the eastern 
 transept found great favour in England, being reproduced 
 at Lincoln, Rochester, Worcester, Salisbury, Beverley, and 
 IJayham. The plan also provided what was regarded as 
 a sine </nci non in an English church of the first rank a very 
 long presbytery, long enough to hold the daily or matutinal 
 altar as well as the high altar. So much was a spacious 
 presbytery esteemed that even when an eastern limb had 
 been greatly prolonged, the stalls were sometimes still left 
 in the crossing and eastern bays of the nave, e.^., at Ely. 
 As regards planning, Ernulph's extension was by far the 
 best in England ; as regards progress in vaulting, it was far 
 below Durham, having only groined, i.e., unribbed vaults, in 
 the aisles, and instead of a high vault merely a wooden 
 ceiling. 
 
 Of "Conrad's glorious choir" (it was commenced by 
 Prior Ernulph f. 1096 and finished c. \ \ 15 bv Prior Conrad) 
 a considerable amount remains. The round-arched work 
 in the crypt is nearly all of this date, except the carving 
 of many of the capitals and shafts, which was executed later ; 
 and from the extent of his crypt one- can plot out the exact 
 shape and dimensions of the Norman choir. Much of his 
 work is seen outside', especially in and near the south-east 
 transept with its intersecting semicircular arcades, and the 
 moM charming little Norman tower imaginable. In the 
 interior nian\' Norman stones, ''cross-hatched," may be seen 
 in the aisle-wall immediately after entering the south choir- 
 aisle by the flight of steps ; the lower part of the vaulting- 
 shalt in this wall, built of several stones and not of solid 
 drums, as it is higher up, is also Norman. So also are 
 those bases which do not possess the water-holding molding. 
 The windows also are there, but have been heightened, 
 their heads being reset. In the eastern transepts there are 
 two clerestories ; in the lower of the two the windows are
 
 28 
 
 ( 'A X T !: R H I ) R V CAT 1 1 K DUAL 
 
 those ol Conrad's clerestory, on the top of which a second 
 clerestory was limit afterwards, To this period belongs the 
 "Hark Kntry"m the cloisters, the carved caps and liases 
 in St. Anselm's chapel, the vaulted Treasury (now the vestry 
 of the Chapter), the circular conduit tower, with early 
 nlilied vaulting, the three upper courses of the transeptal 
 towers, the infirmary chapel, the (liven Court gateway, the 
 porch and staircase of the Aiila No-ra or Xoith I lall. and the 
 ( 'emetery L^ate (the entrance to the present bowlin- -reeii). 
 
 I'liikii I'KRIOD. Conrad's ulonous rhoir was dcstroved 
 by a Lil'eat fire in the year 1174. "men cursinu Cod and 
 his saints for the destruction ol their church." Then the 
 monks, instead ol bein- satisfied with our home bred Kn-lish 
 arcliitectiire. ol which such beautiful examples were on tin 
 point of n-mu at \\Vlls and Kipon. sent for a lorei^ner. 
 'I'he present choir of Canterbury, like that of Westminster, 
 was "made in I'Yanoe. The only consolation one has i- 
 the iact- which is a tact that with that siohd insulant\
 
 (ANTI'.kHUKY ( ' ATI 1 KI >K AI, 2() 
 
 which from the twellth century has insisted on working 
 out its own salvation in its own way English architects 
 largely ignored them both. The new French choir ol 
 Canterbury \vas to be a rock on which the main current 
 ol English art struck and parted asunder only to meet 
 again on the other side 1 . The one great church in which 
 the inlluence ol' Canterbury choir was to be suspected 
 is Lincoln, begun in 1192. In St. Hugh's work the 
 obligations to the Canterbury design are great; but there 
 are hardly any, with the exception ol the omission of the 
 hood mold, and the great projection of the buttresses, 
 which are due to the Livnch features in the Canterbury 
 design ; it is the English Features that are copied, and 
 they are vciy numerous. The coupled columns, the Lrench 
 arch-molds, the Corinthianesque capitals ol Canterbury 
 were un English; no one would have anything to do with 
 them anywhere, unless in the hall of Oakham. 
 
 The eastern limb, as rebuilt, was even longer than that 
 of Conrad. The reason was precisely that which brought 
 about the extensions at Lincoln. Durham, \Vcstmmster as 
 elsewhere, \i/.. the enormous popularity of a great local 
 saint, bringing to his shrine hosts ol pilgrims, whose offer 
 ings were adequate and more than adequate to provide him 
 with a .stalely mausoleum. This mausoleum or Saint's 
 chapel was built on the site of Conrad's easternmost chapel, 
 where I'.eckel had sung his first mass and to the altar of 
 which he at all tunes greatly resorted. It had been 
 dedicated to the Holv 'I runty, and it is possible that till 
 1220 the new Saint's chapel retained the old name. l!ut 
 in that year the relics ol St. Thomas ol Canterbury were 
 translated Irom the crypt, where, they had rested from the 
 day of his murder in i 170. and were placed in a shrine on 
 the Italian pavement, still existing, behind die hi^h altar. 
 where grooves in die stone made by kneeling pilgrims may 
 be seen. (The pavement is cyV.v Ah'Xiindrininn executed 
 in tiiivieji marbles, but put together by English workmen. 
 Around are pillars ol rare marble, probably presents Irom 
 foreign potentates; others, also intended for this ehapt 1, are
 
 said to have been detained at Marsala in Sicily, where they 
 may still be seen.) From that time the chapel was known 
 as St. Thomas' chapel till modern days, when, unfortunately, 
 it has become usual to call it Trinity chapel once more. 
 Kast ol the processional aisle was built a circular chapel, 
 intended to rise into a circular tower, which was begun but 
 never completed. This circular chapel is called the Corona ; 
 it is probable that in it was placed a shrine containing a 
 Imminent ol the skull, corona, of the martyr chopped off by 
 the murderer's sword. 
 
 In the choir all the levels have been changed : the altar 
 used to stand on the lower platform ; the diaper work to 
 the south probably is that of the backs of the sedilia. 
 
 The design of the choir is a close copy of the work at 
 Sens, Xoyon, Senlis, and the neighbouring cathedrals. 
 Columns almost classical in proportion replace the heavy 
 English cylinder. The coupled columns and Corinthian- 
 csque capitals of Sens are faithfully reproduced in the 
 Saint's chapel. The choir, as at Sens, is arranged in 
 coupled bays with sexpartitc vaulting; while principal and 
 intermediate piers, single and compound vaulting-shafts 
 occur alternately in either choir. In unstable French 
 fashion the vaulting-shaft is perched on the abacus. The 
 abacus is square, except in the eastern part of the crypt. 
 The capitals of the choir are foliated ; the Engli.sh molded 
 capital occurs only in the crypt. Each bay of the triforium 
 in both cathedrals contains a couple of arches, each aich 
 subdivided by a central shaft. Both cathedrals have round 
 transverse arches in the vaulting of the aisles. The windows 
 are not the tall slender lancets of England, but the broad 
 squat lancets of France. The pointed arches of the apse 
 of the Saint's chapel on their tall stilts have a thoroughly 
 I'rcnch look. French, too. is the wish to dispense with a 
 hood-mold round the pier-arches. And, as at Noyon, 
 Hying buttresses emerge from the gloom of the triforium 
 into the open air. 
 
 liul there is another factor besides the personality of 
 William of Sens. He had to deal with a British building
 
 CANTKKMUKY CATIIKDKAL 
 
 3' 
 
 committee ;uul with British workmen ; he was not 
 free scope. The groined vaults had saved the aisle walls 
 from much damage by fire, and these were retained to 
 the height of 12 ft. The monks wished to retain the 
 
 chapels of St. Anselm and St. Andrew, which had not been 
 seriously damaged by the fire. IJut since they were almost 
 in a line with his pier arcades, he had to in, ike the latter 
 converge inwards, and then, alter passing the two chapcl>, 
 outwards, giving a most unpleasant twist to the lines of the
 
 presbytery. A^ain, the crypt had escaped the tin-. In il 
 were tin- piers on which the pillars of Conrad's arcades had 
 resti d. The monks wished to retain them as the support 
 of the new pillars. Hut it was also desired to throw the 
 eastern transepts into the church. Till the fire each had 
 been entered by two low arches with a pier between. This 
 pillar was to be done away with, and a single lofty arch to 
 be built, broader than the two arches together had been. 
 The result was that all the western pillars had to be pi, iced 
 a little to the west ol the positions formerly occupied, and 
 all the eastern pillars a little to the east. Consequent!) all 
 the piers in the crypt had to be strengthened either on their 
 western or their eastern side. To the retention of the old 
 -upports is als'j due the unequal spacing of the arches. 
 Some were narrow and were pointed: others wen. 1 broad 
 ,ind were made semicircular: such a mixture of arch forms 
 must surely have been distasteful to an architect accustomed 
 to the advanced I'Yench design of 1174. (St. I Kins had 
 been begun in 1140. Sens <-. i i ; ;. Xotre 1 )ame. 1'aris. in 
 I if>}.) ALMIII. since thi. - lower part ot the wall- ol the aisle-* 
 was ret, lined, while tiie position ot the pillars was shifted. 
 the supports of the vault in the aisle wall in many ca->es no 
 longer laced the pillars: the result was that many of the 
 bays of the new aisle-vaults were no longer rectangular, as 
 those of the groined vaults had been, but trape/oidal. or 
 else were truncated. Nor can the protuse use ot barbarn 
 /.iu/aLj and billet ornament be due to the I reneh architect. 
 ( )n the other hand he cannot be credited with the !a\ish 
 Use ot 1'urbeck marble. This was not in Use in France, 
 nor in Kn-land. except, perhaps a tew \ears earlier, in St. 
 ( 'russ, Winchester. before the century was out. the marble 
 use passed from Canterbury to Durham. Chichoter. and 
 Christ Church. Dublin: and during the first half of the 
 thirteenth century its detached shall- encircling the piers 
 were adopted in almost every important church e.xcepl 
 those nf the We-tern and Northern (iothic schools. It is 
 interesting to watch the Fr<-nch William's experiment.- 
 the new -hafts; working a- he did trom west to east, in-
 
 CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 is constantly trying new combinations of pier and shaft, 
 and with increasing success. At the beginning of the fifth 
 year of his work, William of Sens was seriously injured by 
 a fall from the scaffold, and soon after returned to France. 
 He had completed the eastern limb, including the high 
 vault, as far as the east end of the: eastern transepts, and 
 all the upper parts of the external walls. An English 
 William was appointed to succeed him. He completed 
 St. Thomas' chapel, Bucket's Corona, and the crypt beneath 
 the two. It is usual to attribute to the English William 
 an important part in 
 the design of the east- 
 ern chapels and crypt. 
 The facts seem to 
 point the other way. 
 These eastern portions 
 are less Knghsh and 
 more French than the 
 western work. Then- 
 is no trace- of English 
 influence in the design, 
 except solely the 
 rounding ol the aba- 
 cus and the molding of 
 the capitals in the 
 crypt. With these 
 two minor exceptions, 
 everything was com- 
 pleted in strict contormity with the French design. 
 
 Mori' important even than the architecture; is the ancient 
 glass. Canterbury and York are the great treasure-houses 
 of stame'd glass: Canterbury for early thirteenth-century 
 glass, York for fourteenth-century glass. Three of the 
 windows in the Saint's chapel illustrate the miracles of St. 
 Thomas. On the north side, in the lower group ol the 
 eastern window, is the story of a child (i) who tails into 
 the- Medway, (2) the other boys tell his parents. (^) the 
 boelv is drawn out ol the water, Cu'tcra dfsunt. In the next
 
 S4 CANTKRIU'RY CATIIKDRAI. 
 
 group is the story of a boy who was brought to life by a 
 draught of water mixed with the saint's blood. Hut the 
 lather omitted to ]>ay the offerings promised to the saint. 
 In tile central medallion another son lies dead, struck 1>\ 
 the sword of St. Thomas, who is seen through the ceiling. 
 In another group a woman is being flagellated by way ol 
 penance. Two other windows describe miracles of healing : 
 in a medallion in a lower part ol the western window a 
 madman comes up, " cti/ieiis acudit." beaten with sticks and 
 bound; in the next he is cured, "saints reccdit." In one 
 is the only representation extant of the later shrine; the 
 martyr, in a mauve vestment, appears in a vision to Menedict 
 below. ( )n the shrine is the box. as described by Krasnnis. 
 which contained the archbishop's sudary. In the east 
 window of the Corona is portrayed Christ's Passion : in tin- 
 two windows of the north aisle are types and antitypes from 
 the Old and New Testaments : among them the three Magi, 
 all asleep in one bed. The circular window in the north- 
 east transept also contains the original glass; and many 
 fragments are seen elsewhere. 
 
 I ; 'ii'kT!i I'KKIOI>. - -For nearly two hundred years nothing 
 structural was done in the church: the magnificent choir. 
 presbytery, saint's chapel, procession aisle, and Corona 
 looked down on Lantrancs humble transepts and nave. 
 To the first hall ol the thirteenth century belong two 
 handsome doorways in the cloister and its north wall : aKo 
 the south alley of the infirmary cloister between the conduit 
 tower and the infirmary. In 1254 was built the west door- 
 way of the I'rior's chapel, now the library. 
 
 In 1305 Prior Kastry erected the stone parclose screens 
 of the choir. About the same time was built the Chapter 
 house, of which the lower part, as far as tin- cills of the 
 present windows, remains; also the brewhouse, now tin- 
 great school, with its porch and granary. In 133^ tin- 
 great window was inserted in St. AiiM-lm's chapel. In i \.\2 
 there was built the refectory ol the infirmary, now IbrmiiiL: 
 the dining and drawing room ol a canon's house. In 
 13(13 a chantry was founded in the crypt bv the ISlack
 
 CA.VTKRKURY CATHEDRAL 35 
 
 I'rince, perhaps as a penalty for marrying his cousin, Joan 
 of Kent. The whole of the crypt was dedicated to Our 
 I. adv. whose monogram may be seen here and there on 
 the vault : about this time sen-ens and reredos were put 
 up round her special altar there. (There was another I.ady 
 chapel above ground in the eastern bays ol the north aisle 
 i if the nave.) 
 
 Firm I'Kkion. -At length Canterbury woke up, and 
 removed the Xorman nave and transept. The western bays 
 were built first, so as to interfere with the services as little 
 
 as possible (1379-1380. The rest of the nave and the 
 transepts were rebuilt between 1382 and 1400. The south 
 porch has the arms of Archbishop Sudbury (137^-1381). 
 I he new nave is imposing, but somehow no one seems to 
 be a very ardent admirer of it. Its proportions are not 
 good: \\inchester nave is about the same height, but is 
 70 It. longer. It was impossible to make it longer, tor both 
 tlie Norman western towers were still standing. The gravest 
 lault is in the internal elevation. This is due to the lighting 
 system adopted, (iloucester had taught the \\orld that it
 
 was on clerestory light a church should rely : and had 
 shewn how magnificent was the effect ol a lolly clerestory 
 which was almost an unbroken sheet ol glass. At Canter- 
 bury the clerestory is of the most exiguous dimensions ; the 
 architect has chosen to rely on side light, /.t'., from the 
 windows of the aisle. The aisles therefore he had to build 
 exceedingly lofty, with piers and arches to match. His 
 ground story therefore is magnificent. But it is surmounted 
 not only by an exiguous clerestory but by a closed triforium. 
 Instead of the lovely open triforium arcades which had been 
 elaborated from those of Ely choir in 1083 to those of 
 Ely choir in 1322, there is now nothing left but a panelled 
 wall, an evil precedent set in \Ymchester nave, and soon 
 followed here, in Chester nave, Bath abbey-church, and 
 elsewhere. Again, Gloucester, with marked success, had 
 pointed the way to an internal elevation of one story ; an 
 attempt is made here to copy the Gloucester design ; but 
 thi' effect is spoiled by the banding of the vaulting-shafts. 
 To the end of the fourteenth century belong also the upper 
 part ol the Chapter house with its boarded roof, and the 
 great stone choir-screen. 
 
 SIXTH PKKIOO. To the fifteenth century belong the 
 vaulting and window-screens of the cloisters (1397-1412); 
 St. Michael's or the Warrior chapel, finished in 1439; this 
 has an extraordinarily complicated lierne vault, following 
 again a Gloucester precedent, that of the vault of the south 
 transept ; the chantry chapel of Henry IV. ( 1433-1435) ; the 
 rebuilding of the south-west tower (1440-1452); a third 
 I.ady chapel, now called Deans' chapel, projecting from the 
 north transept (1448-1455). 
 
 SK\T:NTII I'KKIOD. Between 1495 and 1503 the central 
 tower was raised to a total height of 235 ft. ; the core 
 ol its lower walls is of the' original Norman masonry. 
 ( )n its summit from Norman days there was a cherub or 
 angel, and it was called the Angel .steeple. At this period 
 strainer-arches were inserted to prevent the piers of the 
 tower bulging in under the additional work; .similar ones 
 may be seen at Rushden, Northants. In 1517 was built
 
 the ( 'liri.st ( 'liurcli 
 gateway, by which 
 the cathedral is 
 approached Irom 
 the south west : its 
 doors were put up 
 in 1662. The 
 pretty Jacobean 
 tout ,ind cover 
 belong to the 
 same year. 
 
 Tlie C/t (i/'/er 
 house is rectangu- 
 lar, lor a rcctaiiLju 
 lar building fitted 
 more easily into 
 the east walk of a 
 monastic cloister. 
 Nearly all the 
 monastic chapter 
 houses are there- 
 lore rectangular, 
 but sometimes had 
 apses ; the excep- 
 tions beini; the 
 Benedictine chap 
 ter houses o! 
 \Vorce-~ter. \\'est 
 minster, Evesham. 
 and ISelvoir (which 
 last was exceplK >n 
 al also in ]n oition. 
 beiiiL; placed in the 
 \~ery ceiHR- i >\ the 
 cloister), and the 
 ( 'istcrcian cha]>tcr 
 houses ol Mi iri;am 
 and Abbey 1 >orc.
 
 CANTKRIJURV CATHKDRAL 
 
 39
 
 CANTKklJt'KY ( ATHKDKAI. 
 
 sister designs. On the 1 other hand the Secular ( 'anons, having 
 as a rule no cloister, preferred a polygonal chapter house, as 
 at Lincoln, Bcvcrley, 1 .ichfield, Salisbury, Wells, lilgin, South- 
 well, York, Old St. Paul's, Hereford, Howden, Manchester, 
 Warwick. So did the Regular Canons at . \lnwick, Cocker- 
 sand, Thornton, Carlisle, Bridlington, and Bolton. This 
 beautiful polygonal lorm seems not to occur in France. 
 
 At the north-west corner of the cloister is the doorway 
 through which Becket passed to the north-west transept, 
 with his murderers in pursuit of him. Xear here is a hole 
 in the wall, the Buttery hatch. In the fifteenth century the 
 south walk of the cloister was divided into "studies" for 
 tin- monks by wooden partitions (at Gloucester they are of 
 stone), and its windows were glaxed. 
 
 
 From the clois- 
 ter we pass to the 
 
 West Front, and 
 commence the 
 tour of the ex- 
 terior. The south- 
 west tower was 
 completed by 
 Prior (ioldstone, 
 
 1440 1452 : tin- 
 copy ot it was 
 put up in 1 8^4 : 
 " it was an eyesore 
 that the two lowi TS 
 did not match." 
 
 On the south 
 side Is seel) the 
 pi >rch : the nave, 
 whose clerestory 
 is largely conceal 
 ed by the exces 
 sive height ol the 
 aisles : and tin- 
 charming pinnadc
 
 CANT 
 
 4' 
 
 of the south west transept. Kast of the Warrior's chapel is 
 tin 1 projecting end of Stephen Islington's tomb. liust of this, 
 
 thr two lower rows ol windows are those ot Conrad's choir ; 
 the upper row that of William ol Sens. The middle windows 
 m the south-east transept were the clerestory windows ol 
 Conrad: the windows above them are those ol William ol 
 Sens. The three upper stages ol the tower on the south ol 
 tins transept are late Norman work ; one ol the prettiest hits 
 m Canterbury. Farther east we have French design, pure 
 and simple 1 ; here, 
 for the first time in 
 English architec- 
 ture, the flying 
 buttresses are 
 openly displayed : 
 notice how flat 
 and plain they are ; 
 it had not yet oc- 
 curred to archi- 
 tects to make 
 them decorative. 
 Then conies the 
 broken, rocky out- 
 line ol the Corona 
 the great pux- 
 /le ol ( 'anterbury. 
 North east of the 
 < 'orona are two 
 groups of ruined 
 
 Norman pillars and arches discoloured by lire; once they 
 were continuous, lorming one very long building, the J/^///'/ 
 1 njiniinry, of which the west end was originally an open 
 dormitory, open to the rool. and the east end, separated 
 oil by a screen, the Chapel ; this has a window with 
 geometrical tracery. A mediaeval mlirmary ol this type is 
 still in use at Chichester. The ('anterbury infirmary had .1 
 north transept, called the Table Hall or Refectory (now 
 part of the house of the Archdeacon of Maidstoiie), in
 
 42 
 
 which the inmates dined. On the north side of St. 
 Thomas' chapel is seen the Clianlrv <>/ Henry //'.. then 
 Si. . \ndre'.<'f Tower and the barred Trcainrv : the lower 
 part of the latter is late Norman work, largely rebuilt. The 
 soutli alley of the Infirmary Cloister was built about 12^6. 
 Along this one passes to the so-called Baptistery, which i^ 
 nothing but a medueval water tower ; late Norman below, 
 lilteenth century work above. Returning towards the 
 Infirmary, we turn to the north u[) the east alley ol the 
 Infirmary ( 'loister, now called the " Dtirk J'^n/rv. at 
 the north end of which is the /'rir's (Jti/en'tiv. On the lelt 
 are 1 some Norman slults and arches ol beautiful design. It 
 was tin- Hark Entry that was haunted by Nell ( 'ook ot the 
 " Ingolclsby Legends/' West of the 1'nor's gateway arc the 
 two columns from the seventh century church at Rxvulvers. 
 On the north side of the 1'nor's or (Jreen ( 'ourt are the 
 brewery and Hakehouse : to the north west is the famous 
 Norman staircase, which originally led to a great North 
 Hall ; perhaps a Casual Ward -for tramps too found acorn 
 modation at the monasteries. 
 
 BiIil.loGR.vi'HY. Prnfe.ssur \\'illi>' Architectural ///. n / Can/,, 
 'ntry Cat h, it ml. 
 
 I )c,in Suinlvy's ///.s/i'/vVa/ .]/( v/w/rt/.i of Cant trinity. 
 
 ('illloll Sditt I\nl)i_Tt>')H ill ./;(//,, ,'/,; s /W Cilll/iitlht. \i\. 2Sl. 
 
 Kit-Id and Ixoutledgc's Caitlt'rbitry (>///', /,i/ (riet't/i 1 i- an i-xix-IK-ni 
 
 ^uiili.--li(i()k liDili tn tliL- city anil the c.u lieili'al, and runtain-~ i^oiul plan-. 
 Sec ;iK.i UIL- hililii^r;]j)li\ in Willi.-' Can-crhnry Cathedral, i yS.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 THE HOLY TRINITY, CARLISLE 
 
 Bl'lI.T FOR Al'GUSTIMAN CANONS 
 
 CARLISLE ('ATHLl)RAL, though hut a torso, is of 
 exceptional interest, hotli archajologieally and artisti- 
 cally. Up to the Reformation it was the only 
 cathedral served hy the Austin or Black Canons; all the 
 rest heing either attached to monasteries of Benedictine- 
 monks, or served hy Secular ('anons. The church attached 
 to the house ol Au>tm ('anons in Carlisle was dedicated 
 to the Blessed Virgin Mary; it was re-dedicated to the 
 I Inly and undivided 
 Trinity when placed 
 on the New Founda- 
 tion hy I lenry VII I. 
 I-' i KST I' r: RIO D, 
 i i o i -i~. 1150. The 
 Augustinian house 
 was founded hy 
 I lenry I. in n o i , 
 at the instigation of 
 ( v >uecn Matilda ; ( 'ar 
 lisle I lecanie the seat 
 ol a hishoprie in 
 i i ,1 .i ' ' u ' X o r 1 1 1 a n 
 church consisted ol 
 .in aisled nave ol 
 seven 1 >ays, a transept 
 with eastern apses, 
 and an aisled | iresl >y 
 lerv n i two ha vs.
 
 CARLISLE CATHEDRAL 
 
 which probably ended in an unaisled apse. Norman aisles 
 were usually vaulted : but the aisle-walls of Carlisle nave are 
 so thin that they can never have supported a vault. The 
 work is singularly plain and heavy ; in the nave the piers arc 
 low cylinders, like those of Hereford nave; from them rise 
 the commencements of shafts intended to curry the roof. 
 
 The trilonum has a single- 
 open arch, as at Norwich. 
 The clerestory, as often, 
 consists of a tall central 
 arch containing a window, 
 flanked by two low blind 
 arches. The capitals, as 
 usually in early twelfth- 
 century work, are scal- 
 loped : all the arches are 
 destitute of sculpture, of 
 some not even the edges 
 are molded, i.e., rounded. 
 The capitals of the tower 
 arches have been reset 
 lower down : formerly they 
 supported the four lofty 
 arches on which the Nor- 
 man tower rested. 
 
 SEC ox i) PERIOD, c. 
 i 223- 1 246 onwards. The 
 lower parts ol the northern 
 and southern faces of the 
 piers of the tower are flat : 
 their shafts being stopped 
 
 by corbels instead of descending to the ground. This was 
 to allow the stalls ol the Canons to be placed close up to 
 the piers. The Canons sat in the crossing and the two 
 eastern buys ot the nave. Like the Benedictine monks ot 
 Canterbury, they wished to sit in the choir. And so the 
 Norman chancel, being altogether inadequate to contain 
 stalls and sanctuary, was pulled down as at Canterbury: and
 
 CARLISLE CATHEDRAL 
 
 45 
 
 a beautiful early Gothic chancel of seven bays was built. 
 Of this the vaulted aisles and the pier-arches still remain. 
 The work appears to belong to the second quarter of the 
 thirteenth century ; for in the south aisle the Lancet windows 
 are developing into plate tracery, and the charming arcading 
 on the aisle walls is cinquefoiled. The new chancel was not 
 only far in advance of its Norman predecessor in length and 
 height : but it was 
 also i 2 ft. broader. 
 The' church could 
 not be broadened to 
 the south, because 
 the cloister would 
 prevent any removal 
 of the wall of the 
 south aisle, when the 
 nave should be re- 
 built. So the south 
 wall of the choir was 
 rebuilt on the old 
 foundations : the 
 southern row of piers 
 probably also rests 
 on the foundations 
 i >f the Norman piers. 
 The central aisle ot 
 the choir was made 
 much broader than 
 that of the nave, 
 with which, there- 
 f< ire. it is out of axis ; 
 the same is the ease with the north aisle of the choir. 
 
 At the same time the eastern apse of the south transept 
 was rebuilt rectangular, with crisply carved conventional 
 foliage. The northern transept was to have been rebuilt on 
 a more extensive scale, not being cramped, like the south 
 ir.uiscpt. by monastic buildings adjacent. It was to have 
 had .111 eastern aisle; but when one pier of the aisle had
 
 CAkLISI.K CATHEDRAL 
 
 been built, and part of its eastern \vall (a fragment of which, 
 with base-course and string-course, survives), the work was 
 suddenly stopped. 
 
 THIRD PKKIOD. i 292- c: 1382. Hardly was the new choir 
 completed when, together with belfry and bells, it was 
 destroyed in 1292 by a great fire, with the exception of tin- 
 aisles, which were protected by their stone vaults, and the 
 
 pier-arches. The 
 
 ( ,T ns ', not .V vhi .! 
 
 disheartened, re- 
 solved to rebuild tin- 
 choir, and to rebuild 
 it even longer than 
 before. To its 
 length they added 
 an eastern bay. just 
 wide- enough to pro- 
 vide- a processional 
 path at the back of 
 the high altar : and 
 instead of a low east 
 end. the choir was 
 built lull height up 
 to the cast, as at Kly 
 and 1 incoln. Tin 
 thirteenth - century 
 arches, between tin- 
 choir and its aisles, 
 which appa ren 1 1 y 
 were not much 
 damaged by the 
 
 fire, they managed in some inexplicable way to retain. A 
 modern contractor would take the archer- down, and then 
 rebuild them with the old stones. A mediaeval builder would 
 be more likely to underpin the arches, take tin- piers away. 
 and then rebuild them without disturbing the arches at all. 
 The old builders revelled in such engineering feats. Tin- 
 capitals o| ihe new piers are exceedingly rich and interesting: :
 
 CARLISLE CATHEDRAL 
 
 47 
 
 they contain the best medireval representation we possess ol 
 the Seasons ; six capitals on the south side from east to west. 
 si\ on the north side Irom west to eust. The corbels also 
 
 of the vaulting-shafts have rich naturalistic foliage. With 
 that respect for good earlier work that is characteristic of 
 the fourteenth century, and so rare at any other time, they 
 carried the cinquefoiled arcading ol the aisles round tin- 
 east wall, introducing, however, the characteristic detail of 
 the period, not to 
 bewilder unfor- 
 tunate antiquaries 
 of later days. 
 
 Their c It c f- 
 tt'<i"irrrt\ however, 
 was the east front. 
 On this the y 
 lavished all their 
 wealth and all 
 their art. It is a 
 very poem in 
 stone. Its only 
 rival is the con- 
 temporary east 
 front of Selby. 
 "The great win- 
 dow." says Pro- 
 fessor Freeman, 
 " is the grandest 
 of its kind in Kng- 
 land." It cer- 
 tainly has no rival, unless it be that of York. The four lateral 
 lights on either side ol the ( 'aril si e windows are gathered up 
 into two pointed arches ; at York these two arches are ogees : 
 the tree swing ol the ogee arches contrasting most effectively 
 with the pointed arch which embraces them both. The 
 u,lass in the tracery ol the ( 'arlisle window represents Our 
 1 ,i >rd ^ittniL; m fudgmeilt : the procession ol the IHcssed 
 tii the Palace ol Heaven, shown in two silvery quatreloils :
 
 CARLISLE CAT 
 
 and very realistic representations of Hell and of the (ieneral 
 Resurrection. It contains a portrait of John of (launt; so 
 that the window was probably gla/ed when he was (lovernor 
 
 of ('arlisle. 1380-84. The lower lights are of modern glass 
 by I lardman. 
 
 So tar the ( 'anons spared no expense: everything was 
 of the best. Hut their resources were taxed too heavily: 
 it was impossible to finish the choir with the magnificence
 
 CARLISI.K CATHKDKAL 49 
 
 with which it was commenced. Triforium and clerestory 
 are thin and poor; the inner arcade of the latter of tin- 
 barest character; on the other hand it has an exceptionally 
 broad wall-passage ; moreover, a vault was found too ex- 
 pensive, and was omitted. Then hammerbeams were 
 constructed for a roof of the type of the magnificent roofs 
 of March church and Westminster Hall. This in its turn 
 was abandoned, and the present wagon roof of wood was 
 put up. For similar economical reasons probably the south 
 transept was rebuilt without the aisle commenced in the 
 thirteenth century. 
 
 FOURTH PKRIOD (<:. 1400-1484). Hut the misfortunes of 
 the Canons were not over yet. Another lire destroyed the 
 new north transept. This was rebuilt between 1400 and 
 1419 by Hishop Strickland. About this time also were 
 executed the admirably carved stalls, with their interesting 
 misericords ; the tabernacled canopies overhead were put up 
 by Prior Haithwaite in i 433 ; originally they were painted and 
 gilded, and statuettes stood on the pedestal of every niche. 
 
 Then came the question of the central tower and the 
 nave. The original plan had been that, when the choir was 
 finished, a new central tower and a new nave should be 
 built, both of the same width as the choir. But the courage 
 of the Canons gave way; their troubles had been too much 
 for them. They saw no prospect of ever being able to 
 rebuild the Xorman nave ; so instead of pulling down the 
 Xorman tower and building one as broad as the choir, they 
 left it standing; merely adding a new upper story to it. 
 It is, of course, far too small for its position ; and while 
 ranging with the nave, is quite lop-sided when seen in 
 connection with the roof of the- choir; though the awkward 
 ness is lessened, and even made picturesque, by tin- addition 
 of a staircase-turret on the north side of the tower. One 
 reason why the rebuilding of the tower was not attempted 
 was no doubt the presence of springs beneath the crossing ; 
 as it is. the piers of the tower have sunk deep and unequally, 
 distorting the neighbouring arches and leaving most un 
 plea.smt cracks in the wall>. 
 4
 
 ;o C VRLISLK I'ATHKDRAI, 
 
 I'li'Tii I'KkioP, 1484 i5,yS. In 14X4 an energetic I'nor, 
 ( ioiulebour, came into ot lice ; a man with a liking for colour. 
 I It- painted tin- roof of the chancel, and the pillars as well ; 
 and on the hacks of the stalls depicted the lives of St. 
 Augustine, St. Anthony, and St. ( uthberl : to him also are 
 due the beautiful screens <>! St. Catherine's chapel. lie 
 built the great barn, still standing in part, open on one side, 
 with beams nearly 2 It. deep. He rebuilt the- Relectory 
 
 or l-'ratry. the dinitlg-hall ol the ('anoiis, with vaulted 
 cellarage ol the fourteenth century below. In all meducval 
 refectories silence was imperative at me.il>. and a good book 
 of some >ort was read from a pulpit in one ol the side walls. 
 The Carlisle reading-pulpit with its staircase remains; 
 illustrated by Hillings as a confessional l } i>.\. At the west 
 end of the hall are the hatches through which the lood was 
 lormerly passed Irom a kitchen on the other side ol the wail. 
 In the frairy are preserved several curiosities; it should be
 
 CARI.ISLK CATHEDRAL 5 I 
 
 visited. The Abbey Gatehouse, north-west of the nave, 
 was built in 1527. 
 
 SIXTH FKRIOD PosT-RKFOKMATiON WORK. I.auneelot 
 Salkeld, the last Prior and the first Dean of ( 'arlisle, added 
 the charming Renaissance screen on the north side of the 
 presbytery (c. 1540). In the seventeenth century the 
 western bays oi the Norman nave were pulled down, during 
 the ('ivil War, to provide materials tor the repair of the city 
 walls and guard-houses. Both in the north and south aisles 
 there used to be windows of the fifteenth century ; these 
 were destroyed with their interesting history, and modern 
 shams substituted in a destructive "restoration"' by Mr 
 Kwan ( 'hristian. 
 
 The cathedral possesses two very fine brasses ; one, in 
 the middle of the choir, of bishop Bell (1478-1495); the 
 other, in the north aisle, (A liishnp Robinson (1598-1616).
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 
 CHRIST AND THE BLESSED 
 
 VIRGIN MARY, CHESTER 
 
 BUILT FOR Bi.NKDicTiNi'; MONKS 
 
 AT Chester there: was originally an establishment of 
 Secular Canons. The patron saint of the church was 
 St. Werburgh, a niece of St. Ktheldreda of Ely. In 
 1093 it was re-founded as a Benedictine monastery by that 
 great noble Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, who ruled the 
 Welsh Marches with almost regal sway. Henry VIII. made 
 it the seat of a bishopric, which, though but a part of the 
 ancient Mercian diocese of Lichfield, extended northwards 
 into Yorkshire and Westmorland. Nowadays the diocese 
 and county ot Chester are coextensive. The abbey church 
 was rededicated, as a cathedral, to ( 'hrist and the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary in 1541. 
 
 If we proceed to the west doors, we have before us a vista 
 of exceptional beauty. The apparent length of the interior 
 is greatly increased by the return stalls, which, however, are 
 not so solid and lofty as to block up the vista entirely, as 
 do the stone screens at Canterbury and York, nor so exiguous 
 as the metal screens at Lichfield and Ely. The effect was 
 even finer when the organ stood over the entrance to the 
 choir. 
 
 KIKST I'KRIOD, 1093-^. 1260. Passing under the new 
 organ screen into the norlli transept, we come to the most 
 ancient work to be found in the cathedral genuine early 
 Norman work of the eleventh century. It is to be com- 
 pared with that of the south transepts of St. Alban's, 
 Hereford, and Fershore. Below, in the east wall, is an 
 arch, which once led into an apse. Above is a balustraded
 
 CHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 53 
 
 arcade, quite of the St. Alhiui's and Hereford type. Above, 
 there must have been small clerestory windows, such as 
 those built up in the opposite wall. The whole transept 
 
 mu>t have been low and humble, and is invaluable as shew 
 MIL; u.-i what earl}' Norman work was really like, and ol 
 enabling us to realise the vast progress that had taken place 
 m design, in masonry, and in earvinu, by the time that
 
 54 rilKSTKR CATIIKDRAL 
 
 I )urh;ini. Ronisev. and Xorwich were begun. This early 
 transept was ot one hay only. Notice how small the 
 stones are, the gaping joints, and the irregularity of the 
 courses: it seems earlier than 109^. 
 
 bearing in mind the character ot this masonrv. pass out 
 ot the transept into the //orl/i n/'s/c of flic nurc. and proceed 
 to the Xorman tower at the west end of it. The work here. 
 ('. i 105. is clumsy and massive, but tar superior to that of the 
 north transept. The north wall of the nave (now covered 
 \vilh mosaics) is also Xorman. ( >ther traces of the Norman 
 cathedral will he found in tin- n<>rtli aisle l t/ic ch<>n\ to 
 which we re-trace our steps. On the right will he seen a 
 great circular capital upside down, which has heeii used as 
 a foundation tor the north-oust pier ot the tower. A lew 
 feet turther is one ol the original circular hascs. pn>\ ing 
 that the Norman choir had vast circular piers like those of 
 Gloucester, ('arlisle. and St. John's, ('hcster. Two ha\ s 
 further east \vill he lound in the pavement a semicircular hand 
 of dark marhle. and another base ot a pier which divided 
 tin 1 north apse from the large central one: here the base 
 moldings differ somewhat from those of the circular pier. 
 This marks foundations that have been found of the apsidal 
 ending of this aisle : one ot the stones ot this Norman apse 
 remains in the pavement. Moreover, it has been lound 
 that the central aisle ot the choir, at the end ot the second 
 hay I rom the tower, ended in a semicircular range of columns, 
 like St. bartholomew's. Smithfield. I'Yom these indications 
 we can restore the plan ol the original Norman cathedra! 
 with some certainty. It had a nave and aisles o| die same 
 dimensions as the present ones: unaisled transept>. each ot 
 a single bay. and an eastern apse to each transept; ;i low 
 central tower: a choir of two bays, ending in a semicircular 
 range of columns and arches, and surrounded to the east by 
 a semicircular ambulatory or processional path. On either 
 side were aisles, three and a halt bays long, each terminating 
 in an eastern apse. So that the Norman cathedral had, five 
 eastern apses, and resembled m plan Gloucester and Norwich. 
 except that the chapels of the choir-aisles of Chester point.
 
 CIIKSTKR CATIIKDKAL 55 
 
 not north-east and south-cast, hut due cast. It was ahout 
 300 ft. in length. 
 
 Norman Cloisters. Returning to the north aisle of the 
 nave \ve pass through the 1 doorway at the east end of 
 the aisle into the cloister. This doorway, as seen from 
 the cloister, is, from its ornamentation, of later date than the 
 north transept, and may also he ahout 1100. The south 
 ,v<7// ot the cloister on tin- left is now seen to he Norman : 
 Xorman abbots arc buried in the recesses. Passing along 
 the cloister westwards, we have in front another Xorman 
 door, and a very late Xorman passage. Passing along the 
 west walk ot the cloister, a doorway on the lelt leads into 
 a large Xorman undercroft, with two aisles roofed with 
 massive groined vaulting. Above, as the division in the 
 vaulting and staircase shew, were a large and a small 
 hall. These buildings on the west of the cloisters were 
 originally the cellars, refectory, and guest-house in charge 
 of the cellarer: afterwards they became the cellars and 
 hall of the Abbot. To the south, above tin' late Xorman 
 passage', is the Episcopal chapel, also Norman, with a fine 
 Jacobean plastered ceiling. 
 
 SKC:ONI PKRIOD, c. ii8o.--\Ve return by the cloister and 
 north transept to the north aish of tlie chair, and pass into 
 the vestry to the left. The apse of the north transept was 
 pulled down; but part ol the foundation of this Xorman 
 apse may be seen in the pavement near the door; the arch 
 111 the west wall was formerly open to the transept ; and a 
 new chapel was built here late in the twelfth century, to 
 \\hich period the vaulting belongs. Later on, the east end 
 ot it was remodelled, and the western arch built up. In the 
 vestry is a cupboard with delicate hammered and stamped 
 ironwork : c. 12^0, by Thomas de l.eighton. 
 
 I'niKD Pi-'.kion. (\ i2oo-r. 1315. This was one ol' the 
 most extensive' ol the building periods ol the abbev. and 
 contains the most beautiful work. To gi t a lar^e l.adv 
 chapel, a processional path, and an enlarged presbyter}', the 
 whole (it the eastern limb ol the church was rebuilt on a 
 tar larger scale, beginning at the east : and on the eastern
 
 56 CHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 and northern sides of the eloister the adjoining buildings, 
 which hitherto probably had been of wood, were also rebuilt. 
 First we return to the nortJi transept and pass into the 
 east walk of the cloister, straight in front. On our right is 
 the I'estibulc, the architectural gem of the cathedral : before 
 entering it, notice its trefoiled doorway, encircled with sprigs 
 of conventional foliage ; the piers have bases, but no capitals 
 - -a feature common enough in late Gothic, but very un- 
 usual in such early work, date 1240-1250. Then enter 
 the Chapter house, which is of the same date as the vestibule. 
 It is rectangular, as were most ol the monastic ( 'hapter 
 houses originally : the windows have an inner arcade. 
 Returning to the vestibule, and passing out of it by the 
 modern north doorway, we cross the Slype with its elaborate 
 vault : this is a passage which led to the monks' infirmary. 
 Then we pass into a vaulted building ol two aisles, each 
 of four bays, restored at considerable expense, and then 
 allowed to relapse into a coal-cellar: this is the .so-called 
 fratry : really it is what was called at Durham the Common 
 House. Rooms in similar position occur at Fountains and 
 \\ estminstcr : probably for the Novices. Then we return to 
 the cloister, and proceed to the' end of the east walk. Above 
 the vestibule, slype and common house was the dormitory 
 of the monks. It was reached in the daytime by a flight 
 of steps from the doorway near the end of the east walk : 
 the little quatrefoiled window to the right of the doorway 
 lighted this staircase. 
 
 Next we enter the nortJi walk of the cloister where the 
 arms of Henry VII. and also those of \Yolsey as Archbishop 
 of York are seen. Along the whole of it extended the 
 Refectory or Frater. the monks' dining-hall : now the west 
 end has been lopped off. and a passage driven through the 
 east of it. Towards the west end will be found a fine door- 
 way by which it was originally entered. To the right of the 
 doorway is a recess marking the site of the laratory. Inside, 
 iu the south wall, is the original staircase and pulpit of the 
 refectory. Another equally line pulpit remains in the iv 
 fectory of Beaulicu. Hampshire: another, in the open air.
 
 CHEST KR CATHEDRAL 
 
 57 
 
 opposite Shrewsbury Abbey. The upper part of the refectory 
 lias rectilinear tracery inserted in the original windows. 
 
 Then \ve retrace our steps through the cloister ivalks to 
 the north transept, and pass to the left along the north choir 
 (t/sle to the far east of the cathedral. Here is the Lady 
 chapel : much restored, of similar date and character to 
 those ol Hen-lord and Bristol. It was a remarkable speci- 
 men of mediaeval "jerry-building," built without foundations 
 of any sort or kind. One of the bosses, figured in Dean 
 llowson's book on "The Dee," depicts the murder ol 
 
 THK KXTKKIOR [ROM 'I 1 1 F. SOUTH-EAST 
 
 Thomas Becket : the other two, The Virgin and ( 'hild, 
 and The Holy Trinity. Originally the Lady chapel had 
 three windows, each triplets, on either side. 
 
 Leaving the Lady chapel, we return westward till we can 
 mtcr tin- Choir. Here- we see similar work on its eastern 
 wall, and in the lower part of its two;. easternmost bays. 
 The east wall is pierced by but one arch, as at Hereford 
 and ( 'hichester ; an inferior ending to the triple eastern 
 arches of the choir.-, of Wells and Salisbury. The moldings 
 of the southern arches are a cheap imitation ol the hitter 
 work on the north.
 
 58 CHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 ll't's/irn Choir. The remaining bays to the west have 
 piers of an altogether different and later section. The choir 
 aisles were lengthened to the east about 1500. though tin- 
 capitals and vaulting-shafts are ihose of the semi-hexagonal 
 apse which previously terminated the aisles. In digging, 
 the foundations of the east ends of these aisles have been 
 found. They turn out to have been polygonal. Sir (1. ( 1. 
 Scott has been allowed to rebuild the south aisle in apsidal 
 form, and to crown his work with a hide-oils "extinguisher" 
 rool. He also pulled down the- fifteenth-century choir aisle, 
 and expelled the monuments ol three ancient county families 
 in favour of an eminent contractor. This is called "restora- 
 tion." 
 
 All the above work stops at the top of the beautiful 
 tnlorium, a tretoiled arcade: the clerestory is later work 
 (1275-1300). The- proportions of the choir as thus com- 
 pleted are not satisfactory; the tall clerestory, with its big 
 broad windows, is ruinous to the effect of the low pier-arcade 
 and the diminutive tntorium : it looks top-heavy. 
 
 We now proceed to the south transept. 
 
 FOURTH I'KRIOD, c. 1315-^ 1492. This falls into two 
 parts: comprising respectively the work done before and 
 after the IJlack 1 >eath. 
 
 \\'e have seen that by 1300 or soon after, the monks had 
 rebuilt all the work to the east and north of the cloister, 
 as well as the- l.ady chapel and the whole of the choir. 
 In the fourteenth century they set to work to rebuild the 
 whole of the south transept, the central tower, and the nave. 
 None of the upper parts of these, however, were finished 
 till the following century. The South 'I'rantcpt is so vast 
 that the old church of St. Oswald may have still remained 
 in use while the transept was building around it. It has 
 western as well as eastern aisles: which it is rare to find 
 except in cathedrals of the first rank, such as Kly and York. 
 Some of the aisle windows retain very beautiful flowing 
 tracery. The springers of vaults remain, but no vaulting 
 was executed, except one bav at the south end (it the east 
 aisle, till t'ecentlv. when the remainder of thi- aisle was
 
 CIIKSTKR C'ATIIKIiKAL 
 
 vaulted. The vast sixc of this transept it is as lar^e as tin 
 
 choir, and nearly as large as the nave- is in s 
 
 ive north transept, and is the' most remarkalih
 
 60 CHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 the abbey was in possession of great wealth, the monks 
 desired to enlarge their church. They could not enlarge 
 it to the north, for on the north were their cloisters, chapter 
 house, refectory, and dormitory. On the south was the parish 
 church of St. Oswald : they therefore came to terms with 
 the parishioners, in accordance with which they built a new 
 parish church for them, where now stands the Music Hall. 
 Hut in 1486 the parishioners were able to evade their 
 bargain, and vindicated their claim to the whole of the new 
 south transept, which the monks by this time had completed. 
 "Sic vos non vobis.'' And to get into it they cut the 
 fifteenth-century doorway, which is still to be seen at the 
 south end of the west aisle of the new transept. And here 
 the\' remained in possession till the present century, using 
 the transept as their parish church. In 1824 the transept 
 was actually blocked from the cathedral by a solid wall. 
 Hut in 1874 a new church, St. Thomas, was once more 
 built for the parishioners, and they were again ejected from 
 the site of the old church of St. Oswald. The dividing 
 wall was pulled down, and the transept has been again 
 thrown into the cathedral. In the year 1902 it was restored 
 as a memorial to the late Duke of Westminster, and a 
 recumbent figure of his (Iracc placed on the west side: 
 the ancient altar was also reinstated. This transept was 
 not finished when the Hlack Death arrived in 1349: and 
 when the work was resumed in the fifteenth century, the 
 remaining windows of the transept were given rectilinear 
 instead of flowing tracery. 
 
 Central Tou<er.'V\\\t> also was probably commenced in 
 the fourteenth and finished in the fifteenth century. It has 
 been found that the north-west pier rests upon .some 
 floriated gravestones of the thirteenth century, which 
 disposes of the idea that the piers of the tower have a 
 Norman core. Notice the variation in the treatment of the 
 tower-arches. 
 
 j\'avc. A beginning was made 1 also with the rebuilding ot 
 the south side of the nave in the first half of the fourteenth 
 century; the pillars and arches are of simple and good
 
 CHESTKR CATIIKDKAI, 
 
 6l 
 
 design, and the lower windows, like those in the south 
 transept, have flowing tracery. The northern pier-arcade, is 
 later and somewhat different. It would seem that the 
 ground story of the nave was not finished till late in the 
 
 TIIK NAVK. LOOK INC, KAST 
 
 fifteenth century, for tile initials ol Abbot Simon Kipley 
 (14X^-1492) are found on the first pier from the west. To 
 the Litter part of this period may be assigned all those 
 windows with rectilinear tracery with cusps, in the transepts, 
 the nave, and elsewhere.
 
 62 CIIKSTKK CATIIKDRAI. 
 
 FiM'H I'KKIOD -jYare. The final operations comprised all 
 
 those- windows which arc 1 without cusps e.g., tin- clerestory 
 windous and the 1 north aisle 1 windows of the. 1 nave : also the 
 south ]>orrh and we-st trout and the 1 comme-nce-nient of a 
 soulh-we'st tower, and the- fine- wooden root of the north 
 transept. All this was done e-arly in the sixteenth century. 
 Perhaps piety had waxed cold, and pilgrims' offerloric-, may 
 have- become le-ss productive. At any rate-, all the upper 
 part of the- inte-nor of the nave- is hare. bald, and poverty 
 stncke 1 !!. For the- beautiful tnlorium of the choir we have 
 here 1 a blank wall : unhappy, too. in proportions, the nave 
 of ('hester is one of the least satisfactory designs of our 
 cathedrals. 
 
 One other alteTation had be-e-n made. The High altar 
 originally stood one bay further to the we-st than it does now. 
 and the bay where it now stands lormed the processional 
 path. But this bay was also \\anted for a Saint's chapel, 
 that of St. Wcrburgh. with her shrine in the centre-, as at 
 St. Alban's. So the eastern apses of the two choir aisles 
 were pulled down, and two longer aisles were built, one on 
 e-ach side ot the Lady chapel. (The one on the north is 
 still allowed to exist : the one on the south was pulled down 
 by Scott.) Then the west window on either side of the Lady 
 chape-l was converted into a doorway, and a convenient 
 processional path was provided between the Lady chape! 
 and the- Saint's chapel. It should be- added that the stalls 
 of the choir were originally under the central tower, as at 
 Gloucester. 
 
 To the last period be-long the eastern, northern, and 
 western walks of the cloister, which should be visited next. 
 In part of the- west walk, and in the new south walk, then- 
 is a double 1 arcade; dividing the- walks into a series of 
 separate- comparime-nts or studies tor the monk-*. An 
 analogous arrangement occurs in the- cloiste-rs of Gloucester. 
 Notice, also, the insouciance with which these 1 Tudor buildei> 
 dropped the- ribs of their vaults down on e-arher doors and 
 arches. Similar ivcklcss disregard of the u'ood work of 
 preceding builders occurs at Canterbury, where- the most
 
 < IIKSTKK r.vniKnkAi. 63 
 
 beautiful doorway in the cathedral is cut into by later 
 
 va 
 
 In recent days the inner wall of the north aisle <>f the 
 iiai'i has been cased with mosaics which cannot he seen, 
 and has been provided with rich vaulting : and to provide 
 abutment lor this new vault the- south walk of the cloister 
 has been rebuilt. The nave and choir have been vaulted 
 in wood: following the precedents of York Minster and 
 Selby Abbey. The exterior is, to all intents and purposes, 
 nineteenth-century work. The original design had almost 
 wholly disappeared through the decay of the soft sandstone. 
 It is, however, very handsome and effective'; especially in 
 contrast with the exterior, also modern, ol Worcester. As 
 at Salisbury, Lincoln, and Hereford, there is a magnificent 
 view of tile whole ol the exterior from the north-east : seen 
 In mi the city wall towards sunset, this red sandstone 
 cathedral makes an impression not soon effaced. 
 
 Of minor work the most important is the pedestal of St. 
 Werburgh's shrine, now placed west ot the Lady chapel; 
 it had long stood in the choir, converted into a bishop's 
 throne. It should be compared with the shrine-pedestals 
 at St. Alban's, Oxford, and Hereford: its date may be c. 
 
 Mast, perhaps ol the eighth century. The stall work, c. 1390. 
 is magnificent ; tabernacled canopies, bench ends, elbow 
 rests, and misericords deserve minute prolonged study, 
 besides these there' are Renaissance' gates of Spanish iron- 
 wi irk : and the epitaphs of John Lowe, tobacconist. |ohn Paul, 
 publican, and John Phillips, merchant, in the south transept : 
 those of Mayor (ireen, and an American loyalist, on the 
 southwest pier of the tower; the tablet of Randolph 
 ( 'aldecott and the pretentious monument ot bishop Pearson 
 m the north transept; the tablet ol I )ean Arderne in the 
 Miuth aisle of the choir, which should not be missed : and 
 in the north aisle those (it Sulxlean ISispham and bishop 
 laidbsM]], and the epitaph on the gravestone of L. 1'. 
 (iaMivll. I'he new oran rests on live Renaissance columns
 
 64 CIIKSTKR CATIIKDRAL 
 
 the 1 Holy Land. On the wall near the west door is a tablet 
 to Bishop Hall, and another 
 
 To the Memory of 
 JOHN" MOOKK NA1MKR 
 
 Captain in Her Majesty's 62iul Regiment 
 Who died of Asiatic Cholera 
 
 in Seinde 
 
 on the yth of July, 1846, 
 Aged 29 years. 
 
 The tomb is no record of high lineage ; 
 
 1 I is mav be traced by his name : 
 
 Ills race \vas one of soldiers. 
 
 Among soldiers he lived ; among them he died ; 
 A soldier falling, where numbers fell with him, 
 
 In a barbarous land. 
 
 Yet there was none died more generous, 
 More daring, more gifted. < >r more religion^. 
 
 ( )n his early grave 
 
 Fell the tears of stern and hardy men. 
 As his had fallen on the graves of othcr>. 
 
 There is not niueh in verse that rings like these few lines 
 of prose. 
 
 I'.liil.looR Ai'HY. -Mr Iliissev in ArJiuoL^ical Journal , \. 
 Mr Ayrton in Chester A nil. Sih't,'/y, i., and Sir (iilbert Scott in 
 ditto, ii. 
 
 Mr J. II. Parker in Medieval Architecture of Chester. 
 
 Dean Ilow.-nn in Haiiiibcck U< Clu'stcr Ca//u<lra!.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 
 THE HOLY TRINITY, 
 
 CHICHESTER 
 
 CHICHKSTKR ('ATHKI)RAI,. though one of the 
 smallest, is in the student of mediaeval architecture 
 OIK- ol the most interesting and important of our 
 cathedrals. At Salisbury one or two styles of architecture 
 are represented : at Canterbury two or three: in C'hichester 
 cathedral building was go ing on practically continuously 
 from i. jog i till the fourteenth century, and again, in- 
 termittently, up to the Dissolution, For the eleventh, 
 twelfth, and thirteenth centuries it is an epitome of Knghsh 
 church architecture. \\V have many other composite and 
 heterogeneous cathedrals, but nowhere, not even at St. 
 Alban's and Hereford, is such an unbroken sequence of 
 medue\al building to be studied as at ( "hichester.
 
 66 
 
 CIIK'IIKSTKK CATIIKDKAL 
 
 The last kingdom, says Canon Bright, that remained 
 outside the Church, was that of the South Saxons, hemmed 
 in by a thick line of well-nigh impenetrable forest, and so 
 
 barbarous as to be at once ignorant of the simplest arts, 
 and furious against the incoming of foreigners. It was 
 reserved for the great Wilfrid, of Hexham, Kipon, and
 
 ( IIIUir.STKk C. \TIIKDK.\I, 6/ 
 
 York, in one of his exiles (fiii) caused originally by the 
 high-handed partition of his overlarge diocese of York to 
 do what no one as yet had done for these poor rude heathen 
 what some Irish monks had tried to do and had failed. 
 They were desperate with famine ; he taught them to fish 
 in the sea ; for he was as ready in homely crafts of this 
 kind as in adorning churches or educating young nobles ; 
 and as Bede says, " by this kind act he turned their hearts 
 to love him ; and they began the more willingly to hope 
 for heavenly blessings under his preaching, when by his 
 assistance they had received earthly good." 
 
 The first seat of the diocese was on the coast at Selsea ; 
 it was transferred to Chichester by Stigand in 1082, when 
 other Norman prelates removed to fortified towns such as 
 Lincoln, Exeter, and Norwich. In the south aisle of the 
 choir are two sculptured slabs representing the meeting of 
 Christ with Mary and Martha and the raising of La/arus. 
 The figures are the tall, emaciated, but dignified figures of 
 archaic By/antine art, their stature carefully proportionate 
 to their importance. These slabs are usually said to have 
 come from Selsea, and have therefore been supposed to be 
 of Pre-Conquest date ; more likely, like those in the west 
 front of Lincoln, they are work of the twelfth century. 
 Stigand was followed by Gosfried, who for some unknown 
 sin sought and obtained absolution from the Pope. The 
 original document in lead, with many other objects of great 
 interest, may be seen in the library. " \Vc, representing 
 St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles, to whom Clod gave the 
 power of binding and loosing, absolve tliee, Bishop Godfrey, 
 so far as thy accusation requests and the right of remission 
 belongs to us. God the Redeemer be thy salvation and 
 graciously forgive thee all thy sins. Amen." On the seventh 
 of tlie Calends of April, on the festival of St. Firmin. bishop 
 and martyr, died Godfrey, bishop of Chichester; it was 
 then the fifth day of the moon. 
 
 1. NORMAN. Godfrey was succeeded in logi by Ralph, 
 whose stone cotfm. marked " Radulplllis,' may be seen in the 
 Lady chapel. Ralph is recorded to have built the present
 
 68 
 
 HKSTKR C.V 
 
 Norman cathedral: the consecration took place in 1108. 
 It \vas dedicated to St. IVter : the present dedication to tin- 
 Holy Trinity date-s from 1199. It is hardly likely that the 
 wholr cathedral was completed in seventeen years: and it 
 the nave he examined, it will he found that its four western 
 hays are rather later in date than tin- rest : they differ in the 
 handing ot tin- vaulting-shafts, in the diaper of tin- spandrels 
 
 of the tritorium 
 arcade, which are 
 of a different pat- 
 tern in every hay : 
 the masonry, too. 
 is ot superior 
 character, as may 
 he seen in the tri- 
 foriuni chamber 
 and clerestory : 
 the pier-arches 
 also are wider and 
 the piers nar- 
 rower. It i> likely 
 that the building 
 ot these ti iur hays 
 and that of tin- 
 two western 
 towers occupied 
 the rest of the first 
 quarter ot the 
 twelfth century. 
 The lower part < it 
 the south-western 
 
 tower survives. The ( 'orinthianesque capital ot eleventh- 
 century Norman work, which appears aW> on the east side 
 of Hly transept, occurs in the tntorium ot the choir. 
 
 The church had the same type of ground plan a-- Norwich. 
 commenced c. 1096. and Gloucester, commenced c, 1089; 
 vi/.. an ai>led nave, aisleless transept with eastern apses, 
 aisled presbytery, encircle. 1 by a procession path, from
 
 CIIirilKSTKR ('. \TIlKhk.\I. 69 
 
 which radiated three chapels, probably all apsidal. Ex- 
 ternally, on the south wall of the choir, in the fourth bay 
 from the west, may he seen traces ot the curve ot the 1 wall 
 of the ancient ambulatory, and also a triforium window 
 which originally was in the' centre of one of the narrow bays 
 of the apse, but has now ceased to be central. (Below is a 
 later consecration cross.) The apses of the transept were 
 superposed, as at Gloucester; in the chamber above the 
 Library, the curve of the upper apsidal chapel of the north 
 transept is well seen. The pier-system is neither that of 
 alternating piers, as at Jumieges and Ely, nor of cylinders, 
 as in Gloucester nave, nor yet of alternating octagons and 
 cylinders, as in Peterborough choir ; as in the archaic abbey 
 church of Bernay, the piers are merely lengths of wall with 
 shafts attached. Similar piers occur at Christchurch in the 
 adjoining county of Hampshire, which may be regarded as 
 a sister church of Chichester cathedral. It is probable that 
 the stalls were not placed in the crossing, but in the three- 
 eastern bays of the nave. It was just this part ol the 
 church which suffered most in the great fire of i 1 86 ; 
 probably because here were placed the wooden stalls. The 
 western bays suffered so little, being perhaps separated from 
 the stalls by a stone screen, that it was unnecessary to reface 
 with ( 'aen stone the spandrels of the pier-arcade. (Xor 
 did the presbytery suffer much ; for some of its roof timbers 
 were charred, but not consumed.) The presbytery must 
 have been exceptionally long; occupying the- apse and all 
 three bays of the eastern limb as well as the crossing : at 
 St. Alban's the presbytery contained four bays, but did not 
 extend into the crossing. The three eastern bays and the 
 western piers of the central tower have vaulting-shafts with- 
 out rings, probably because' rings would have been con- 
 cealed by the stallwork which it was intended to replace 
 alter tin- lire. Whether Bishop Ralph's aisles were vaulted 
 IN doubtlul. On the aisle side of the [tiers of the nave may 
 be seen plinths designed for vaulting shalts. shewing an 
 undoubted intention to vault. But if groined vaults had 
 been erected, it is very unlikely that they would have been
 
 IIKSTKK CAT 
 
 rcm< >vcd in order to he replaced by the present aisle vaults, 
 which were' put up after the fire of 1186. In Rochester 
 aisles art' supports lor a vault, but no vault was ever erected. 
 Most of our churches are lopsided. Westminster is a 
 brilliant exception but perhaps only Romsey is so utterly 
 out of the straight as Chichcstcr. The axis of the nave 
 change's no less than three times ; the- distortion is ania/ing 
 as seen in the clerestory passage. The Lady chapel, too, 
 swings over to the south, and there are many minor aberra- 
 tions : arch differs 
 in span from arch, 
 and pier from 
 pier in breadth. 
 Finally the un- 
 s y m in e t r i c a 1 
 church is backed 
 up by the yet 
 m ore u n s y m- 
 metncal cloister. 
 As for the western 
 bays of the nave, 
 they would pro- 
 bably be built 
 from west to east : 
 hence the twist at 
 the junction with 
 the older eastern 
 bays. There is 
 evidence also that 
 
 the Lady chapel was built from east to west, which helps to 
 account for its bad setting out. 
 
 II. The walls of the three western bays of the Lady 
 chapel are of the twelfth century : and their curious capitals 
 of naturalistic foliage point to a date not earlier than 1175. 
 We know that there was a second consecration in 1184. 
 To the period c. i 17:5-1 184 the work may thcrclon be 
 referred: it probably meant die substitution ol a long 
 oblong chapel lor an original apsidal one.
 
 CIIICIIKSTER CATIIKDRAl, 
 
 III. In 1186 there \v;is ;i great fire. It did the more 
 damage because the church had not only a roof, hut a 
 wooden ceiling beneath it, as at Peterborough. At the 
 beginning of the conflagration the part first damaged would 
 be the clerestory ; at Chichester the Norman inner arcade of 
 the clerestory windows seems to have been damaged beyond 
 repair. After a 
 time the burning 
 timbers of roof 
 and ceiling would 
 fall down to the 
 pavement, damag- 
 ing in their fall the 
 string - courses. 
 The triforium 
 arcade, however, 
 would not be 
 much damaged, 
 except so far as it 
 was affected by 
 the burning roofs 
 of the aisles. 
 Below, however, 
 especially if there' 
 was stalhvork, the 
 masonry of the 
 piers and arches 
 and thcirspandrels 
 would be calcined 
 and shattered by 
 the heat of the 
 mass ot timber 
 
 blaxing on the pavement. What therefore had to be- done 1 
 was to supply the clerestory with a new inner arcade, to insert 
 new strings, and to ivfacc the piers, arches, and spandrels ol 
 the pier-arcade. And, to save tile church from risk ol luture 
 damage by a lire in the roof, il was decided to vault the nave, 
 choir, and transepts. All this was done. Bishop Ralph had
 
 used a shells' limestone Iroin Ouarr abbey in the Isle o| 
 \Viuht, with an admixture' of Sussex sandstones, the urecn 
 Eastbourne roek and brown I'ulborough stone, Bishop Sieg- 
 fried employed the white Caen stone and Turbeek marble: 
 
 
 tor the cells of the vaults he u>ed chalk, which was plash 
 mternallv. and at a later period covered with beaut 
 paintings (a fragment of one of which ma}- he seen on 
 vault of the Lady chapel : others, also by the liernardix
 
 ClIiniKSTKR C'ATIIKDRAL 73 
 
 tin- choir vault at Boxgrove Priory church) ; on tlir top ol 
 the vault was laid a thick bed of concrete. The addition ol 
 these vaults necessitated a new abutment-system. The 
 original buttresses had been flat pilasters ; to resist the 
 thrusts of the vault it was necessary to give the new ones 
 much bulk and great projection : two of them, one ol 
 work of loyi, the other of that of 1186, may be seen side 
 by side on the west wall of the' north transept. As at 
 Canterbury, the small and narrow windows were replaced 
 by larger ones set higher up, the heads of the old windows 
 being sometimes re-used. Over the new buttresses an imita- 
 tion of the eleventh-century billet string was continued. In 
 the- triforium chamber before the lire there had been trans- 
 verse semicircular arches buttressing the nave walls ; their 
 springers may still be seen, and similar ones exist in the 
 triforium chamber of Durham choir. Now that there were 
 to be high vaults, these had to be removed in order to 
 construct the present flying buttresses beneath tin- aisle roof, 
 following the precedent of Durham nave. But these were 
 judged not to be enough ; so a second set ol fliers was built 
 above the aisle roof, i.e., in the open air. ("hichester there- 
 fore possesses a double set of flying buttresses. Both sets 
 are very massive and plain ; it is. obvious that the buttressing 
 system owes nothing to Canterbury choir, where the light 
 fliers must be of French design. Similar heavy flying 
 buttresses were employed a little later in the same county at 
 New Shoreham and Boxgrove. All the refacing of the 
 internal walls was done with great thoroughness, the blocks 
 ot ( 'aen stone being carefully bonded in. In the profile 
 use ot 1'urbeck marble in strings, shafts, bases, and annulets 
 one sees the influence of Canterbury choir. It is probably 
 at this time that for the semicircular apse in tin- north 
 transept was substituted the double chapel with two altars, 
 which is now used as a library: the /ig/ag ornament occurs 
 on the ribs of its vault. 
 
 1\. But beside all these heavy repairs, a most important 
 new work was earned out in the choir 11 n<; C. i j i o. \\V 
 have seen that there was a consecration in iiSj. which
 
 74 rinriiKSTKK CATIIKDKAI. 
 
 probably included the- new oblong Lady chapel. This may 
 have been part of a scheme to make the whole of the 
 eastern parts of the church rectangular. It may well he 
 that when the repairs were finished in 1199, that the apse 
 was shut off by a temporary wall, and the original scheme 
 was proceeded with. This consisted in replacing the apse 
 with its semicircular ambulatory, its north-east and south-east 
 apsidal chapels by a rectangular retro-presbytery of two bays, 
 with square-ended chapels flanking each side of the western- 
 most bay of the new Lady chapel. The needle-like pinnacles 
 or spirelets of their turrets and the cusped rose windows 
 in their gables should be noticed. This extension provided 
 a procession path of two bays. At Canterbury a similar 
 arrangement, but on a larger scale, was set out in 1175; 
 the intention there being that the western part of the 
 additional space gained should be ultimately utilised as a 
 Saint's chapel : as a matter of tact it was not used till 1220. 
 Chichester may have followed the Canterbury precedent in 
 the expectation, which was realised in 1276, that she also 
 would require such a chapel for a local canonised saint. 
 Of the new work the general design and the detail, especially 
 at the east end, is of superlative excellence: it is an Anglicised 
 and improved version of Canterbury choir, though still 
 retaining traces of French influence, as in the square abacus 
 and the foliated capitals of piers and shafts. There is the 
 same mixture of semicircular and pointed arches as in the 1 
 ('anterbury design, and with similar nonchalance the vaults 
 of the aisles are distorted on plan in order to get the piers 
 on either side central. The height of the ground story was 
 fixed by the height of the new Lady chapel, and thus 
 became greater than that of the Norman work to the west. 
 The marble piers are unsurpassed anywhere : their design 
 is reproduced at Boxgrove and St. Thomas, Portsmouth ; 
 it is inuiated at West Wittering, near Selsea. When all 
 these changes were completed, it is probable that the stalls 
 were moved to the position they now occupy beneath the 
 central tower. For the eastward movement of the choir 
 Canterbury again afforded a precedent. It is possible that
 
 ISTKK CATI IK 
 
 75 
 
 there was a special reason at ( 'hichestcr for abandoning the 
 nave. Nowadays there is a new parish church north of the 
 cathedral on the other side of the road. This, the Sub- 
 Dcanery church, was from c. 1450 till 18=53 located in the 
 north transept with its double chapel tor chancel. Originally, 
 however, it occupied some part ol the nave. The western 
 bays of all the cathedrals were more or less open to the laity; 
 and since in ( 'hi- 
 chester nave there- 
 was also a distinct 
 parish church, the 
 canons may well 
 have thought it 
 desirable to leave 
 the whole of the 
 nave free tor par- 
 ochial and general 
 lay use. In Sieg- 
 fried's work there 
 arc so many obliga- 
 tions tothe( 'antcr- 
 bury precedent, 
 and the work ol 
 the masons is ol 
 such excellence, 
 that there can be 
 little doubt that 
 main < if them were 
 the very men who 
 had been trained 
 under \\illiam of 
 
 Sens and \\illiam the Englishman from 1175 to 1184, when 
 Canterbury choir was consecrated and they would be 
 thrown < nit of work. 
 
 V. Documentary evidence makes it clear that building 
 was still going on vigorously from c. i2io-r. 12:53. In place 
 of the ap>e of the south transept a square chapel and a 
 watching chamber were built. A south porch, now inside
 
 -<> ('HICHKSTKR CATHKIWAL 
 
 the cloister, was built c. 1200: perhaps in [)lace of a 
 southern entrance through the south-western tower, where 
 a small blocked Norman doorway, with xig/ag ornament 
 and volutcd capitals, remains. At about the same time the 
 sacristy was built, between the south porch and the south 
 transept. Another porch was built (c. 1200) on the north 
 side of thi 1 nave, probably for parochial use. It displays 
 the nail-head ornament and good early foliage. Two towers 
 are recorded to have fallen down in 1210; these would be 
 the two western ones. Both were probably rebuilt in part 
 at tins period. The south-west tower re-tains its Norman 
 basement: the north-west tower fell down again c. 1634, 
 and was rebuilt by Mr Pearson in 1899-1900. The central 
 tower, now rebuilt, may have been c. \22^-c. 1245. 
 
 AT. This period begins at the death of Richard of \Vych. 
 This energetic and saintly bishop died in 1253, and was 
 buried in the north aisle of the nave. In 1261 he was 
 canonised, and in 1276 his remains were translated to a 
 shrine in the bay at the back of the High altar, which bay 
 thus at length became a Saint's chapel. The platform on 
 which his shrine stood remained till 1861 : it occupied half 
 the westernmost bay of the retro-choir. Offerings at his shrine 
 increased the resources of the canons, and a second outburst 
 of building commences. One result, which was destined 
 to alter the whole character of the nave, was the building of 
 additional chapels. In our parish churches it is common 
 enough to find that pious and wealthy parishioners have 
 been allowed to tack family chapels on to the aisles or nave. 
 This was common enough, too. in the French cathedrals 
 e.^.. I ,aon and Amiens : but the naves of the Hngh.h cathedrals 
 were not as a rule altered in this way. At ( 'hichester. how- 
 ever, there were now built three chapels of St. George and 
 St. ('lenient on the south of the south aisle, and of St. 
 Thoma> on the north of the north aisle at its eastern end. 
 When the chapels were completed, the Norman aisle-walls 
 were pierced, and arches were inserted where Norman 
 windows had been: and Siegfried's buttresses, which had 
 been added when the nave vault wa> erected, now found
 
 CHICHESTER CATIII-DRAI. // 
 
 themselves inside tin- 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. The buttresses were capped by beautiful pinnacles 
 in the form of gabled spirelets, all now destroyed, and in 
 connection with these a wonderful series of grotesques and 
 
 gargoyles should be studied. It is noteworthy that in St. 
 Clement's chapel French masons must have been employed. 
 Flsewhere, except in Westminster Abbey, France exercised 
 little or no influence on the development ot the (iothic 
 architecture of Fngland after the building of Canterbury 
 choir. In St. Thomas' chapel is a charming example ot a 
 simple thirteenth-century reivdos. The addition of these 
 outer chapels makes Chichester unique among the Fnghsh
 
 /8 CHICIIKSTKR C. \TIIKIik.\I. 
 
 cathedrals, though it may he paralleled in Klgin cathedral 
 and many a parish church. Artistically, the contrast of the 
 gloomy and heavy Xorman nave with the lightness and 
 brightness of the chapels behind is most delightful : it 
 looks infinitely larger and more spacious than it is ; it 
 is never all seen at a glance like the empty nave of York, 
 and is full of changing vistas and delightful perspectives. 
 Accidentally, the thirteenth-century builders had hit on a 
 new source of pieturesqueness. 
 
 VII. A little later, but still in the thirteenth century, two 
 more double chapels were added on the north side of the 
 nave, separated by a reredos, not by a wall, like those on 
 the south side. The window tracery of the five chapels 
 should be inspected in chronological order : it is an 
 excellent object lesson of the development of bar out of 
 plate tracery. But the great work of this period was the 
 lengthening of the Lady chapel by two bays, and the 
 remodelling of the three western bays. This was the work 
 of Bishop Gilbert (1288-1305). The new work was done- 
 just when people had tired of conventional foliage, and 
 hurried into naturalism. The capitals of the vaulting and 
 window shafts are beautiful examples of naturalistic foliage. 
 The window tracery, with long-lobed trefoils, occurs also 
 in the beautiful chapel of the mediaeval hospital of St. 
 Mary, which should by all means be visited. To the 
 earlier part of this period belongs the western or Galilee 
 porch : in its area-ding a later tomb has been inserted. 
 
 VIII. Then comes work ranging between c. 1315 and 
 I 337- 1 ' u ' Canons set themselves to work to improve the 
 lighting of the cathedral, which was bad: all the windows, 
 except those in the' new chapels, being small single lights. 
 The south wall of the south transept was taken down and 
 rebuilt, and in it was set a window of flowing tracery of 
 admirable design (now filled with glass by Mr Kempe). 
 Above the vault, and so only visible externally, is a circular 
 window of flowing tracery. Bishop Langton (1305-1337). 
 who gave moncv tor the work, is buried in the canopied 
 tomb below. The drainage ot the roots also was improved :
 
 rillCHKSTKR CATIIKDRAI, /9 
 
 gutters and parapets being substituted for dripping caves. 
 Owing to the bends in the nave, it presents a concave curve 
 on the: north side, ami a convex curve on the south. This 
 is remedied on the north by constructing two corbel tables 
 one above another; the upper one in a straight line; the 
 lower one thick or thin as the curve requires. A some- 
 what different remedy is applied on the south. To this 
 period also belong the stalls with ogee arches and compound 
 cusping, and good misericords. At this period also the 
 chapel of the Bishop's palace was remodelled. (The 
 palace 1 Dining-Room, with a fine panelled and painted 
 ceiling, and kitchen, are also worth a visit.) 
 
 IX. In the time of Bishop William Rede (1369-1385), 
 the tower at length was crowned with a spire, not quite so 
 slender and graceful as those of Salisbury and Louth, 
 which have an angle of ten degrees; that of the Chichester 
 spire is of thirteen degrees. 
 
 X. The central tower seems to have shewn signs of 
 weakness under the weight of the new spire ; and so a 
 detached Campanile was built, as at East Dereham : this 
 work was in progress in 1411, 1428, and 1436. During 
 this century, probably, was built at various dates the irreg- 
 ular three-sided cloister, in a quite abnormal position 
 encircling the south transept. The object of it was to 
 provide a covered way to the cathedral for the Canons, as 
 well as for the Vicars, whose Close is hard by. Also the 
 Canons' date was built. An upper story was added to the 
 sacristy : it communicates by a secret door with a vaulted 
 treasury over the south porch. The improvements in 
 lighting wen- continued, the north wall of the north transept 
 being treated in a similar way to that opposite. But settle- 
 ments werc j the result, and a (lying buttress had to be 
 added to steady the north wall of the nave. This at last 
 concluded the structural history of the cathedral. l!y 
 bishop Arundel (1459-1478) was erected a great stone- 
 screen between the western piers of the crossing : inside 
 it were two vaulted recesses containing altars. After the 
 Reformation it supported an organ of line design, similar
 
 So 
 
 :STKK (ATI 
 
 ill character and position to those- at Exeter and ( iloucester, 
 and greatly adding to the effectiveness of the interior. l!ul 
 screen and organ and return stalls were all swept away in 
 1851). with the vain idea of adapting a cathedral chancel 
 lor congregational services. The stones ol the screen were 
 numbered and stowed away in the campanile' : hut instead 
 
 of brinu replaced, a light wooden screen, designed by 
 Mr (lanier, has been put up. In i82(). moreover, the High 
 altar was moved 6 ft. further eastward. 
 
 XI. From 1^08-1536 the energetic liishop Sheiburne 
 ruled. To him were due the admirable paintings on the 
 vaults, in later days obliterated with yellow wash : al>o the
 
 CJIICHKSTEK CATHEDRAL Si 
 
 paintings of the kings of England and bishops of Chichester. 
 All this work was done by the Italian Lambert Bernardi 
 and his sons. Sherburne is buried in the south aisle of the 
 presbytery in a tomb which shews the influence of the 
 Italian artists who did so much Renaissance work at 
 Winchester cathedral, St. Cross, and Easing on their way 
 from Southampton to London and Layer Marney. 
 
 Till 1829 the High altar stood 6 ft. further to the west 
 than at present. At the back of it Sherburne erected a great 
 reredos, somewhat of the character of those of Winchester 
 and St Alban's, but of wood, and broader, because it 
 contained a gallery. This gallery formed the Watching 
 loft to the shrine of St. Richard, which was immediately 
 below to the east. The gallery reached to the level of the 
 triforium, and was removed in 1829, because the choir boys 
 used to run races across it. An ugly stone reredos was 
 subsequently substituted for the wooden one ; this in its 
 turn has recently been swept away, and fragments of the 
 ancient oak reredos have been put together on the old site. 
 XII. In 1859 the central tower was found to be in 
 danger ; underpinning was resorted to, but matters got 
 worse. '"At noon, on February 2ist, i86i,the workmen 
 were ordered out of the building, and the people living in 
 the neighbouring houses were warned of their clanger ; 
 about an hour and a half later the spire was seen to incline 
 slightly to the south-west and then to sink perpendicularly 
 through the roof. Thus was fulfilled literally the old Sussex 
 saving : 
 
 111 r,!,I< M ,K.\ril V. I'mloMn- Willi>' C/iic/i, s/, r Ca,'li, dral. 
 (lonlon M. Ilill^ in /!r//is/i A>r/itp/t>git-al Assih'iatii'it fi'itrnaf, \\\\. 
 l tS. and \\. l T v 
 
 Prcliemhtrv \YalcoH\ l-'.ar/y Stalitt,* <>/' Cinch, .-'/, ; CatlhJral. 
 I Van Stephen's ///../,>rr ,'/' (k, /V'<vtvv <>/' Chic'n, .-.'< r, 
 6
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 
 CHRIST AND THE BLESSED 
 
 VIRGIN MARY, DURHAM 
 
 HUII.T KOR HKNKUICTINK MONKS 
 
 THE bishopric of Durham lias a long history, though 
 there was no cathedral at Durham till 1018. The 
 conversion <>f the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms north ot 
 the Thames had been brought about by the missionaries 
 of the Irish and Scottish Church. Augustine's mission in 
 Kent, and that of Paulinas in the north both sent from 
 Rome had for their object, not so much the conversion 
 of England, as to induce the English Christians to transfer 
 their allegiance from the Celtic to the Roman Church. 
 The success of Augustine's mission had been but short-lived. 
 He landed in England A.D. 597 : his death occurred in 605 : 
 and in 616 the Kentish kingdom relapsed into pagam>m. 
 Paulinus landed in 601 : proceeded to Xortlmmbria in 625. 
 but left it in 633. when, like Kent, most of Northumbria 
 relapsed into paganism. The real "apostle of the north" 
 was not Paulinus. but Aldan, who was sent at the request 
 of Ring Oswald from lona. and in the year 635 became the 
 first bishop of" the north of England. 
 
 (i) For thirty years the see was at Eindisfarne (Holy 
 Island), but the jurisdiction of the bishop extended over 
 all England north ot the Humber. and over the south of 
 Scotland (635-665). (2) In 678. Archbishop Theodore 
 of Canterbury split up the \ast Northumbrian diocese into 
 the tour bishoprics ot \ ork. Eindisfurne. Hcxham. and 
 Whitherne in (lalloway. Twelve bishops ruled the now 
 curtailed see trom 678 to i^co. the cathedral still remaining 
 at Eindisfarne The second of these was the famous St.
 
 REFERENCES 
 
 CO A/5 IS TOBY CO UIZ T 
 NOI3MAN P>OISCH 
 /VT&/J/VC TO GAL/LEE 
 
 - SLYPE o/s p/je Loue. 
 
 CHflPTEf* HOUSE 
 
 C&YPT 
 
 . KITCHEN 
 . 1/ESTteY 
 
 MONUMENTS 
 
 1 S r CUTHBEETS -SHRINE 
 
 2 S '/SHOf> J" TH/SONE 
 
 J. BISHOP BAK&INGTON 
 4 K4LPH LOGO NVILLE 
 S. WOMEN-S BOUNDAI5Y C&OSS 
 
 6 FONT 
 
 7 ST BE DCS ALT A 12 
 
 <?. CA/SDINAL L/3NCLEY 
 
 9. 8ISHOP SKI/ZL/3W 
 
 10. B/SHOp I/AN MILDEST 
 I! S '/SHOP 
 
 f2. QEV. J BZITTON
 
 84 
 
 Cuthbert. (3) In SS3 tin 
 a Danish inroad, removed the body of St. Cuthbert to 
 Chester-le-Street, 7 miles north of Durham, and eight 
 bishops had their cathedral at Chester-le-Street (900-995). 
 (4) Once more, in fear of the Northmen, the see wa.s 
 removed-- this lor the last time to Durham. Including 
 Aldhun, the last bishop of Chester-le-Street and the first 
 bishop of Durham, there have been, up to 1912, sixty two 
 bishops of I Hirham. 
 
 In the earliest days, we always read of monks as carrying 
 about the relics of St. Cuthbert and serving the cathedral. 
 Eater on, but still in Anglo-Saxon days, the monks gave way 
 to Secular Canons. These in turn wen- replaced by Bene- 
 dictine monks by the Norman bishop, William of St. Carilef 
 (10(81-1096). In 1540 the monastic establishment was 
 suppressed, and the cathedral was placed on the New 
 Foundation, like the Benedictine cathedrals of Canterbury, 
 Winchester, Ely, Norwich. Rochester, and Worcester, with 
 an establishment once more of Secular Canons. 
 
 In Anglo-Saxon days, England was divided into provinces, 
 whose earls exercised much the same power as the Viceroy 
 exercises nowadays in India. These powerful and dangerous 
 viceroyaltics the Norman sovereigns abolished, with two 
 exceptions. To guard the Marches against the \\elsh. they 
 left the old earldom or viceroyalty of Chester, putting it 
 in the hands of a layman. To guard the Scottish border, 
 they united with the bishopric of Durham the earldom 
 of Northumberland. Between Tees and Tyne, and in some 
 external districts, the bishop of Durham had palatine juris- 
 diction. Here the king's writ did not run: the writs were 
 drawn in the name of the bishop. As feudal lord, his seat 
 was Durham Castle: as bishop, Durham Cathedral. Hence 
 that wonderful group, castle and cathedral, which one sees 
 from the Wear bridges towering overhead : unique in England, 
 but not rare in the cities of the prince-bishops of the Holy 
 Roman Empire: Eausanne. Chur, or Sitteii. With the 
 bishop of Durham rested the power ot life and death in 
 case of murder, or even of treason itself. I he most mauniti-
 
 DURHAM CATHKDRAL 85 
 
 cent of all these- powe-rful prelates was Anthony l!ek (1283- 
 1310). His own personal followe-rs, when he- marched with 
 Kdward I. against the Scots, include-d 26 standard-bearers, 
 140 knights, 1,000 foot, and 500 horse. "Surrounded by 
 his officers of state-, or marching at the- head of his troops, 
 in pe-ace- or in war, he appeared as the military chief of a 
 powe-rful and hide-pendent franchise-. Tin- court of Durham 
 exhibited all the appendages of royalty : nobles addressed 
 
 the palatine sovereign kneeling : and instead of menial 
 servants, knights waited in his presence-chamber and at his 
 table, bareheaded and standing.'' lUit in i ^36. Henry 
 \ III. swept away the most important of the powers of the 
 counts palatine. The ancient form of indictment, contra 
 pacein Kpiscopi," was altered to "against the King's peace," 
 and the king's writ ran in Durham see'. Still, the palatinate 
 county ol Durham was not fully an integral part of the 
 realm, and up to i^ys did not send members to Parliament.
 
 86 
 
 It \vas not till i!\}6 that the privileges of the county 
 Palatine were fully and linally vested in the crown. Fvcii 
 now. tile towers of Durliain have a stern military air, such 
 as no other English cathedral possesses; for a parallel to 
 which we must go to the fortress-cathedrals of Albi. Xarhonne. 
 and the south west of France. Durham cathedral is "half 
 House of Clod, half castle 'gainst the Scot.'' 
 
 FIKST I'F.Rion. Of the Anglo-Saxon cathedrals in wood 
 or stone nothing remains. The architectural history ot 
 thi 1 present cathedral commences with the accession of the 
 second Norman prelate. William ol St. Canlet, or St. ('alais 
 on the southern border of .Maine, who was bishop from 
 r 08 1 to ioc)^. and is said to have laid the foundations ol 
 the Xorman cathedral in 1093 on iith August. l!y 1104 
 much of the eastern limb must have been finished : for in 
 that year the shrine of St. ( 'tithbert was moved into it. 
 In 1133. i.e., in forty years, the whole church had been 
 finished, including all the vaults. From architectural 
 evidence it is pretty clear that the vaulting was executed 
 in the following order: ( r ) the vaults of the aisles of the 
 choir and transepts: (2) the high vault of the choir, now 
 destroyed : (3) the vaults of the aisles of the- nave; (4) the 
 high vaults of the transepts and nave. The chronology of 
 the high vaults is a very important question in the history 
 of medireval architecture, especially as affecting the reputation 
 of Fnglish architects. If it is correct and it is supported 
 both by documentary and architectural evidence- it was 
 the Durham architect who was the first to solve the great 
 problem of niedueval architecture: how to construct and 
 keep up a ribbed vault, oblong in plan, over a central aisle. 
 The transverse arches of the high vault of the nave are 
 pointed: so that it is in all respects a Clothic vault except 
 as regards the moldings and enrichments ol the ribs. It 
 is a strange lact that when the Durham architect had thus 
 solved the problem ol problems ol medueval architecture 
 the construction ot a high ribbed vault in oblong bay- 
 -inost Knglish builder-- went on putting up unworthy 
 wooden ceiling lor nearly another eenturv. Durham was
 
 very slow in converting 
 KiiLjand t< i (Jothic. 
 
 The bays < >l I hirham are coupled, Lombard-fashion i.e., 
 
 lari^r and small [)HTS alternate: with what object is un- 
 certain. There were three arallel eastern asex The
 
 88 
 
 DURHAM CATIIKDRAL 
 
 central apse had no ambulatory. I he 
 square externally, as at Romsey. 
 
 Durham anticipates dothic not only in vaulting its central 
 aisles in oblongs with tin- aid of pointed arches, hut in the 
 employment of living buttresses. These in the triforium 
 of the choir appear in the form of semicircular arches, 
 with a wall on them, which provided a support for the 
 purlins of the aisle roof. Hut in the triforium of the nave 
 
 they consist of 
 segments of cir- 
 cles tilted up on 
 end. Here they 
 are genuine fly- 
 ing buttresses, 
 which oppose re- 
 sistance to any 
 outward inclina- 
 tion of the clere- 
 story wall. The 
 only construc- 
 tional difference 
 between those of 
 the nave and 
 Clothic flying 
 buttresses is that 
 the former are 
 placed under- 
 neath the roof 
 of the triforium. 
 sheltered from 
 
 the weather, while the latter are usually placed outside and 
 above the aisle roof, and are thus liable to disintegration by 
 wind. rain, and frost. Hut even in (lothic. living buttresses 
 are not always displayed: they still remained concealed 
 under the triforium in the early work at Salisbury; and even 
 in the fourteenth-century work ot \\mchester nave-. 
 
 Internally, the one fault ot Durham is its .shortness in 
 proportion to its great breadth. Kly nave has twelve bays.
 
 89 
 
 Peterborough ten, Norwich fourteen, Durham only eight 
 Hut the architect could not build much further to the west, 
 for close at hand is the precipice rising above the river; nor 
 did he like to build further to the east, for the ground then- 
 is bad. 
 
 The internal elevation, however, is unsurpassed by that 
 of any Romanesque church in Europe. At Winchester, 
 Norwich, Peterborough, Ely, the three stories pier-arcade, 
 triforiuni, and clerestory are about equal in height: a very 
 unsatisfactory proportion. The architects of Gloucester and 
 Tewkesbury rushed into the opposite extreme, and carried 
 up their piers to such a vast height that the tnfonum and 
 clerestory were dwarfed out of all proportion. But at 
 Durham the proportions are absolutely right. The vault, 
 too, is not so much later in date as to interfere with the 
 solid monumental effect of the interior. Durham gives still 
 the impression which it gave Dr. Johnson one of "rocky 
 solidity and indeterminate duration '' : the very reverse of 
 the unsubstantial tenuity of Salisbury and Beauvais. 
 
 The doorway of the Chapter house- is recorded to have 
 been built by Bishop Galfrid Rufus(i 133-1 140). The north 
 and south doorways of the nave (facing one another) are so 
 similar to that of the Chapter house that they must also be 
 his work. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. To Bishop Pudsey belongs the Galilee, 
 <. 1175. He commenced to erect a Lady chapel in the 
 usual position to the east of the choir. But St. Cuthbert, 
 who had an ultra-monastic hatred of womankind, and would 
 not brook to have the- chapel even of Our Lady in the 
 neighbourhood of his shrine, shewed his displeasure openly 
 by the fissures and cracks and settlements which kept 
 constantly occurring. In despair the bishop had to build 
 in the cramped space between the west end and the 
 precipice, thus blocking up the west doorway of the church. 
 Erom the first this Lady chapel set-ins to have been called 
 the Galilei- : nobody knows wh v. In details it is in it unlike 
 the chapel in the keep of' Newcastle. Built in the la-4 
 quarter of tin- twelfth century, it is remarkable tor the
 
 paucity ol (iothic detail: the arches arc all semicircular; 
 the} are not molded, but ornamented with bands of the old- 
 fashioned /igAig. The bases, indeed, are transitional in 
 character: and so is the voluted water leal of the capitals. 
 Mill, spite of semicircular arch and Xorman ornament, the 
 spirit of the whole its lightness, grace, and elegance is 
 (iothic. A building may have every arch pointed and 
 molded, and yet in its heaviness he Romanesque at heart, 
 
 e.g., the ( 'ister- 
 cian churches 
 of fountains 
 and Kirk stall, 
 the Augustinian 
 church of Llan- 
 thony. In 1 )ur 
 ham (ialilce, on 
 the other hand, 
 one feels that 
 one is in a 
 (iothic building, 
 as trul}' as one 
 d 
 
 of the semicir- 
 cular arcades of 
 Pisa or Lucca. 
 Still more ( iothic 
 must have been 
 tin- effect of the 
 coupled shafts of 
 
 Purbeck marble before' ('animal Langlev added two more 
 shafts of freestone. The cardinal is buried in front of" the 
 west door of the nave. Here also was the shrine of the 
 remains of the Venerable l!ede. stolen from the monks of 
 Jarrow 1>\ the sacrist Llhvd. one ol the most successful ol 
 mcdt.i'val " 1 >< >dv snatehers. 
 
 THIRD I'HKIOD. Larl\ in the thirteenth eentury the 
 western towers were carried up. At one time the}' had 
 
 Wooden spires. The present battlements Were added about
 
 9' 
 
 i 7<So. lint the great work of this century was the nolilc 
 eastern transept. Its position repeats that of Fountains 
 Abbey, which was finished in i 247, and which also is known 
 as the "Chapel of" the- Nine 1 Altars.'' The object of the 
 eastern extension at Durham was partly to provide nine 
 more chapels, partly to make room tor the shrine of St. 
 Cuthbert. which, like those of St. Swithun and St. liirinus 
 at Winchester, and that of St. Alban at St. Alban's, stood to 
 the east of the high altar, and contained the body of 
 St. Cuthbert and the head of St. Oswald. 
 
 The work was not commenced till i 242 ( bishop Farnham), 
 and not completed till about 1280. When it was begun, 
 lancet windows were still in fashion ; when it was completed, 
 they had given way to tracened windows with cusped circles 
 in their heads. Later on. rectilinear tracery was inserted in 
 the lancets : it is surprising that it has not been hacked 
 out. as in Ripon facade, by architectural "purists." The 
 circular window, yo It. across, was rebuilt by \Vyatt. The 
 architect was a layman, Richard Farnham, "architector nova: 
 fabrics Dunelm"; a mason "Thomas Moises posuit hanc 
 pctram." The foliated capitals, both here and in the 
 eastern bay of the' choir, are of unrivalled beauty. Xo 
 less remarkable is the perfection of the masonry. The' 
 walls are nearly S ft. thick, with huge piers at the angles 
 forming buttresses and weighted by pinnacles; the}' rise 
 straight from the ground unaided by aisles or living 
 buttresses, "yet they have borne the lofty vault (So ft. 
 high) tor more than three centuries without the slightest 
 sign of settlement or Haw." The vaulting of the transept 
 involved some rather difficult problems, which were solved 
 somewhat awkwardlv. Such was the reverence for St. 
 Cuthbert that not a single person was buried in the 
 cathedral till i^ii.wheii that magnificent prelate Anthony 
 P>ek was brought into the Chapel of Nine Altars for inter- 
 ment, through a door on the north ot the chapel (now 
 blocked up), not through the cathedral; and even he has 
 no monument. One sees why there is such a paucity ot 
 UK inuments in tins cathei Iral.
 
 Q2 
 
 H'RIIAM CATIIKhkAI.
 
 93 
 
 hays of the choir in the fashion of the day. Also a new 
 (iothic vault was put over the choir in place of the eleventh- 
 century vault, the marks of which may still he seen on the 
 clerestory wall. 
 
 FOURTH I'KKIOD. -For a long time little was done at 
 Durham: the cathedral was structurally complete. In the 
 fourteenth century several large windows with flowing 
 tracery were inserted, e.g., the west window of the nave and 
 the north window of the north transept ; and lour windows 
 (restored) in the south aisle of the choir. The three 
 westernmost windows in the north aisle ot the choir were 
 copied in 1848 from the fourteenth-century windows at 
 Sleaford. Holheach, and Boughton Aluph. To this period 
 belongs the tomb of bishop Hatfield, built in his lifetime 
 (134:5-1381), one of the best bits of design in England. 
 The episcopal throne above it looks a little later, and seems 
 to have been designed for some other position, as it does 
 not fit the space between the piers. The altar rercdos, or 
 Neville screen, as it is called, was made in London between 
 1372 and 1380, and brought by sea to Durham: like that 
 at St. Alban's, it is of chinch, a hard chalk. It is continued to 
 right and left, forming sedilia on both sides of the- sanctuary. 
 
 FIFTH I'KRIOD.- -The great work of the fifteenth century 
 was the central tower, which replaced a thirteenth-century 
 tower, c. 1470. It is 218 ft. high : in spite of its vast weight, 
 the Norman piers which support it shew no signs of strain. 
 There are massive squmchcs at the angles, shewing that it 
 was intended to be finished by a spire, as the western 
 lowers actually were finished. What an astounding spectacle 
 Durham would have presented, capped with three spires! 
 Imagine a Lichfield cathedral set on a hill 200 It. high! 
 In the nave is a series ot Neville monuments. In the third 
 bav troin the west is the Women's Boundary ( ross. beyond 
 which women were not to venture, lest they should incur 
 St. ( 'uthbert's wrath. The great window of the south 
 transept was inserted about 1400.
 
 94 DURHAM CATHEDRAL 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. -Between 1660 and 1672 Bishop Cousin 
 
 did much to repair the damage done by the Scottish 
 prisoners who hud been confined in the cuthedral alter the 
 buttle- of Ihmbur in 16^0. His stalls and font cover ure ol 
 exceptional interest, us specimens of vvhut is rure seven- 
 teenth-century (lothic. It should be compared with the 
 lovely work at Bruneepeth, his old church, und the episcopal 
 chapel at Bishop Auckland. Lord ('rewe's fine classical 
 choir-screen, with the organ in its normal and proper 
 position upon it. has been destroyed at OIK- of the many 
 abominable " restorations '' of which the authorities of this 
 cathedral have been guilt}'. Now there is a pretentious 
 murble and alabaster screen of mid-Victorian ( Gothic, and 
 the ignorant und the tusteless have got that " unbroken 
 vista" for which their hearts yearn. 
 
 EXTKKIOK. On the north doorway of the nave is the 
 famous sanctuary knocker. Durham und Beverley. owing 
 to the high reputation of the relics of St. Cuthbert und St. 
 John of Beverley, both hud large privileges ol sunctuury. 
 Bevcrley retains the- Suncluury chair, the. Frithstool ; I hirham 
 the knocker. It is thirteenth-century work. " L'pon knock- 
 ing at the ring affixed to the north door of I hirham the culprit 
 was admitted without delay : and after lull conlcssion, reduced 
 to writing before witnesses, a bell in the Calilcc tower ringing 
 all the time to give notice to the town that some OIK- had 
 taken refuge in the church, there was put on him a black 
 gown with a yellow cross on its right shoulder, us the badge 
 of St. Cuthbert, whose peace he had claimed. When thirty- 
 seven days had elapsed, it a pardon could not be obtained, 
 the malefactor, after certain ceremonies before the shnne. 
 solemnly abjured his native land for ever ; und was straight- 
 way, by the agency of the intervening parish constables, 
 conveyed to the coast, bearing in his hand a while wooden 
 cross, und was sent out of the kingdom by the first >hip 
 which sailed alter his arrival." During their stav in tin- 
 church the culprits lived on the lower floors of the western 
 towers. The atrocious setting of the doorway is modern: 
 as also the pinnacles of the ( 'hapel of the Nine Altars, where
 
 95 
 
 llu- famous I >un ( 'o\v 
 IN to be seen in a 
 niche in the- north- 
 west turret. All the 
 design of this suit 1 ol 
 tin- cathedral has 
 been utterly ruined : 
 having been pared 
 away to the depth 
 of 3 or 4 in. Origin- 
 ally eaeh bay of the' 
 aisle had a transverse 
 
 roof ending in a gable, as originally on the south side ol 
 ( 'hiehester nave. 
 
 The monastic buildings are numerous and important : the 
 library contains precious MSS., touching relics of St. 
 ( 'uthbert. and a wonderful collection of Pre-t 'OIK juest crosses 
 and " hogbacks." 
 
 Bini.it HiKAi'iiY. Durliain cathedral is fortunate in iis literature. 
 There is an excellent guide-liook l>y ('anon ( ireen\\ ell : and a de- 
 seriptive account \\itli nuiiH-nuis plates h\- R. \\'. Hilling. I S4_^ : 
 \\hik 1 tin.' A'/'/i's i>/ /~>l<r/iai/i is a detailed account ol tlu- use and purpo.M- 
 o| each pan ol tlic church and ilu- monastic Imilclinys. Tlic A'//<'s \\as 
 \\ntu-n in IS 1 )? :ln d lias n.'(\'inl\' liocn rc^'dik'd \\ilh \alual>k' noies 
 and appendices as vol. 107 ol llie publications ol the Surlees Societv l>y 
 l\e\. |. 'I'. ]'"o\\K-r. !).('.!,. To one \\lio i-ead-. llie A'//, s in Dui-liam 
 itself, the \\hole lilV of cathedral and ahhev lives afresh.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 
 THE HOLY AND UNDIVIDED 
 
 TRINITY, ELY 
 
 HUII.T FOR BKXKDICTINK MONKS 
 
 THE vast and magnificent cathedral of Ely." says Mrs 
 Van Rensselaer, "looms up on the hori/on, as we 
 come westward from Norwich, like a great solitary 
 ship at sea. As we draw nearer it preserves its isolated 
 clearness of outline, lilted visibly above the plain, yet so 
 little lifted that its bulk seems all the greater from being 
 nearer the eye. As we enter the little town from the south- 
 west we realise its enormous length, the grace of its octagon, 
 and the stern majesty of tin.- tall tower, which rises like a 
 great cliff in a land where men might well build cliffs, since 
 Nature had built none. Hut there is in truth no spot 
 whence the great monarch of the fcnlands may not be 
 admirably si-en, until we get so tar oil that it drops behind 
 the hori/.on's nm. Wherever it may reveal Hselt it is 
 always immense-, imposing, majestic: only upon the plains 
 
 9 6
 
 ELY CAT1IKDRAL 
 
 97 
 
 1 SITE OF BISHOP CRAY'S TOMB 
 
 2 BISHOP NOKTHWOLDS 
 
 3 S T ETMCLDREDAS SHRINE. 
 
 f BIIHOP VILLIAM OF KILKENNY'S TO, 
 
 5 BIJHOP KtDMAMS TOMB 
 C. . LANCYS 
 
 7 D*M1UUS TOMB 
 
 8 BISHOP HOTHAM 
 
 e JOHN TiproFT, CARL or WORCCSTER 
 
 10 SIJHOP BARNCT 
 
 n SRA.4S OF BISHOP GOODRICH 
 
 11 8ISH3P WM D Ll/DA 
 II BISHOP hCATON 
 
 14- CARDINAL Dt Ll/\EM SUR& 
 15 ftRASiofDEAKJ TYNDALL 
 \t> DCAN C/tSAft 
 
 16 NONIAN SLAQ FROM 
 
 S r MARV'i CHU*t 
 19 FONT, 
 
 2jJ IO O W 4-O 60 SO IOO 
 
 20C 
 
 SCALt OF FEET 
 
 IO 5 IO 3.O 2>O 
 
 4-0 50 
 
 SCALE OF M ETHELS .
 
 9S ELY CATHEDRAL 
 
 of Egypt <>r Mesopotamia has Nature assisted the effect 
 of man's work by such entire suppression of herself." 
 
 Ely. like Peterborough, Ramsey, Thorney. and ( 'rowland, 
 and like 1 Glastonbury, goes hack to early Anglo-Saxon days, 
 when communities of monks and nuns sought solitude and 
 safety in the 1 recesses of far-spreading marshes and tens. 
 In thi 1 beginning the monastery was founded as a nunnery, 
 in 673. by Ethcldreda. who became the first abbess and 
 Ely's patron saint. From the nuns it passed to Secular 
 ( 'anons. and in Dunstan's time to Benedictine monks. In 
 1109 the abbot became a bishop, and the Benedictine 
 church a Benedictine cathedral. 
 
 The bishop of Ely in his island, like the bishop of 
 I )urham in his hill-fortress, held powers such as no other 
 English ecclesiastic was allowed to possess. His territorial 
 powers included the whole Isle- of Ely: and this, ''the 
 Liberty of the Bishops of Ely,' was subject to the exclusive 
 jurisdiction of the bishop. It is in these two facts -the 
 possession of a local saint, St. Etheldreda or St. Audrev. ot 
 high repute through all England: and in the enormous 
 revenues derived from the Isle of Elv that the explanation 
 lies of the vast scale on which the abbey-church was planned 
 in the eleventh centurv. of the astonishing richness of US 
 thirtecnth-ccnturv presbytery, and of the enormous works 
 undertaken and rapidly carried out in the fourteenth century. 
 
 FIRST Pi.Rioii. The present cathedral was commenced 
 in 1083 by Abbot Simeon, brother of Bishop \\alkelin of 
 Winchester, where Simeon himself had been prior. Earlier 
 still he had been a monk at St. ('uen, Rouen: so that he 
 would be well acquainted with the contemporary architecture 
 of Xormandy. As was to be expected Irom the relationship 
 of the founders of the two cathedrals. Elv and Winchester 
 have main" points of resemblance. Moth are vast in scale. 
 far surpassing tlu- Abbaye-aux-hommes at (*aen. or Fan franc's 
 copy of it at Canterbury. Both indulge in the luxun of 
 aisles to the we-t as well as to the cast ot" their transepts. 
 Both had return aisles in the transepts a feature borrowed 
 from ( 'erisv-la Foret and the Abha\ c aux homines. I'hose ol
 
 ELY CAT I IK DUAL 
 
 99
 
 IOO KLY CATHEDRAL 
 
 Winchester remain : those of Kly have been pushed hark 
 to the end-walls. The nave of Kly had no less than thirteen 
 hays, its transepts four, its choir five. The choir aisles had 
 square ends; the choir was intended to terminate in a 
 semicircular apse, hut was made square-ended between i 103 
 and T 1 06. The stalls were placed in the crossing and in 
 the two eastern bays of the nave 1 . Then- was a central 
 tower: and, instead of two western towers, there was one 
 tower with lour flanking turrets. From the lower stories 
 of the western transepts, of which only the southern one 
 is left, apses projected eastward. Externally the western 
 transept gave the church great breadth and dignity; and 
 the plan of Bury and Kly was speedily copied at Peter- 
 borough. Lincoln, and \Vells. Internally this south western 
 transept is the most picturesque bit of Norman work in the 
 country. For western and central towers in a line parallels 
 survive at Wymondham and Wimborne, and formerly at 
 Bury and Hereford. Of Abbot Simeon's eleventh-century 
 work little is left now except the vaulting shafts in front 
 of his apse, to the east of the organ; the exterior of the 
 west windows of the- south transept, which alone have the 
 nail-head molding: and the lower part of the eastern walls 
 of the transepts, which have- the Ionic capital. The 
 masonry is rude 1 and tooled with a large cross-stroke: the 
 abaci and the soffits of the arches an- square and unmolded. 
 In 1106 the bodies of St. Ktheldreda and her sisters were 
 translated into the eastern limb, which was then probably 
 complete. For a long time the work must have gone on very 
 slowly: and the original design was so closely adhered to that 
 it is difficult to recognise any substantial differences between 
 the four eastern and the western bays of the nave. Through- 
 out, regardless of the Ihirham improvements, the aisle vaults 
 are without ribs. Durham cathedral took only forty years to 
 build, and as Abbot Simeon commenced Kly cathedral in 
 1083, it should have been possible to complete il c. M } }.
 
 KI.Y CATIIKIikAL 
 
 IOI 
 
 The latriu-.ss (it the work is seen in the tall, slender, graceful 
 shafts of tlu- trifonum and clerestory, and in the substitution 
 of moldings for carved ornamunt in the orders of all the
 
 IO2 ELY CATHEDRAL 
 
 the Xormun choir, then standing, were copied in the presbv 
 tery added east of the choir in the thirteenth century : and 
 the proportions of the presbyter}' were reproduced in the 
 fourteenth-century choir. It is this, doubtless, which gives 
 such a feeling of unit}' in Kly, as at Worcester, in spite ol 
 tlie fact that the present cathedral consists of three l)locks 
 built in three different centuries in entirely different styles. 
 At ( Canterbury, Rochester. Ripon, ( lloucester. nave and choir 
 (|iiarrel ; at Winchester and York, nave and transept: Kly 
 lias evolved harmony out of discord. The work seems to 
 have 1 been done in seven sections : first, the transepts : 
 second, the eastern limb ; third, the eastern bays of the 
 nave : tourth. its western bays : iittli. the two doorways trom 
 the nave into the cloister: sixth, the lower part of the west 
 transept : seventh, the upper stones of the western transept, 
 the western turrets, and the upper arches of the crossing. 
 To the last half of the twelfth century belongs also the 
 Infirmary for superannuated, infirm or sick monks, east of tin- 
 cloister, the remains of which are worth a visit. Between 
 i 198 and 1215 the parish church of St. Mary was built : it 
 has a lovely doorway, well worth a visit. 
 
 SKCOXD I'l-.Kion. Early in the thirteenth century the 
 ( Jali Ice porch was added, in the same position as at I hirham. 
 [externally the design is commonplace: internally, "with 
 its rich outer and inner portals, its capitals carved with 
 delicate curling leafage, its side arcades in double rows 
 ol tretoiled arches, and the protuse dog-tooth enrichment ol 
 its moldings, it is one ol the loveliest things ever built, and 
 one ol the most English in its loveliness.'' The early date ol 
 i 200 is assigned to this and to the equally beautiful western 
 porches of St. Albans. 
 
 Then came the gre.it reconstruction which every great 
 English church went through to the east, in order to increase 
 the length of the sanctuary, and to provide still further east 
 a Saint's chapel, an ambulatory, and in most cases a lady 
 chapel. In 12^;. to tin- east of the Norman choir, at 
 the point where the Xonnan root shalts still remain, 
 there was built in the days ol Bishop Northwold. and
 
 KLY CATIIKDRAI. 
 
 1C)' 
 
 mainly at his expense, a presbytery of six bays : a 
 presbytery of inexpressible loveliness. " Nowhere,'' says 
 Mr Freeman, 'can \ve better study the boldly clustered 
 marble pier with its detached shafts, the richly floriated 
 capitals, the yet richer corbels which bear up tin- marble 
 vaulting-shafts, the bold and deftly cut moldings of every 
 arch, great and small. Lovelier detail was surely never 
 wrought by the hand of man." The piers are closely 
 spaced ; and the arches, therefore', as at Beverley. are 
 sharply pointed in 
 beautiful harmony with 
 the lancet windows. 
 ( )n the other hand, the 
 trefoilmg of tin- tn 
 forium arches contrasts 
 delightfully with the 
 pointed arches of pier- 
 arcade and clerestory. 
 In contemporary work 
 the beauty of Kly pres- 
 bytery can only he 
 paralleled at Beverley : 
 but at Beverlev the de- 
 sign owes everything 
 to the architect : at 
 Kly the sculptor may 
 claim half the credit. 
 Worcester choir may 
 
 be placed next in order; its proportions, 
 similar to those of the Kly work. W 
 enter into comparison, being French in design. The presby- 
 tery was completed in seventeen years, and cost 5.040, 
 which may be equivalent to about ^,90,720 of our money. 
 < >r J , i :;. i 20 per 1 >ay. 
 
 In this great work of Bishop Xorthwold is seen one ol 
 the earliest and most important examples ol what was 
 to be the accepted and tinal planning ol the eastern limb 
 ol an Knglish cathedral church: vi/., an aisled parallelogram
 
 IO4 
 
 KLY CATIIKDKAL 
 
 rooted full bright to its east end, and with the ritual 
 divisions separated only by screens. The work was finished 
 in 1252. With this superb eastern extension the monks 
 remained satisfied for nearly seventy years. Nothing was 
 done in the cathedral except the insertion of larger windows 
 with geometrical tracery to give more light to the chapels 
 in the eastern aisle of the south transept. 
 
 THIRD I'KKIOD. lUit in the fourteenth century a most 
 wonderful series of great works was carried out in Ely ; the 
 noblest works of that or perhaps of any period of mediaeval 
 building' i'i England. KuM of all. it was resolved to yive
 
 105 
 
 Knllowmg tlu- precedent ol Bristol and Peterborough, a vast 
 Lady chapel was begun in 1321, detached from, and on the 
 north side of, the choir. It is a remarkable piece of mediaeval 
 engineering ;: the vault a very tlat one -being upheld by 
 a mininuiin of wall and buttress. But it was more than 
 engineering. It was the product of a time when "Catholic: 
 
 
 puritx in the best natures was still allied to the tenderness 
 
 \Yhui in revcreiico of ihe Hcavcnc's Uuecne 
 They came lo \\<>r>hi]> alle \\omcn that liccnc.'' 
 
 It i> >aid that when 1'u^in saw the ruins of its arcadin^. 
 oner MI glorious in its beauty wherein arc' carved, in the 
 spandrel^ above each canopv, incidents in the scriptural and 
 legendary history of the' Blessed Virgin he burst into tears. 
 Ib- estimated the cost o! the- restoration of the I.adv chapel 
 at J^ 100,000. but said that no workmen could be lound 
 competent to do the work. The Lady chapel is said to
 
 io6 
 
 have been finished in 1341,1 : but the tracery of the east and 
 west windows is evidently of later date. X<> doubt building 
 was stopped by the Black I )eath of 1349, wliich wrought 
 great havoc in the eastern counties. It was not till i ^74 
 that these windows were inserted by Bishop Barnett. In 
 the central lower light of the east window there was 
 originally a stone niche, containing no doubt an image of 
 Our Lady. 
 
 The year after the Lady chapel was commenced, the 
 central tower fell; and falling eastward, ruined the western 
 bays of the Norman choir. Nevertheless, though the monks 
 had suddenly cast on them the vast task of rebuilding both 
 tower and choir, they did not abandon or intermit their 
 work in the Lady chapel. Side by side the different sets 
 ot works went on : the Lady chapel, the central octagon, and 
 the- choir. The octagon was finished in 134.?, the choir 
 probably not much later. How vast the resources of Ll\ 
 must have been ! 
 
 In 1322 Alan of Walsingham, then Sacrist at Lly and 
 afterwards Prior, set to work to clear away the debris of the 
 piers of the tower. It may well have occurred to him when 
 he saw the great open space in the centre of the cathedral. 
 what a pity it would be ever to close- it up again in order to 
 construct the usual circumscribed square central tower, the 
 width only of the nave, under which one feels as if looking 
 up from the bottom of a well. What was left, when he had 
 cleared away the tour tower-piers, was an area three limes 
 as large as that of the original crossing. This area was an 
 octagon, with four long and four short sides : lour long sides 
 opening into nave, choir, and transepts: four short sides 
 opening diagonally into the aisles. Why not throw four 
 wide and four narrow arches over the piers of the octagon, 
 and on these arches erect, not a small square tower, but a 
 vast octagonal tower? Octagonal central towers were un- 
 known in the Lnglish cathedrals; but there are pli-nt\ 
 abroad, e.g., magnificent examples at ( 'outances and Siena. 
 The difficult}' was how to roof' a tower so \ast. The noblest 
 course would have been to rover it with a vault of stone.
 
 ELY CATIIKDKAL IO/ 
 
 lUit no English architect ever dared a vault 77 ft. wide. In 
 Spain they might have done' it : the vault of the nave of 
 ( lerona is 73 It. in span. In England not so: the York 
 people did not even venture to vault a nave 45 ft. broad. 
 
 Some sort of wooden roof, therefore, had to be adopted. 
 That root could not be a flat wooden ceiling ; no beams of the 
 length of 77 ft. could be had ; and if put up they would have 
 been unsafe. Instead, then, of a flat ceiling, Alan adopted 
 much the same construction as is to be seen in the lower 
 part of any normal spire of wood. In such a spire inclined 
 beams resting on the tower at eight points support an 
 octagonal collar of wood, on which upright posts are set, 
 and to these the sloping timbers of the spire are affixed. 
 In a spire the sides of the spire conceal Iron) view the 
 octagonal skeleton resting on the collar; at Ely there are 
 ro sloping sides, and the eight posts torn) a wooden lantern, 
 with vertical sides, and the greater part of this lantern is 
 visible in any external view. In this, or in some such way, 
 Alan got his design, one of the most original and poetic 
 conceptions of tin/ Middle Ages ; but arising, like all the best 
 things in (lothic architecture, out of the exigencies of build- 
 ing construction. 
 
 The problem was solved on paper, but it proved im- 
 mensely difficult in execution. Alan finished the' stone 
 piers and arches in six years, but the Limber-work occupied 
 twelve years more. He had to search all over England 
 belore he could find oaks big and straight and sound enough 
 lor the tight vertical angle-posts of his lantern. They are 
 <\i, It. long, with a sapless scantling of 3 ft. 4 in. by j ft. 
 8 in. Oaks like those do not grow now in England. The 
 eight angle-posts are tied together at top and bottom b\ 
 collars of hori/.ontal beams, and the whole skeleton lantern 
 rots (in the tips ol inclined beams, whose lower ends are 
 supported bv corbels behind the capitals ol the uivat piers 
 
 below. 
 
 And a> the m< lined beams spread to right and lelt Irom 
 the great pier> below, it follows that the eight >ide> of the 
 lantern are not placed above the eight arches below. This
 
 io8 
 
 engineering necessity, also, is wrought into a new source of 
 beauty. For advantage is taken of it to pierce the wall 
 space above the low narrow arches with four tall windows, 
 so that the central area, so gloomy at Winchester, Lincoln, 
 and \Vclls, is irradiated with a Hood of light from twelve 
 vast windows ; four below, eight above. There is not such 
 a lantern in the world. Nor does any church in England 
 present such dramatic contrasts of light and shadow in 
 general; to the west, dark nave; to the east, darker choir ; 
 the centre all light and atmosphere. The views from the 
 aisles of the nave across the octagon into the choir are 
 veritable glimpses into fairyland. Externally, too, the 
 octagonal lantern groups well with the great western tower; 
 in height, in bulk, in shape they are in perfect ratio. 
 
 Side by side with the' octagon went up the choir, as was 
 necessary, that the octagon might have abutment to the east. 
 The choir is "a little over-developed and attenuated in 
 detail : ' : the windows are squat and ungraceful in proportion, 
 and their flowing tracer}' wiry and unlovely. Window tracery 
 is the' one weak point in the Curvilinear work at Ely. Never- 
 theless, this choir is one of those works whose delicate- love- 
 liness disarms criticism. It even disarmed Mr Fcrgusson. 
 who says that the proportions of the presbytery are repro- 
 duced in the choir, "with such exquisite taste that there is 
 perhaps no single portion of any ( iothic building in the world 
 which can vie with it in poetry of design or beauty of detail." 
 But the monks had not finished even now. They were 
 dissatisfied with the lighting of the older part of the cathedral. 
 So they took out. now or a little later, lancets of the presby- 
 ter}', not only those- of the aisles but those of the outer wall 
 of the trilorium. and replaced them by broad windows of 
 flowing tracery. Even this was insufficient, and so thcv sub- 
 stituted a flat roof for the steep lean-to roof of the two 
 western bays of the presbytery aisles, and gla/ed the inner 
 arcade ot these two bavs of the trilorium. Thu> more li^ht 
 was obtained lor St. Ethcldrcda's shrine, which then stood 
 between these two bays ; its exact position is marked by tin- 
 elaborate boss in the vault of the choir. Externallv, tin-
 
 ELY CATHEDRAL 
 
 result is deplorable ; a big gap being left in the choir aisles, 
 
 where the lean-to roof formerly extended continuously. 
 
 this piercing of the walls with bigger windows tended to 
 
 eaken the Mipporls of the vaults, and the builders tool 
 
 md t< i rebuild the llvinu buttresses.
 
 I 10 KLY CATHEDRAL 
 
 Beautiful stalls were' then put up the carved panels arc 
 modern and for the ancient white marble tomb of St. 
 Ktheldreda a stone pedestal was erected. It is probably 
 that which now stands between tin- north piers of the 
 presbytery, in the third bay from the west ; portions of its 
 iron grilles may still be seen imbedded in the stone. On 
 this was placed the 1 Norman silver reliquary, "embossed 
 with man\' figures, with a golden majesty bla/ing in its 
 centre 1 , with countless jewels of crystal and pearl. on\ \ and 
 beryl, and amethyst and chalcedony." 
 
 Nor was this all. Alan designed tor his friend Prior 
 ( 'rauden a little chapel which would be the cynosure of any 
 other cathedral, but which passes almost unnoticed amid 
 the glories of Ely : no one should fail to visit it. 
 
 FOURTH PKKIOD.- -These are the three great building 
 periods at Ely. P>ul between 1350 and the- Dissolution 
 much interesting work was done. The monks continued 
 their improvements in the lighting of the cathedral, treating 
 the Norman nave very much as they had treated the 
 presbyter}', i.e., putting bigger windows in the aisles, and 
 also raising the aisle walls so as to get space tor larger 
 windows above, in the hope that more light might filter 
 through across the tnlorium into the nave. 
 
 Moreover, they added another story to the great West 
 tower, making it octagonal, perhaps in order to bring it 
 more into harmony with Alan'.s lantern. The additional 
 story threw more weight on the Norman arches below, 
 under which new strengthening arches had to be built: 
 this saved the tower. It is perhaps owing to pressure of 
 the tower that the northern arm of the western transept 
 collapsed. 
 
 To this period al>o belong the hammer-beam roots ol 
 the transepts, and the Ely Porta or \Valpolr (iate, which 
 was formerly the principal entrance into the precincts ol 
 the Abbey: it was built in 139^'. 
 
 In I4SS was erected the chantry chapel of P>i>hop Alcock 
 at the east end ot the north aisle ot the choir: and in 
 1534 that of Uishop U'cst in a similar position m the south
 
 KLY CATIIKDRAL I I I 
 
 aisle. They are perhaps the two most superb chantry 
 chapels in England, of marvellous richness and delicacy 
 and vigour. That of Bishop West is of exceptional interest 
 for the classical scrollwork above the doorway and on the 
 vault : also the handsome iron gate : one rarely sees in 
 an English cathedral the delicate art of the early Italian 
 Renaissance. In Bishop Alcock's chapel notice the frequent 
 passion-flower and the bishop's rebus- a cock on a globe ; 
 also the fan-vault with its big pendant. 
 
 Firm PKUIOD; POST-RKFOKMATION WORK. --In 1539 
 the monks were expelled ; the last Prior becoming the first 
 Dean. In if>99 Sir Christopher Wren contributed a classical 
 doorway to the north transept. The roofs ot the nave 
 and the lantern were [tainted c. 1862 by Mr I.e Strange 
 and Mr C.ambier Parry. To Sir (iilbert Scott is ductile 
 gorgeous rcredos. and he also removed the stalls from the 
 presbytery : the plan in Browne Willis' Surrey shews that 
 they originally stood in the octagon. 
 
 MINUK WORK. The cathedral abounds in interest : only 
 some of the more important memorials can be enumerated 
 here, (i) Starling from the extreme east end, between 
 West and Alcock's chapels, in the easternmost arch on the 
 south side is the monument of Cardinal Luxemburg, 1443. 
 (2} In the easternmost bav of the sontli aisle, bv the wall. 
 
 is what remains of the tomb ot Bishop Hotham, 1337. 
 (4) Beneath the next arch to the west is the tomb of John 
 Tiptoft. Karl of Worcester, beheaded in 1470: beside him 
 are elligics of his two wives. (=;) Under tin- next arch is 
 the base ot the tomb of Bishop Barnett. 1373. (6) Under 
 the iiiAt arch is the beautiful monument of Bishop William 
 de Kuda. i 2<)S. resembling in style the Winchester stall work 
 and the monuments of Edmund Crouchback and Avcline 
 in Westminster Abbev. (7) In the centre of the aisle is 
 the brass ol Bishop (ioodrich. 1554. (S) Next is the brass 
 ot Dean I vndall. 1614. (9) Cross the presbytery to the 
 north (//>/<, noticing the difference in the thirteenth and 
 fourteenth ceiituiA vaults ot presbytery and choir On the
 
 112 
 
 F.LY CATIIKDKAL 
 
 k'ft of the north doorway of the presbytery is the monument 
 of Bishop Redman, 1505. (10) Now we proceed up the 
 aisle eastward. First comes the effigy of Bishop Kilkenny, 
 1256. (11) Next is what is probably the pedestal of 
 St. Ethcldreda's shrine, now out of place, as are the Hi,uh 
 Altar, the stalls, and nearlv cvcrvthintj else, as the result 
 
 
 of divers restorations. (12) Next come.-, the beautiful 
 effigy ot Bishop Xorthwold. 1254; "si monumentum 
 < linens, cireumspice. (13) 'I'hen we retrace our steps: 
 and leaving the north choir aisle. have immediately to the 
 ri-'ht the monument of Dean Caesar, 1636. (14) On the 
 ei^ht L^rcat corbels ot the octagon arc carved scenes from 
 the life of St. Ktheldreda. (iz) Half-wax down the sohtli
 
 ELY CATHEDRAL I 13 
 
 aisle oj the nave is the lower p;irt of u seventh-century cross 
 with ;in inscription to Ovin, the steward of St. Ktheldreda : - 
 
 LUCEM Tl'AM OVINO 
 
 DA DEl'S ET REQUIEM 
 
 AMEN. 
 
 BiHi.iOdRAi'ny. First stands the admirable Architectural History of 
 Ely Ca//i,'t/ra/. by Rev. 1). J. Stewart, 1868. Bentham published in 
 1771 a valuable history of the cathedral. Archdeacon Chapman has 
 recently edited specimens of the fabric A'a/ls in two volumes. A good 
 local handbook, revised by various Deans, and published by Mr G. II. 
 Tyndall, Minster Place, Eh', gives a long list of hooks and documents 
 relating to the cathedral.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. PETER, EXETER 
 
 Hrn.T TOR SI-X-ULAR CANONS 
 
 IN the days <if the so-called Heptarchy, the divisions of 
 the Church followed those of the State. The diocese 
 ol Lichfield was conterminous with the kingdom ol 
 Mereia. In the same way the diocese of Winchester was 
 coextensive with the kingdom of Wessex. Thus I )cvon- 
 shirc, so far as it had been colonised by Anglo-Saxons 
 before the eighth century, formed part of the diocese of 
 Winchester. Hut these vast dioceses were too cumbrous 
 to work. They had to be subdivided. So a western 
 diocese was lopped off from Winchester, and a bishop of 
 Sherbornc was appointed as its head. I hen. as the far 
 west grew in population and importance, two more bishoprics 
 were created those of ( Yediton and Cornwall. These two. 
 however, were 1 soon amalgamated: and Cornwall ha-> had 
 no bishop of its own from the Conquest till the recent 
 formation of the bishopric of Truro. 
 
 lust before the Norman Conquest, bishop Leofric 
 removed his see from the open town of Crediton to the 
 walled city of Kxetcr. largely in consequence of attack^ of 
 Scandinavian pirates. At Exeter Leofric found a Mene- 
 dictine monastery, dedicated to St. Mary and St. Peter. 
 This conventual church he made his cathedral. "Heuas 
 installed in the episcopal chair bv Edward the Confessor, 
 who supported his right arm. and Oueen Eadgytha his left' : 
 representations of which were inserted in the fourteenth- 
 century sedilia, The Benedictine monks were removed by 
 the Confessor to his new abbey at Westminster, and Eeolric 
 supplied their place by a body of Secular Canons, who lived
 
 KXKTKK ('ATIIKI)KAL 
 
 together, however, and to some extent observed monastic 
 discipline'. Leofric was left undisturbed in his bishopric 
 till his death, 1072. His successor, also, though a Norman, 
 
 MONUMENTS 
 
 J 3' SIMON DC aPULIfl 
 
 * 3' HALTCB BBONESCOMBC 
 
 S Z/R J GILBERT 
 
 6. MfiRTHfl Z-J" FURSMAM 
 
 7. 3? CHICHESTER. 
 8 HUMPHRY BOfiUN 
 
 . or hceEFoeo 
 
 10 3" IV. COTTON 
 
 3 . B* JOHN THE CH^.\ TO/3 
 1 ,'J J/IS f COUDTENAY 
 
 /! .T-JOHN THE BAPTIST CH^.^E_ 
 3 CHAPEL OF THL~ HOLY' GHOST 
 C CH^PCt. X. CONSISTO/5Y COUBT 
 
 was l : .ngl]>li and conser\'ati\'c- by training; the venerable 
 AngloSaxoii church was good enough lor him. l!ut 
 \Villiain \\'arelwast ( 11 07-1 i 28) was a great building prelate,
 
 I 1 6 K \KTKR CATHEDRAL 
 
 and it was he who commenced the existing cathedral. 
 Fxetcr cathedral, therefore, was commenced much later 
 than most of tin- Norman cathedrals. 
 
 Up to 1551, the see of Fxeter was one of the greatest 
 pri/es in the Church of Fngland. And its bishops were in 
 nearly all cases men ol the highest ability, rank, and import- 
 ance. It possessed thirty-two manors, fourteen palaces- - 
 two in Cornwall, nine in Devonshire, one in Surrey, one in 
 London, of which Fxeter Street, Strand, is a reminder. The 
 present value of the income of the set; would be at least 
 ,100,000. The first of the Protestant bishops was Miles 
 Coverdale, who with Tyndale translated the Bible. Seth 
 Ward (1662-1667) "cast out the buyers and sellers who had 
 usurped the cathedral, and therein kept distinct shops to 
 vend their wares." In the evil days of the Puritans the 
 cathedral had been divided into two churches by a vast 
 whitewashed wall, built on the choir-screen and separating 
 choir from nave. The Independents worshipped in the 
 nave, the Presbyterians in the choir. Here they had what 
 they called "great quiet and comfort," till Seth Ward pulled 
 the wall down. Seth Ward's restoration of the cathedral 
 cost him 2 5,000 ---representing a far greater sum now- 
 adays. He put the cathedral in substantial repair: and the 
 restoration by Sir G. G. Scott, in 1870, did little damage. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD BISHOP WARKI.WA>T (1107-1136) AND 
 BISHOP CHICHKSTKR (i 138-1 r 55). Nothing remains of the 
 church of the Anglo-Saxon monastery ; nor is there any 
 earlv Norman work, for, as we have seen, that church was 
 
 in the twelfth century a Norman cathedral was commenced 
 by William Warehvast, nephew ol the Conqueror. That 
 cathedral included both the existing towers ; it also included 
 an aisled nave ot the same dimensions as the present one. 
 For the narrowed span ol the westernmost arches of the 
 pier-arcade is to be accounted lor only on the supposition 
 of the existence, to the west, of the wall of a pre-existing 
 west front, and the immensely thick west wall of the nave 
 has been found to have a Norman core : moreover the lower
 
 EXETER CATHEDRAL 
 
 117 
 
 parts of Norman buttresses, pilasters, and plinths, and one 
 base, have been found in the walls of the north and south 
 aisles of the nave ; while traces of an apse have been found 
 at the end of the third bay of the northern ehoir aisle. So 
 it is plain that the twelfth-century cathedral had west front, 
 nave- and aisles, transeptal towers, a choir of three bays, 
 and probably an apse at the end of the choir, flanked by 
 smaller apses ; the towers also may have had eastern apses. 
 
 Transeptal towers are rare abroad and unknown in England, 
 except at Ottery St. Mary, where the church was made 
 collegiate and rebuilt by (irandisson, bishop of Exeter, in 
 the lourteenth century. From the advanced type of masonry 
 and ornament it is likely that the towers arc' not earlier than 
 the middle ol the century. If the cathedral was built as 
 rapidly as Durham, it might have been completed as earl}' 
 as i 150 by Bishop Chichester, who is recorded to have been 
 "a liberal contributor to the buildings of his church.'' But
 
 Il8 EXKTF.R CATIIKDRAT. 
 
 as a matter of fact the works dragged on to the end of 
 the century, till the time of Bishop Marshall (1194-1206). 
 The probability is that the nave- \vas his work ; for on its south 
 aisle wall are three consecration crosses, two complete and 
 one only blocked out. which may well belong to his period. 
 
 With regard to the work of Bishop .Marshall enormous 
 confusion has arisen. Hoker ( i 540- 1 583) says that Marshall 
 "finished the building of his church according to the plat 
 and foundation which his predecessors had laid." This 
 plainly means that he finished the Norman cathedral of 
 \\arelwast and ('hichester. Unfortunately, Archdeacon 
 Freeman, in compiling his Architectural f/isforv <>f AViv/tv 
 Ciitlicdral from the Fabric Rolls, misunderstanding the 
 architectural evidence, asserts that Marshall laid out and 
 partially built all the eastern chapels, and that he also 
 actually completed and vaulted the existing presbytery. 
 This account was followed by the writer with considerable 
 hesitation in the first edition of tin's volume; but a second 
 visit to Kxctcr convinced him ot its utter improbability, a 
 condition which wa> changed to certainty on the publication 
 of a paper on Kxcter cathedral bv 1'rotessor Lethaby in 
 1903. There is in reality no documentary and no archi- 
 tectural evidence for Freeman's hypothesis. 
 
 SKCOXD I'KKion BISHOP Bkn-.kK. 1224-1244.- It was 
 this bishop who made over "to ( iod and the ('hurch of 
 St. Marv and St. Peter sufficient ground to make a ( 'hapter 
 house," the lower part of which still remains. Bt'uerc gave 
 the cathedral body it-- present constitution : dean, precentor. 
 chancellor, treasurer, and canons; u is natural that he 
 should have constructed I "or them their ("napter house, with 
 its line arcading. 1'robablv also when he built his ('hapter 
 house, he built the round headed doorway at the north end 
 of the east walk of the cloister, to give access to the ( 'hapter 
 house from the south aisle ot the nave. It is possible that 
 Bruere also commenced the stalls (now gone-) with their 
 beautiful misericords; but they cannot have been com- 
 pleted till after his death : tor one of them has a li I el ike carv- 
 ing ot an elephant, a creature not seen in Hngland till i- 
 
 -
 
 KXKTKK CATHEDRAL I If) 
 
 THIRD PKKIOD. It was Bishop Bronescombe, and not 
 
 Marshall, who, between c. 1270 and 1280, laid out the great 
 eastern extensions and gave 1 the cathedral the plan which 
 we sec.' now. The object here, as elsewhere, was to increase 
 the length of the sanctuary, to get a dignified eastern Lady 
 chapel as well as other chapels he added chapels of St. 
 Andrew and St. James, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Gabriel 
 to the eastern limb, and St. Edmund's, north-west of the 
 nave to get a processional aisle or ambulatory all round 
 the presbytery and choir, keeping it clear of the chapels, 
 and arranging for all these parts to be thoroughly well 
 lighted, and, finally, to transfer the stalls from the crossing 
 to a choir in the western bays of the eastern limb. More- 
 over, tall pointed arches were substituted for low semicircular 
 arches opening from the towers to the crossing. At this 
 time also were built the rectangular eastern chapels of the 
 towers; "in these chapels the plinth of the internal window- 
 shafts, below the over-sailing member of the base, is circular, 
 as it also is in the chapels of St. Mary Magdalene and St. 
 (iabriel ; while throughout the choir aisles west of the 1 retro- 
 choir, and in the first bay of the nave, the plinths are 
 octagonal. In the choir chapels of St. Andrew and St. 
 James thev are circular too, but there is no over-sailing 
 member above them." All this work was begun, but 
 certainly not all finished by Broneseombe. It is known 
 definitely that the opening up of the towers was going on in 
 12X0: and that he arranged in 1280 to be buried in the 
 new chapel of St. (iabriel, then nearly finished; "fere de 
 novo constructa. 1 ' As for the rest, the similarity of their 
 details to that of St. Gabriel's chapel is evidence that they 
 were planned and begun by Broneseombe. The plan of 
 Kxetcr cathedral, therefore, as we see it now. one of the 
 most admirable in the Middle Ages, is to be credited to 
 IJishop Broneseombe. 
 
 The windows north and south of the retro choir probably 
 belong to his time. The lower lights of these- window^ are 
 lancets; the circles in the head are cusped. I he side 
 window^ of the chapels of' St. Mary Magdalene and St,
 
 f2O 
 
 EXETER CATHEDRAL
 
 EXETER CATHEDRAL 121 
 
 (Jabriel, on cither side of the Lady chapel, also have geo- 
 metrical tracery earlier than that of the Lady chapel, and 
 may be attributed to Bronescombe. 
 
 FOURTH PKRIOD.~--.SO vast a work as that described 
 above could not possibly be finished by Bronescombe : 
 especially if, as is evident from the character of the window 
 tracery, which is considerably more advanced than that of 
 Westminster Chapter house (1255), it was not begun till 
 the- later years of his episcopate. Its completion and 
 extension was handed over to his successor, Peter Quivil. 
 This bishop finished the remodelling of the transepts, and 
 no doubt the greater part of the work in various chapels 
 begun by Bronescombe j then he went on to build a new 
 presbytery, which, as the plan shews, could be done without 
 disturbing as yet the eastern limb of the Norman church : 
 hence he is styled "primus fundator novi operis '' : i.e., he 
 was the first to set about the rebuilding of the main body 
 ol the church. As payments for marble columns to John 
 of ( 'orfe go on till i2(;n, it is probable that Ouivil did not 
 live- long enough to finish even the ground story of the 
 presbytery. Nevertheless the design of the whole interior 
 and exterior must have been definitely decided upon in 
 Ouivil's time, and its general lines were adhered to till the 
 very end. With the exception of the addition of a triforium 
 arcade with a pierced balustrade above, and the introduction 
 of flowing tracery in some of the western windows of the 
 nave, the mam features of the- cathedral right up to the far 
 west doors are as they were designed in the closing years 
 of the thirteenth century. It is, of course', this exceptional 
 unit\- and harmony of design that makes Kxeter what it is 
 one of tin: most satisfactory mediaeval interiors in this 
 country. In cathedrals such as Rochester and Ely a 
 Norman nave jars on a Gothic choir; or, as at Lincoln 
 and York, two styles of (lothic mingle and conflict. IJut 
 at Exeter, looking forward from west to east, hardly anything 
 obtrudes on the original design. In no other cathedral, 
 except Salisbury, do \\e find similar unity of design; but 
 m the design of Salisbury simplicity becomes bareness and
 
 122 EXETF.K CATHEDRAL 
 
 poverty. It cannot be compared for one moment with the 
 richness of the interior of Exeter. Yet greater unit}' and 
 harmony is gamed by the way in which the battlements 
 and pinnacles, flying buttresses, and cresting weld together 
 the exterior, and the high vaults the interior, as at Norwich. 
 The adherence, too. tor so long a time to ISishop nuivil's 
 design is interesting, because' it shews that in the earlv 
 years of tlie fourteenth century there was at Exeter, as at 
 ISeverlev, Westminster, Ely. and St. . \lbans. a strong current 
 in the direction of conservation of good design. 1'iers and 
 vaulting and bosses and corbels and triforium and windows 
 of the nave, built long after he was dead and gone, are all 
 but reproductions of Omvil's earlv work. Most remarkable 
 of all. perhaps, is the adherence to the early tracery patterns 
 the rose, the hlv. and the wheel. Even tin- great west 
 window, one of the last works, is but Ouivil's straight-spoked 
 wheel translated into flowing curves. Ouivil was bishop 
 from i2<So-i2yi ; he was buried in the centre of the I.adv 
 chapel, which even then was not finished, for its vaults 
 were not painted till 1301. His successor completed Ouivil's 
 work in the presbytery. 
 
 It is worth while to turn aside for a moment and look 
 at some of the [tiers hereabout : no church, here or abroad, 
 possesses more noble arcade's than Exeter. The piers of 
 the l.ady chapel looking into the side chapels arc- 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 laces, and the 
 angles to the north, west, south, and east. The piers all 
 consist of "vast horixontal slices of Purbcck marble, from 
 nine to lit teen inches thick " : the arches of native sandstone. 
 This profuse use of marble gives the interior of Exeter a 
 magnificence rare in England; only surpassed bv Un- 
 churches of Italv. The colour contrast too between the 
 blue-grey marble of the piers, the yellow sandstone of the 
 arches, and the white Caen stone above, is delightful.
 
 KXETER CATHEDRAL 
 
 123 
 
 FIFTH PKRIOD. The next tiling was to rebuild or re- 
 model the choir. Hitherto the eastern work had all been 
 done on clear ground. ISut west of the new presbytery 
 there was standing a substantial Norman choir. At West- 
 
 minster Abbey the Normal) work was demolished to make 
 room lor (iothic; but at K\eter, as so often elsewhere, it 
 was as far as possible retained. The aisle-walls were 
 retained: alon- the south side of the choir for three bays 
 the Norman plinth may still be seen. Secondlv. the
 
 124 EXETKR CATHEDRAL 
 
 clerestory wall of the- choir is 12 in. thicker than that 
 of the presbytery ; it must be the old Norman clerestory 
 wall cased over. Thirdly, the piers of the choir are 9 in. 
 greater in diameter than those of the presbyter}' : this is 
 because they have to support the thick Norman clerestory 
 wall : the extra thickness, however, of these piers is thrown 
 into the aisle and is not noticed from the choir. It would 
 seem as if the builders took away both piers and arches 
 from underneath the Norman clerestory wall, and put in 
 new ones, without bringing the wall down a kind of 
 engineering feat which the mediaeval builders undertook 
 with a light heart. This work in the choir went on chiefly 
 in the time of Bishop Bitton (1292-1307): the bosses of 
 the vaults were carved and ready for erection in 1303. The 
 glazing of the windows, however, was not completed, nor 
 were the stalls re-moved into the new choir, till after his 
 death. 
 
 It will be noticed that at the west end of the choir, on 
 either side, there is an arch only 2.', ft. wide. It is likely 
 that here stood the two great eastern piers of the crossing ; 
 in which case the remodelled choir would extend westward 
 up to their eastern faces. The intention probably was to 
 retain them as supports of a central tower. But when the 
 rebuilding of the nave was begun, any such intention seems 
 to have been abandoned. The result would be that for 
 each Norman pier plus a Gothic respond, it would be 
 necessary to substitute two (lothic piers bridged by a narrow 
 arch. When, however, the rebuilding of the nave was 
 commenced, the difficulty was got over more simply by 
 making the new easternmost arch in the nave 15 in. broader 
 than those to the west of it. 
 
 SIXTH I'KRIOD. -Much was still left to be done in the 
 choir : and it was done by Bishop Staplcdon ( i ^oS i 327 >. In 
 the first place there was a complete break in the treatment 
 of the intermediate stage, or tntorium ol the choir and 
 presbytery respectively. In the choir Baton's tntorium 
 chamber had in front of it the little arcade which still exists. 
 15 ut in the presbytery Ouivii's clerestory windows were spla\ ed
 
 KXETEK CATHEDRAL 125 
 
 down till they rusted on the summits of the pier- arches ; to 
 the same line were continued downward the shafts in the 
 jambs of his windows, somewhat as may be seen at Pershore. 
 This diversity of treatment of the two halves of the eastern 
 limb must have had a very discordant effect; and Stapledon 
 in 1318 corrected it by adding a triforium to the east, in 
 such a way that though the eastern arcading is not so dee]) 
 as the western, yet in perspective the difference is hardly 
 noticed. 1'robably the next thing was to gla/.e the remainder 
 of the sixty choir windows, only nineteen of which were 
 tilled with stained glass at Stapledon's accession. It seems 
 likely that nearly all the stained glass for the choir and the: 
 transepts came from abroad Irom Rouen. For the nave, 
 later on, the place of the laity, Knglish glass, cheaper and 
 not so good, was thought sufficient. The glass was inserted 
 by Walter le Ycrrouer (he has descendants still living in 
 FAeter), at the moderate 1 price of six shillings for a fortnight's 
 work, of himself and "two boys,'' for one pair of clerestory 
 windows. Hitherto the clergy had sat in the transept and 
 the eastern bays of the 1 nave ; now, as in many other 
 cathedrals, beginning with Canterbury, the 1 stalls were 
 moved into the 1 western hays of the choir; this was in 1310. 
 (The pivsent canopies of these stalls are modern.) Next 
 came the 1 bishop's throne (A. D. 1316), intended for his Lord- 
 ship 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 ft. The lightness of its ascending stage's 
 almost rivals the famous 'sheaf of fountains' of the Nurcm- 
 be-rg tabernacle. The cost of this vast and exquisitely 
 carved canopy (about twelve guineas) is surprisingly small, 
 even for those 1 days. The carved work consists chiefly of 
 foliage, with linials of great beauty, surmounting tabernacled 
 nil lies, with a sadly untenanteel look, however, for lack of 
 their statuettes. The 1 pinnacle 1 corners are enriched with 
 heads of oxen, sheep, dogs, pigs, and monkeys." Next 
 came what is perhaps the most exquisite work in stone in 
 Finland, as the 1 throne 1 is unparalleled in woodwork the 
 seelilia, c. 1318; the seats of the priest to the east, anil to
 
 126 
 
 the west <>l him. those ol the Gospeller and Kpistolcr. 
 These scdilia have been preferred even to the Percy tomb 
 at Beverley and the a reading of the Lady chapel of Lly. 
 "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, winch meet at the point and 
 there form a fmial ; and never did Greek sculptor, of the 
 best age, trace a more- exact portrait ol the leal ot the vine, 
 nor design a more graceful wreath, nor execute his design 
 with a more masterly finish." The design of the sedilia 
 passed on to the monuments of Kdward II. at Gloucester, 
 those of the I )espensers at Tewkesburv, and even to lar 
 away Avignon, where the great monument of Pope Jean 
 XXII., erected in 1345, is beyond doubt copied from these 
 Knglish examples. The tabernacled canopies of the later 
 stalls, beginning with those ot Lincoln, c. 1370. are but 
 renderings in wood of the design of the Lxetcr sedilia. Then 
 came the great work of all--the high altar, with its reredos. 
 perhaps the most magnificent in Lurope : the cost of it would 
 amount now to about ^4.800. Of this not a fragment 
 remains. Finallv. the choir was closed in with a great 
 screen to the west (1317-1324), and on it was placed an 
 organ: the ancient and best position fora cathedral organ. 
 The accounts shew that 500 Ibs. of iron bars were used to 
 hold the screen together, and that the Rood. Mary and 
 |ohn. rested on an iron beam high above tin- choir screen. 
 To iiishop Staplcdon also may be attributed the crossing 
 and the first bay of the nave. It is possible that they were 
 begun by Mishop Hilton, bul they were certainly nol finished 
 by him. tor windows hereabout were being gla/ed in 1317 
 and 1318. The presbyter}', choir, crossing, and first ba\ of 
 the nave musi have been nearly finished by 1327. ihe year 
 ot Mishop Stapledon's death, lor there was a consecration by 
 Hishop Grandisson in the following year. One other work 
 is attributed to Siapledon. vi/.. the cloistered walk as far as 
 the doorway of the ( 'hapler house. "The cathedral of 
 Lxcter. as Stapledon,s successor wrote lo the Pope. " now 
 finished up to the nave, is marvellous in beautv. and when
 
 KXKTKK CATI1KDKAL 
 
 127 
 
 completed, will surp.iss every Oothic church in Kn^land or 
 in !' ranee. 
 
 SKVKNTH PERIOD. Bishop Grandisson (1327-1369) was 
 
 "tin. 1 most magnificent prelate who ever filled the sec ol 
 
 I'Aeter." He had been nuncio to the Pope at the minis ol 
 
 blest princes of Christendom. He was even stronu:
 
 128 EXKTKR CATHEDRAL 
 
 enough to bar the way to Archbishop Mcopham, of ( 'antcr- 
 bury, when he attempted to enforce a visitation of the 
 cathedral, Great as were his riches and magnificence, he 
 was a good man of business. He lived forty years Bishop 
 of Exeter ; finished his cathedral, did many great works 
 elsewhere. 1 , and yet died wealthy. Stapledon, we have; seen, 
 had finished one bay of the nave. It remained for Grandis- 
 son to complete the remaining seven bays. The piers of 
 the nave were erected by 1334; the whole work was com- 
 plete in 1345. Stapledon had commenced the Cloister; 
 Grandisson built the north walk, running, in curious fashion, 
 under a second and outer range of flying buttresses, as does 
 the cloister of Westminster. The. west front (except the 
 west screen) was now built or remodelled, but not the fan- 
 vaulting of the north entrance, which is later. And the 
 curious chapel of St. Radegunde in the thickness of the 
 west wall he remodelled, to form his mortuary chapel, 
 expecting there ever to lie, looking towards the nave where 
 his work had been done. But his tomb was destroyed by 
 Elizabeth's Visitors, and his ashes were scattered to the 
 winds. 
 
 As we stand near his empty grave, we sec 1 before us the 
 whole of the great mediaeval design, that was due in incep- 
 tion to Bronescombe, and was realised and consummated 
 by Quivil, Bitton, Stapledon, and Grandisson, in the eight}' 
 years between 1270 and 1350. Professor Lethaby estimates 
 that lor these seventy- five years the annual expenditure was 
 ^/,2Oo; so that the whole cathedral cost ^/, 16,000, or about 
 ^240,000 of our money, which compares favourably with 
 the expenditure on Ely presbytery, which cost ^/, 1^.120 per 
 bay, whereas the cost of each of the bays at Kxeter was 
 about ,/, '3-333- What strikes one first is that with revenues 
 so immense, the bishops should have been satisfied with a 
 cathedral so small its area is less than halt that of York. 
 On the other hand, at York, owing to the vast dimensions 
 of the new cathedral, commenced soon alter the new 
 work at Kxeter, the builders were unable to vault it in 
 stone.
 
 Secondly, one wonders th;it they allowed their hands to 
 be fettered, their design to be cramped, by the preservation 
 not only of the aisle-walls, but of the clerestory of Warel- 
 wast's cathedral. But it is just in the subjugation of these 
 limitations, in converting them into the special glory and 
 distinction of the Exeter design, that the genius of Quivil's 
 architect shines forth most vividly. He was limited by the 
 area of the old cathedral to north, south, and west ; not even 
 the tiny transepts might be enlarged. Hut what was more 
 serious, he was limited as to height. For instead of clearing 
 away the clerestory of the Norman choir, as was done at 
 (iloucester, it was determined to retain it, merely supplying 
 it with a new arcade, triforium, and clerestory windows. The 
 (Iloucester clerestory, not being fettered, soared high into 
 the air ; that of Exeter had perforce to be low and squat. 
 He set to work to make the best of the situation. It was 
 not for him to emulate the lotty vaults of Salisbury and 
 Westminster. It would seem, indeed, that the first intention 
 of Ouivil's architect was to give the presbytery an even lower 
 vault than the present ; for the springers, i.e., the lower parts 
 of the ribs, of the vault are of a different and flatter curve 
 than the upper parts of the ribs, and if continued would 
 produce a vault 4 or 5 ft. lower than the present one. 
 While the work was going on, however, the builders 
 sharpened the curve of the vault and built it as we see it 
 now. Still, the church had to be low ; the lowness of the 
 choir had conditioned that of the presbytery : it was also to 
 condition that of the nave. 
 
 The internal elevation, then, for a Gothic church of 1280, 
 had to be exceptionally low. So it was determined it was 
 an intuition of genius to see what could be done in design 
 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 an- everywhere in the aisles, in the clerestory, 
 in choir, chapels, transepts, and nave; even in the great 
 
 9
 
 130 l.XKTKR CATHEDRAL 
 
 window (it tin- western I'ront : broad and low windows 
 everywhere. 
 
 Still motv original is the external realisation of the design : 
 mitral tower and spire, western towers and spires, alike are 
 absent. Long ami low. massive and stable, stretches out 
 uninterruptedly the long horizontal line of nave and choir. 
 Breadth gives in itsell the satisfactory feeling of massiveness. 
 steadfastness, and solidity : and this is just what is wanting in 
 the ail-too aerial work of Gloucester and Beauvais : vaulted 
 icofs at a di/./y 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 
 walk 
 
 But an interior may easily be made too massive; it it is 
 not to be a Salisbury cathedral, it need not be a Newgate 
 gaol. How was the prison-like appearance of an interior 
 but 68 ft. high, with a stone vault of exceptionally heavy 
 appearance weighing it down, to be avoided? How was 
 oppressive heaviness to be counteracted ? Triumphantly, by 
 transparency. By stretching out the windows from buttress 
 to buttress, aisle and clerestory became practically one 
 continuous .sheet of glass : the church was flooded with light 
 and atmosphere : the heavy vault seemed to float in the air. 
 b< irne up but by the lilies and roses and wheels of the windt >v>' 
 tracery and rows of painted saints in tabernacles of silver or 
 of gold. There is no heaviness even now in the interior of 
 Exeter: though the silvery panes of the choir, the golden 
 glass of the nave, have perished long ago. 
 
 Another distinctive feature in Exeter, as in Salisbury, is 
 that the architect produces his effect mainlv by architectural 
 means- is not driven to rely on sculpture. All the principal 
 capitals have moldings, not foliage. Only in the great 
 corbels of the vaulting-shafts and in the bosses of the vault 
 does he permit himself foliage and sculuture. Wonderful
 
 KXKTER CATIIKDRAL 131 
 
 carving it is ; the finest work of the best period, when the 
 naturalistic treatment of foliage was fresh and young. Very 
 remarkable are the corbels with their lifelike treatment of 
 vine and grape, oak and acorn, ha/.el leaf and nut, thorn 
 and sycamore and fig, "as crisp and fresh," says a Devon- 
 shire man, "as if the dew were on them/' Unfortunately 
 the.' corbels, and still more the bosses, are so high up that 
 their lovely detail is thrown away ; and the corbels are (nit 
 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; so that 
 when you have seen one, you have seen all. Here, all down 
 each side of the church, almost every window differs. In 
 dimensions, in general character, they agree; in details they 
 differ ; each window is a fresh delight ; \ve have what 
 even in Ciothic architecture we rarely get diversity within 
 similarity. 
 
 Another striking feature of the design is its perfect bilateral 
 symmetry. Gothic churches are, as a rule, most irregular, 
 most unsymmetrical in outline; as a consequence, very 
 picturesque. It is a mistake, however, to believe that they 
 are intentionally unsymmetrical and picturesque. A Gothic 
 architect no more aimed at irregularity than did the architect 
 of the Parthenon. Only he was not a purist on the subject. 
 If practical requirements <?.,i, r ., the needs of ritual made it 
 necessary to break in on the lines of a symmetrical design, 
 he broke in on them without the slightest hesitation ; the 
 building had to conform to its destination. But where a 
 single design could be carried through from end to end, 
 it was as symmetrical as a Classical temple. So it is at 
 Salisbury : so it is at Exeter. Every window has its exact 
 counterpart on the other side of nave and choir. Transept 
 answers to transept, screen to screen, St. |ohn the Baptist's 
 chapel to St. Paul's, St. Andrew's chapel to St. James', 
 St. George's chapel to St. Saviour's, St. Mary Magdalene's 
 chapel to St. Gabriel's. But the architect was not so 
 infatuated with the idea of symmetry as to place a porch
 
 132 KXKTKK r.VrilKDKAI. 
 
 on the south side because there was one on tin: north, 
 or a chapter house on the north because there was one on 
 the south: which is what academic professors of Classic 
 architecture would have done. 
 
 \\ e have si-en how the design gained special distinction 
 from the very limitations imposed by the lowness of the 
 early choir, the upper parts of which it was desired to 
 preserve. It was again to the early design that Exeter owes 
 another distinction among English interiors. In the early 
 design the towers were just those which we still see : there 
 was no central tower. The very fact that it was ultimately 
 decided not to build a central tower, and be like everybody 
 else, shews what backbone and insight the men had. 
 Cathedrals without central towers were as rare in mediaeval 
 England as cathedrals with central towers are rare in the He de 
 France. Yet no central tower was built at Exeter. Central 
 towers, standing as the}' do on four thin legs, are dangerous : 
 many have fallen ; others, like Salisbury, are always threaten- 
 ing to tall. Hut they are objectionable on another 
 ground. The great piers on which they stand are an 
 enormous block in the lengthened vista, which is the one 
 great charm of an English cathedral, as compared with the 
 lofty but short cathedrals of France. The fact that at 
 Exeter there is no tower over the crossing, and no tower- 
 piers in the way, produces the most open, uninterrupted, 
 and impressive vista of any cathedral in England. The 
 screen and organ being low, one sees the whole noble 
 design in one glance from far west to far east. We have 
 nothing like it : though it finds its counterpart in the great 
 French cathedral of Hourges. 
 
 Another point should be noticed. Although the four- 
 teenth-century nave is in nearly all important respects 
 designed in tin. 1 thirteenth-century manner the exception 
 being some windows with flowing tracery in the westernmost 
 bays of the nave yet the architects were not such purists 
 as to carry out their minor work in anything but the ^tyle of 
 their own day. Even in the thirteenth-century choir, all 
 the minor work is of fourteenth-century design -e.i r .. the
 
 EXKTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 133 
 
 great screen with its depressed ogee arches, tin: throne of 
 the bishop, the sedilia. 
 
 KIGHTH I'KKion. With the completion of the nave the 
 great structural revolution came to an end. For convenience 1 
 sake we have divided it into periods ; but the work seems to 
 have gone on practically continuously from the days of 
 Bishop Bronescombe, c. 1270, to those of Bishop Orandis- 
 son, {-. 1350 and later. Indeed before the nave was finished, 
 
 Cirandisson seems to have set to work on the west front. 
 By the end of the century the whole of the west front, 
 including the Image screen, was completed. To this period 
 also may be assigned a south and probably a west walk 
 of the cloister. The great east window was substituted by 
 Bishop Brantyngham (1370 1304) for an earlier one. either 
 because its tracery had decayed, or because it was 1111 
 suitable for stained irlass. 'I 'he so called " Minstrels' ( iallerv "
 
 134 EXETER CATHEDRAL 
 
 was put up as an afterthought, the- earlier work bring cut 
 into to rrrrivr it. It is high up on the north side of the 
 nave, and was probably intruded to br used in the choral 
 services on Palm Sunday, when the procession would pass 
 brnrath it il it entered the church by the north doorway 
 of the nave. 
 
 In the fifteenth century the towers were crowned with 
 battlements and turn-is, as we sec them now. The upper 
 part of the Chapter house was rebuilt. Bishop Stafford 
 erected canopies over monuments in the Lady chapel 
 (1395-1419). The work includes a fan-vaulted entrance 
 contrived in the northern part of the western screen, and 
 later, 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. Oeorge's) on the north 
 and in addition, Prior Sylke's chantry in 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 proceeding from the beak of each little owl. 
 To Bishop Stafford and Bishop Oldham (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 Sylkr's chantry, and add fresh beauty to 
 the beautiful choir. 
 
 Whatever else, then, the student and lover of ( Inline 
 architecture omits, he must not fail to visit Kxetrr. 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 con- 
 sequently uninterrupted vista, the singleness and unity o| 
 the whole design, the remarkable system of proportions, 
 based on breadth rather than height, the satisfying mas>i\v 
 ness and solidity of the building, inside and outside, the 
 magnificence of its Purbeck piers, the' delightful colour 
 contrast of marble column and sandstone arch, the ama/mg 
 diversity of the window tracer}', the exquisite carving ol the 
 corbels and bosses, the wealth ol admirable chantries, screens. 
 and monument^, the -uprrb sedilia. screen, and thrniie, the
 
 KXKTKR CATHEDRAL 135 
 
 misericords, the vaults, the remarkable engineering teat 
 from which its present form results, the originality of tin- 
 west front and of the whole interior and exterior, place 
 Kxeter cathedral in the' very forefront of the triumphs of 
 the mediaeval architecture of our country.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. PETER, GLOUCESTER 
 
 F>UII/r FOR IjKNKDICTIXK MONKS 
 
 The folloii'in^ is a convenient order for visit ing tin chnrcli. in Tht 
 crypt. (2) The K. chap, I of the .V. Iran.-, pi. ij) The choir aisks or 
 t>rocf.-sion path, with lh,' S.E. ami X.K. chap, Is. 14) '/'//, K. ,liap,i 
 of the N. transept. (5) The E. bays and N. aisle of the nare. (61 '/'//,- 
 vault of the nav, ami //it r, liquary in th, N. transept. (~ ) 77i, S. 
 aisle of the na-'e. (Si Edward //.'> tomb. 191 Th, ,V. Iran.-, pi. 1101 
 77^' i'hi>ir, with its stalhi'ork and ^lass. nil 7//r A'. I ran-, pi. 1121 
 '/'//< //'. /;v;//, .V. porch, and II'. /niy.; of the narf, 115) '///, Lady 
 fhapcl. (141 The upper aisle of the presbytery. (151 Ths cloisters. 
 ( l(>) Tile , xlcrior of the chnreh. 
 
 TH 1C foundation of (iloiicrstcr. like that of Ely. has 
 li'oiK- through many changes. In 681 it was founded 
 us a nunnery, and remained so till ;6g. In 821 it 
 was n -founded for secuhir ])ric-sts : who. in the time of 
 Canute, through the influence of Archbishop IHuistan. were 
 replaced l)_v Benedictine monks. It remained a Benedictine 
 monastery from 1022 till 1541. when it was placed on the 
 New Foundation, thus reverting to secular priests once 
 more. The abbe}' church then became a cathedral, with a 
 diocese carved out of that of Worcester. 
 
 KIRST I'KRIOU. It is recorded that A Id red. Bishop of 
 Worcester, "re-established the monks in io;8 and began to 
 build a new church from the foundations." It is usually held 
 that no part of his work remains : but in the crvpt then- is 
 Norman work o! two dates, the earlier part of which may be 
 Aldred's. It consists of a large number of small shafts with 
 capitals which are largely versions of the ( "orintliianes'jue 
 capital common on the ( ontinenl in the middle o| the 
 eleventh century : the bases also are ol classic outline. In
 
 GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 137 
 
 the centre of the erypt these interesting shafts stand free in 
 two rows; hut three more rows on either side exist, eased 
 up lor greater strength in Norman masonry added later. 
 
 f B? NICHOLSON 
 Z ABBOT SE&LO 
 3 ALD" BLACKLEACH 
 
 4, ABBOT SEABROOKE 
 
 5. D* E.JENNER 
 
 6 THOS. X CHPISTI/IN Mfl CHEN 
 
 7 ABBOT PARKEK 
 
 8 KING EDWARD H 
 
 9 KING OTPS1C 
 
 IO.ROB? DUKE OF NOf?MfiNDY 
 
 n JUDGE POWELL 
 
 12 fff COLDS BOROUGH 
 
 13 8* ELLICOTT 
 
 ft. y PHILIP'S CHflPEL 
 
 B S* ANDREW'S CHAPEL 
 
 C ABBOT SEABROOKES CHANTRy 
 
 D SOUTH POPCH 
 
 C r~ PAULS CHAPEL 
 
 H.A8BOT BOTELERS 
 
 CH/IPEL 
 
 d ha\ e built tin
 
 138 
 
 C.LOUCESTEK CATHEDRAL 
 
 crypt. It may be objected that the (Gloucester plan with 
 semicircular procession path and radiating chapels is too 
 advanced for io=;8: but there are reasons for believing that 
 Westminster abbey, as set out in 1050 had this same 
 penapsidal plan ; as also certainly Battle abbey, founded in 
 1067 : Winchester, begun in loycj ; and Worcester, to whose 
 diocese (Gloucester belonged, begun in 1084; there is a 
 marked resemblance between the crypts of Worcester and 
 (Gloucester; both are of an early type. Owing to the 
 preservation of its crypt, the penapsidal plan can be studied 
 better at (Gloucester than anywhere else. Its great merit 
 was that it provided a 7w processionum all round the 
 
 sanctuary, which did 
 not exist in such a 
 plan as that of Dur- 
 ham, with three par- 
 allel eastern apses 
 after the fashion of 
 the abbeys of Xor- 
 mandy. Moreover. 
 it provided three 
 eastern chapels in- 
 stead of two. and 
 readier access to 
 eachof these chapels. 
 The other lheor\ 
 
 with regard to the crvpt is that though the small shafts were 
 u'ot rcadv in Aldivd s time, yet the crypt was not commenced 
 till later. 
 
 'KRIOD.- The great bulk of the work was un- 
 one bv Abbot Serlo. who began his rule with, 
 but before his death had a hundred. Work 
 all afresh and a foundation stone was laid in 
 io8(). In i 100 the church was dedicated. It is impossible. 
 however, that the whole church wa> finished in eleven years : 
 prohahlv what was completed was the eastern limb with the 
 lower stage of the central tower and its abutments. It is 
 probable that in this work we see what formerlv existed at 

 
 GLOUCESTER CATIIKDRAL 
 
 Westminster in that part of the' Norman church there which 
 was begun by Kdward tin- Confessor in 1050 and dedicated 
 in 1066. The documentary evidence points to the existence 
 at Westminster of a sanctuary with a procession path, of 
 upper as well as of lower chapels, and of an upper as well 
 as a lower aisle encircling the sanctuary, and this upper 
 aisle- was probably vaulted, as at Gloucester, with a deini- 
 berceau or half-barrel vault. A demi-bcrceait in the same 
 position is to be seen in St. Stephen's, Caen, and the spring 
 ot one at Cerisy-la-Foret. In one respect Gloucester sur- 
 passes in planning all the Romanesque churches of Normandy 
 and Kngland ; in that, having a crypt, the three radiating 
 apses are each 
 three stories high, 
 thus providing 
 nine eastern 
 chapels. And if 
 to these be added 
 the chapels in 
 the eastern apses 
 of the transepts, 
 themselves also 
 three stories high, 
 we get the large 
 total of fifteen 
 chapels, an extra- 
 ordinary number for such an early date. In the provi- 
 sion of numerous chapels, which were essential in all tin- 
 greater mediaeval churches, Gloucester was exceptionally 
 successful. It had, moreover, a procession path. The 
 only thing which it did not have was a Saint's chapel at tin- 
 back of the High altar. I hit as Gloucester never had a local 
 saint, it never required such a chapel. The mother church, 
 Worcester, had in St. \Vulfstan and St. Oswald two local 
 saints, and in Gothic days had to reconstruct its eastern 
 limb in order to provide them with adequate local habitation. 
 Gloucester there-lore has remained to this da\ unaltered 
 in plan : except that in order to provide room tor a lull 
 
 TIIK TKIKOKII'M OK Al'SK
 
 140 r.I.OUCKSTKK (\\THKDKAL 
 
 monastic choir at tin- services of Our Lady, the easternmost 
 chapel has been twin- rebuilt on a larger scale. 
 
 By the construction of a crypt and by the utilisation of 
 the triforium chamber as an upper aisle, the east limb of 
 Gloucester practical!}' consists ol three churches ; one under- 
 ground, one on the ground floor, and one on the first floor : 
 the two latter exist in the present Westminster abbey, though 
 the upper church there has never been brought into use. 
 In spite of its great popularity among English builders, in 
 but few churches was the trifonum chamber ever used ; e.^'., 
 in Beverley a solid wall is interposed in front of it, while at 
 Lincoln it has no floor: frequently it has no windows; and 
 it is usually approached only by narrow corkscrew staircases. 
 Even when the triforium chamber was utilised, it was only 
 that of the eastern limb and the transept, not that of the 
 nave. 
 
 Gloucester chancel, as originally built, must have been 
 excessively dark ; that was the one defect in its planning : 
 it had no direct light at all from the aisles : it was dependent 
 for light on the clerestory windows, and on the small 
 amount of light that filtered across the upper aisle. Con- 
 sequently, when the nave was designed, a totally different 
 and very logical design was adopted. A triforium chamber 
 in the nave would have been of no ritualistic use : con- 
 sequently the 1 aisle roofs wen.- flattened, and the chamber 
 was made as low as possible. On the other hand, it 
 was determined to get as much light as possible out of 
 the windows of the aisle. These' therefore were to be both 
 lofty and broad. But there was a difficulty in the way. 
 On the north side of the nave was set out the- cloister. If 
 the north aisle windows were inserted low down they would 
 not have looked into the open air, but into the cloister. 
 It was then-lore necessary to set the windows so high up 
 that their sills were above the cloister roof. This meant 
 that the aisle-wall had to be exceedingly lofty. And of 
 course the pier arcade had to be exceedingly loftv also. 
 If it had been built low. very little light would ha\e suc- 
 ceeded in ivachum" the nuve from the hiL;li set windows of
 
 GI.OUCKSTKR CATHEDRAL 
 
 141 
 
 the aisle. Hence the extraordinarily lofty piers of (Glouces- 
 ter nave; which are even loftier than the)' look, for the 
 pavement has been raised above the original level. At 
 Norwich the piers are 15 ft. high, at (Gloucester the}' are 
 30 It. At Norwich the piers have a diameter of 7 ft. ; at 
 (Gloucester, though they are twice as lofty, of 6 ft. The 
 result of this disposition was to give an internal elevation 
 
 very unusual in Norman days. In Norwich the ground 
 story, trilonum chamber, and clerestory are 25, 24, 2^ ft. 
 high respectively; in (Gloucester nave they are 40, i o, 24; 
 the ground story being actually taller than the other two 
 stories put together. This is a peculiarly West of Kngland 
 arrangement ; all the examples, the Benedictine abbey 
 churches ol (Gloucester, Tcwkesbury, and IVrshore. art' in 
 the same district. Whence did this arrangement come ^
 
 142 <;LOUCKSTF.K CATIIKDRAI. 
 
 there is nothing of the sort in Normandy. It is not im- 
 possible that this also derives from the Norman nave of 
 Westminster, of whose design, however, nothing is known. 
 Kven on the Continent it is difficult to find a parallel, except 
 in the case of the loft}' cylinders of Tournus nave, to which 
 the early date of 946-970 is assigned, and which in any case 
 can hardly be later than the first half of the eleventh century. 
 As to the date of the nave of (Gloucester there is diversity 
 of opinion. l!ut it is known that the nave of Tewkesbury, 
 which is ruder in detail and therefore earlier, was not 
 consecrated till 1123; (Gloucester nave therefore was 
 probably not finished before c. 1130. It is only necessary 
 to compare the moldings of the pier -arches in the choir 
 and the groined vaults of the procession path with the 
 moldings of the pier-arches in the nave and the ribbed 
 vault of its north aisle, to be sure that a whole generation 
 must have elapsed between the two designs. The period 
 i i 10 to c. 1130 may well have been spent in substituting 
 for temporary sheds of wood permanent stone buildings in 
 the way of cloister, chapter house, dormitory, refectory, 
 cellarage, infirmary, guest houses, and other necessary appur- 
 tenances of a monastic- establishment of the very first rank. 
 
 The nave was originally longer than now, perhaps by 
 half a bay, and had two western towers or turrets. The 
 shortness of the nave, as well its internal elevation, and 
 the three - storied eastern limb, decisively mark oft this 
 church, with Tewkesbury and Pershore, from such example's 
 as Bury, Ely, Peterborough, Norwich, and Christehurch. 
 The three western churches form a distinct school ot their 
 own, the origin of which certainly is not to be found in 
 Normandy. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. In the thirteenth century very much 
 work was done, but much of it has disappeared. The north- 
 western tower had collapsed between 1163 and i i 80, and 
 was rebuilt in 1222. The south-western tower was rebuilt 
 between 1228 and 1243. A central tower is recorded to 
 have been built in 1222: this probably means that one 
 or two stories were added to a low Norman central tower.
 
 r.l.OtJOKSTKk CATIIKDRAL 143 
 
 A rectangular Lady chapel was substituted tor the eastern 
 most chapel in 1227 ; the form <>l the latter in Norman days 
 is determinable from its substructure in the crypt. At 
 the end of the north transept stands what Mr A. W. 1'ugin 
 was certain was a Reliquary. Others regard it as a lavatory, 
 obtaining a parallel from the one in Lincoln Minster. It 
 may have been the entrance to the thirteenth-century Lady 
 chapel, removed when the present Lady chapel was built : 
 but in those days there was no Society lor the Preservation 
 of Ancient Monuments, nor were the builders in the habit 
 of removing and preserving ancient work merely tor artistic 
 reasons. In its vault is exquisite detail. 
 
 (Gloucester was exceptionally unlucky in the way of fires, 
 marks of which may be seen on the nave piers. There 
 were great fires in 1088, 1101, 1122, 1179, and 1190. The 
 monks made up their mind to fircproot the nave by insert- 
 ing a vault under the roof ; this was executed in two sections, 
 as the work shews; one part is recorded to have been done 
 by the monks themselves, probably the part in which is 
 so much bungling. While the scaffolds were up, they took 
 the opportunity to enlarge the clerestory windows, converting 
 them into lancets, leaving, however, the Xorman jambs, 
 whose /ig/ag ornament may still be seen. The infirmary, 
 of which the west end and an aisle arcade remain, belongs 
 to this period: as also the north doorways of the cloister, 
 the vaulted passage in its north-east corner, and the great 
 gatewav opposite to the memorial to Bishop Hooper. The 
 church was rcdedicated in 12^9, although the nave vault 
 was not finished till i 242. 
 
 Fot'KTH I'KKIOD. Between i .} i S .Hid i 321) the Norman 
 south aisle ot the nave had got into a very dangerous con- 
 dition. The north aisle was sale, its wall being propped up 
 by the cloister root. But the vault of the south aisle had 
 thrust the wall 11 in. out of the perpendicular. To save 
 the vault. Abbot Thokcy built on to the Xorman pilasters 
 the present beautiful buttresses. But the new buttresses 
 also swung over 4 in., and the Norman vaulting had to be 
 taken out: the aisle received a new vault, and it-> eastern
 
 144 ('.I.oUCKSTKk CAT[IKI>KAI. 
 
 bays were enriched with ball-flower. Tlu j beautiful windows 
 are of late geometrical character, and are smothered in ball- 
 (lower. The profuse employment of ball-flower is quite a 
 characteristic of the early fourteenth-century Gothic of the 
 West country ; it is equally remarkable in the grand windows 
 of Eeominstcr and Badgeworth, and at Ledbury and Here- 
 ford. "A horizontal line drawn just below the spring of 
 the arch of each window at Gloucester cuts through thirty- 
 two bands of ball-flower." There are no less than 1,400 
 ball-flowers in each window. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. In 1327 Abbot Thokey made the fortune 
 ot Gloucester abbey. The fly in the ointment in this great 
 abbey was the lack of a pilgrimage shrine with all its con- 
 sequent spiritual and material advantages. Abbot Thokey 
 made up for it by welcoming to his church the body of a 
 murdered king. On 2 i st September Edward II. had been 
 murdered at Berkeley castle. Bristol, Kingswood. and 
 Malmesbury monasteries were appealed to, but none dared 
 receive his body for interment, fearing the- anger of the 
 Oueen and her party. Abbot Thokey brought the body to 
 Gloucester in his own carriage, and caused it to be solemnly 
 buried in the presbytery. Soon miracles were wrought at 
 the tomb, pilgrimages set in, immense sums were con- 
 tributed in offerings; Gloucester, like Hcretord. became a 
 pilgrim-church, and, like Hereford, used the vast income 
 that accrued- enough, the monks said, to have erected a 
 brand-new church in improvements in the church and 
 abbey. The tomb of the murdered king, erected by his 
 son, Edward III., still exists, and the leaden cottin below, 
 in which, when opened in iS^, the body was found "in a 
 wonderful state of preservation." (We wonder what would 
 be said if our antiquaries exhumed the bodies of George III. 
 and Archbishop Benson, and stole their rings and votments 
 to put them in a sho\v-ca>c in the vestry.) On one side ot 
 the monument, facing the aisle, is the bracket on which 
 offerings were laid : above is one of the loveliest canopies m 
 existence, but much restored : it was modelled probably on 
 the sedilia of Exeter. Hard bv, in the north aisle, is a stone
 
 GLOUCESTER CATI IKI >RAI. 
 
 '45
 
 146 (1LOUCESTKR CATI I KDRAI. 
 
 lectern, from which it is said the monks told the pilgrims 
 standing in the transept the story of the king's death and 
 the miracles wrought at his tomb. This is unlikely, tor it 
 does not face the transept. Perhaps the monks' attendance 
 in choir was checked off by a '"scrutator" from a list on 
 this desk, just as undergraduates' names are or were on 
 entering college chapel. To the same period belong various 
 windows inserted in the aisles and chapels and in the 
 triforium chamber. 
 
 SIXTH PKRIOD. The monks, with the rich revenues now 
 at their disposal, would perhaps have, liked to rebuild the 
 presbytery de noro. But the cultus of Fdward II. was just 
 now at its height, and the surroundings of the shrine were 
 crowded every day and all day with the pilgrims from whom 
 the money came. They therefore confined themselves to 
 such improvements as could be effected without interfering 
 with the flow of pilgrims and of offerings. The first thing 
 needful was to provide more light : above all, in the presby- 
 tery, where the centre of attraction was ; and in the crossing, 
 where their daily services were held. Secondly, the' church 
 had suffered severely from fire again and again. The nave- 
 had already been safeguarded against fire by vaulting: it 
 was desirable to extend the same protection to the transepts 
 and presbytery by covering these also with stone vaults. 
 
 First, there was the lighting problem. Abbot Thokey had 
 done a good deal in improving the lighting of the south 
 aisle of the nave, and the aisles and chapels and triforium 
 of the presbytery. Abbot \Vygmore commenced operations 
 in the south transept. The; north transept was in daily use, 
 as the cloister was on the north side of the nave, and the 
 monks passed through the north transept to their daily 
 services in the crossing. The improvements in the presby- 
 ter}- were; postponed for a time, so as not to interfere with 
 the pilgrim-. In six years, before 1337. Wygmore is re- 
 corded by Froucestcr (who was himself Abbot from 1381 to 
 1412) to have cased, lighted, and vaulted the south transept. 
 
 It Froucestcr is correct and his evidence is almost that of 
 a contemporary -we have in the south transept ot Gloucester
 
 (ILOUCKSTKK CATIIKDRAL 147 
 
 otic of the greatest pu//les in the history of mediieval 
 architecture. 'I'lu: whole of this work in the south transept 
 is in the style; which elsewhere (lid not eome into use: till 
 late in the century. We have to believe that it is con- 
 temporaneous with the 1 utterly different work that was being 
 done everywhere else in England ; that it was contemporane- 
 ous with the monument of Edward II. in Gloucester itself; 
 with the Perey shrine at Bcvcrley ; with the Lady chapel, 
 octagon, and choir of Ely. It seems incredible. .But 
 Gloucester presbytery was not taken in hand till after the 
 south transept, and it was finished not later than 1350. 
 No other work like that of the south transept occurs in the 
 kingdom till Edington church (1352-1361), and the western 
 part of Winchester nave. So that, if we accept 1'Voucester's 
 statement, we- have to believe that while the rest of tin- 
 world was working in one fashion, the Gloucester masons, 
 not later than 1330, were working on new and totally 
 different lines. 
 
 \Ve have' to believe, also, that though this style' ultimately 
 became- universally popular in England, overspread the whole 
 countrv, and maintained its hold on English architecture for 
 three centuries, at the outset it smouldered at Glouce-ster, 
 unnoticed, unappreciated by anybody, till Edington took it 
 up twenty ye'ars later in rebuilding the church of his native 
 village-. All the- other improvements in mediaeval building 
 were caught up instantaneously passing from one- end of 
 the kingdom to the- other with the rapidity of the fashion 
 of a Paris bonnet or mantle. England hesitated long before 
 it could consent to exchange the richne-ss of Ely design for 
 the- simplicity of that of Glouce-ster. Howe-ver, the- ne-w 
 choir of Gloucester, eulogised everywhere as it must have 
 been by admiring pilgrims, showed the capacitie-s of the 
 ne-w style. The-n it came in with a rush. So, 
 
 "Si purva luvt rnmponeK 1 mu^ms, 
 
 the Royal and Ancient game of golf smouldered on for 
 centuries at Blackheath, till the- psychological moment came, 
 and it passed on to \\Ystward Ho, and then swept like 
 wildfire- over all England.
 
 148 
 
 GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 The first question tin- monks had to decide was that of 
 lighting. Their answer was a momentous one. They 
 decided to get additional light by pulling down the low 
 Norman clerestory and substituting a tall (lolhic one, insert- 
 ing in it big windows which form almost a continuous sheet 
 of glass. Tlie nave was internally 67.', ft. high. To get a 
 big clerestory, they raised the south transept and presbytery 
 
 to the height of 
 86 ft. Similar lull 
 clerestory win- 
 dows were being 
 built, but with an 
 earlier type of 
 tracery, in the 1 
 choirs of Lich- 
 field and Wells. 
 Hut as yet clere- 
 story windows 
 were, as a rule, 
 rather small : and 
 some big churches 
 of this period, 
 such as ( irantham 
 and I'atrington. 
 had no clerestory 
 at all. For what 
 was to be the 
 n'lory of the- clos- 
 ing days of hng- 
 lish ( iothic archi- 
 tecture- -the Lantern type of churchwe must give the credit 
 to the masons of ( iloucestcr. And also tor the new type of 
 window. The new big window, occupying the whole breadth 
 and nearly the whole height of the end wall ol the south 
 transept, had to be strengthened by cross-bars or transoms : 
 and the tracer}' of the head had to be strengthened by the 
 substitution of vertical straight lines, as far as possible, tor 
 curves. 1 1 ere. then, we have the- genesis of rectilinear tracery.
 
 GI.OtH'KSTKK <'ATIir.I)KAI. 149 
 
 Then there was the question of tlu: vault. If \vc can 
 believe Abbot Froucester, so early as 1337 the- monks put 
 over the south transept not only one of the earliest lierne 
 vaults of the kingdom, but one so accurately worked that 
 the junctions of the ribs did not require to be masked by 
 bosses: they mortised the ribs together with as much pre- 
 cision as if they were dealing with joints in cabinet work. 
 And over the choir and under the tower they put up the 
 most ama/ingly complicated lierne vault that was ever con- 
 structed : this, too, not later than 1351. Not having reached 
 yet the development that the pendant was to receive- in 
 later days, they got the necessary supports for the vault ol 
 the crossing by throwing skeleton arches across from east 
 to west. 
 
 Thirdly, they appear to have intended to separate the 
 presbyter}' from its aisles by the usual stone screens 
 designed to correspond with the tracery of the clerestory 
 windows. This would have left an ugly cavernous arch 
 that ol the eleventh-century trifonum -in each bay. between 
 the screen below and the clerestory above. The pattern of 
 the tracer}' of the clerestory window had been repeated once 
 in the screen below : what more natural than to repeat it 
 ,i M-cond time in the shape of a screen set in front of the 
 open arch of the trilorium? It remained merely to join up 
 the mullions ol all three lower screen, trilorium screen, and 
 clerestory window and the three members were welded 
 together into one composition: harmony and unit}' reigned 
 In mi pavement to vault. Here again we- have at Gloucester 
 not only the commencement, but the full development of 
 what became the leading principle in later Knglish Gothic - 
 the determination to impose unit}' on the elevations of their 
 churches by repeats ol window tracery. 
 
 Most successful ol all is the treatment of tin- vaulting 
 shalts : the\ rise sheer in unbroken How from the- pavement 
 vault above. 1'hus the lolly choir becomes to all 
 and purposes a < me-sti >ry design : it consists essentially 
 ling but lolly vault supported by lolly pillars. Klse
 
 150 CLOUCF.STKK CAT! I Kf )RA I. 
 
 direction. At St. David's and 1'ershoiv the internal 
 elevation had been reduced to two stories ; at Exeter and 
 \'ork the triforiuni had been almost attenuated out of 
 existence. Nowhere, however, had any one dared to con- 
 ceive the possibility of bringing out the organic unity of 
 an interior by reducing it to a single story. This was done 
 first at Gloucester; and, moreover, at Gloucester only was 
 it ever worked out successfully. Imitations there were, 
 again and again, of the Gloucester design -- indeed, nearly 
 all later design is in essentials modelled on Gloucester at 
 Winchester, Christchurch, Malvern, Norwich. Sherborne, 
 Canterbury but no one succeeded in reproducing the 
 organic unity of Gloucester's one-story choir. 
 
 One question still remained unsolved : how to treat the 
 east end of the church. At Norwich, where the Gloucester 
 precedent was largely followed a century later, the central 
 apse and procession path and radiating chapels were all 
 retained with most beautiful effect. At Gloucester they 
 pulled down the central apse : and on the wall of the three 
 eastern bays of the ambulatory they erected three gigantic 
 windows, so welded together as to compose one window. 
 And, to bring the whole into view, they made the new 
 easternmost bays of the presbytery, which had now to be 
 rebuilt, wider to the east than the west. Thus they got one 
 of the biggest windows in the world, and one of the ugliest. 
 However, no one looks at the tracery of the window, but at 
 the painted glass which it still retains. This glass is decidedly 
 late in character, but the armorial bearings in it show that 
 it was completed by 1350. All the characteristics of late 
 Gothic glass are there. Thus the canopies and the figures 
 alike are silvery white, and yellow stain is introduced here 
 and there. The drawing, however, is shockingly bad: and 
 the colour is got in a very artless way by inserting alternating 
 backgrounds of vertical stripes of red and blue. 
 
 At the same time between 1337 and 1377- the monks 
 were provided with new choir-stalls. I!ut while stone-work 
 and glass alike are rectilinear in character, the stalls ha\e 
 bowing ogee canopies of the Ely type.
 
 GLOUCKSTKR C'ATI I Kl )R.\I. 151 
 
 Next the north transept was remodelled (1360-1374). It 
 is very much like its brother, but is 8 ft. higher, and the 
 vault has bosses. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. -The next work was the rebuilding of 
 the cloister. This was built in two sections ; as far as the 
 doorway of the Chapter house in 1351-1377; the rest in 
 1381-1412. It is covered with a fan-vault, the earliest 
 
 THE CLOISTKK 
 
 example of the kind, except those of two monuments in the 
 neighbouring Abbey Church of Tewkesbury. 
 
 KICHTII PKKIOD. The west front with its lowers or turrets 
 seems to have been giving trouble, and Abbot Morwcnt 
 (1421-1437) pulled it down, and built the present west front : 
 also the south porch. He also found it necessary to rebuild 
 the western bays of the nave. The two bays he built are 
 quite different in height and span and general design. With 
 his big west window, and with the insertion of rectilinear
 
 15-' (.l.nlJCI.STKk < A I IIKDKAI, 
 
 tracery in the north aisle and in the clerestories of the nave, 
 the improvement of the lighting of the church may he said 
 to have been effectually completed. 
 
 NINTH PKRIOD. The monks now turned their attention 
 to the central tower. The tower was ot no use as a lantern, 
 lor the herne vault of the choir had been carried beneath it. 
 So it long remained unaltered. But in the days of Abbot 
 Seabrooke the thirteenth-century tower was taken down, and 
 the present magnificent tower was built under the super- 
 intendence of a monk named Tully, to be in character with 
 the new exterior of choir and transepts ( 1450-1 460). 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 tail ; 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 range's of windows, is a repeat of the two stages 
 of the tower below. 
 
 TKNTII PKRIOD. Then- - after the tower had been erected 
 - -it was decided to rebuild the thirteenth-century 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. The upper stones of the 
 little transepts have book-desks, and probably were meant 
 tor the singers of prick song or harmonised music, which at 
 this date was just coming into fashion, but was not as yet 
 allowed in monastic choirs. This Lady chapel had to be 
 joined up to the presbytery, but the great east window was 
 in the way. However, the difficult}' was got over by a scries 
 of ingenious shifts and dodges, which must be seen to be 
 appreciated (1470-1490). h contains the remains of a 
 beautiful reredos. and in the east window much of the old 
 glass ; also remarkable m< idem glass by Mr ( '. \\Tiall. ruined 
 by juxtaposition with a window containing glass of the most 
 commonplace commercial type, for the insertion of which it
 
 GLOUCESTER ('ATI I KI >k.\l. 153 
 
 is difficult to conceive- an excuse. \Yith the Lady chapel 
 ends the threat building-period at ( Gloucester (1330-1499), 
 which turned the course of English architecture; so that the 
 style of 1315 to 1350 was to find its natural development on 
 the Continent in Flamboyant, but in England was switched 
 off to a wholly different type of design. 
 
 THK CI.OISTKR. (i) Leaving the north transept for the 
 cloister, immediately on the right is seen a passage called 
 
 the Slype, the first part of which is Larly Norman work. 
 (2) Next conies the Chapter house 1 , which with its pointed 
 barrel vault i> also Norman, except the eastern part, which 
 was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. (3) At the end of the 
 cast walk of the cloister is a vaulted passage leading to the 
 ruined arcade o! the infirmary, and to a picturesque little 
 cloister ol uncertain use. as well as to the chiel uatewav ot 
 the abbe\' precinct^. (4) Returning to the north walk of the 
 cloister, we see on Us south >ide the finest monastic lavatory
 
 154 CI.orCKS 
 
 111 England. On tin- opposite wall of tin- cloister walk is a 
 recess lor towels ; this wall was the southern wall of the 
 refectory. Near the towel recess is the doorway of the 
 refectory. The north alley was screened off, and formed 
 the monastic school ; on tin- stone bench at the foot of the 
 wall are diagrams composed of holes for " fox and geese," 
 and other hoys' games. (5) At the end of the west walk of 
 the cloister on the right hand is another Norman passage or 
 slype ; this, as at Westminster, was the outer parlour by 
 which the cloister was reached from the outer court, and 
 in which the monks were able to meet their relatives. (6) 
 We return to the church by the south walk, having on the 
 lelt the twenty little studies or "carrels," where the monks, 
 each at his own little table, wrote, copied, and illuminated 
 manuscripts. Notice the line in the floor for bookcases, 
 which is not seen in the other walks of the cloister. 
 
 MINOR WORK.---(I) Behind the High altar, as at 
 Winchester, is a narrow space called the Feretory, once 
 roofed in overhead. On the one hand it formed a pro- 
 cession path for the priest, when he had to pass round, 
 asperge, and cense the High altar in the course of the 
 Sunday procession ; on the other hand it provided space 
 for cupboards for the keeping of treasures as well as two 
 recesses for relics beneath the High altar. (2) In Abbot 
 IJoteler's chapel, the north-east chapel of the ambulatory, 
 are good tiles and the remains of a line reredos. c. 1450. 
 
 (3) To the centre of the presbytery, its original position, 
 has been restored the wooden effigy of Robert Courthose, 
 Duke of Normandy, son of William the Conqueror, who 
 died in 1134; from the coat of mail and long surcote it 
 would seem to be twelfth-century work, but the wooden chest 
 on which it rests is not earlier than the fifteenth century. 
 The tomb of King John occupies a similar position at 
 Worcester, as did that of Edward Confessor at Westminster 
 up to i 245. Nor is there any reason why it should not have 
 been placed once more in its original and proper position. 
 
 (4) At the entrance to the crypt i> a bracket to support 
 a light : it rests on two figures supposed to represent a
 
 (.LorCKSTKK CATHEDRAL 155 
 
 mason and his prentice. (5) In the upper aisle are several 
 beautiful windows and piscinas; at the extreme east of 
 it is an original stone altar inscribed with consecration 
 crosses. From this point the superb lierne vault of the 
 Lady chapel is best seen, with its exquisite foliated bosses. 
 This chapel is approached by the well known Whispering 
 (lallery. To the upper aisle also has been transferred an 
 important picture of the Doom, not earlier than the reign 
 of Henry VIII. (6) The cathedral possesses very fine 
 tiles. Tiles of the time of Abbot Parker (1515-1541) 
 remain in his chantry chapel, which is in the next bay 
 west of the tomb of Edward II.; and there is a large 
 collection of tiles of various dates in the presbytery and 
 the altar platform. (7) In the eastern chapel of the south 
 transept is glass of the period when the transept was 
 remodelled (1330-1337). 
 
 Space fails to speak of the artistic charm of this great 
 church. Internally it abounds above all others in ever 
 varying vistas and perspectives and dramatic contrasts of 
 light and shadow. Externally it is magnificently impressive 
 by sunlight and by moonlight, seen near at hand or far 
 away. It is one of the greatest glories of England and the 
 English race. It has been well cared for of late years by 
 Mr Waller and his masons. 
 
 BiBUoiiRAi'HV. Professor Willis in the Gentleman's J/</v<7 ;///, for 
 September lS6o. 
 
 !'. S. Waller, Notes ami Sketches of Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester, 
 
 i Syo. 
 
 W. II. Si I.ihn Ibipe, Notes on Gloucester Abbey, pa^v oo. 
 
 Rev. \\ . Ba/eley, " Notes on The Thirteenth-Century I.ndy ( 'hapel.'' 
 paL;e 12. and "Notes on the Kast Windou," pa^e U). The.se three 
 papers appeared in the third volume of the /iV<v;-,/\ <>/' Gloucester 
 Ca/li, drat. 
 
 T. Gamhier Parry. ' ( >n the Builders of Gloucester Abbey." in the 
 tirM volume of tlu 1 Records of Gloucester CalJi.Jral. 
 
 ('. Winsinn, "On the Kast Windnu." in the .-/;. h, /,,'.,'/,, /.' fourual. 
 \\. 2. ;S.
 
 FROM THE SUUTH-WKST 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. MARY AND ST. ETHEL- 
 BERT, HEREFORD 
 
 HKRFJ-'ORI) boasts a cathedral which, though one of 
 the smallest, is, both externally and internally, one 
 of the most picturesque in the country. As at 
 Salisbury. Lincoln and Chester, a noble view of the exterior 
 is to be had from the north-east. To the archaeologist and 
 the architectural student, its melange of styles makes it a 
 perfect treasure-house of mediaeval design : early and late- 
 Norman, Transitional work of the early, middle, and late- 
 thirteenth century, and work of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and 
 sixteenth centuries are all represented in the structure, to 
 say nothing of the dothic of Wyatt, Cottingham, and Scott. 
 Hereford is one of the oldest of all the Sees, going back, 
 at any rate, to the year 601. when St. Augustine had a
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 157 
 
 conference with the Welsh bishops. It owed its riches and 
 reputation mainly to two saints, King Ethelbert and Bishop 
 Thomas Cantilupe. In the year 792 the great King of 
 Mercia, Of fa, inveigled Kthelbert, King of East Anglia, to 
 
 the west of England, where he was treacherously murdered. 
 "On the night of his burial, a column of light, brighter than 
 the sun. rose to heaven : " three days later his ghost appeared 
 and gave directions for the removal ol" his body. lie was 
 interred at I lereford ; and in 82^ ' a noble church of stone'"
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 was erected over his remains. Of this or any subsequent 
 Anglo-Saxon cathedral nothing survives. 
 
 FIRST I'KRIOD (1079-1110). In 1079 the present 
 cathedral was commenced by Robert de Losinga. He held 
 the see till 1095. It is asserted by Sir Gilbert Scott that 
 none of his work remains. lUit it seems certain that the 
 east wall of the south transept, the east end and pier 
 arcade of the choir, and perhaps the triforium also, are 
 
 eleventh - century 
 work. 'I 'he de- 
 sign of the tran- 
 sept is curiously 
 artless and arch- 
 aic. The tall 
 arches of its wall 
 arcade have rem- 
 iniscences ol 
 many a church 
 i n Lombard)" ; 
 the squat little 
 balustraded tri- 
 forium is just 
 what one finds 
 in the elevciith- 
 eentury transepts 
 of St. Albans and 
 Chester and 1'er- 
 shore. Proceed- 
 ing into the choir 
 aisles, probability 
 
 rises into certainty. The masonry is of the roughest, and 
 coursed in the most casual way : the strings and the bases 
 have the rudest caricatures of moldings. The piers, too, 
 are just the heavy masses of wall which one finds at St- 
 Albans and ( "hichester : it is impossible that these piers and 
 the light cylinders ol the nave can both have been erected 
 in the twellth century. What has deceived archaeologists is 
 that, though the skeleton of the choir is of the eleventh
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 159 
 
 century, it was .smartened up immensely in the following 
 century. In fact, it has gone through a similar process to 
 that which took place at Porchester and Romsey, where 
 the early Norman caps have been recurved by a late Norman 
 sculptor ; only at Hereford the renovation has been much 
 more drastic. Looking at the east wall of the south transept, 
 it is impossible to believe that the noble bay of the triforium 
 above the arch of the aisle is of the same date as the 
 balustrated triforium to the right of it. Although so early, 
 the Norman church was in its plan the most advanced in 
 England. The great fault of churches planned, like I kirham, 
 with three parallel eastern apses was that there was no 
 processional aisle or ambulatory round the, presbytery. 
 This fault was remedied at Hereford by making the presby- 
 tery rectangular, and placing the high altar between the 
 easternmost bay and the next bay to the west ; the 
 easternmost bay thus providing the ambulatory desired. 
 To the east of the ambulatory were three apses ; of these 
 the two lateral apses were entered from the side aisles, 
 but the central one from the ambulatory. And this central 
 apse was not the broad and lofty central apse which may 
 still be seen at Peterborough and Norwich, containing 
 the eastern part of the presbytery, but was quite low and 
 narrow, little broader indeed than the Norman arch by which 
 it was entered and which still remains. So that we .must 
 not think of the old Norman east end of Hereford as con- 
 sisting of one vast central apse- as tall as the rest of the 
 church or nearly so, flanked by low minor apses, but as 
 consisting of three parallel eastern apses, all of about the 
 same size and all low, and the central of them forming 
 merely a little eastern chapel. The three little apses were 
 independent buildings, each with its own separate roof: 
 being separated by the flat Norman buttresses which still 
 remain on the east side of the east wall of the presbytery. 
 What the appearance of the church would be within may be 
 gathered from the sketch by Sir (lilbert Scott in the 
 Jlnildiiig Ncics of yth August 1878, where', however, the 
 altar steps are wrongly placed in the easternmost bay.
 
 r6o 
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 Another portion of the early work remaining is the building 
 projecting eastward from the south transept ; it forms a 
 rectangular sacristy, with rude, unribbed vault ; it was 
 enlarged to the east in the fifteenth century. In ino the 
 cathedral was dedicated ; which means, no doubt, the part 
 then completed; vi/.., the eastern limb with its three small 
 
 external chapels, 
 the north and 
 south transepts, 
 the eastern limb, 
 and that part 
 which contained 
 the stalls of the 
 choir, vi/., the 
 crossing and the 
 first bay of the 
 nave. Of the east- 
 ern limb, two bays 
 would be presby- 
 tery and one bay 
 ambulatory. On 
 his monument 
 Bishop Reynelm 
 is styled founder 
 of the church, 
 " fun da tor ec- 
 clesie " ; the same 
 phase occurs in an 
 old Obit, but in 
 
 THE KKRKDOS this " hospltil ' IS 
 
 substituted f o r 
 
 " ecclesie " in a later hand, which would mean that he built 
 a guest house. Reynelm certainly can have done very little 
 in the church between rioy when he became bishop, and 
 in i no, when the dedication took place; but having con- 
 secrated it, he has been wrongly given the credit of the 
 whole work. 
 
 SKCOND I'F.RIOD (1110 to c. 1145). To this period
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 161 
 
 belong the nave and the renovation of the choir. The 
 capitals of the nave, greatly restored, are richly carved, and 
 like all pre-Gothic carving, are full of classical survivals, 
 acanthus, honeysuckle, &c. The Norman work is far richer 
 than that of Ely, Peterborough, Durham, Gloucester, or 
 Tewkesbury. The design of the nave, and still more of the 
 choir, was probably the most solid and satisfactory in the 
 country, not even excepting Durham. The triforium is 
 especially magnificent ; a copy of it was executed in the 
 transept of Romsey. 
 The bays of the 
 choir are separated 
 by broad pilasters, 
 apparently to carry 
 broad transverse 
 arches. But whether 
 these arches were in- 
 tended to carry some 
 form of wooden roof 
 (their spandrels being 
 built up), or a vault, 
 cannot be deter- 
 mined. Sir Gilbert 
 Scott's sketch shews 
 a groined vault. The 
 nave was completed 
 " with great expense 
 and solicitude, and 
 dedicated by 'Bishop 
 Robert de Bethune '' (1131-1148). 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. The next alteration appears to belong- 
 to the time of Bishop William Yere de Yere (1186-1199). 
 The puz/ling character of this work is probably due to a 
 change of intention. Evidently what was wanted, and all 
 that was planned at first was (i) an ambulator}- of four bays 
 in place of the three little eastern apses : and (2) east of that, 
 a Lady chapel; this is precisely the plan of the 1 east end of 
 Norman Romsev. This would set free the easternmost bav 
 
 THE EASTERN TRANSEPT, FROM SOUTH
 
 162 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 of the architectural choir, which could then he used as 
 Saint's chapel for St. Ethelbert. This first work would 
 naturally be commenced at the east; and to it belongs (i) 
 the external doorway leading to the crypt of the Lady 
 chapel, and (2) the northern and southern walls now serving 
 as vestibule to the Lady chapel, and containing windows 
 which were at first intended to look into the open air. But 
 while the work was going on it seems to have occurred to the 
 builders that the opportunity might be seized for building in 
 addition four eastern chapels. This was done : and in order 
 to get access to each end-chapel the ambulatory was ex- 
 tended another bay northward and another bay southward. 
 Thus the builders got not only the originally intended 
 ambulatory and Lady chapel, but a low eastern transept in 
 addition, as later on at Southwell, K \eter, and Wells, plus 
 four chapels. Much of this work remains. In the jambs 
 of the unglazed windows are shafts with conventional stalky 
 foliage ; while the arch of the window-head is enriched with 
 the Norman diamond ornament. The vaulting ribs are 
 enriched with zigzag. The central piers have, one conven- 
 tional foliage, the other a scalloped capital. In the south 
 east transept there are remains of the doorway, and of a 
 plinth which seems to have supported a pier between the 
 two eastern chapels. The piers of the processional aisle are 
 so arranged that two of them are in a line with the centre of 
 the semicircular arch which led from the choir into the 
 former Norman central apse. The intention of the builder 
 perhaps was to reconstruct the east end of the choir, or it 
 may be to rebuild the whole choir, substituting for the single 
 semicircular arch a pair of pointed arches, as at Lxeter. 
 This was never done, however ; and so, quite fortuitously, 
 Hereford gets most (-harming vistas from the choir across to 
 the eastern transept and the Lady chapel. Possibly the 
 whole of the lower part of the Lady chapel was built in this 
 period. The crypt-worship of the eleventh century had 
 gone out of fashion : and the Hereford crypt, like that at 
 Norwich, was probably built as a golgotha or charnel-house. 
 FOURTH PERIOD. About 1220 the upper and eastern
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 163 
 
 parts of the Lady chapel were completed. It is a work of 
 great beauty, especially in the rich clustering of shafts in 
 the window-jambs and in the fine composition of the east 
 end, with its quintet of lancets. The chapel is curiously 
 low internally. The builder was an exceptionally cautious 
 person. He not only provided for the thrusts of the vault 
 by heavy buttresses and pinnacles, but, to get the thrusts as 
 low down as possible, he made the vault spring below the 
 window-heads. Moreover, down below he constructed a lofty 
 
 FROM THE NORTH-EAST 
 
 crypt, thus raising considerably the floor of the Lady chapel. 
 Thus encroached on from below and from above, the 
 interior of the Lady chapel contrasts remarkably with its 
 lofty and imposing exterior. Externally, moreover, as the 
 window-heads could not rise high, owing to the low spring 
 of the vault, a large amount of wall-surface was left, and had 
 to be decorated. This was done in a remarkable way ; the 
 arcade which runs round it being the old-fashioned Norman 
 arcade of intersecting semicircular arches probably the last 
 appearance of this design on the stage.
 
 164 HEKF.KOKH CATHEDRAL 
 
 FIFTH PKRIOD. The history of the cathedral now re- 
 solved itself for the next hundred years into a series of 
 attempts to get rid of the "dim, religious light," so dear to 
 the modern, so abhorrent to the mediaeval ecclesiastic. 
 Hereford presbytery was even worse lighted than Norman 
 churches generally, being blocked to the east by a transept, 
 and having enormously bulky piers. So the Norman clere- 
 story, if it existed, was taken down, and a Gothic clerestory 
 with an inner arcade an early and interesting example of 
 plate-tracery was erected. It is possible, however, that 
 the Norman clerestory had never been built, but that the 
 chancel was roofed at the triforium level like the nave of 
 Christchurch, Hampshire. Moreover, the presbytery was 
 made fireproof by being vaulted in stone, c. 1250. 
 
 SIXTH PKRIOD. About 1260 more drastic measures were 
 taken with the Norman north transept. It was pulled down 
 bodily, and 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 the elevation 
 is exceedingly interesting. Its arches, almost straight-sided 
 its triforium windows a ring of cusped circles set under 
 a semicircular arch its clerestory windows, spherical tri- 
 angles enclosing a cusped circular window the composition 
 of the triforium the north and west windows make up 
 an exceptional design and 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 (d. 1268); 
 no doubt built in his lifetime. The tomb is as unique as 
 the transept, and closely resembles it in design. The in- 
 ference 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 sinners as 
 well as saints have liked to leave memorials behind them in 
 stone : and, moreover, Aquablanca had his good points. 
 To this dav four thousand loaves are distributed everv
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 I6 5 
 
 year out of funds which he bequeathed. It is recorded, too, 
 that, of a fine which was imposed on the citizens for en- 
 croachments on his episcopal rights, he remitted one half, 
 and handed over the other for works on the cathedral. 
 Moreover, he was a foreigner, from Chambery ; and has 
 probably received no more favourable judgment from the 
 English chroniclers than they were wont to give to foreign 
 favourites of the king who at this time were swallowing up 
 the best things in the English Church. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD: Then came a turning-point in the 
 history of Here- 
 ford. The reputa- 
 tion of King 
 Kthelbert as a 
 m i racle - work er 
 may well by this 
 time have worn 
 a little thin. In 
 1287 Hereford 
 found that it had 
 obtained a new 
 saint. This was 
 Bishop Thomas 
 Cantilupe, a man 
 of saintly life, and 
 one of the great- 
 est churchmen of 
 
 the day. "He was a pluralist of the first dimension- 
 Chancellor of England and of the University of Oxford, 
 Provincial Grand Master of the Knights Templars in 
 England, Canon of York, Archdeacon and Canon of 
 Lichfield and Coventry, Archdeacon of Stafford, Canon 
 and bishop of Here-ford." In 1282, with his chaplain, 
 Swinfield, lie visited Rome, and died on the journey home. 
 Swinfield, following a not uncommon mediaeval practice, had 
 the flesh ol the- body separated from the bones by boiling. 
 The flesh was buried in the church of St. Severus, near 
 Orvieto ; the heart and bones he conveved to England. 
 
 ST. THOMAS SHRINE
 
 1 66 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 The heart was interred at Ashridge, the bones in Hereford 
 cathedral. Five years afterwards miracles commenced : 
 " There were raised from death to life threescore several 
 persons, one-and-twenty lepers healed, and three-and-twenty 
 blind and dumb men received their sight and speech. 
 Twice King Edward I. sent sick falcons to be cured at his 
 tomb." In 1320, by the expenditure of vast sums of money, 
 his canonisation was procured ; ever since, the see of Here- 
 ford has borne the arms of Cantilupe. He was the last 
 English saint ; and, being the newest, was for a considerable 
 time the most fashionable. The fame of St. Wulfstan of 
 Worcester and St. Swithun of Winchester paled before that 
 of St. Thomas of Hereford. Till Gloucester secured in 
 1327 still fresher relics in the murdered body of King 
 Edward 11., Hereford held the greatest attraction for 
 pilgrims in all the west country. For some forty years---- 
 from 1287 to 1327 the pilgrims resorted to the new shrine 
 in vast numbers. Swinfield's foresight was justified by the 
 huge sums which poured into the cathedral treasury. 
 
 Swinfield succeeded Cantilupe as bishop in 1283, and 
 occupied the see till 1316. With the vast resources now 
 at his disposal he set about a series of great works. His 
 first pious act was to construct for his benefactor and 
 predecessor a noble shrine, the pedestal of which now stands 
 once more, after many vicissitudes, in the aisle of the north 
 transept. It is a work of the rarest beaut}', executed just 
 at a time (1287) when, tired of conventional foliage, the 
 mediaeval carver, with ever tresh delight, was making the 
 most exquisite transcripts in stone of the leaves of the trees 
 and the flowers of the field. 
 
 Secondly, he constructed a north porch the present inner 
 porch the design of which is plainly by the same hand as 
 the pedestal of the shrine. 
 
 Thirdly, he went on with the improvement of the lighting 
 of the cathedral. Beginning probably at the north-east 
 transept, which was rebuilt, together with its eastern aisle, 
 and working along the choir and nave to the west end. and 
 then vice versa on the south M(le of the cathedral, he took
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 I6 7 
 
 down all but the lower part of the walls of the Norman 
 aisles, rebuilt the upper part higher, and inserted very large 
 windows. This lighted the nave, at any rate, very satisfac- 
 torily. The design of these windows is unusual and effective, 
 owing to the largeness of the trefoils employed in the tracery. 
 It is noticeable externally that the curious ground-course of 
 the north transept is continued all round the cathedral, except 
 the south transept, south-east transept, and Lady chapel. 
 
 FROM THE XORTH-WKST 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD (1316-1360). The work seems to have 
 gone on without intermission from the accession of Bishop 
 Orleton in 1316. The greatest task, which may have been 
 begun a little earlier, was to rebuild the central tower on 
 the Norman piers and arches. To lessen the weight as much 
 as possible it was built in two skins, the inner skin (-(insisting 
 of a framework of upright stone girders, as in the towers of 
 Wells and Lincoln. Externally it is smothered in ball- 
 flower. At one time it carried a tall timber spire ; the
 
 1 68 
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 loss of which greatly injures the external elevation of the 
 cathedral. 
 
 To the same period belong the stalls and the beauti- 
 ful Chapter house, now in ruins. The lead of its roof 
 was cast into bullets in the Civil War ; sacrilegious 
 bishops used its stones as a quarry for their palace. 
 
 There are 
 monuments of 
 Bishop Swinfield 
 (d. 1316) and 
 Bishop Charleton 
 
 (d. 1343)- 
 
 Finally the light- 
 ing scheme was 
 continued by the 
 rebuilding of the 
 south-east tran- 
 sept with its east- 
 ern aisle. This 
 was executed in a 
 cheap and inferior 
 way, even the 
 clumsy twelfth- 
 century plinth 
 being retained for 
 the new central 
 column of the 
 transept. The 
 windows have 
 flowing tracery of 
 poor design. It 
 
 may be that the revenue from pilgrims had fallen off: or 
 this work may have been done after the first outbreak of 
 the Black Death at Hereford in 1350 or after the still more 
 serious outbreak in 1360. 
 
 NINTH I'KRIOD. -The lighting scheme was at last com- 
 pleted by the insertion of two huge windows, with the now 
 fashionable rectilinear tracery, in the south transept, ot which
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 169 
 
 the eastern has been recently filled with magnificent stained 
 glass by Mr Kempe. Its south wall was rebuilt and it was 
 vaulted. All this was the work of Bishop Travenant (1389- 
 1404) whose monument is below. 
 
 On the north side of the choir Bishop Stanbury (1453- 
 1474) built for 
 himself a pretty 
 little chantry- 
 chapel, like those 
 at Lincoln ; it has 
 fan-vaulting. It 
 was he probably 
 who built the 
 cloister from the 
 cathedral to the 
 Chapter house ; 
 the rest of it may 
 be later. He gave 
 nearly half of the 
 episcopal garden 
 to the Vicars' 
 Choral as a site 
 for their College 
 to the south-east 
 of the cathedral : 
 so we may prob- 
 ably also attribute 
 to him the charm- 
 ing Vicars' Cloister 
 with magnificent 
 roof (which should 
 be visited), to- 
 gether with the 
 fan-vault over the entrance to the College. 
 
 Bishop Audley (1492-1502) built himself a pentagonal 
 chantry-chapel, two stories high, like the Islip chapel at 
 Westminster, projecting from the south side of the Lady 
 chapel. P>ut, as he was translated to Salisbury, he had 
 
 BISHOP BOOTH S PORCH
 
 170 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 built another chantry-chapel there, in which he is buried. 
 Bishop Booth (1516-1535) built the outer north porch an 
 admirable specimen of late Gothic design. 
 
 TENTH PERIOD. In 1786 the western tower, which, as at 
 Ely, was in the centre of the facade, collapsed, and Wyatt 
 pulled down the westernmost bay of the nave and the whole 
 of the triforium and clerestory, the sound as well as the 
 damaged, and rebuilt both, together with the west front, in 
 
 THE XAVK 
 
 the Gothic of his day. About 1843 Cottingham did much 
 work ; rebuilding the east end of the Lad}' chapel and the 
 upper part of that of the choir, and also securing the central 
 tower. He found that the Norman piers which support it 
 consisted of a thin ashlar casing, tin- interior of which was 
 filled with a rubble core', composed of broken stones, loam 
 and lime grouting. The ashlar facing and the engaged 
 columns on the face of the pier, not being well bonded and
 
 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL 171 
 
 deeply headed into the rubble cores, had split and bulged, 
 and the cores, for want of a proper proportion of lime, had 
 diminished and crushed to pieces. The gaudy choir-screen 
 and coronal were executed by Skidmore of Coventry, from 
 the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott, who also jammed the stalls 
 into the presbytery. Recently a handsome west front, in 
 the style of the fourteenth century, from the design of 
 Mr J. Oldrid Scott, has replaced that of Wyatt. 
 
 KIBUOCJRAPHY. Gordon M. Hills in British Archaeological Associa- 
 tion Journal, 1871 ; xxvii. 6 1 and 497. 
 
 Sir Gilbert Scott in Archaeological Journal, December 1877. 
 
 M. II. Bloxam, " On certain Sepulchral Effigies in Hereford Cathe- 
 dral," in Archaeological Journal, xl. 406.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. MARY, LICHFIELD 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 THIS is how Lichfield presented itself to Mrs Van 
 Renselaer. " Approaching it from one street or 
 another, we see it suddenly across the silver stretches 
 of its Pool, and it is hard to determine whether the shining 
 water at Lichfield or the green lake of turf at Salisbury 
 makes the lovelier foreground. Standing on the causeway 
 which leads towards the western entrance of the ("lose, it 
 is not merely a fine view that we have before us ; it is 
 a picture so perfect that no artist would ask a change in 
 one detail. Perhaps accident has had more to do than 
 design with the planting of the trees and shrubs which 
 border the lake, and above which spring the daring spires. 
 But a landscape gardener might study this planting to his 
 profit ; and when we see or think of Lichfield from this 
 point of view, we wish that the tall poplar may be as long- 
 lived as the tree Vggdrasil so pretty a measure does it 
 give of the loftiness of the spires, so exquisite is the com- 
 pleting accent which it brings into the scene. If we come 
 from the south-east, we cross another causeway, on either 
 side of which the lake spreads out widely ; and we see not 
 only the spires, but the apse and the long stretch of the 
 southern side. Enormously long it looks longer almost, 
 owing to its peculiar lowness. than those cathedrals which 
 are actually greater. To the north of the church the ground 
 rises quickly into a broad, terrace-like walk flanked by rows 
 of larire and ancient, vet uraceful lindens ; and bevond the
 
 LICHFIKLD CATHEDRAL 
 
 '73 
 
 trees, behind low walls and verdurous gardens, lies a range 
 of canons' dwellings. And in any and every aspect, but 
 more especially when foliage comes near it, Lichfield's 
 colour assists its 
 other beauties. 
 Red stone is warm 
 and mellow in it- 
 self; and Lich- 
 field is red with 
 a beautiful soft 
 ruddiness that 
 could hardly be 
 matched by any 
 sandstone of any 
 land." 
 
 The ancient 
 k i n g d o m o f 
 Mercia was con- 
 verted to Christi- 
 anity, like the rest 
 of England north 
 of the Thames, 
 by missionaries 
 of the Celtic 
 church of North- 
 umberland,r. 653. 
 Of the early 
 bishops, by far 
 the most famous 
 was St. Chad 
 
 (669-672). St. JCAUE Of FEET 
 
 Chad, or Ceadda, . CA . Lf L1F WCT ^~ 
 
 was a good and PLAN 
 
 saintly man. He 
 
 is first heard of as Abbot of Lastingham, a sequestered 
 
 abbey hidden away in a fold of the Cleveland moors. 
 
 Then Abbot Chad became Bishop of York, and set to 
 
 work on a visitation of his vast, wild diocese not in a
 
 174 
 
 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 carriage and pair, but on foot. Plainly these early bishops 
 were what we should now call Missionary Bishops, such 
 as that Missionary of the Southern Seas whose effigy 
 lies in Lichfield's Lady chapel, the face irradiated by the 
 southern light. Bishop Chad visited town and country, 
 village and hamlet, cottage and castle ; and preached every- 
 where. It was another Journey of St. Paul. But in 669 
 the famous Greek Archbishop of Canterbury, Theodore, 
 pronounced his consecration faulty, and deposed him from 
 
 THE SOUTH SIDK FROM THE POOL 
 
 York. Soon afterwards, however, finding him a saintly 
 man and an excellent preacher, he appointed him to the 
 bishopric of Mercia, to the see of Lichfield. What was 
 York's loss was Lichfield's gain. At Lichfield he lived, 
 tradition says, in a cell with his missionaries, at the upper 
 end of the Pool, where now stands St. Chad's church. It 
 behoves all who come to Lichfield to visit St. Chad's 
 church and to drink the water of St. Chad's Well. Two 
 years and a half only Bishop Chad had left of life: but
 
 LICHKIKLI) (\\THKDRAL 175 
 
 that was enough for him to win the reverence of his own 
 and many successive generations. Beautiful stories are told 
 of him by Bede. One of the eight monks who lived with 
 him heard one day a joyful melody of some persons sweetly 
 singing, which descended from heaven into the bishop's 
 oratory, and filled the same for about half an hour, and 
 then rose again to heaven ; and on the seventh day there- 
 after, having received the Body and Blood of Our Lord, he 
 departed unto Bliss, to which he was invited by the happy 
 soul of his brother, St. Cedd, and a company of angels 
 with heavenly music. In the statutes of Bishop Lonsdale 
 (1863) the cathedral is described as "our cathedral 
 church of St. Peter, St. Mary and St. ("had in our City 
 of Lichfield." 
 
 Thus the diocese of Lichfield preserves the memory of the 
 bygone kingdom of Mercia; and its cathedral is largely 
 built of the offerings at St. Chad's shrine. How big the 
 ancient diocese was is seen from the fact that the following 
 dioceses have been carved out of it : Hereford in 676, 
 Lindsey in 678, Leicester in 680, Worcester in 680 (and 
 out of Worcester, Gloucester in 1541), Chester in 1537 (and 
 out of Chester, Manchester in 1848, Liverpool in 1880), 
 Southwell (the Derbyshire portion) in 1884. For a time 
 even greater honour came to Lichfield. From 758 to 796 
 a great and mighty king reigned in Mercia : this was Offa. 
 In one direction he defeated Kent ; in the other he drove 
 back the Welsh. It was Offa who settled once for all the 
 Welsh frontier : Shrewsbury became an English town. 
 Offa's Dyke, which still exists, from the mouth of the Wye 
 to the mouth of the 1 )ee, became the effectual bulwark of 
 England to the West. A king so mighty disdained to owe 
 allegiance to an archbishop of defeated Kentishmen, and 
 got from the Pope Adrian I. an archbishop of his own, to 
 be head-bishop of all Mercia and East Anglia. But Offa 
 died, and this was the only archbishop Lichfield ever had. 
 Lichfield was never so important again. Indeed, she had a 
 narrow escape of losing her bishop altogether, just after the 
 Norman conquest. The new Norman prelates did not feel
 
 176 LICIIFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 safe, and probably were not safe, in open towns amidst an 
 alien and disaffected population. The Bishop of Dorchester 
 set up his pastoral staff under the shadow of the new 
 Norman castle at Lincoln ; Exeter castle attracted the 
 Bishop of Crediton ; in similar fashion the Norman Bishop 
 of Lichfield transferred himself to Chester, where also was 
 a castle of strength. The next bishop migrated again this 
 time to Coventry, which possessed a famous monastery, 
 founded by famous people, Karl Leofric and Lady Godiva, 
 the church whereof was so wealthy that "its walls were all 
 too strait for the treasures that were therein." Finally the 
 bishops returned once more to Lichfield, retaining, however, 
 their hold on Coventry; and from 1129 to 1840 they styled 
 themselves " Bishops of Lichfield and Coventry." Lichfield, 
 however, was and is a cathedral of the old foundation ; 
 it had no monks, but secular canons. It may well be 
 imagined, therefore, that there was not much peace and 
 good will between the canons of Lichfield and the monks 
 of Coventry. They quarrelled scandalously ; above all 
 when they had to meet for joint election of a bishop. 
 There was a desperate free fight in 1190, when Bishop 
 Hugh ejected the monks from Coventry cathedral ; the 
 bishop himself was wounded at the altar. 
 
 In the thirteenth century there must have been a series of 
 great building bishops : but not much is known of them. 
 Bishop Langton, however, was a very great personage, 
 Keeper of the Great Seal, Treasurer of Lngland, and 
 executor to Ldward I. (1296-1321). He built a new epis- 
 copal palace at Lichfield, and other castles and manor-houses 
 elsewhere, also a magnificent new shrine for the relics of 
 St. Chad: and he surrounded the cathedral with a wall and 
 foss, thus making of it a moated fortress, such as one sees 
 to this day in the palace at U'ells. Robert Stretton (1360- 
 1385) had the distinction of not being able to read. Then 
 we pass on to the great Civil War, when Bishop Langton's 
 fortifications proved a heritage of woe. Being fortified, and 
 being held by loyalists, Lichfield cathedral was besieged by 
 the Parliamentary forces under Lord Brooke, who prayed
 
 LICIIFIELI) CATHEDRAL 177 
 
 aloud that God would by some special token manifest unto 
 them His approbation. The special token came on St. 
 Chad's Day, 2nd March, and is commemorated by a tablet 
 on a house in Dam Street, which the visitor should look 
 for: "March 2nd, 1643. Lord Brooke, a general of the 
 Parliament forces, preparing to besiege the Close of Lich field, 
 then garrisoned for King Charles the First, received his 
 death -wound on the spot beneath this inscription, by a shot 
 in the forehead, from Mr Dyott," a deaf and dumb man, 
 " who had placed himself on the battlements of the great 
 steeple to annoy the besiegers." It may interest some to 
 know that the distance of the shot was 185 yds. i ft. 3 in. 
 In the end the garrison was starved out. A month later 
 Lichfield Close was recaptured by Prince Rupert. In 
 1646 it was retaken by the Parliamentarians. In the first 
 siege the Parliamentary cannon brought down the central 
 tower and most of the vault of the choir. This was not all. 
 The Puritans smashed the stained windows, battered down 
 the statues, stripped the lead from the roof and the brasses 
 from the tombs, burned the registers, and broke up the 
 bells and organs. They are said each day to have hunted 
 a cat down the aisles, and to have draped a calf and given 
 it a mock baptism at the font. " I confess," says an 
 apologist for her Puritan ancestors, " there were moments 
 in my English journey when I hated the Puritan wiih a 
 godly hatred, and wished that he had never shown his surly 
 face to the world : a rude destroyer of things ancient, and 
 therefore to be respected ; a vandal devastator of things rare 
 and beautiful, and too precious ever to be replaced , a brutal 
 scoffer, drinking at the altar, firing his musket at the figure 
 of Christ, parading in priest's vestments through the market- 
 place, stabling his horses in the house of Cod." Then 
 came the Restoration, and with the Restoration Bishop 
 Racket, best of good bishops. The very next morning after 
 his arrival he set his coach horses to work at clearing away 
 the ruins of the fallen spire and roof. For nine years he 
 gave himself and his substance to the work : his contribu- 
 tions in money amounted to ^10,000 ; the King gave "one
 
 1?8 LICIIFIELD CATIIKDUAL 
 
 hundred fair timber trees '' ; the prebendaries and canons 
 subscribed half their income ; every town, every village in 
 the diocese aided the good work ; the central tower was 
 re-erected; most of the clerestory of the choir was rebuilt ; 
 his last task was to put in a peal of bells. " He went out 
 of his bedchamber to hear the tenor bell, the only one as 
 yet hung, and blessed God who had favoured him with life 
 to hear it, but that it was his own passing-bell ; whereupon 
 he retired to his chamber and never left it till he was carried 
 to his grave." Next to St. Chad, one likes to think of good 
 Bishop Hacket in connexion with Lichfield. In 1788 
 James YVyatt arrived, but did less mischief than at Salisbury, 
 Hereford, and 1 )urham. Even more terrible vandals followed 
 Wyatt, with a mania for Roman cement, in which beautiful 
 material they reconstructed the statuary of the west front. 
 All this is now swept away, and this fairest of facades is 
 seen in something like its pristine beauty. 
 
 At Lichfield there was as usual a Norman cathedral ; and 
 as usual the authorities set to work to improve it. Else- 
 where the improvements were of a very conservative 
 character. At Lichfield, Wells, and York, they were drastic : 
 the Norman cathedral was improved by being swept off the 
 face of the earth, not a scrap of it being left above ground. 
 Beginning at the east end, it was pulled down and rebuilt, 
 the \\ork occupying more than a century. The most 
 astounding thing about Lichfield is that when the new 
 thirteenth century cathedral was finished, the canons set 
 to work once more at rebuilding, and in the first half of the 
 fourteenth century remodelled the whole of the eastern 
 limb of the cathedral ; the cathedral was never out of the 
 builders' hands from c. 1190 to c. 1350. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. Of the Norman church nothing is known 
 except by excavations. These shewed that the presbytery 
 was of the periapsidal plan we see at Gloucester; it had 
 consisted of an apse preceded by three rectangular bays, 
 and was encircled by a procession path. No doubt there 
 were three radiating chapels opening out of the procession 
 path : some indications were found of the easternmost of
 
 LICIIFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 179 
 
 these. Late in the twelfth century, a long oblong ehapel 
 was built projecting eastward. 
 
 SKCOND PERIOD. Section by section the whole of the 
 
 Norman church was rebuilt. As usual, the presbytery was 
 rebuilt first. Excavations shewed that the new presbytery 
 consisted of five aisled bays opening, as at Exeter and 
 Southwark, by two arches into two low rectangular ba)s,
 
 ISO LICIIFIKLI) CATIIKDKAI, 
 
 of which the western would he employed as procession 
 path, while the eastern would contain four altars, as again 
 at Southwark. The three western bays of this new pres- 
 bytery remain, but have lost both triforium and clerestory. 
 The date 1200 is usually assigned to them. But the 
 entrance arch of the north choir aisle has the diamond 
 pattern enclosing a roll, as in the west transept of Peter- 
 borough, which is known to have been built between 
 1195 and 1200: the square alternates with the rounded 
 abacus : the piers are heavy, the arches low, the moldings 
 large and vigorous, and the foliated capitals at the west end 
 of both aisles are so archaic in character that it may have 
 been commenced some years earlier. The work should be 
 compared with the early Gothic work in Chester cathedral, 
 which was originally in Lichfield diocese. The peculiar 
 plan of the piers, encircled by shafts of freestone arranged 
 in triplets, stamps the work decisively as part of that great 
 school of Western Gothic which arose at Wells, Worcester, 
 and Glastonbury, and, which, uncontaminated by any foreign 
 influence, wrought out an individual style of its own and 
 extended its outposts as far as Chester, Lichfield, and 
 Dublin. At about the same time as the new presbytery was 
 built the sacristy and the adjoining treasury, which origin- 
 ally was accessible only from the sacristy. St. Chad's 
 chapel above the sacristy, from the form of its windows and 
 the character of its capitals, also belongs to this work ; but 
 it must be a trifle later, for its doorway is the central light 
 of an aisle window. The new vault and other detail by 
 Sir Gilbert Scott completely distort the history of the chapel. 
 This West of England work at Lichfield has never received 
 the careful study it deserves. There is much more of it 
 than there appears to be at first sight. In the choir it 
 includes the three western bays of the ground story ; as these 
 no doubt were intended to have a high vault, as in the 
 work at Worcester, c. 1175. and as there were to be no 
 flying buttresses, the walls had to be very thick in order to 
 abut the high vault, and therefore required as supports 
 massive columns and arches. For additional safetv, these
 
 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL iSl 
 
 were kept very low, as at Wells. The piers are surrounded 
 by eight groups of shafts arranged in triplets, as in Wells 
 nave ; several of these are filleted, and the fillets pass down 
 through the bases and plinths. The arch-molds have large 
 rolls, which are largely repeats of one another. Of the 
 capitals some are elongated, as at Llandaff, and have simple, 
 conventional foliage with very long stalks ; some have the 
 pollarded willow design with enrichments ; a few have the 
 plantain leaf; a few have the re flexed trefoil leaf, which 
 appears in Dore retro-choir ; but the great majority, especially 
 in the arcading, have solid, knobby capitals of foliage, of 
 little projection and but slightly undercut. On the internal 
 walls of the aisles is arcading consisting of trefoiled arches. 
 The aisle-vaults have been rebuilt and filled in with ashlar ; 
 the ribs are original, and seem rather later than the pier- 
 arches, as do the two or three foliated bosses which remain 
 in the south aisle. A curious feature in this west country 
 Gothic is the continuous bowtell without capitals or bases ; 
 it is well seen in the wall arches and in the arch leading 
 into the south aisle of the nave. In the triforium chamber 
 there are gutters at the foot of the clerestory buttresses ; 
 which looks as if the chamber originally had a span roof, 
 and not a lean-to. The piers of the crossing have been 
 thickened to carry the present tower ; inside, however, they 
 must be the piers of c. i i 90 ; for a bay of the clerestory of 
 that date remains adjoining each tower-pier; the bay has 
 been narrowed by the thickening of this pier and its form 
 altered ; the best preserved is that on the east side of the 
 north transept. The greater part of the transepts also belong 
 to this work ; as may be seen by examining the capitals of 
 the vaulting-shafts and the remains of the windows. In one 
 respect the work differs not only from that of the Northern 
 and South-eastern school, but also from that of the West ; 
 viz., in the design of the windows, which is unique. Else- 
 where single windows are employed, except one graduated 
 triplet in the north aisle of 1'ershore. But at Lichtield all 
 the lower windows seem to have been triplets ; they are 
 singularly squat and ugly: they are well seen in the ungla/.ed
 
 I 82 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 windows at the inner ends of the transept aisles ; and one 
 of them has been restored and glazed in the southern bay 
 of the' aisle of the south transept. 
 
 It is to be added that the nave also is but a later and 
 advanced development of West of England design ; as 
 appears from the shafting of the piers, the character of the 
 arch-molds, and the non-use of marble shafting. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. About 1220 the south transept was 
 commenced. The builders of the choir had planned it for 
 an aisle-less transept. When, therefore, the transept was 
 built with an eastern aisle, the westernmost window of the 
 choir aisle looked into the transept aisle and no longer into 
 the open air. Moreover, owing to the presence of the 
 western wall of the treasury, the last aisle of the south 
 transept could not be made so broad as that of the north 
 transept. 
 
 About twenty years later the north transept seems to have 
 been taken in hand : the original group of five lancet lights 
 has recently been restored on the evidence of fragments 
 found in the wall. The doorways of both transepts are of 
 rich and lovely design. 
 
 About the same date as the north transept, a Chapter 
 house and vestibule were built on the north side of the 
 choir, as at Lincoln, York, and Southwell. This had not 
 been contemplated by the builders of the choir; conse- 
 quently the doorway of the vestibule had to be placed 
 where before was a lancet window. The vestibule is a 
 bold and vigorous piece of design, with a remarkable range 
 of thirteen arcaded seats on its western side. The Chapter 
 house is unique in plan, being an octagon with two long and 
 six short sides. The doorway has bold tooth ornament : the 
 wall is surrounded by a trefoiled arcade. Above the vesti- 
 bule is a room which was once the chapel of St. Peter : 
 above the Chapter house is the present library. Among the 
 treasures of the cathedral is the priceless copy of ''St. 
 Chad's (lospels,'' written by an Irish scribe probably about 
 the end of the seventh century : it is now placed in a glass 
 case behind the reredos of the altar.
 
 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 183 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. About i 260 the present nave seems 
 to have been commenced. Its remarkable clerestory 
 windows spherical triangles enclosing cusped circles occur 
 in the \Vestminster triforium, and, rather later, in the clere- 
 
 THE NAVE 
 
 story of Hereford north transept. The spherical triangles fit 
 perfectly into the wall arches of the vaulting, and, as Mr 
 Fergusson says, "give a stability and propriety to the whole 
 arrangement which has never been surpassed." In fact, 
 taken in conjunction with the uninterrupted flow of the 1
 
 184 LICIIFIKLD CATHKDRAL 
 
 vaulting-shafts to the pavement, they afford a glimpse of a 
 design which was not to he fully realised till Gloucester choir 
 was huilt as a single-storied interior. The weak point is the 
 want of organic connexion between the triforium and the 
 clerestory stages. They might well have been fused into a 
 single composition, by flattening the aisle roofs and glaxing 
 the triforium arcade, as was done at Troves cathedral, 
 c. \ 250. The proportions of the nave are singularly beautiful. 
 '1 'hough it is inconsiderable in height, yet each separate bay 
 is so lofty in proportion to its width, that the lowness of the 
 vault does not strike one. The numerous vertical lines 
 arising from the large number of shafts attached to the piers, 
 and the great height of the unbanded vaulting-shafts still 
 further increase the appearance of loftiness. The foliated 
 capitals are of marvellous beauty and interest, running the 
 whole gamut from conventional to naturalistic sculpture : 
 and are almost untouched by the restorer, having been 
 preserved by thick coats of whitewash. The vault, too, of 
 which, however, the five eastern bays had to be removed 
 in 1760 when they were rebuilt in plaster, is most satis- 
 factory not simple to bareness, like that of Beverley and so 
 many French cathedrals, nor over-elaborated, like those of 
 the naves of Winchester and Norwich : a curious feature of 
 it is the omission of the transverse ribs, so as to reduce the 
 number of ribs for which room had to be found on the 
 abacus of the vaulting-shafts. The design of the interior of 
 Lichfield nave is one of the loveliest in Christendom. It 
 derives great impressiveness from the fact that the vault 
 ranges the whole length of the cathedral in almost un- 
 diminished height : and from the fact that the church is 
 not cut up, as at Canterbury, into two distinct buildings. 
 Indeed, small as the cathedral is, the vista from west to 
 east is one of the longest of all the English cathedrals. 
 And its termination in the beautiful polygon of the Lady 
 chapel, so unusual to English eyes, glimmering in the 
 distance ''like some great casket of jewels at the end of the 
 long dusk perspective," makes an impression never to be 
 forgotten. l!v this one remembers the interior of Lichfield.
 
 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 185 
 
 as its exterior by the glorious coronal of spires. Nave, tran- 
 sept, and choir are all of the same length. The same 
 scheme of proportions was adopted a little later in planning 
 York Minster. 
 
 Externally, the nave is well seen from the north, about 
 the only part of the exterior which has not been rebuilt ; 
 notice the curious system of drainage of the high roofs, 
 resembling that of Chichester nave, by which the water was 
 conveyed along the channelled backs of the flying buttresses ; 
 here and on the Chapter house the buttresses are still 
 crowned with gablets ; except at Westminster, pinnacles had 
 hardly come into use yet, to weight the buttresses of the 
 flanks of churches. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. The nave finished, the west front was 
 taken in hand. The first stage, up to and including the 
 row of kings, may be c. 1280; the second stage c. 1300, 
 the upper part, including the belfry windows, c. 1320; 
 in this stage and on the spires is much ball-flower, an 
 ornament which was in vogue most between 1307 and 
 1327. The central doorway retains much of its original 
 ironwork. 
 
 Great works were going on simultaneously to the east 
 of the cathedral. In two respects it was defective in 
 plan ; viz., that it gave little honour either to Our Lady or 
 to St. ('had. What was wanted was a grand Lady chapel 
 and a Feretory. Walter Langton, who was bishop from 
 1296 to 1321, set to work to provide both. Starting to 
 the east of the existing church, a vast Lady chapel was 
 commenced ; at first entirely detached so as not to interfere 
 with the services. Being exceedingly lofty and without 
 aisles, it was possible to have exceptionally lofty windows. 
 These elongated windows, the absence of pinnacles, and 
 the polygonal plan, give the exterior a curiously foreign 
 appearance. The window tracery is geometrical, being 
 composed of groups of trefoils. But the ogee-dripstones 
 of the windows shew that the work overlaps into the 
 fourteenth century ; indeed, it was unfinished at Bishop 
 Lanirton's death in 1^21. Inside the southern wall are
 
 I 86 LICH FIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 chapels, the central of which contains the monument of 
 Bishop Selwyn, of New Zealand and Lichfield. But the 
 glory of the Lady chapel and the cathedral is the magnifi- 
 cent painted glass of the sixteenth century similar in 
 character to that of Margaret of Austria's church at Brou- 
 en-Bresse, Burgundy. The first window on each side was 
 inserted recently. The remaining seven windows are also 
 Flemish glass, of the date 1530 to 1540, bought by Sir 
 Brooke Boothby in 1803, from the Cistercian nunnery 
 of Herckenrode, near Liege, for ,200. The second 
 window on the north is particularly interesting, as it con- 
 tains portraits of patrons and benefactors of Herckenrode, 
 kneeling at altars, with their patron saints behind them. 
 The third window also has portraits of great nobles of 
 the Netherlands. The remaining five windows contain 
 Scriptural subjects. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. The next stage of the work, which was 
 left for Bishop Norbury, 1325-1359, was to join up the Lady 
 chapel to the church by the insertion of an additional bay. 
 About the same time would be erected a stone pedestal 
 for the shrine of St. Chad ; the foundations of this have been 
 laid bare. It did not stand in the usual position at the back 
 of the High altar, but occupied the western half of the 
 bay adjoining the Lady chapel. Thus the new procession 
 path would pass to the west of it, and not as usual to the 
 east. This done, the cathedral was complete and as we see 
 it now. It contained (i) nave, (2) transepts, each with 
 two eastern chapels, (3) choir of three bays, (4) presbytery 
 of three bays with High altar in its present position, 
 (5) procession path, (6) Feretory with two lateral chapels 
 at the east ends of the choir aisles, (8) Lady chapel, (9) 
 sacristy and treasury. But even the last great extension 
 was not enough for the canons. They were .seized with 
 the mania for floods of light and acres of stained glass 
 which raged like an epidemic through the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. They pulled down all 
 the choir except the piers and arches of the three western- 
 most bavs these would not be visible owinu to the
 
 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 187 
 
 stall work in front of them ; besides, to remove them might 
 have endangered the central tower they built new piers 
 and arehes in the eastern bays, and a new clerestory along 
 the whole length of the choir with huge windows of flowing 
 tracery, two only of which are left. The result of the new 
 design was to convert the chancel into a two-story interior 
 as opposed to the three-story interior of the nave. The 
 original triforium may have been similar to that of the 
 transept. At the same time they replaced all the lancets 
 of the aisles by big windows with similar tracery. The 
 jambs of the clerestory windows they enriched with bands 
 of quatrefoils ; one of the windows of the south aisle of 
 the choir, opposite to which the tomb of Bishop Langton 
 formerly stood, and beneath which good Bishop Racket's 
 tomb is now placed, has big crumpled leaves running up 
 the jambs. The junction of the early piers and capitals 
 with those of the fourteenth century is well seen in the 
 third pier from the central tower. Between the bays were 
 placed statued niches, as in the contemporary church of 
 St. Mary's, Beverley, from which rose the vaulting-shaft. 
 The whole design should be compared with the presbyteries 
 of Wells and Chester, which were in course of " restoration " 
 at the same time and in the same ruthless fashion. In the 
 choir aisles is a delightful arcade of bowing ogee arches. 
 The development of the Gothic foliated capital may be 
 studied most delightfully by inspecting successively the 
 capitals of the choir, transepts, Chapter house and vestibule, 
 nave and presbytery. About the same time, or a little later, 
 were built the central gable of the west front and the south- 
 western spire. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. The equipment of the presbytery was 
 completed about the middle of the fifteenth century by the 
 erection of a magnificent altar-screen after the fashion of 
 those at Winchester and St. Albans. Six of its canopies 
 are reused in the present sedilia. In a line with the reredos 
 there were gates across the aisles ; thus the procession path, 
 Saint's chapel and Lady chapel were entirely shut off from 
 the chancel. The shrine of St. Chad is recorded to have
 
 1 88 
 
 LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 been completed by Bishop Stretton c. 1386. At the Dis- 
 solution the bones of St. ('had were conveyed away by 
 Prebendary Dudley; they passed through various hands, 
 and are now shewn in St. Child's cathedral, Birmingham, 
 deposited in a reliquary placed above the High altar. As 
 with St. Hugh at Lincoln, there was a separate shrine for 
 
 : 
 
 THE WEST FRONT 
 
 the head of the saint, which was probably kept in the 
 existing aumbry of St. Chad's chapel. From its gallery the 
 head shrine could be shewn to pilgrims passing below. The 
 head shrine of St. Chad is mentioned in an inventory of 
 134501- 1346. From "St. Chad's pennies" collected in 
 the man}' churches of this large diocese and from the
 
 LICIIFIELI) CATHEDRAL 189 
 
 offerings of pilgrims at the two shrines the cathedral drew a 
 very large revenue. Even at the Dissolution, when the 
 relics of St. Chad were ordered to be destroyed, the precious 
 metals and jewels of the shrine were by exception allowed 
 to be retained by the Chapter. 
 
 In the fifteenth century also the northern spire was copied 
 from the southern one. More big windows were inserted in 
 the transepts and the west end of the nave. The latter has 
 been replaced by a modern window with geometrical tracery ; 
 that of the north transept by a quintet of lancets. Finally, 
 the whole cathedral was rendered fireproof by the erection 
 of vaults over both transepts and under the central tower. 
 The south transept, however, would seem to have had a 
 vault previously but it may have been of wood for a little 
 lower than the abacus of the vaulting shaft is one of the 
 thirteenth century. In 1512 Dean Yotton was buried in 
 the north aisle of the nave, near the chantry chapel which 
 he had built projecting from the second bay west of the 
 transept ; fragments of its doorway are still visible externally. 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. In the two sieges the clerestory and 
 aisle windows and the vault of the choir suffered greatly, 
 and the central spire was destroyed. The latter was rebuilt, 
 it is said, but without warrant, by Sir Christopher Wren, and 
 rectilinear tracery replaced the fourteenth-century tracery 
 which had been destroyed in the windows of the Lady 
 chapel and the clerestory of the choir. In 1813 the fronts 
 of the choir arches, being decayed, were cut away and 
 replaced in stucco ; now they are once more rebuilt in 
 stone. 
 
 The poor, thin metal screen is by Skidmore of Coventry, 
 and replaces a massive stone screen made up of the 
 fragments of the ancient reredos, and carrying a noble 
 organ. The metal pulpit, the font, the lectern, the litany 
 desk, the stalls, the bishop's throne, and the reredos are 
 all modern. The cathedral is rich in good examples of 
 the glass of Mr Kempe and Messrs Burliton and drylls ; to 
 Mr Kempe also is to be credited admirable minor work in 
 St. Chad's chapel and the fine altar rails ot alabaster
 
 190 LICIIKIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 (with the Blessed Virgin's vase of lilies) in the Lady chapel. 
 Over a grand effigy of Bishop Lonsdale by Mr Watts, on 
 the north side of the presbytery, is an atrocious canopy 
 in carpenter's Gothic ; not much better is the monument 
 of Hodson of "Hudson's Horse'' in the south aisle of 
 the presbytery. In this aisle are several interesting monu- 
 ments ; in the first bay from the east Chantrey's " Sleeping 
 Children " ; in the third bay the monument of Bishop 
 Hacket ; in the fourth bay that of a tired man, Arch- 
 deacon Moore, by Armstead ; in the sixth and seventh 
 bays fine effigies of thirteenth-century bishops. 
 
 BiHUOGRAi'HY. Professor Willis' paper in the Archaological 
 Journal, vol. xviii., 1861. 
 
 Sketch of the Restorations in Lichfield Cathedral, Lichliekl, 1861. 
 Woodhouse's Short Account of Lichfield Cathedral, Lichfield, 1811. 
 History of Si. Chad's, Birmingham, Birmingham, 1904.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. MARY, LINCOLN 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 "Beautiful for siuuilioii. UK- joy of the whole earth." 
 
 THE cathedrals of Lincoln, York, and Southwell were 
 ever served by secular canons and not by monks ; 
 but each cathedral has been styled a minster from 
 time immemorial, as if it were or had been a monastic 
 church (monasterium}. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. The history of the cathedral only com- 
 mences in 1074, when the first Norman bishop, Remi or 
 Remigius, made Lincoln the seat of the see instead of 
 Dorchester on the Thames. As Canon Venables puts it : 
 " He refused the tabernacle of Birinus, and chose not the 
 tribe of the South Angles : but chose the tribe of Lindsey, 
 even the hill of Lindum which he loved : and there he built 
 his temple on high, and laid the foundation of it like the 
 ground which hath been established for ever." The blank 
 wall with its curious apsidal recesses, which forms the centre 
 of the west front, is Remi's work. So are the Corinthian 
 capitals, square-edged arches, and wide-jointed masonry in 
 the ground story of the western towers. 
 
 If we pass within beneath the north-western tower, the 
 semicircular arches, though blocked up, of the Norman 
 triforium may still be recognised ; and the clerestory
 
 192 
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 1 Chapel of St Nicholas 
 
 2 ,, ,, St Denis 
 
 3 i) , i St Thomas the Apostle 
 
 4 ., ,, St Kdward 
 
 5 ,, ,, St Andrew 
 
 6 St Giles 
 
 7 Dean's Chapel 
 
 8 Kaster Sepulchre 
 
 9 Catherine Swineford's Monument 
 
 10 Hishop Lonj;laml 
 
 11 Chapel of St lilaise 
 
 12 ,, ,, Hiily Trinity 
 
 13 John, Lord Burghersh 
 
 14 Hishop 1'urghersh 
 
 15 Lord Cantilupe's Mont. 
 
 16 Prior Wimbush
 
 LINCOLN CATIIKDKAL 
 
 193 
 
 windows retain their angle-rolls with the original caps ; 
 ground story, triforium, and clerestory were about equal 
 in height. The nave was 5 ft. 6 in. narrower on each side 
 than at present from aisle wall to aisle wall ; the arches 
 between the nave and aisles were separated by piers 
 which were 17 ft. 2 in. from centre to centre; there were 
 ten bays in the nave. There was a transept, narrower 
 than the present one by about 4 feet on one side ; and a 
 
 short-aisled presbytery, ending in three parallel eastern 
 apses. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. The archaic facade was improved c. 
 1 1 60 by the insertion of a more ornamental central door 
 way. Also curious plaques, in rather high relief, were stuck 
 along the wall, as at St. Michael, Pavia. They are not in 
 chronological sequence, and so may have been transferred 
 from elsewhere. Moreover, two low western towers were 
 carried up, with rich and beautiful gables; of which those
 
 194 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 to the north and south survive. The south-western tower 
 should he ascended to see Remi's eleventh-century work, 
 the twelfth-century gables, the "elastic beam," and the 
 superb view of the interior of nave, choir, and presbytery. 
 The font in the south aisle of the nave, like that of 
 Winchester, is one of a series brought from Tournai : there 
 is another at Thornton Curtis, near the H umber. The 
 north and south doorways of the west front were probably 
 inserted c. 1170. Their capitals have faint reminiscences 
 of By/antine design. They should be contrasted with the 
 archaic capitals in Remi's work. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. We now walk up the nave and enter 
 the choir. In 1 1 90 a Carthusian monk, Hugh of Avalon, 
 near Grenoble, who for ten years had been prior of 
 Witham, Somerset, became bishop. Like Fitz-Jocelyn of 
 Wells, and like the Lichfield builders, he determined to 
 sweep away the Norman cathedral and build a new one. 
 He probably had no choice, for Hoveden relates that in 
 1185 a great earthquake was heard almost throughout the 
 whole of England, such as had not been heard in that land 
 from the beginning of the world. Rocks were split, stone- 
 built houses fell into ruin, and the church of Lincoln was 
 torn asunder from top to bottom. 
 
 Bishop Hugh commenced work in 1192 : commencing no 
 doubt some considerable distance east of the short Norman 
 choir, and completing his presbytery before the latter was 
 removed. Excavations, marked by lines incised in the 
 pavement, shew that the presbytery was of Continental 
 type, but with special peculiarities of its own. It ter- 
 minated in a semi-hexagon, and was encircled by a procession 
 aisle : from the latter radiated seven chapels. Of all this 
 nothing is left above ground except a fragment of arcading 
 on the exterior of the north wall of St. Paul's chapel (kept 
 locked up). Next would come the building of the choir 
 transepts: it is a strange fact that the end bay of each was 
 only one story high. The end wall of the southern choir 
 transept has been removed : that of the northern one still 
 remains, but its windows no longer look into the open air.
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 and are unglazed. To this period belong also the chapels 
 on both sides of the choirtransepts. Of the four chapels 
 on the east side of the transepts three only were apsidal. 
 The fourth, the northernmost, is as we see it now, apsidal, 
 having been shortened and narrowed and remodelled 
 generally by Essex in 1772 ; originally it was a long oblong 
 building ; the foundations of its eastern bays may be seen 
 outside in the turf; the doorway in its north wall is not in 
 situ ; it is a composite one, put together no doubt by Essex 
 from various sources. This oblong building was probably 
 the original Chapter house. 
 
 In the choir transepts and the choir there is nothing of 
 Continental design ; they are to be compared with such 
 work as that of Ripon nave (before aisles were added), and 
 the choirs o f 
 Fountains Abbey 
 and I] ever ley 
 Minster. It is 
 only in a few 
 minor details that 
 the influence of 
 the French choir 
 of Canterbury ap- 
 pears. The chap- 
 els of St. Hugh's 
 apse and choir 
 transepts were 
 probably vaulted 
 as we see them 
 now. As to the 
 aisles of the choir 
 it is not so easy 
 to determine. It 
 was very rare in a 
 cathedral church, 
 whether Roman- 
 esque or Gothic, 
 not to vault the 
 
 ARCADIM; IN HOYS VKSTKY
 
 196 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 aisles ; but originally the aisle-walls of the Lincoln choir 
 were too thin to support a vault. It was only when it was 
 decided to vault these aisles that they were thickened by 
 adding in front of them the tall trefoiled arcade now seen. 
 (The pointed arcade at the back has its moldings and tooth 
 ornament fully worked, even where masked by the trefoiled 
 arcade ; and the latter is built independently of the former ; 
 plainly it is an afterthought. The construction of this 
 double arcade is best seen in the end bays of the south 
 choir aisle and the adjacent central transept.) The change 
 of intention must have occurred very shortly after the 
 beginning of the choir works, for at the cills of the aisle- 
 windows the wall is solid throughout. As for the high 
 vaults of the choir transepts and the choir, there certainly 
 were none in St. Hugh's time ; for the whole abutment 
 system by which their thrusts are stopped is of a later 
 period. It seems probable that the triforium and clerestory 
 also, as we see them now, depart very widely from St. 
 Hugh's design. As for the latter, if we search the pockets 
 of the high vaults, we find a number of blocked lancets 
 between each pair of clerestory windows : when there were 
 no high vaults, these would be visible from below. They 
 must be part of St. Hugh's clerestory ; which, judging from 
 these indications, had either another lancet window, or an 
 unpierced pointed recess, between each triplet of lancet 
 windows. If now we pass into one of the choir transepts 
 and look up at the clerestory passage of the choir, we shall 
 see in each bay three dark pointed openings ; these look 
 into the triforium chamber. But if we pass into the latter, 
 we shall find a fourth and larger opening at the back of the 
 springers of the present high vault. These four pointed 
 openings are probably the tipper part of a triforium arcade 
 of St. Hugh's time, much loftier than the present one. All 
 four may have looked into his triforium chamber : or only 
 the three narrower arches, the fourth being an unpierced 
 pointed recess. 
 
 To St. Hugh's time we may probably refer the com- 
 mencement of the central transept ; inside, a stoppage of
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 197 
 
 the works is indicated by a change of the design of the wall 
 arcade in the bays next the choir ; externally there are 
 equally well marked differences. 
 
 St. Hugh's work is of exceptional interest both from its 
 early date and from the extraordinary transformation which 
 it has undergone. Special attention should be paid to the 
 two chapels on the west sides of the choir transepts. That 
 in the north tran- 
 sept goes by the 
 name of the 
 Dean's chapel ; in 
 the thirteenth cen- 
 tury it was walled 
 off, floors were put 
 in, and doors and 
 windows were in- 
 serted in the 
 ground s t o r y 
 (notice the origin- 
 al ironwork on 
 the doors anil 
 shutters). The 
 chapel in the 
 south transept was 
 screened off in the 
 fourteenth century 
 as a sacristy ; it is 
 now the boys' 
 vestry ; its south- 
 ern doorway pas- 
 ses through a thick 
 wall which was 
 originally part of 
 the end wall of 
 St. Hugh's south 
 
 choir transept. Everywhere the foliated capitals are of great 
 beauty and interest, as are the moldings; the figure sculpture 
 in the Dean's chapel merits special attention. At the June-
 
 198 
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 tion of the choir aisles with the choir transepts are remark- 
 able piers with hollow-chamfered marble shafts and vertical 
 bands of crockets of early type. 
 
 FOURTH PKUIOD. -St. Hugh died in 1200, and the work 
 seems to have been carried on by the- same architect, 
 Geoffry de Noiers. This included the remainder of the 
 central transept and a central tower. This transept also 
 was designed not to have a vault ; as is shewn by the fact 
 that the top of the northern circular window is masked by 
 the present vault. This window and those below contain 
 admirable contemporary glass ; there is none finer in 
 England ; of fine design, too, externally, is the northern 
 doorway into the Dean's garden. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. The next work was the building of the 
 nave, which from the first was designed for a vault. Who- 
 ever the architect 
 was, it was not 
 Geoff ryde Noiers, 
 but someone who 
 was a good engin- 
 
 o o 
 
 eer so good an 
 engineer that in 
 the interior he 
 somewhat sacri- 
 ficed art to engin- 
 eering. The piers 
 he set as far apart 
 as possible, and 
 made them as thin 
 as possible : but 
 they are beauti- 
 fully built, and 
 rest on founda- 
 tions which are 
 
 THE NAVE AND NORTH TRANSEPT COlltillUOUS Under- 
 
 ground from pier 
 
 to pier, and in addition are kept from shifting by transverse 
 foundations extending from each pier to the aisle-wall. The
 
 LINCOLN CATIIKDRAL 199 
 
 object of making the bays so broad was to get plenty of room 
 for a high vault without obstructing the clerestory windows. 
 The obtuse arches, however, of the pier-arcade and the 
 attenuated piers are not satisfactory to the eye. On the 
 other hand, the exterior of the nave, with its knife-edge 
 buttresses and tall gablets and strong base-courses, is one of 
 the best designs in all Gothic ; it is of almost Greek severity. 
 The height of the nave, when vaulted, was 82 ft., as 
 compared with the 74 ft. of the vaulted choir. A French- 
 man would have given a nave so broad (42 ft.) a height of 
 some 120 ft. 
 
 The original design had been, probably, to make the nave 
 much longer than it is now, and then to build a brand-new 
 west front, as at Wells and Lichfield. Ultimately, however, 
 it was decided not to sweep away, but to utilise the Norman 
 west front and western towers as far as possible, and to 
 curtail the nave accordingly. Unfortunately, the new 
 cathedral had not been built at right angles to the Norman 
 facade. The axis, therefore, of the western bays of the nave 
 had to deviate so as to strike the facade as centrally as 
 possible. Moreover, the vault of the nave was too lofty for 
 the facade, so it was suddenly dropped two feet at the end 
 of the live eastern bays ; and the distance between the 
 completed bays and the facade being insufficient for two 
 arches of the span of the eastern ones, the two western bays 
 had to be built narrower than the rest. 
 
 All this is regrettable ; but though the nave is shorter 
 
 o O 
 
 than it should be, the vast spaces of the interior, dimly 
 lighted with scanty beams filtering through narrow lancets, 
 
 o ^ O O 
 
 are wonderfully impressive ; the distances, yet further 
 enhanced by the interposition of organ and screen, seem 
 really infinite. It is not, like Ely, a study in contrasts, but 
 in harmonies. The design of the nave leads without a 
 break to that of the transepts ; the design of the transepts 
 to that of the choir : the design of the choir, aided by the 
 rich stalls and screens, to the splendour of the presbytery, 
 where the light breaks forth at length to irradiate all loveli 
 ness of molding and foliage and sculptured imagery.
 
 200 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 Though the length of the nave was now curtailed in the 
 altered design, compensation was found in throwing out a 
 flanking chapel on either side of the two westernmost bays. 
 The position of these chapels may be founded on those of 
 
 THE NAVE 
 
 Ely : it was repeated by Wren in St. Paul's. In all three 
 cathedrals it gives a noble air of spaciousness on entering 
 by the western doors. The vault of the northern chapel is 
 supported by a beautiful central pier consisting of eight 
 shafts of Purbeck marble, very acutely pointed, and once so
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 2OI 
 
 highly polished, like the rest of the Purbeck shafts, says a 
 mediaeval versifier, that they positively dazzled the eyes. 
 
 Then came the west front. We may not like it ; but given 
 the conditions the retention of an enormous oblong area 
 of Norman wall with two Norman towers behind it is not 
 easy to see how anything better could have been done. 
 Its vast height and breadth are astonishingly impressive 
 from the narrow courtyard which coops it in. 
 
 To the same period belongs the Chapter house, the first 
 polygonal Chapter house after those of Margam and Abbey 
 Dore. "The strong flying buttresses, like colossal arms 
 stretched out to bear up the huge fabric," were added 
 later. 
 
 All the work of this period is attributed to Bishop Hugh 
 of Wells (1209-1235); but the completion of it was due to 
 his successor. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. Hugh of Wells was followed by a great 
 and masterful prelate, Robert Grostete (1235-1253). So far 
 as is known, the church up to now had nowhere any high 
 vaults. Grostete's great task was to put up high vaults 
 everywhere. He had also to complete the upper part of 
 the west front, where notice his characteristic trellis work ; 
 it is probable also that he finished the two western chapels 
 of the nave. These works may well have been put in hand 
 at once. But in 1237 a great catastrophe occurred the 
 fall of the central tower killing three people who were 
 listening to a sermon. However it fell vertically, damaging 
 only the bays immediately adjacent in the choir and central 
 transept. The old piers of the tower were strengthened and 
 recased, and new arches put on them ; and on the arches a 
 low central tower, inside which notice Grostete's trellis 
 work. The ruined bays were rebuilt hastily and carelessly. 
 The choir piers were strengthened by ugly freestone columns 
 without capitals, and were stiffened by building stone 
 screens between them. The new moldings on the 
 westernmost side of the westernmost arches of the ground 
 story of the choir do not fit the old, and a ring of stone was 
 worked to hide the awkward junction ; in the clerestory
 
 202 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 freestone is substituted for marble. The reconstructed 
 pier-arches may be recognised by having hood-molds. 
 
 Then the choir, choir transepts, and central transepts, 
 had to be prepared for vaulting. In the clerestory every 
 fourth window or recess, whichever it was, was blocked up 
 with masonry. As for the triforiuni, every fourth opening 
 was blocked up with masonry to receive the springers of the 
 high vault ; and the old triforium arcade was taken out and 
 a new one put in its place and that without taking down 
 the roof or clerestory or the upper courses of the old tri- 
 forium arcade. Inside and outside the triforium chambers 
 clerestory buttresses were built, for the heads of flying but- 
 tresses to rest on ; and transverse arches were thrown across 
 the chamber to stiffen the new triforium arcade. Outside, 
 the main buttresses were built higher, and flying buttresses 
 were thrown across from the tops of these buttresses to the 
 new clerestory buttresses. Then, the supports and the walls 
 having been adequately strengthened, high vaults were put 
 up. 
 
 Where there were two windows in a bay, sexpartite vault- 
 ing was employed ; viz., in the choir transepts and the 
 central transepts and the westernmost bay of the choir. 
 (In the aisles where there was no support for one of the 
 six ribs, quinquepartite had been employed instead of 
 sexpartite vaulting by St. Hugh.) In the choir, except in 
 the westernmost bay, there were three windows in each bay, 
 and sexpartite vaulting could not be used. Nor again, 
 owing to the narrowness of the bays of the choir, was there 
 room for such a vault as that now existing in the nave : 
 however, as much of a vault of this type as could be put up 
 without obstructing the clerestory windows was built : a very 
 queer vault it is, fortunately unique. The vaulting of the 
 Chapter house, with its beautiful ridge-rib system, also 
 belongs to this period. Richest of all in its moldings, 
 and quite perfect in its articulation, is the vault of the nave : 
 when built, it must have been by far the finest vault to 
 be found here or abroad. The vault of the eastern bays 
 of the nave of Westminster Abbey is almost identical with
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 203 
 
 it ; as it was put up between c. 1254 and i 270, it may well 
 have been modelled on that of Lincoln nave. To Grostete 
 also may be assigned the remarkable vaults of the two 
 western chapels of the nave. The vault of the northern 
 chapel is cleverly designed as if it were an oblong chapter 
 house with a central stalk ; the southern chapel, more 
 cleverly still, stands safe without a central stalk. 
 
 In addition to 
 all this Grostete 
 made important 
 extensions. To 
 him we may at- 
 tribute the beau- 
 tiful Galilee 
 porch (in it the 
 tooth ornament 
 is repeated 5,355 
 times; notice 
 also the base 
 ornaments) ; it 
 was designed as 
 a state entrance 
 from the episco- 
 pal palace, which 
 is opposite. 
 Moreover, a new 
 Chapter house 
 having been 
 built by the pre- 
 ceding bishop, 
 
 the old Chapter house would be converted into a chapel, 
 perhaps that of St. Mary Magdalene. In the south 
 choir transept Grostete took down St. Hugh's end-wall from 
 top to bottom, and built two additional stories to the end 
 bay. A vast amount of work is here attributed to the 
 eighteen years between 1235 and 1253; but to a bishop and 
 chapter so wealthy, and with aid from a diocese then extend- 
 ing to the Thames, and with, in addition, the rich offerings
 
 204 
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 
 
 at St. Hugh's shrine, funds were not likely to be lacking; 
 and if at times they did run short, there were always Jews 
 at Lincoln to apply to for loans. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. The cathedral was at last finished ; 
 
 THE AXGKL CHOIR 
 
 but hardly was it finished than building recommenced (c. 
 1255). St. Hugh had been buried in the north-eastern 
 chapel of his apse, in what is the place of greatest honour 
 in every church, at the right hand of the High altar. Great
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 205 
 
 crowds of pilgrims resorted to his tomb in their anxiety to 
 have benefit from the miracles wrought thereat, but the 
 tomb was placed in a most inconvenient situation for that 
 purpose. So it was resolved to pull down St. Hugh's apsidal 
 presbytery and its procession path and chapels, and in lieu 
 to build five new bays. Of these two were assigned to the 
 presbytery, and in the easternmost of the two was placed 
 the High altar, where it stands now. In the next bay, i.e., 
 at the back of the High altar, just as at St. Albans and 
 Westminster, was placed the shrine of St. Hugh, to which 
 his remains were solemnly translated in 1280. The bay 
 after that provided a procession aisle. In most churches 
 the easternmost bay has an altar dedicated to Our Lady, 
 but this was not necessary at Lincoln, where the High altar 
 was dedicated to her. This altar, therefore, under the 
 great east window, was dedicated to St. John Bjptist, the 
 patron saint of St. Hugh. Nevertheless the special services 
 to Our Lady were not held in the choir, but in this eastern 
 chapel, so that it was practically a Lady chapel except 
 that its altar was dedicated to St. John Baptist. This great 
 eastern extension goes by the name of the Angel choir, 
 apparently from the angels carved in the spandrels of the 
 triforium ; it is of course ritualistically not a choir at all, but 
 a combination of presbytery, Saint's chapel, processional 
 aisle, and eastern chapel. A little too crowded with orna- 
 ment, perhaps, and a little too squat in its proportions, it is 
 yet the most lovely work of the age one of the masterpieces 
 of English Gothic. To the same period or rather earlier 
 belong the superb arches inserted at the west end of the 
 choir aisles ; also the eastern screen of the presbytery, 
 parts of which are old, the rest built by Essex in 1769. 
 
 About 1290 were built the Easter Sepulchre and so-called 
 tomb of Remigius, on the north side of the choir, with 
 naturalistic foliage of oak, fig, and vine. Here the conse- 
 crated Host was watched from Maundy Thursday to Easter 
 Sunday. Still finer Easter sepulchres may be seen at 
 Hawton and Heckington. The upper stage of the central 
 tosver was erected in 1307. The tower is 271 ft. high;
 
 2O6 
 
 LINCOLN CATIIL'DRAL 
 
 and anxious, as usual, for external effect, the canons actually 
 added a timber spire, raising it to the vast height of 525 ft., 
 a height which exceeds even that of the new spires of 
 Cologne cathedral. The effective cut battlements are by 
 Essex. The tower is not built solid, but, to save weight, is 
 "constructed of two thin walls, tied at intervals, with a 
 vacuum between them " (cf. Hereford and Wells). It is 
 gathered in 2! in. near the top, so as not to look top- 
 heavy. The remains of the shrine of Little St. Hugh (in 
 
 THE EAST END 
 
 the south choir aisle) seem to be c. 1310. In the cloisters 
 built c. 1296, is a great curiosity an incised slab with a 
 portrait of a Gothic architect, Richard of Gainsborough, 
 the builder of the central tower. Replicas have been made 
 of it. 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. In 1320 died good Bishop Dalderby. 
 He was venerated as a saint, though Rome refused his 
 canonisation. His remains were placed in a silver shrine 
 on the west side of the south transept : some pedestals
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 2O/ 
 
 belonging to it may be seen there still. Miracles were 
 wrought at his shrine ; and from the offerings the gable of 
 this transept was in all probability reconstructed, including 
 the " Bishop's Eye," which is as strong constructionally as it 
 is beautiful ; it is filled with fragments of ancient glass ; the 
 moldings of the circle are those of the earlier window. The 
 lovely pierced parapet of this transept should be noticed, 
 and the fine window in the gable above the vault. The 
 parapet was carried westward all along the south side of the 
 nave and across the west front ; and handsome pinnacles 
 were erected, with niches once peopled with statues. Now 
 also was erected the choir screen, of charming design, very 
 similar to that of the west side of Southwell screen. A little 
 later are the screen of the choir boys' vestry in the south 
 choir aisle, diapered with lilies ; and in the north-east of the 
 Angel choir, the Burghersh monuments. These formerly 
 had canopies ; the choir boys used to jump on them, so the 
 dean and chapter thoughtfully had them destroyed, lest 
 there should be an accident. There was a separate shrine 
 for the head of St. Hugh ; what may have been the pedestal 
 of it remains at the west end of a Burghersh monument, 
 where the stone is worn by the scrnping of the feet of 
 pilgrims kneeling at the shrine. 
 
 NINTH PKKIOD. To the latter half of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury belong the famous choir stalls with excellent misericords; 
 also the ogee arcading beneath the central tower. 
 
 TENTH PKRIOD. To the fifteenth century belong the 
 west windows of the nave ; also the miserable statues of 
 English kings over the west door. The western towers 
 were also raised to their present height, and all three 
 towers were vaulted. 
 
 The west front now consists of an oblong area of early 
 Norman work, which is decorated above by a late Norman 
 arcade of semicircular intersecting arches, and midway by 
 a row of late Norman sculptured plaques, and by the late 
 Gothic niches with the kings : the windows are late Gothic : 
 but the central doorway and the side doorways are twelfth 
 century. The central arch of the early Norman work has
 
 208 
 
 LINCOLN CATIIKDRAL
 
 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL 2OQ 
 
 been replaced by a pointed one ; and the whole of the 
 early Norman work is surrounded by thirteenth-century 
 work, which in turn is crested with a fourteenth-century 
 parapet. The lower stages of the towers are late in the 
 twelfth century, the upper stages belong to the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth. The west front has been constantly censured 
 for hiding the western towers, "like prisoners looking over 
 the bars of their cage." But anyone who has seen the 
 western towers of St. Stephen's, Caen, will recognise that, 
 but for the west front, the Lincoln towers would look top- 
 heavy. 
 
 To this century belong also the battlemented parapet 
 of the Galilee porch ; Bishop Fleming's chantry ; the screens 
 of the chapels in the north and south transepts ; and Bishop 
 Russell's chantry. 
 
 In TUDOR days was built Bishop Longland's chantry 
 (1521-1547), the niches of which have Renaissance detail; 
 it was never completed. The three chantries are so low 
 that they do not interfere externally with the main lines of 
 the cathedral; and, being low, give scale to it. 
 
 It may interest land surveyors to know that the minster 
 covers 2 acres 2 roods and 6 perches, as measured by 
 Schoolmaster Espin of Louih. 
 
 ELEVENTH PERIOD. The date of the brass Eagle lectern 
 is 1667. In 1 674 Wren built the Library in the Cloister. 
 The brass chandelier in the choir is of 1698. The support- 
 ing arches of the western towers were inserted in 1727. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Precentor Ycnables in Archaological Journal, xl. 
 
 159 mi'l 377- 
 
 "Notes on the Architectural History of Lincoln Minster from 1192 
 to 1255,'' by Francis 1'ond and William Watkins, in tint Journal of the 
 Royal Institute of British Architects, 26th Nov. and loth Dec. 1910, 
 which contains a bibliography.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH 
 OF ST. PAUL, LONDON 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 FROM Lincoln and Lichfield to St. Paul's, the transition 
 is vast and abrupt. It is a transition from the 
 archaic, mediaeval, feudal world to modern England. 
 Mediceval religion, mediaeval art is dead killed by the 
 printed book. Mediaeval architecture also succumbs before 
 the printed book. The master-masons of the old cathedrals, 
 whose very names for the most part are unknown, give place 
 to architects of European fame men who read books, 
 write books, and work to book. The mediaeval architect 
 was a builder and nothing else. The Renaissance architect 
 was first of all a scholar, and secondly an artist ; and only 
 incidentally an architect. He learnt the art of design, not 
 in the builder's yard, but at the goldsmith's bench. From 
 jewellery he turned with equal facility to painting and 
 sculpture, to civil engineering or the art of fortification, to 
 water-colours, stage mechanism, landscape gardening, poetry, 
 politics or diplomacy. Among men of this versatile genius 
 Christopher \Vren holds a worthy place. He proceeded 
 to Oxford at the early age of fourteen, and obtained a 
 fellowship at All Souls'. Physical science and astronomy 
 were his first love. At the age of twenty-five " he was known 
 in scientific- circles all over Europe," and was Professor 
 of Astronomy. He wrote on comets, and gnomonicks, 
 and diplographic pens. In his twenty-ninth year he was 
 honoured with the degrees of D.C.L. and LE.l). at Oxford 
 and Cambridge. He helped to found the Royal Society,
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 211 
 
 SCALE: OF FELET 
 
 j"-O 50 4-c 
 
 SCALE OF ME.TRE.5 
 
 PLAN
 
 212 
 
 ST. PAULS 
 
 and was twice its President. He was a Member of the 
 House of Commons in two Parliaments. In his thirty- 
 first year he turned his attention to architecture attracted, 
 no doubt, largely by the physical and mathematical problems 
 involved. Two years later he set out to the Continent to see 
 for himself the great works of the Revival of Classical Archi- 
 tecture. Unfortunately he went no farther than Paris : those 
 masterpieces of the Renaissance, Brunelleschi's dome at 
 
 Florence, Michael Angelo's 
 dome at Rome, he was 
 fated never to see. For 
 the rest of a life unusually 
 prolonged he was to be 
 occupied in imitating 
 models which he had never 
 seen. The result is per- 
 haps not to be regretted. 
 He left behind him not 
 the close copy of Italian 
 Renaissance work which 
 we might have had, in less 
 troubled times, from Inigo 
 Jones, but an English Re- 
 naissance style of marked 
 individuality and original- 
 ity, and of great interest. 
 He had to think out all his 
 problems problems of 
 construction and problems 
 of planning for himself. 
 
 lis employers, the citizens of the City of 
 a sound Protestant ; and when he was 
 to rebuild St. Paul's after the Great Fire-, 
 ive London a Protestant cathedral. He 
 to provide processional aisles and 
 
 PLAN OF WKKN S ORIGINAL DKsI 
 
 (H Scale of other Plans) 
 
 Wren, like 
 London, was 
 commissioned 
 his wish was to 
 was less concerned 
 altared chapels than a vast unencumbered central area for 
 preaching. The new cathedral was to be a gigantic 
 preaching-house. To provide the vast central area de-
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 213 
 
 manded, the narrow crossing beneath the central tower 
 of a Gothic cathedral was abandoned. Instead of a central 
 tower he resolved to employ a dome the only form of 
 roof which would cover so vast a span. One mediaeval 
 cathedral in England, and one only, had such a crossing. 
 It was the superb cathedral of Ely, where Wren's uncle 
 was bishop. But it was no doubt of St. Peter's, Rome, 
 that Wren was thinking, rather than of Ely. Just as St. 
 Peter's, Rome, had been built to rival and surpass the 
 Florence Duomo, so Wren designed that his own cathedral 
 
 THE ORIGINAL DESIGN, FROM SCHYNVOETS ENGRAVING 
 
 should be an improvement on St. Peter's, Rome. In the 
 supports of his dome he chose to follow the unhappy 
 precedents of Florence and Ely rather than the' nobler 
 type of St. Peter's and Santa Sophia ; he blocked up his 
 central area with eight piers, instead of poising his dome 
 on four supports, as in the metropolitan cathedrals of the 
 East and West. 
 
 In Wren's favourite design, as shewn in the model still 
 preserved in the cathedral, the dome was to be abutted 
 to the west by an aisleless vestibule or nave, itself crowned 
 by a minor dome: while to the north, east, and south
 
 2i4 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 it was intended to give it the support of a surrounding 
 ring of domical chapels, opening into the central area by 
 a series of fairy-like vistas and ever-changing contrasts of 
 light and shadow. But the Anglican clergy rose in revolt 
 at the position assigned to them in the cathedral a 
 position contrary to any precedent of the Anglican Church ; 
 and refused to sit in a ring all round the central area 
 beneath the dome. And the Court party, almost openly 
 expecting, and with good reason, the restoration of the 
 old religion, wanted an aisled nave with room for the 
 pageantry of processions and with provision of chapels 
 for the veneration of the saints soon to be restored. 
 Romanisers and Anglicans alike united in condemning a 
 plan which failed to provide for the ritualistic needs of 
 either. 'Wren had to start again ; and London had to 
 put up with a Renaissance cathedral which in plan is as 
 mediaeval as that of Ely, with aisled nave, aisled choir, 
 aisled transepts, and even with a western transept, as 
 again at Ely. St. Paul's, then, is primarily an aisled (i.e., 
 a basilican) church, with, incidentally, a dome thrown in. 
 And therein lies the fault of the design. Internally, the 
 church predominates over the dome. Unless you stand 
 beneath or near the dome, you can hardly see that a dome 
 is there at all. Narrow nave, narrower aisles, the multiplied 
 obstructive masses of the various piers, hide the dome 
 away from view. Rightly designed, a great central dome 
 ought to be all in all : everything should lead up to it ; 
 everything should be suppressed that does not lend it 
 strength or grace. Its thrusts are great, and cannot be 
 resisted by the piers of aisles, unless the piers are positive 
 mountains of masonry : aisles, then, should be omitted. 
 The dome should rest on four arches, and their thrusts 
 should be resisted by the solid walls of an unaisled nave 
 and choir and transepts. And these four great limbs of 
 the church should be kept short, to give the dome full 
 value. 
 
 Again, just as the central dome should dictate the plan 
 of the church, so it should dictate the form of the vaulted
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 215 
 
 roof. There were three types of vault at Wren's disposal. 
 One was the intersecting vault, a second the dome, a third 
 the waggon or tunnel vault. The first is altogether out of 
 harmony with a central dome, though Wren has employed 
 it in some of his City churches. What he adopted was the 
 second : he vaulted the nave with a row of four saucer- 
 shaped domes, the choir with a row of three. Thus, it 
 might he thought, with seven domes leading up to a central 
 
 THE NAVE 
 
 dome. Wren had secured harmony and success. It is not 
 so. Nothing can he more distressing to the eye than to 
 follow the up and down line of the little domes till it 
 suddenly plunges into the' central abyss. The only tolerable 
 lorm ol vault in connection with a central dome is the 
 tunnel vault, as it is employed in St. Peter's, Rome; or, 
 still better, in S. . \nnunxiata, (ienoa. Such a tunnel vault, 
 however, should start direct from the cornice, and not, as
 
 2l6 
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 TI1K CIKHK AND REREDOS
 
 ST. PAUL'S 217 
 
 at St. Paul's, from a meaningless attic interposed between 
 cornice and vault. 
 
 As it stands, in the internal elevation of the cathedral 
 Wren has given us a hybrid design. It reminds one of 
 (iothic, for there is a travesty of a clerestory ; it is Classic, 
 for beneath is a gigantic Order. Wren has hesitated between 
 two opinions. He might have given us a three-storied 
 interior pier-arcade, triforium, and clerestory of course 
 with Classical detail, as is done with charming effect in the 
 noble cathedral of Pavia ; or a one-storied interior, as at 
 St. Peter's. As his patrons insisted on having aisles, he 
 might well have adopted the former alternative, and have 
 presented us with what might have been very beautiful 
 a Classic triforium. If he wanted the majesty of the single 
 gigantic Order of St. Peter's, he should have omitted the 
 attic, run up the Order 20 ft. higher, and lighted the 
 nave by lunettes cut through a tunnel vault. As it is, 
 the attic is of no value in itself, while it diminishes the 
 importance of the pier-arcade. However, as we have seen, 
 \Vren is not responsible at all for the plan, and only partially 
 for the proportions of the interior of St. Paul's. He has not 
 given us of his best, because the world of his day would not 
 have it. Most of the defects that one laments are absent 
 from his earlier and favourite design : e.g., the ugly subsidiary 
 arches under the oblique arches of the octagon of the dome, 
 and the bad lighting of the dome itself. 
 
 Externally everything is different. No ritual, Anglican or 
 other, interfered. Wren had free play : all his success and 
 any faults are his own. What it fails to do internally the 
 great dome does externally with colossal success : it domi- 
 nates everything not only the church, but London. Every 
 part of the vast building gathers up into the all-compelling 
 unity of the central dome. Inside, St. Paul's is all church ; 
 outside, it is all dome. Into this exterior has grown in 
 concrete embodiment all Wren's aspirations : his aspira- 
 tions for grandeur, massiveness, and power ; for monumental 
 stability, for unity, for harmony, for symmetry and propor- 
 tion, for beautv of curve and line. St. Paul's has none of
 
 218 
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 the airy lightness of Salisbury and Lincoln : it possesses in 
 compensation the rock-hewn solidity and majesty of Durham. 
 In Lincoln and Salisbury, and in Exeter and York, the 
 windows are counted by hundreds ; along the flanks of St. 
 Paul's windows are few and far apart, and they are confined 
 to the aisles ; the great screen wall above rises sheer like a 
 precipice, almost unbroken by an opening. Simple and 
 grand, too, is the handling of the masses. At the re-entering 
 angles of the transepts square masses project to form a 
 
 stable platform for the mighty dome : towers project to the 
 flanks of the western bays of the nave, giving breadth and 
 dignity to the main facade. Otherwise the design is 
 symmetry itself. Everything is in the "grand manner." 
 Perhaps the side elevation is a little monotonous, and the 
 western chapels block off tin.- towers at their spring, but 
 they were forced on Wren against his better judgment : 
 internally the nave gains greatly by them ; externally they 
 are a mistake. One would perhaps have liked also that the
 
 ST. PAUL'S 219 
 
 screen wall of the side aisles of the choir and transepts, 
 instead of ending square, should have circled round in one 
 vast majestic sweep, in harmony with the curving dome 
 above, after the fashion of the fine cathedral of Como. 
 The flatness, moreover, of the side elevations gives but little 
 room for play of light and shade. There are none of the 
 pits of shadow that lurk between the buttresses and transepts 
 of Salisbury and Lincoln. Only in the recessed west front 
 and behind the colonnade of the dome the shadows brood. 
 Nature, however, or rather London smoke, has given St. 
 Paul's a chiaroscuro of its own not to be washed off, as 
 has been foolishly proposed, by fire engines. Where the 
 rain lashes the building, especially its angles and projections, 
 the good Portland stone is white and clean : where sheltered 
 by projecting cornices, it is black as Erebus. 
 
 Externally, it is a building of two stories. Wren designed 
 it originally for one story, but was unable to get big enough 
 blocks of stone to carry a single gigantic Order, as at St. 
 Peter's, up to the cornice ; for which perhaps we may be 
 thankful. The facade also is composed of two Orders of 
 and they are necessarily comparatively small 
 Hut all appearance of weakness is admirably 
 removed by arranging them in couples ; indeed, one would 
 be sorry to have instead of this noble design Wren's own 
 one-story facade as shewn in his model, still more to have 
 that of Inigo Jones. 
 
 The harmony, too, of the noble design is delightful. 
 The two stories of the columns of the facade become two 
 stories of pilasters on the flanks of the nave : at the ends 
 of the transepts they sweep round into lovely semicircular 
 colonnades ; colonnades form the central stages of the 
 western steeples : the drum of the dome is encircled by a 
 superb colonnade; the dome itself culminates in a colon- 
 naded lantern. Sec', too. how the lantern, domical above 
 and colonnaded below, sums up the composition of the 
 dome beneath; and how the western steeples prepare the 
 eye for the transition from the rectilinear colonnades of 
 thi> <j;reat facade to the 1 swelling curve of the dome, itself
 
 22O 
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 reproduced in the north and south circular porches and in 
 the apsidal choir. St. Paul's is "a house at one with 
 itself." 
 
 It is true that the dead wall from aisle windows to cornice 
 
 TIIK WKST I RONT 
 
 is perhaps the " most unmitigated building sham upon the 
 face of the earth.'' It has absolutely nothing to do at all 
 except to hide away some flying buttresses the very ugliest 
 eye ever saw which Sir Christopher might well be reluctant 
 to expose to the jeers of the man in the street. It is true.
 
 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 221 
 
 too, that there is built up in this dead wall enough good 
 stone to construct half a dozen parish churches. It has 
 been urged that it was built to weight the foot of each flying 
 buttress after the manner of a Gothic pinnacle. But not 
 even a Gothic baby would have provided continuous abut- 
 ment for intermittent thrusts. The dead wall may perhaps 
 be defended on artistic, but certainly not on constructional 
 grounds. 
 
 In the dome, Wren had three conflicting ideals to realise : 
 
 1 i ) To make the dome 
 so lofty that it should 
 be visible externally 
 from base to summit ; 
 
 (2) to make it so low 
 internally that it 
 should range with the 
 vaulting of nave, choir, 
 and transepts ; (3) to 
 finish it with a stone 
 lantern as heavy as an 
 ordinary church spire. 
 At St. Peter's, Rome, 
 the dome externally 
 squats down so low 
 that from most direc- 
 tions one must walk 
 a mile away to get a 
 complete view of it, 
 
 while the internal dome is so lofty as to be invisible from most 
 parts of the church ; the lantern is much smaller and lighter 
 than is required by so mighty a dome ; and yet is in a con- 
 dition of very unstable equilibrium, badly supported, cracked, 
 and tied together in all directions. All these difficulties 
 Wren triumphantly disposed of; nevertheless, for his triumph 
 he has received little but censure and abuse. He made two 
 domes ; and brought the inner dome, which is of brick (see 
 diagram), far lower than the outer one though not low 
 enough. Secondly, he mounted the outer dome, which 
 
 THE FLYING BUTTRESSES AM) 
 SCREEN WALL
 
 222 ST. PAUL'S 
 
 is of wood covered with lead, on a lofty colonnaded drum 
 visible of all men even from the narrow street below. 
 Thirdly, between the two domes (see diagram) he built a 
 cone of brick, and on this cone he poised the lantern 
 which is <jf stone and 50 ft. high in perfect security. If 
 
 INNKK AMI OCIKR DO.MKS AM) THK BRICK CONK 
 
 the outer (Ionic were removed-- e.^., if it were burnt, as it 
 may be some day, as it is of wood the lantern would still 
 stand perfectly safe on its conical support. In the dome 
 of St. Paul's Wren's engineering capacities culminate. But 
 it is more than a piece of engineering. Xo tower, no 
 spire, no group of towers or spires, impresses itself on the
 
 ST. PAULS 
 
 223 
 
 imagination like the dome of St. Paul's. Lincoln and 
 Salisbury, Lichfield and Durham, retire before the claims 
 of this overwhelming younger pile, 
 
 " whose sky-like dome 
 Hath Ivpilied by reach of during art 
 Infinity's embrace." 
 
 BiKi.ioc.KAi-HY. -Mr VV. Longman's S/. Panfs Cathedral, London, 
 
 1^73- 
 
 ('anon Benluun's Old J'aii/'s, 1902. 
 
 Mr W. Dunn, on the construction of the lantern, in K./.B.A. Journal, 
 231x1 November 1907. 
 
 TIIK ORI;A\ AND ITU-IT
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. MARY, MANCHESTER 
 
 FORMERLY PAROCHIAL AND COLLEGIATE 
 
 THE see was founded in 1848. Externally and in- 
 ternally the cathedral is but a magnified parish 
 church. The absence of a central tower, the extra- 
 ordinary breadth of the interior, the absence of a triforium, 
 the wooden roofs, all stamp it with parochialism. Indeed, 
 
 I-'KOM THI-; SOUTH 
 
 the nave and aisles are still the parish church of Manchester. 
 Looked at as a parish church and a collegiate church for 
 from 1422 it was both it is a magnificent specimen of late 
 English Gothic, dating from 1422-1522, when the ambition 
 of architects was to make of their churches "stone-lanterns." 
 In the same accidental way as Chichester cathedral it has
 
 MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL 225 
 
 become possessed of picturesque double aisles, by the in- 
 corporation on either side of sets of chantry chapels. It 
 has been so thoroughly "renovated" that it is practically a 
 modern church. But it is very impressive. There is no 
 jarring of styles. And the colour effects, externally and 
 internally, are superb. Its woodwork, too rood screen, 
 parclose screens, tabernacled stalls, misericords, and roofs 
 is of great richness and fine design. The whole church in 
 its fortuitous picturesqueness appeals to one much more than 
 the icy regularity of such churches as St. Mary Redcliffe, or 
 Bath abbey. 
 
 (i) In 1422-1458 the choir and its aisles and the Chapter 
 house were built. (2) The nave is said to have been 
 finished between 1465 and 1481. (3) The chapel of the 
 Holy Trinity was founded in 1498. (4) In 1506 the Jesus 
 chapel was founded ; it is now the vestry and library. (5) 
 In 1507 the 1 Hicie chapel or St. James' chapel was built, 
 (6) St. George's chapel was built, and the choir stalls were 
 put up in 1508. (7) The Derby chapel was begun between 
 1485 and 1509. (8) The Ely chapel was built in 1515. 
 (9) The Lady chapel was remodelled in 1518. (10) The 
 tower was built in 1868.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. NICHOLAS, NEWCASTLE 
 
 T 
 
 FORMERLY PAROCHIAL 
 
 HE see was founded in 1882. The church is work 
 of the fourteenth century, to which a tower and 
 spire, east window and font were added about 1470. 
 
 The spire, with 
 its pinnacle sup- 
 ported on con- 
 verging flying 
 buttresses, is a 
 bold and effect- 
 ive composition. 
 Spires of similar 
 construction oc- 
 cur in the Cross 
 Steeple, Glasgow, 
 and King's Col- 
 lege, Aberdeen, 
 and formerly 
 existed at Lin- 
 1 i t h g o w a n d 
 Haddingto n. 
 London has a 
 fine example by 
 Sir Christopher 
 Wren in St. I )un- 
 s t a n's - i n - t h e - 
 East. There is 
 a fine Jacobean 
 
 monument, pulpit-shaped, to Henry Maddison, and another 
 
 to William Hall. 
 
 FROM TDK NOKTH-\VKST
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 THE HOLY TRINITY, NORWICH 
 
 BUILT FOR BENEDICTINE MONKS 
 
 THE ancient kingdom of East Anglia, after more than 
 one relapse into paganism, finally accepted Chris- 
 tianity at the hands of a Burgundiaii monk, Felix, 
 who became the first bishop of East Anglia the diocese, 
 as usual, being co-extensive with the kingdom and fixed 
 his see at Dunwich, in 630. The see was subdivided by 
 Archbishop Theodore in 660, and there were bishops inter- 
 mittently both at Dunwich and Elmham, Suffolk, till c. 950, 
 when the diocese was again reunited, and the cathedral was 
 at Elmham, till the bishop migrated in 1075 to Thetford, and 
 in 1094 to Norwich. 
 
 The present cathedral was commenced in 1096 by Herbert 
 Losinga, who is usually described as a Lorrainer, but who 
 seems to have been of Norman blood and of good family, 
 born at Hoxne, Suffolk. He is recorded to have finished 
 the whole cathedral before his death in 1119 as far as the 
 altar of the Holy Cross. His successor finished the nave 
 and west front, and carried up the central tower (i 121-1 145). 
 In 1171 there was a great fire; the damage would be greatest 
 where there was most woodwork, i.e., where the stalls and 
 screens stood, especially if the latter were of wood. It has 
 been recently found that inside the third pier from the north 
 is cased up an earlier cylindrical pier ; evidently one of 
 those which suffered from the fire and had to be recased. 
 
 In front of the cathedral is an open space with the curious 
 name of Tombland. Evidently Bishop Herbert appropriated 
 for his precinct a large slice of the old town ''Tombland" 
 
 "7
 
 228 
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 To MONUMENTS fc 
 
 / ALTAB TOMB TO 
 
 i SIR. tvn BOLCYH'S MOW? 
 
 i PR10K If/n DC WflLSHAM & 
 AlS? WAKCetNdS TOMBS 
 
 4 BISHOP GOLDWELL'S MONU 
 
 5 BISHOp hOKKHURSTi Tor*>K 
 i Df fOKTCK^S MOHUT 
 
 7 B/SHOf /V/Xi riONUT 
 
 S ALTflK ~K>na TO CMflNCft-LOK 
 
 SfCMCCe 
 3 SlK X HOBAKT3 TOMB 
 
 /O SIK T. E2f>INCH/IMS-TOMB 
 
 // rtOHU T TO CL.'ZA ~ 
 
 IZ SIK. THOS 
 
 D BlSHop fVXS CHANTRY 
 
 rir. sire OF cv/jfiS 
 
 G. REMAINS Of 
 SlSHOfS 
 
 PLAN
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 229 
 
 or meeting plaee, which is now triangular instead of oblong. 
 Also the road from the bridge was diverted from its original 
 track. The Tombland was the converging point of the three 
 ancient roads, and the rallying ground of the two com- 
 munities of Conesford and Westwick, Saxon and Danish 
 respectively. At the Conquest the Norman settlers formed 
 a third community and occupied the Mancroft (great croft), 
 and henceforward Tombland was no longer important and 
 Losinga would have no difficulty in appropriating as much 
 as he wanted of it, together with the rich town meadows or 
 " Cowholme." 
 
 The plan of the Norman church is that of Gloucester 
 (1089) and probably 
 Norman Westminster 
 (1050); this peri- 
 apsidal plan occurs 
 between 997 and 
 1014 in the great 
 pilgrim church of St. 
 Martin, Tours ; be- 
 tween 990 and 1007 
 at Notre Dame cle la 
 Couture, Le Mans ; 
 and at St. Re mi, 
 Reims, c. 1005. In 
 Normandy it is very rare, but it occurs at Fecamp in 1082 ; 
 and as Bishop Herbert had been prior of Fecamp abbey 
 till 1087, it is probably from Fecamp that the Norwich 
 plan of 1096 immediately derives. The nave contains 
 fourteen bays, of which the nine western ones were more 
 or less accessible to the laity. When this vast nave was 
 completed, the monks seemed to have come to the end 
 of their resources, for no western towers were ever built. 
 The nave being so long, there was no need to crowd the 
 stalls into the eastern limb, as at Canterbury ; they were 
 placed, as at present, under the central tower and in the 
 two eastern bays of the nave : in this part of the nave the 
 vaulting-shafts do not descend to the pavement, but are 
 
 ACROSS THE NAVE
 
 230 
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 stopped at corbels in order to leave headway for the stalls. 
 The choir screen occupied the whole of the third bay, as at 
 present, and at some period an altar to Our Lady of Pity 
 was placed in it. The fourth bay was occupied by two 
 altars enclosed in screens. At the end of the fourth bay was 
 the rood screen, which, as at Durham, was no more than a 
 
 TIIK CHOIR AND APSE 
 
 wall. The whole of the fifth bay was screened off, and 
 against the centre of the rood screen was placed the altar of 
 the Holy Cross. On either side of this altar (Holy Cross) 
 was a door leading into the space between rood screen and 
 choir screen, and before the altar was a light screen or trellis, 
 i.e., between the two circular piers. It was in front of this
 
 NORWICH CATIIKDRAL 231 
 
 latter that the returning procession divided, to reunite at the 
 single door in the centre of the choir screen. Each transept 
 consists of four bays, and from each an apse projected east- 
 ward ; the southern apse has perished, the northern one has 
 been rebuilt. The whole eastern limb is occupied by a 
 presbytery of four bays terminating in an apse. A pro- 
 cession path runs all round the presbytery. From it radiated 
 three chapels ; that to the east has perished : it was apsidal ; 
 between 1146 and 1174 it was replaced by a long and lofty 
 Lady chapel, the doorway of which remains ; the Lady 
 chapel was pulled down c. 1580. The Jesus chapel to the 
 north-east and St. Luke's chapel to the south-east are 
 curiously composed of two segments of circles of different 
 sixe ; the object of this unusual plan was probably to get 
 the altars as far as possible north and south, so that the 
 celebrant should face due east. In the east wall of the apse 
 the throne of the bishop has been found. The inappropriate- 
 ness of such an arrangement as that at Norwich ultimately 
 led to bishops' thrones being removed into the choir, as at 
 Exeter. 
 
 The history of Norwich cathedral differs toto avlo from 
 that of every other English cathedral, except that of 
 Gloucester. With the exception that both Gloucester and 
 Norwich ultimately increased the dimensions of their eastern 
 Lady chapels, few eastward extensions of any moment took 
 place ; the chief exception at Norwich is the chapels built 
 out from the north and south aisles of the presbytery at a 
 later period. This was not because the Norfolk people 
 were more conservative than other folk, or, in a remote 
 corner of England, were behind the times ; but because the 
 plan of the Norwich cathedral was convenient for mediaeval 
 ritual, and the plan of the other cathedrals was not. Other 
 cathedrals had a diminutive presbytery and a short nave ; at 
 Norwich there was a spacious presbytery and the nave was 
 of vast length. Other cathedrals had to build a procession 
 aisle at the back of the High altar; at Norwich it was there 
 already. Other cathedrals had to throw out eastern tran- 
 septs to provide chapels for the great saints of the Church,
 
 2J2 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 St. James, St. John, St. Peter and the rest ; Norwich cathe- 
 dral from the first had five apsidal chapels. In most 
 tangential chapels, even in Westminster abbey so late as 
 1245, the altar was placed in a wrong position ; at Norwich 
 the celebrant could face due east. Other cathedrals had a 
 local saint of the first rank, and had to build a special 
 saint's chapel or feretory for his shrine : Canterbury for St. 
 Thomas, Chester for St. Werburgh, Durham for St. Cuth- 
 bert, Ely for St. Audrey, Hereford for St. Ethelbert, Lich- 
 field for St. Chad, Lincoln for St. Hugh, Oxford for St. 
 Frideswide, Rochester for St. William, St. Albans for St. 
 Alban, \VinchesterforSt. Swithun, Worcester for St. Wolfskin. 
 Norwich had no local saint of repute, except a poor little 
 boy who was alleged to have been crucified by the Jews. 
 
 The very fact that Norwich is practically unchanged 
 in plan makes it the best object lesson in the country for 
 the study of Anglo-Norman architecture. The long nave 
 from end to end, the transepts, much of the presbytery, 
 and nearly the whole of the aisles remain as they were 
 built between 1096 and 1145. The aisles have groined 
 vaults : in this respect falling short of Durham, Peter- 
 borough, Southwell and Gloucester naves. The piers of 
 the ground story alternate in form, as at Jumieges, the 
 Abbaye-aux-Hommes, Durham. Selby, Ely, Waltham, Lindis- 
 farne. The ground story is kept low, because it was 
 not intended to rely on the aisle windows for light. 
 The triforium chamber is lofty, to allow windows to be 
 inserted in its back wall. The triforium arcade con- 
 sists of a single arch, as in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes, 
 Wymondham and Binham abbeys, so as to obstruct the 
 light as little as possible. For the same reason the 
 shafts which support the inner order of the arch of 
 the triforium chamber are set back in triplets flat against 
 the iambs ; the same arrangement occurs in alternate 
 piers of the ground story. The alternation in height of the 
 Norman vaulting-shafts shews that the church was intended 
 to have a high vault throughout of sexpartite form, such 
 as those erected in later days at Canterbury and Lincoln.
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 233 
 
 In the triforium of the nave, presbytery and apse are 
 supports for flying buttresses, intended, like those of 
 Durham nave, to be built beneath the triforium roof. In 
 the triforium of the presbytery the flying buttresses seem 
 
 THE NAVK 
 
 to have been actually built ; probably they were removed 
 when the present vault of the presbytery was erected 
 with external flying buttresses. The clerestory has a wall 
 passage, and each window was flanked by a blank arch,
 
 234 
 
 NORWICH CATIIKDRAL 
 
 both internally and externally. The architect had a great 
 fondness for multiplicity of stories, and obtains five on 
 the external wall of the aisle by the use of four string- 
 courses. The moldings of the arches, e.g., in the tri- 
 forium of the presbytery, are numerous, small and refined. 
 Corinthianesque capitals, but without acanthus, abound, 
 as in the eastern parts of Chichester and Ely, and through- 
 out Christchurch, Hampshire ; a capital with acanthus 
 occurs at the back of the triforium of the apse. The 
 facade of the north transept is quite the finest Norman 
 composition in existence : by means of six string-courses 
 
 it is divided into 
 seven stories. 
 The architect has 
 a great liking for 
 arcading ; on the 
 external walls of 
 the aisles a n 
 arcade is inserted 
 below the Nor- 
 m a n w i n d < > w s 
 (now blocked) of 
 the triforium ; in 
 the transept 
 facade three tiers 
 of arcading are 
 
 introduced. The Norman arcading on the west wall of the 
 south transept is unequalled. Taking it as a whole, the 
 work at Norwich is in advance of anything of the period in 
 England, with the one exception of the vaulting ; if the 
 contemplated high vault had been erected, it would even 
 have surpassed Durham. 
 
 The rest of the history of the cathedral reduces itself 
 in the main to three sets of building operations : first, 
 repairs necessitated by fire or storm : secondly, attempts 
 to improve the lighting of the building ; thirdly, the erection 
 of vaults to make it fireproof. 
 
 Takinir these works in the above order, we first have to 
 
 THE CENTRAL TOWER
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 235 
 
 note the mischief done by fire and storm. In 1297 the 
 tower seems to have had a wooden spire. This was blown 
 down in r36i ; and, falling eastward, damaged the clerestory 
 of the Norman presbytery. Both the spire and clerestory 
 had to be rebuilt ; and in rebuilding the clerestory the monks 
 took the opportunity to remedy what was the gravest defect 
 in all the Norman cathedrals their extreme darkness. 
 Now, it happened that, only some ten years before, the 
 magnificent clerestory of Gloucester presbytery had been 
 completed ; and the report of the brilliant illumination and 
 translucent glass of this grand work was bruited, no doubt, 
 all over England by pilgrims returning from the shrine of 
 the murdered Edward II. at Gloucester. Therefore, just as 
 at Gloucester, the monks determined to raise the new pres- 
 bytery higher than the nave they raised it T i ft. and to 
 make the clerestory practically a continuous sheet of glass. 
 In one thing, fortunately, they did not copy Gloucester, as 
 Edington did in Winchester nave which is of the same 
 date as the Norwich work they did not think it necessary 
 to discard altogether the beautiful flowing tracery of the 
 curvilinear period ; and so here, as in many Norfolk 
 churches, we find inserted, side by side, at the same time, 
 flowing and rectilinear traceried windows. Another charming 
 feature of fourteenth-century design was the ogee niche, 
 such as those of the arcade of Ely Lady chapel. These 
 niches at Norwich were inserted between each pair of clere- 
 story windows : probably they were intended to receive 
 statues, as at Shepton Mallet. In the same century a deter- 
 mined attempt was made to get rid of the darkness of the 
 nave by inserting large windows with flowing tracery all along 
 the aisles. Nor was this all. As at Ely, the monks raised 
 the aisle-walls still further, closed the Norman windows 
 of the triforium, flattened the roof of the triforium, and thus 
 managed to get high up a range of tall windows, each of 
 four lights, that the light from them might find its way into 
 the nave across the triforium. The result is extraordinary, 
 as seen from the cloister garth. The south side of the 
 cathedral, instead of the usual three or four stories, seems
 
 236 
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 six stories high. First there are the openings of the cloister; 
 then its upper story ; then the blind arcade of the triforium; 
 then the Norman triforium windows ; then the Gothic 
 windows ; then the Norman clerestory. Large square- 
 headed windows were inserted in the triforium of the pres- 
 bytery also : even this was insufficient. The eastern bays of 
 the nave, where the stalls were placed, and where, most of 
 all. light was needed, were the darkest of all, being obstructed 
 
 by the stalls and by 
 the cloister roof. So 
 in the two eastern- 
 most bays of the nave 
 the triforium roof was 
 sloped up instead of 
 down, and large win- 
 dows were inserted 
 still higher up than 
 those to the west, to 
 give as much light as 
 possible to the stalls 
 below. For the same 
 reason large Gothic 
 windows were in- 
 serted in the tran- 
 septs. Several of 
 these, however, have- 
 recently been re- 
 placed by Norman 
 windows: "genuine 
 
 Gothic by sham Norman." In the middle of the south aisle 
 of the nave bishop Nix ( 1501-1 536) built himself a gorgeous 
 chantry, to light which he inserted two large windows, high 
 up so as to clear the cloister roof. 
 
 In the fourteenth century was built the Bauchun chapel, 
 projecting from the south aisle of the presbytery ; its vault 
 is a century later; the bosses of the vault illustrate the Life, 
 Death and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. At some- 
 period a chapel was built bridging the north aisle of the
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 237 
 
 presbytery ; it communicated with another chapel to the 
 north, now destroyed, said to have been the Reliquary 
 chapel ; it may have been used for the exposition of relics 
 to pilgrims passing below, like St. Chad's gallery at Lichneld ; 
 it is of late date, and may have carried an organ, like IsKp's 
 upper chapel at Westminster, to accompany the Jesus 
 anthems which would be sung on Friday evenings in the 
 neighbouring Jesus chapel. To the early years of the 
 fifteenth century probably belong the stalls ; notice the 
 arches crocketed with hawks, the arms of Bishop Wakering 
 (1416-1425). The misericords are very fine; those below 
 polygonal seats appear to be late fourteenth-century work ; 
 the rest are of the time of Bishop Wakering. To the earlier 
 work belongs the pelican lectern ; to which three statuettes 
 were added in 1845. 
 
 Now we come to the measures taken to make the building 
 fireproof. These took the form of costly stone vaults, and 
 they seem to have been undertaken by the monks most 
 reluctantly. All the high vaults are the outcome of some 
 great fire, and but for the fire evidently would not have been 
 undertaken. There was a great conflagration in 1171, 
 and in the fearful riots of 1272 the cathedral was set on 
 fire by the citizens. Still, when the presbytery was remodelled 
 in 1362, it was again roofed in wood. In 1463 the wooden 
 spire was struck by lightning, and did more damage. At 
 last the monks had to bestir themselves. To secure the 
 spire against fire they rebuilt it in stone instead of wood : 
 and, to make the nave and presbytery fireproof, they made 
 up their minds to vault both in stone. Between 1463 and 
 1472 Bishop Walter Lyhart put up over the nave the present 
 magnificent lierne vault, and at his death bequeathed two 
 thousand marks to his successor to continue the work. 
 His rebus, a hart lying in water, occurs as a corbel on 
 alternate vaulting-shafts. The subjects of the nave bosses 
 form a pictorial scripture-history, beginning at the tower 
 with the Creation, and ending with the Last Judgment. 
 In the centre of the fifth bay from the tower this vault 
 has a lanje hole instead of a boss. A Sacrist's Roll has
 
 238 NORWICH CATHKDRAL 
 
 charges " for letting a man down from the roof, habited 
 as an angel, to cense the rood.'' The roof timbers blaz- 
 ing on the pavement had damaged the bases of the 
 Norman shafts ; ne\v bases were inserted facing the nave, 
 the other shafts were scraped down in very perfunctory 
 fashion. 
 
 Bishop Goldwell vaulted the presbytery between 1472 
 and 1499. It seems to have been difficult to get the funds 
 for this costly work. Bishop Goldwell, however, was a 
 personal friend of the Pope, who had consecrated him with 
 his own hands ; and was able to persuade the Pope to 
 grant a perpetual indulgence in the terms that "all who 
 came to the cathedral on Trinity Sunday and Lady Day, 
 and made an offering towards the fabric, should be entitled 
 to an indulgence of twelve years and forty days." The 
 superposition of a heavy stone vault on a lofty clerestory 
 containing so large a surface of glass made it necessary to 
 erect flying buttresses outside ; the buttresses on which these 
 rest are weighted by pinnacles placed in "false bearing," /.., 
 not on the buttresses so much as on the haunches of the 
 flying buttresses ; they carry seated figures in good pre- 
 servation, as in the eastern chapels of Peterborough and 
 the cloister of Magdalen College, Oxford. The clerestory of 
 the nave is 1 1 ft. lower than that of the presbyter}', and is 
 much more solid, and the vault springs low down in the 
 clerestory : therefore, as in the naves of Gloucester, Tewkes 
 bury, Sherborne (which has flying buttresses to the presby- 
 tery), flying buttresses were not added there. In the 
 clerestory of the presbytery the damage clone by the fire of 
 1463 is very visible. When the blazing timbers fell down, 
 they seem to have calcined the piers of the presbytery, which 
 accordingly were recased in Gothic fashion. Beneath one 
 of the southern arches Bishop Goldwell lies buried : the 
 effigy affords a fine example of pontifical vestments. The 
 remodelled piers contain a bull's head, the device of Sir 
 Thomas Boleyn, who died in 1 505, and whose monument 
 is under the first arch on the south side : probably he 
 erected between the arches the stone screens which were
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 239 
 
 removed in 1875. The present stone spire is probably also 
 the work of Bishop Goldwell. 
 
 The transepts still had wooden roofs. It required 
 another fire, in i 509, in which these roofs were consumed, 
 to compel the monks to complete the vaulting of the 
 cathedral. This was done in the time of Bishop Nix, 
 between 1509 and 1536. The bosses of the vault illus- 
 trate the life of Christ. At the end of four hundred years 
 Norwich cathedral was at length fireproof. The vaulting 
 lowered the level and cut off some earlier stonework. 
 
 The great fire of 1272 had also destroyed the cloister, 
 which had probably wooden roofs ; it was rebuilt with 
 vaults, the bosses of which are of exceptional interest. 
 This work was executed very slowly, the window tracery 
 ranging from geometrical, through curvilinear, to rectilinear 
 design. On entering the cloister by the eastern door of 
 the south aisle of the nave, and commencing at the eastern- 
 most window of the north walk, the windows will all 
 be seen in chronological order, if the east, south, west, 
 and north walks are visited successively. The work ranges 
 from 1297 to 1430. In the east walk the first doorway 
 is that of the slype ; the next three openings were those 
 of the Chapter house ; further on is the doorway of the 
 day stairs leading down from the monks' dormitory, which 
 occupied the first floor of the buildings east of the cloister 
 and adjoining the south transept. In the northern half 
 of the east walk notice on the wall-bench the numerous 
 sets of " holes " for the novices' games ; also the cupboards 
 for books, here and in the south walk. The south side 
 of the cloister was occupied by the refectory, the doorway 
 of which is at the west end of the south walk. In the 
 west walk, close at hand, is the lavatory ; two bays further 
 on a doorway led into the cellarage and to a Guesten hall : 
 the doorway in the last bay leads into the choir school, 
 which has a ribbed barrel vault, and is partly of twelfth, 
 partly of thirteenth century date ; it was the outer parlour 
 of the monks. In the north walk the eastern doorway is 
 that by which the Sunday procession left the church ; the
 
 240 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 western doorway is that by which it re-entered the church 
 after making the circuit of the cloister. 
 
 Between the south transept and the presbytery aisle is 
 a fine screen ; on the lock are the initials R. C., P. N., i.e., 
 Robert Catton, Prior of Norwich, 1504-1529. In the south 
 aisle of the presbytery is a fine, but mutilated font with 
 representations of the Seven Sacraments, and the Crucifixion. 
 In the Jesus chapel is a truncated altar slab of Barnack 
 stone which was found beneath the pavement of the chapel ; 
 in it is inlaid a small slab of Purbeck marble ; on both 
 slabs are incised five consecration crosses. In the few 
 ancient tiles of the chapel pavement which remain there 
 are five dents or punctures ; this may refer to the Mass 
 of the Five Wounds, which the Sarum Missal directed to 
 be celebrated on Fridays, and which would be sung in the 
 Jesus chapel. The painted altar-piece which formed the 
 retable of the Jesus chapel is now placed in the choir aisle ; 
 it is probably English work, and has been assigned to the 
 end of the fourteenth century. 
 
 The doorway of the West Front was built by Bishop 
 Alnwick, c. 1440; in its spandrels is the inscription, "Orate 
 pro animo Domini Wilhelmi Alnwyk Epi." The window 
 above was built soon after 1449. A little to the west, on 
 the right, is a crypt which formed the charnel-house, and, 
 above, the chapel of St. John Evangelist, built c. 1316; 
 in the crypt were two altars ; the porch was added between 
 1446 and 1472. The Erpingham gateway, facing the west 
 front of the cathedral, was built after 1411 by Sir Thomas 
 Erpingham who fought at Agincourt : "a knight grown grey 
 with age and honour.'' At the south end of the close is 
 St. Ethelbert's gateway, built by the citizens as part of the 
 penance inflicted on them for the great fire of 1272. 
 
 One word about the superb interior of the cathedral. It 
 is hardly too much to say that of Norman interiors, that of 
 Norwich is unequalled in all England. One reason is that 
 it is vaulted throughout. Ely, Peterborough, St. Albans, 
 Rochester, Romsey, Waltham, Southwell with their paltry 
 wooden ceilings are not to be compared for a moment
 
 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 241 
 
 with Norwich. Gloucester and Chichester naves are 
 vaulted, but the vaults are too slight and flimsy for the stern 
 and massive work below. Durham vault is strong and 
 satisfactory. But the lierne vault of Norwich is a far more 
 glorious crown and finish than the rude work of Durham. 
 It might be thought that the richness and magnificence of 
 the lierne vault of Norwich would be out of harmony with 
 the simplicity and heaviness of Norman piers and triforium 
 and clerestory. It is not so. A tower, like that of 
 Magdalen College, Oxford, may be ever so plain below, and 
 yet terminate fitly with a glorious coronal of battlements, 
 parapet, and pinnacles. So it is with this interior. 
 
 Its rivals are to be found in Winchester and Tewkesbury. 
 Hut at Winchester the vaults of nave and presbytery are cut 
 in two by the unvaulted transept, and the presbytery vault 
 is of wood. Norwich and Tewkesbury are vaulted every- 
 where from east to west and from north to south. And 
 111 both, the vaults being uniform in character, and not 
 changing character half-way as at Gloucester, weld together 
 the spreading limbs of the church into a marvellous unity. 
 Hut while the Tewkesbury vault is low and squat, that of 
 Norwich soars aloft, rising to supreme height in the far east. 
 
 There is another fine feature about the interior of 
 Norwich, as in that of Gloucester : it is the striking contrast 
 of light and shade, of shadowy nave and brilliant choir. 
 Kly and Hereford present us with the reverse effect - bright 
 nave and gloomy choir. Both effects are dramatic ; both, 
 doubtless, are unintentional. If they had known how, or could 
 have afforded it, Ely and Hereford would have flooded their 
 choirs with sunshine, Norwich and Gloucester their naves. 
 The mediaeval builders wanted none of these dramatic con- 
 trasts of light and shade; they were always working to get 
 rid of the dim religious light that nowadays we venerate ; 
 they would have liked their churches lighted thoroughly well 
 throughout. What they wanted was the light, uniformly 
 good, of Lichfield, or of Salisbury, bright and gay as a 
 ball-room. 
 
 Hut the most subtle and most important element in the 
 16
 
 242 NORWICH CATHEDRAL 
 
 beauty of the interior of Norwich is to be found in its pro- 
 portions. The nave is of an immense length, but it is very 
 narrow. York, Canterbury, Gloucester, Durham, all have 
 naves too short for their breadth. And what is more im- 
 portant still is the ratio of the height of the Norwich interior 
 to its span. In most English cathedrals it is not much more 
 than 2 to i ; but in Norwich nave the ratio rises to nearly 
 2.6, and in the presbytery it is nearly 3 to i. In Norwich 
 presbytery, then, we have just those proportions which we 
 find in the great Gothic cathedrals of France, but in 
 England hardly anywhere except at Heverley, Ripon, and 
 Westminster. 
 
 One thing more remains to be said in praise of Norwich, 
 as of Gloucester. It is that the greatest splendour of the 
 church is concentrated at one spot, and that the most 
 important spot in the church. It is in approaching the High 
 altar that vaults and clerestory soar aloft, that loveliest vistas 
 open out into ambulatory and chapels, while the noble 
 windows above fill all with light and atmosphere. " I would 
 back it," says Dean Goulburn, " against any similar effect in 
 almost any cathedral in Christendom." 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Professor Willis and Rev. D. J. Stewart's papers 
 on the cathedral in Arcliaological Journal, xxxn. 16, and on the 
 cloisters in xxxii. 155. 
 
 Harrod ? s Gleanings from Churches and Convents of Norfolk. 
 
 Dean Goulburn's Ancient Sculptures and History of Norwich Cathe- 
 dral gives photographs of the bosses. 
 
 W. T. Bensly and W. II. St. John Hope's paper on Norwich cathe- 
 dral in the Transactions of (lie Norfolk and Norwich Arch. Society, 
 xiv. 105. 
 
 Dr Jessop and Dr Montague James' Life and Miracles of Si. 
 William of Norwich, 1896. 
 
 Britton's Architectural Antiquities, iii. 86.
 
 FROM THK NORTH 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 CHRIST, OXFORD 
 
 A 1 
 
 BUILT FOR AUGUSTINIAN CANONS 
 
 BOUT the year of Our Lord 727, there lived in 
 Oxford a Saxon prince named I )idan, who had an 
 only child, Frideswide (' bond of peace '). Seeing 
 that he had large possessions and inheritances, and that she 
 was likely to enjoy most of them after his decease, Frides- 
 wide told her father that he could not do better than bestow 
 them upon some religious fabric where she and her spiritual 
 sisters might spend their days in prayer and in singing 
 psalms and hymns to God. Wherefore the good old man 
 built a church, and committed it wholly to the use of his 
 daughter, purposely to exercise her devotion therein ; and 
 other edifices adjoining to the church, to serve as lodging- 
 rooms for Frideswide and twelve virgins of noble extraction.
 
 244 
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 There she became famous for her piety and for those ex- 
 cellent parts that nature had endowed her withal ; and 
 Algar, King of Leicester, became her adorer by way of 
 marriage. Finding that he could not prevail with her by 
 all the entreaties and gifts imaginable, he departed home, 
 but sent to her ambassadors \\ith this special and sovereign 
 caution, that if she did not concede, to watch their oppor- 
 tunity and carry her a.vay by force. Frideswide was in- 
 exorable. Wherefore at the dawning of the day the 
 ambassadors clambered the fences of the house, and bv 
 
 degrees approaching her private lodging, promised to them- 
 selves nothing but surety of their prize. But she. awakening 
 suddenly and discovering them, and finding it vain to make 
 an escape, being so closely besieged, fervently prayed to the 
 Almighty that He would preserve her from the violence of 
 those wicked persons, and that He would shew some special 
 token of revenge upon them for this their bold attempt. 
 Wherefore the ambassadors were miraculously struck blind, 
 and like madmen ran headlong yelling about the city. But 
 Algar was filled with rage, and intended for Oxford, breath- 
 ing out nothing but fire and sword. Which thing being
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 245 
 
 told to Frideswide in a dream, with her sisters the nuns 
 Katherine and Cicely, she fled to the river side, where there 
 awaited her a young man with a beautiful countenance and 
 clothed in white, who, mitigating their fear with pleasant 
 speech, rowed them up the river to a wood ten miles distant. 
 There the nuns sheltered in a hut, which ivy and other 
 sprouts quickly overgrew, hiding them from sight of man. 
 Three years Frideswide lived in Benton wood, when she 
 came back to Binsey and afterwards to Oxford, in which 
 place this maiden, having gained the triumph of her virginity, 
 worked many miracles ; and when her days were over and 
 her Spouse called her, she there died." Such is the account 
 of her which Anthony-a-Wood drew from William of 
 Malmesbury and Prior Philip of Oxford, both of whom un- 
 fortunately lived long after the events which they narrate. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. In the east walls of the north choir 
 aisle and the Lady chapel three small rude arches have 
 recently been found, and outside, in the gardens, the 
 foundations of the walls of three apses. Hence it has 
 been concluded that we have here the eastern termination 
 of Frideswide's eighth-century church. It may be so, but 
 the central arch seems very small for the chancel-arch of 
 an aisled church. It is indeed a foot wider than the 
 chancel-arch of the Saxon church at Bradford-on-Avon, 
 but that tiny church has no aisles. Moreover, if the side 
 arches led into aisles, they would be likely to be of the 
 same height, whereas the southern arch is considerably 
 the higher of the two. A more serious objection is that 
 the plan with three parallel eastern apses is not known to 
 occur in Western Christendom before the ninth century. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. The establishment went through many 
 vicissitudes, passing from nuns to secular canons, and 
 finally in i i i i to regular canons i.e., canons living in 
 monastic fashion under the rule (regula} of St. Augustine, 
 as at Bristol and Carlisle. 
 
 The first business, probably, of the regular canons was 
 to house themselves i.e., to build themselves the usual 
 cloister, with its appanages of chapter house, refectory,
 
 246 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 dormitory, &c. Of the chapter house which they built, 
 c. 1125, the doorway still remains; the slype also is their 
 work. 
 
 In 1004 King Ethelred had rebuilt the Saxon church ; and 
 probably it was found possible to put this church into such 
 repair as would allow the services to be held in it for the 
 time being. At any rate, it was not till after 1158 that 
 they commenced the present church, first pulling down 
 Ethelred's church ; the present church was probably 
 finished by 1180; for in that year it was ready for the 
 translation of the relics of St. Frideswide. It has been 
 urged that the present church is in the main the one 
 built in 1004; which is as who should say that Paradise 
 Lost was written by Chaucer. 
 
 This late twelfth-century church was very remarkable 
 in plan. Not only had it an aisled nave and an aisled 
 choir, but it had the architectural luxury, unparalleled in 
 our Norman architecture except in the vast churches of 
 Winchester and Ely, of eastern and western aisles to its 
 transepts. Both the transepts were three bays long, as 
 were their aisles : the aisled nave had eight bays according 
 to Browne Willis' plan ; the choir aisles had four bays, 
 the choir had five, thus getting good light in its eastern- 
 most bay for the High altar. Through lack of room, 
 however, the ground story of the end bay of the south 
 transept had to be given to the slype or passage which 
 provided access from the cloister to the infirmary and 
 other buildings ; the same arrangement is found at Hexham, 
 another church of Austin Canons. 
 
 But the canons wanted also a Lady chapel, especially as the 
 church seems to have been dedicated originally to the Holy 
 Trinity, St. Mary, and St. Frideswide. The normal position 
 of a Lady chapel is to the east of the sanctuary. But 
 here also the canons were cramped ; for quite close to the 
 east end of the church ran the city wall. To get in a Lady 
 chapel, therefore, they had to build an additional aisle 
 north of the north aisle of the choir. It was four bays 
 long. Its westernmost bay was the central bay of the east
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 247 
 
 aisle of the transept ; the second bay had a semicircular 
 arch on the north and no doubt another on the south ; 
 as for the two eastern bays, it is possible that they were 
 simply the north aisle of the Anglo-Saxon church. There 
 was yet another chapel, north of the Lady chapel, probably 
 of two bays ; the westernmost bay being the end bay of 
 the eastern aisle 
 of the transept, 
 and the next bay 
 communicating 
 with the Lady 
 chapel by a semi- 
 circular arch, 
 traces of which 
 may be seen above 
 the present pointed 
 arch. 
 
 The east end of 
 the sanctuary is 
 square. The 
 present east end 
 is a fine composi- 
 tion by Scott, 
 more or less con- 
 jectural. The 
 work commenced, 
 as usual, at the 
 east, as is shewn 
 by the gradual im- 
 provement west- 
 ward in the design 
 of the capitals. 
 
 The evidence of the vaulting, too, points in the same direc- 
 tion. In the choir aisle the ribs are massive and heavy ; in 
 the western aisle of the north transept the}- are lighter; in 
 the south aisle of the nave they are pointed and filleted. 
 
 The transepts are narrower than the nave and choir ; the 
 crossing, therefore, is oblong, and, as at Bolton Priory, its 
 
 ST. FRIDESWIDES CHAI'KL
 
 2 4 8 
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 narrow sides have pointed arches: semicircular arches would 
 have been too low. The faces of the piers of the towers 
 are flat, because the stalls of the canons were placed against 
 them, leaving the whole eastern limb as sanctuary. 
 
 The clerestory walls are only 41^ ft. high ; therefore, to 
 have adopted the usual Norman design viz., three stories 
 more or less equal in length, each only about 14 ft. high 
 
 would have given an insignificant pier-arcade and a dwarfed 
 clerestory, and the interior would have been seen to be miser- 
 ably low and squat. But it looks quite lofty ; for though the 
 real pier-arcade (the arches of which are corbelled into the 
 piers low down) is very humble indeed, yet in front of it 
 there rises a sham pier-arcade with lofty columns, and with 
 arches that run up to the string-course of the clerestory.
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 249 
 
 The design is not original ; for it was tried at Romsey and 
 there abandoned ; it was worked out more successfully at 
 Dunstable Priory and Jedburgh, both churches of Austin 
 Canons, and in grand fashion at Benedictine Glastonbury. 
 The clerestory windows of the nave would be built not much 
 before IT 80; naturally, therefore, they are pointed, while in 
 choir and transepts they are semicircular. The capitals are 
 of extraordinary interest ; we have nothing like them in the 
 country. All the old Romanesque motifs are tried with 
 
 JUNCTION OF NORTH 1 RANSEl'T AND CHOIR 
 
 variations, and as the work advances, the capitals more and 
 more approach to Gothic. The most interesting are those 
 which are got by the decomposition of the Corinthian 
 capital of ancient Greece and Rome. Those in Canterbury 
 choir may be finer, but they are the work of French carvers ; 
 for the third quarter of the twelfth century, the capitals at 
 St. Frideswide's are unparalleled ; for the last quarter the}' 
 find rivals at Xew Shoreham, Reigate, and Abbey Dore. 
 
 This twelfth-century church is exceedingly interesting. 
 There is not yet the lightness and grace of Ripon ; still less
 
 250 
 
 OX FOR I) CAT I 1 K I ) R A L 
 
 the charm of Canterbury choir, Chichester presbytery, 
 Glastonbury, and Abbey Dore Gothic in all but name. 
 In spite of its foliated capitals, in spite of a pointed arch 
 here and there, it is Romanesque to the core ; it was built 
 by old-fashioned people ; though Durham had had high 
 vaults for half a century, there are none here, nor any 
 preparation for them. Except in the foliation of the capitals, 
 there is not a sign that Gothic was close at hand, nay, 
 
 TIIF. NORTH SI DIC, WITH LATIN CHAITCI. 
 
 already in existence by 1 180 at Worcester, Glastonbury, 
 and Wells. Oxford, then as ever, was the refuge of " lost 
 causes and mistaken beliefs and impossible loyalties." 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. In the first half of the thirteenth 
 century 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. To some extent it is 
 designed like a broach spire : for the cardinal sides of the 
 spire are built right out to the eaves, so that there is no
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 251 
 
 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, 
 of a type very rare in England, but normal in Normandy, 
 e.g., the spires of the Abbaye-aux-Hommes at Caen, of which 
 it is probably a variant. 
 
 The Chapterhouse also was rebuilt (c. i 240) ; rectangular, 
 to fit the cloister. Also, the canons rebuilt the Lady chapel, 
 replacing the Anglo-Saxon arcade on the south, if such there 
 was, by an arcade with light piers and pointed arches 
 also the pointed arch into the chapel adjoining on the 
 north was at this time inserted. The cult of the Virgin, 
 much fostered by the Pope, Innocent III., was at its 
 height in the thirteenth century. The Lady chapels of 
 Bristol, Hereford, Salisbury, Winchester, and Norwich were 
 contemporaries of that of Oxford. 
 
 In the year 1289 the relics of St. Frideswide were trans- 
 lated to a new shrine. Fragments of the pedestal of 
 this have been recently put together ; it contains beautiful 
 naturalistic foliage like that of the contemporary shrine- 
 pedestal of St. Thomas of Hereford. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. A great deal of work was done in the 
 fourteenth century, especially in improving the lighting of 
 the church by substituting large traceried windows for the 
 original small Norman lights. Of these new windows a very 
 fine example remains in St. Lucy's chapel, opening out of the 
 south transept ; with tracery starting below the spring of the 
 arch ; it contains early fourteenth-century glass, in which is 
 a representation of the martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canter- 
 bury. Another fine window, restored, is seen high up in 
 the end wall of the south transept. In the second quarter 
 of the century the little northern chapel east of the north 
 transept was pulled down, and in its place was built a chapel 
 of four bays, with four side windows of singularly beautiful 
 tracery, and all different. They contain late fourteenth-century 
 glass, which should be compared with that in St. Lucy's
 
 252 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 chapel and in Merlon College chapel. The bosses are very 
 beautiful : one of them has a representation of the water- 
 lilies of the adjacent Chervvcll. Hard by, in the second 
 arch from the east, is the tomb of Lady Montacute, who 
 died in 1353 and gave the canons about half the Christ 
 Church meadows to found a chantry : from its style the 
 tomb would seem to have been built in her lifetime. In 
 the third arch from the east is the canopied tomb of a prior ; 
 perhaps Prior Sutton, who died in 1316. The chapel is 
 dedicated to St. Catherine, perhaps in part reminiscence of 
 Frideswide's sister Catherine, who retired with her to Binsey 
 wood. In modern days it was fitted up for Divinity lectures, 
 and was called the Divinity chapel or the Latin chapel. It 
 contains rich woodwork ; in some of the poppy-heads of the 
 stalls a cardinal's hat and tassels are carved ; the stalls may 
 have been made for the vast collegiate chapel which Cardinal 
 Wolsey had commenced, but which was soon to be 
 abandoned. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. For a century or more nothing else was 
 done or needed doing, except further improvement of the 
 lighting by the insertion of large windows with rectilinear 
 tracery, and the erection of the so-called " \Vatching- 
 chamber." the lower part of which is the tomb of a 
 merchant and his wife, the upper part probably the 
 chapel belonging to it. c. 1480 : it is probable that the 
 merchant was only allowed to have a tomb in this sacred 
 spot on condition that it was designed for its upper story 
 to be used, like the upper story of the \Vatching Loft at St. 
 Albans, to watch the treasures of St. Frideswide's shrine, 
 which was but a few feet away. It is probable that the 
 upper chapel of Henry V. at \Vestminster similarly served 
 a double purpose. It may be added that it was quite 
 common in parish churches to secure burial near the High 
 altar by putting up in the north wall of the chancel a recessed 
 tomb which could be used as Faster Sepulchre. 
 
 The one remaining great undertaking, which, as at 
 Norwich, had been postponed as long as possible, was the 
 ceiling of choir, transepts, and nave with high vaults. The
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 253 
 
 choir vault and clerestory were taken in hand first, in the 
 last quarter of the fifteenth century. For its design is based 
 on that of the I )ivinity School at Oxford, which seems to have 
 
 THK CHOIR 
 
 been built between 1481 and 1483, and it is earlier than 
 the vault commenced in the north transept for which Canon 
 Zoueh left money : he is buried below beneath the great 
 north window. As Mr Fergusson well says, ''the vault of
 
 254 
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 
 
 the choir, except in sixe, is one of the best and most 
 remarkable in Christendom." In the clerestory of the nave 
 
 also corbels were inserted 
 to support a stone vault ; 
 but the resources of the 
 canons seem to have 
 failed, and the rest of 
 the church received roofs 
 of wood ; that of the nave 
 is probably \Volsey ? s work. 
 Another considerable 
 work was the rebuilding 
 of the cloister. In order 
 to get room for the north- 
 east corner of the new 
 cloister the two southern 
 bays of the west aisle of 
 the south transept were 
 swept away. Nor was 
 this all the demolition : 
 for when the whole establishment was granted in 1524 to 
 Cardinal Wolsey, he pulled down the three western bays of 
 the nave, as obstructing the quadrangle of his new college ; 
 one bay has been recently rebuilt. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. In 1542 Henry VIII. founded the new 
 diocese of Oxford. Till 1546 the seat of the bishopric was 
 at Osney abbey. On the suppression of the abbey it was 
 transferred to Wolsey's confiscated foundation ; and the 
 ancient priory church became a cathedral, while at the same 
 time it is the chapel of the college of Christ Church. There 
 is an interesting window in the south choir aisle, the only 
 Norman window left in the church ; the glass in it has a 
 portrait of the first bishop of Oxford, King, with Osney 
 abbey on one side. The "merry, merry, Christ Church 
 bells '"' came from the tower shewn in this window. At the 
 entrance to the Great Hall is the last bit of genuine Gothic 
 done in England, a sort of chapter house in fan tracery, 
 ceilinu the staircase. 
 
 THE CHOIR VAULT
 
 OXFORD CATHEDRAL 255 
 
 The cathedral possesses a charming Jacobean pulpit, 
 and a large amount of fine Flemish glass of the seven- 
 teenth century all of it taken out and stowed away in some 
 lumber room at a recent restoration, except one window 
 at the west end of the north aisle of the nave, in order 
 to insert some sham mediaeval windows. There are also 
 five windows from designs by Sir Edward Burne Jones three 
 of them of great beauty so far as the drawing is concerned ; 
 good windows by Clayton and Bell in the end walls of the 
 transepts ; and a reredos by Mr Bodley, who also has the 
 credit of the bell tower. 
 
 The following are the more important dates of the 
 cathedral and the college: jqo + TAe First Cfnirch ; St. 
 Frideswide. 1002. The Second Church; Ethelred. 1065. 
 Burnt and restored. 1158-80. The Third (present) Church. 
 1 190. Damaged by fire (?) 1250 (?). Chapter house and Lady 
 chapel. 1289. St. Frideswide's new Shrine dedicated. 1359. 
 The Latin chapel completed : one bay having been begun 
 in thirteenth century. 1450 4- Restorations : Choir clerestory 
 side windows. 1480. Restorations : Watching chamber. 
 1500 + Restorations : N. transept window: roof of tower 
 and transepts: roof of the Choir: Cloister. 1524-9. Wol- 
 sey's " Cardinal College " ; Kitchen, Hall, E., S., W. sides 
 of Tom Quad (W. side not complete) : Chapel begun on N. 
 side: three bays of the Church nave destroyed. 1532. Henry 
 VII I. 's Foundation. 1546. Seat of Bishopric of Oxford 
 moved from Osney to Christ Church. Bp. King : Abbot 
 of Osney 1542-1546, Bishop of Oxford 1546-1557. 1640. 
 Staircase of the Hall. 1630. Restorations in the Cathedral: 
 brasses destroyed: "Jonah" window. 1648. Deanery 
 archway into Peckwater (Samuel Fell, Dean). 1668. North 
 side of Tom Quad. 1680. "Tom" recast; the original 
 bell came from Osney abbey. 1682. Tom Tower, upper 
 part (Sir Chr. ll'ren). 1705. Peckwater Quad (Dean 
 Aldric/i). 1716. Library begun. 1720. Fire : S.W. angle of 
 Tom Quad destroyed: Roof of Hall injured. 1761. Lib- 
 rary finished. 1778. Canterbury Gate (Wyatf). 1862-6. 
 Meadow Buildings. 1871. East End of Cathedral " restored '
 
 2 5 6 
 
 OXFORD CATIIKDRAL 
 
 (Sir G. G. Scott}. 1^79. Belfry Tower over Hall 
 Staircase. 
 
 HiBi.iocRAriiv. Sir (Jilbert Scott's "Report" in Murray's Eas tern 
 Cathedrals, p. 45. Pamphlet hy |. Park Harrison on the Saxon arches 
 in the east end of the church. 
 
 Bloxam, M. II., "Sepulchral .Monuments in Oxford Cathedral,' 
 
 Royal .-1 ><//,<-(>/. Institute ; Oxford volume. iS6o. 
 
 THE TOWER AM) SPIKE KKO.M THE CLOISTER
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. PETER, PETERBOROUGH 
 
 BUILT FOR BENEDICTINE MONKS 
 
 ABOUT the middle of the seventh century Peada and 
 Wulfere, successive kings of Mercia, are said to have 
 founded a monastery at Peterborough, then called 
 Medeshamstead ("the homestead in the meadow"), and to 
 have consecrated the church in the names of St. Peter, St. 
 Paul, and St. Andrew. Then said Iving Wulfere with a 
 loud voice: "This day do I freely give to St. Peter and to 
 the abbot and to the monks of this monastery these lands 
 and waters and meres and fens and weirs ; neither shall 
 tribute or tax be taken therefrom. Moreover I do make 
 this monastery free, that it be subject to Rome alone ; and 
 I will that all who may not be able to journey to Rome 
 should repair hither to St. Peter." This consecration took 
 place in 664 or 665. In 870 this, the first church, was 
 destroyed by the Danes, and Abbot Hedda and all his 
 monks were murdered. It was not fully rebuilt till 963 or 
 966. Abbot Elsinus (1006-1055) collected many relics: 
 pieces of the swaddling clothes, of the manger, of the cross, 
 and of the sepulchre of Christ ; of the garments of the 
 Virgin, of Aaron's rod, a bone of one of the Innocents, 
 portions of the bodies of .St. John the Baptist, St. Peter, and 
 St. Paul, the body of St. Florentinus, for which he gave 
 100 Ibs. of silver, and, most precious of all, the incorruptible 
 arm of the Northumbrian king, Oswald, believed by half the 
 population of Kngland to be an effectual cure for diseases 
 which defied the material power of drugs. Here is Hede's 
 account of it : " \Vhen Oswald was once sitting at dinner 
 with Bishop Aidan, on the holy day of Easter, and a silver 
 
 I 7 2 57
 
 2 5 8 
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 J2EFE&ENCES To MONUMENTS 
 MEMOB14L SLABS AND CHAPELS 
 
 t SHGIME OF THE MONKS 
 
 2. MA BY. OUEEN OF -SCOTS 
 
 3. BISHOP CHAMBERS 
 ABBOT WOODFOBD 
 5. " DE GALE TO 
 
 &. 
 
 7 QUEEN 
 
 Op 
 
 ff ST J&MES CHAPEL. 
 9 fT JOHNS 
 JO. ST OSWALDS - 
 //. ST BENEDICTS " 
 /Z. C/-/&PE.L. 0^ S" 
 
 KYNEfWITHA. 
 
 PLAN
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 259 
 
 dish of dainties was before him, the servant, whom he had 
 appointed to relieve the poor, came in on a sudden, and 
 told the king that a great multitude of needy persons were 
 sitting in the streets begging alms of the king. He immedi- 
 ately ordered the meat set before him to be carried to the 
 poor, and the dish also to be cut in pieces and divided 
 among them. At which sight the Bishop laid hold of the 
 King's right hand, and said, ' May this hand never perish,' 
 which fell out according to his prayer; for his arm and hand 
 being cut off from his bod}', when he was slain in battle, 
 remain entire and incorrupted to this day, and are kept in a 
 silver case as revered relics in St. Peter's church in the royal 
 city." Even King Stephen came to see it ; and, what is 
 more, remitted to the monks forty marks which they owed 
 him. Benedict was a monk at Canterbury when Eecket 
 was murdered ; and when he became abbot of Peterborough 
 in 1177, he brought with him the slabs of the pavement 
 which were stained with the blood of the martyr, fragments 
 of his shirt and surplice, and two vases of his blood. So 
 that the monastery was called " Peterborough the Proud," 
 and waxed rich and mighty, and church and close were holy 
 ground, and all pilgrims, even though of royal blood, put off 
 their shoes before passing through the western gateway of 
 the close. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. The second Saxon church of 966-972 
 seems to have lasted till i i 16, when it was destroyed by fire, 
 and the present church, the third, was commenced. The 
 foundations of part of this Saxon church have been recently 
 disinterred beneath the present south transept. It was 
 cruciform, with perhaps a square east end, and was without 
 aisles. The east limb was 23 ft. each way; the transept 
 was 88 ft. long. Its walls were under 3 ft. thick, so that it 
 cannot have been intended for a vault. It is uncertain how 
 far it extended westward. 
 
 On the inside of the east wall of the north transept a part 
 of the stone seating can be seen. It was in this church that 
 Hereward the Wake was knighted by his uncle, Abbot 
 Brando. Saxon monuments were found in situ under the
 
 26o 
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 floor of the transept of the present church in 1887. A 
 subway has been constructed so that the eastern foundations 
 may be viewed. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. In 1116 the Saxon cathedral was 
 seriously injured by a great fire, and in 1117 or 1 1 18 Abbot 
 John de Sais (See/.) commenced the present Norman church. 
 He died in 1125. His successor did nothing. Abbot 
 Martin de Bee (1133-1155) completed sufficient to allow 
 the monks to hold their services in the eastern limb. 
 (Probably the monks had been able to patch up the damaged 
 
 
 FROM THE SOUTH 
 
 Anglo-Saxon church, and held their services in that till i 140 
 or 1143.) The work done by Abbots John and Martin 
 includes the whole of the eastern limb, full height, and the 
 aisles and the two lower stories of the eastern sides of 
 the central transept : in the north transept the west wall 
 was built up to the string-course of the ground story : the 
 south transept adjoined the monastic buildings, and so 
 more work was done in it ; this included the south wall 
 with the windows of the ground story, and on the 
 eastern side the three northern bays of the triforium (the
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 261 
 
 fourth bay has a plain tympanum). Of the central tower 
 the eastern piers were built full height, and the western piers 
 about half way up : it follows that the first choir was 
 confined to the eastern limb. A start was made with the 
 nave ; this included on the north side the arch from the 
 transept into the north aisle, and the first bay of that aisle 
 up to the string- 
 course over the 
 wall arcade, where 
 the moldings 
 change. Also he 
 built the two 
 eastern bays of the 
 ground story on 
 each side of the 
 nave. Hitherto the 
 north wall of the 
 Saxon nave had 
 probably been re- 
 tained to shut in 
 the cloister on the 
 north ; now it 
 was pulled down 
 and replaced by 
 the wall of the 
 present south aisle 
 of the nave, as far 
 as the east side of 
 the bay containing 
 the western pro- 
 cession doorway. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. Then came in 1155 another great 
 builder, William de YYatcrville ; unfortunately, he got the 
 convent into debt, was unpopular with the monks, and was 
 deposed by them in 1175 ; so the monastic chroniclers give 
 the credit of a great deal of Watcrville's work to their 
 favourite, Benedict, who had enriched the monastery with 
 the relics from Canterbury, and who is said by them to have 
 
 THE PRICSBVTERY
 
 262 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 built the whole of the nave, which he certainly did not. 
 Waterville's work falls into two parts ; first, he completed 
 both transepts, the piers and arches of the crossing, and a 
 central tower of three stories ; he also built the vestry on 
 the west side of the south transept. Secondly, he did a 
 great deal of work in the nave. The two easternmost bays 
 of the nave he completed on both sides up to the top of the 
 triforium ; the tympana of these triforium bays have similar 
 decoration to those in the choir triforium. No doubt he put 
 up a temporary roof at the triforium level, and western 
 boarding; and this done, he transferred the stalls in 1175 
 to the two eastern bays of the nave and the crossing, where 
 they are at present. On the north side of the nave AYater- 
 ville only built as much as was necessary to buttress the 
 new central tower to the west ; vix., four bays of the ground 
 story, two of the triforium (which have rude ornament not 
 found elsewhere in the nave), and one bay of the clerestory : 
 also he finished the first t\vo eastern bays of the north aisle, 
 which were in a line with the new choir, and built the third, 
 fourth, and fifth bays of the aisle up to the string-course 
 above the wall arcade. Most of his work was done on the 
 south side partly because the south aisle-wall was already 
 standing, having been built by Abbot Martin, partly because 
 the south aisle, being adjacent to the cloister, was wanted 
 more urgently than the north aisle. On the south side he 
 built all the eight eastern bays of the ground story (the 
 eighth is that which is opposite to the western procession 
 doorway). No doubt he roofed in the corresponding bays 
 of the aisle to enable it to be used : and he may have 
 vaulted several bays of it. Of the south triforium he 
 erected the first two bays, of the south clerestory only the 
 easternmost bay. A curious proof that the south side of 
 the nave was completed and left in the open air for a 
 considerable time before the completion of the north side 
 is that when the whitewash was taken off at one of the 
 restorations, the putlog holes on the south side were found 
 to be full of remains of birds' nests, of which there were 
 none on the north side. It will be noticed that the eighth
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 263 
 
 piers from the east are exceptionally massive and strong, 
 and that in this bay the aisle-walls are thickened. This, 
 together with the position of the western processional doorway, 
 shews that the original intention was that the nave should 
 end at this point in two western towers in an axis with the 
 aisles; of these the southern tower was carried up for some 
 distance. 
 
 All this Norman 
 work of c. 1117 to 
 c. 1 175 is of sternly 
 simple character ; 
 nevertheless both 
 artistically and 
 constructionally it 
 ranks very high. 
 There are few in- 
 ternal elevations 
 in Europe finer 
 than that of the 
 north transept ; 
 and few vistas so 
 picturesque as that 
 of the presbytery 
 from the south 
 transept. The 
 builders, too, 
 understood per- 
 fectly the indepen- 
 dence of the load 
 and the support ; 
 in the choir the 
 abacus, in the nave 
 
 the shafts of the piers are in exact co-ordination with the 
 orders of the pier-arch and the vault. To get level ridges for 
 the aisle-vaults, the builders stilted the transverse arches of 
 the aisles and the pier-arches, while they built each diagonal 
 arch in rather less than a semicircle. In the spandrels of two 
 triforium bays in the choir are anticipations of plate tracery. 
 
 THF. SOUTH AISLK
 
 264 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. Then came Abbot Benedict (1177- 
 1193), wno > thinking the nave too short, abandoned the 
 western towers commenced by Waterville, and added two 
 more bays to the west. The nave now had ten bays, and 
 Benedict completed these ten bays from pavement to roof, 
 and the aisles as well, including their vaults, with the excep- 
 tion that he left undone the tenth bay of the clerestory. 
 The present ceiling of the nave is probably that put up by 
 Benedict;* but, strange to say, there are signs of an in- 
 tention to vault the nave ; for round the clerestory windows 
 are wall-arches ; there is a springer of a vault in the 
 westernmost bay of the clerestory ; and the clerestory 
 passage is blocked with masses of masonry to give a solid 
 backing to the springers of a high vault ; moreover, to 
 carry the diagonal ribs, corbels were inserted just below 
 the clerestory spring-course, as in Durham nave ; these 
 corbels were chiselled off, when it was decided to have a 
 ceiling and not a vault. With the exception of the last 
 bay of the clerestory on either side and the west front, the 
 church, begun about 1117, was finished by i 1 93. It had, 
 therefore, occupied some seventy-six years. During that 
 long period the original design, as at Ely, was steadily 
 adhered to. Regardless of the vast changes in style which 
 were to be seen elsewhere, the builders went on using die- 
 self same templates for the moldings, and the self-same 
 archaic capitals and abaci. The chief exceptions are that 
 from Waterville's time the waterholding molding occurs in 
 the bases of the piers ; that the wall-arches in the clerestory 
 are pointed : and, strange to say, about the centre of the 
 southern triforium some Corinthianesque capitals, which 
 may have been carved by a mason who had been working 
 in Canterbury choir: perhaps he was on his way to a job at 
 Oakham hall, where alone is to be found a complete set of 
 
 * The roofs of the threat transept also are prohahly original. That of 
 the nave was tlat at first: hut \\hen the pointed arches were inserted 
 in tile central to\\ur, the celling \\us tilted up to clear the neu 
 eastern arch. At the same tune a new roof was put up over the 
 presbytery.
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 265 
 
 foliated capitals copied from those of the work of William 
 of Sens at Canterbury, begun in 1175. 
 
 Having destroyed the western towers begun by Waterville, 
 Benedict commenced a new west transept at the end of the 
 tenth bay of the nave. It has towers in the axis of the 
 aisles, and lofty flanking chapels crowned by gables. Thus 
 the transept consists of chapel, tower bay, the eleventh bay 
 of the nave, tower bay, chapel. Of this Benedict built the 
 east walls about as high as the cill of the clerestory windows, 
 abandoning the pre- 
 cedents of 1117 and 
 designing the work 
 with noble pointed 
 arches, overlaid, how- 
 ever, by a profusion of 
 Norman xigxag. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. 
 Benedict was followed 
 by Abbot Andrew 
 ( r 195-1 200), who built 
 the westernmost bay 
 of the clerestory and 
 finished the western 
 transept. His northern 
 tower still remains ; in 
 i 730 it had a wooden 
 spire. Andrew also 
 commenced a spacious 
 
 porch to lead into his central doorway, after the manner of 
 the (lalilee porch of Ely (1198-1215). Of this he finished 
 only '"the side walls from the springing of the wall arcades 
 at the- east to a few courses above the bases to the west; 
 and the lower parts of the central opening and the two 
 narrow side openings." 
 
 SIXTH I'KRIOIX Then came Abbot Acharius (1200-1210) 
 from St. Albans, where he was Prior, and where a lovely 
 west front was building or on the point of being built. 
 Even Benedict and Andrew's west front was not good enough 
 
 VAULTING UNDER THE WEST TOWER
 
 266 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 for Acharius, and he decided to build yet another facade 
 in front of theirs, finishing and absorbing into it Andrew's 
 western porch. (Something similar occurred rather later 
 at Lincoln, where a new Gothic west front was built up 
 around the old Norman facade and towers.) It was the 
 retention of this porch which gave the central opening 
 of the facade the peculiarity of being narrower than the 
 side openings. (The side openings could not be narrowed, 
 because they had to span the space from Andrew's central 
 
 THE WEST FRONT 
 
 porch to the ends of his western transept.) In addition to the 
 three great openings, flanking towers were built, which were 
 constructed solid (except for staircases) to resist the thrusts 
 of the broad and lofty side openings. It is probable that 
 the three gables of the facade were meant originally to be 
 loftier, for their wheel windows are too large for their present 
 position. It may be that the)' had been already carved at 
 Barnack quarry when it was decided to put up lower gables 
 (nearly all the moldings, &c., seem to have been carved
 
 267 
 
 at the quarry). Built, like the whole cathedral, even the 
 western chapels, practically without foundations, the north 
 and south gables had to be taken down in 1896; founda- 
 tions were put in, and each stone was returned to its 
 original position; only 170 out of about 2,000 stones 
 needed to be renewed a thoroughly sound and conservative 
 piece of work. After Acharius came an interval of three 
 years, when King John appropriated the revenues of the 
 abbey ; then came Robert de Lindsay, who was abbot from 
 1214 to 1222, and who probably completed the west front. 
 
 The west front of Peterborough has been severely 
 criticised, especially by 
 Mr Pugin. To many it 
 will seem to be at once 
 the most original and 
 most successful facade 
 in English or in Con- 
 tinental Gothic. Yet, 
 magnificent and poetic 
 as it is, we have not the 
 full effect contemplated 
 by the mediaeval builders. 
 They meant to have four 
 towers, not three. The 
 north-west tower was 
 once crowned by a A ( ; AB I.E CROSS 
 
 wooden spire ; we may 
 
 be sure that there would have been a spire also on a 
 south-west tower. Add, too, in the background, a tall spire 
 on the central tower, and you have a group before which 
 even Lichfield and Lincoln would pale into insignificance. 
 Even curtailed as it is, the design attains the sublime. When 
 first its Titanic arches rose into the blue sky, its builders 
 may well have repeated the psalmist's words : '' Lift up your 
 heads, () ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ; 
 and the King of Glory shall come in." They had built a 
 worth)- portal to the House of the Almighty. In 1238 the 
 church was at last dedicated ; of the stalls then put up two
 
 268 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 remain in the morning chapel, with Jacobean backs. The 
 font is thirteenth-century work ; its beautiful bowl was found 
 in a prebendal garden ; the supports are modern. 
 
 SF.VENTH PKRIOD. Little more was done till 1272-1286, 
 when the east bay of each aisle of the presbytery, which 
 was square externally, semicircular internally, was con- 
 verted into a square-ended chapel ; and the present 
 parapet was added to the apse. Also large windows, with 
 geometrical tracery, were inserted to give better light to 
 the eastern aisle of each arm of the central transept. In 
 this period, c. 1270, the bell tower was carried up; and 
 a magnificent Lady chapel was built as at Bristol, to the 
 north of the choir. On the west it was joined on to the 
 north transept, but between it and the presbytery was a 
 space, in which afterwards a small chapel was inserted. 
 It could not be built east of the choir, as a high road 
 passed near the apse. This Lady chapel was pulled down 
 in the seventeenth century for the sake of its materials. 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. In the fourteenth century the weight 
 of the Norman tower, which had of course very thick walls, 
 and was three stories high, was found to be too much for 
 the exceptionally weak piers on which it stood. Warned, 
 perhaps, by the fate of the central towers of Ely and Wells, 
 both of which collapsed about this time, they took down 
 the Norman tower, and built a new one (which has recently 
 been rebuilt), much lighter and much lower : first strengthen- 
 ing the northern and southern arches by building pointed 
 arches above them, and substituting pointed for semicircular 
 eastern and western arches. The south-west spire was also 
 built a design of exquisite beauty. 
 
 Much attention was now paid to improving the lighting 
 of the church and the drainage of the roofs. The process 
 of substituting large traceried windows for small Norman 
 windows commenced in the aisles of the nave and the south 
 presbytery at the beginning of the century. As at Norwich, 
 the triforium roof was raised to give headway to larger 
 windows in the upper part of the aisle-wall, throwing light 
 through the triforium chamber into the nave. Windows
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 269 
 
 of charming flowing tracery were inserted in the apse of the 
 presbytery, c. 1340. Gutters and parapets with flowing 
 patterns were put up at the foot of the high roofs ; the 
 builders, however, with their wonted conservatism retained 
 the Norman corbel table, which, as at Southwell, has the 
 nebule ornament. A porch was inserted, c. 1370, in the 
 central arch of the west front ; where it was constructionally 
 useful in keeping the two central piers from bulging inwardly; 
 it was occupied by a semi-choir on Palm Sunday. 
 
 TUi: vK'TII TRANSMIT AND CENTRAL TOWKR 
 
 NINTH PERIOD. In the fifteenth century more Norman 
 windows were taken out and replaced by larger windows 
 with rectilinear tracery : altogether some seventy-five windows 
 were treated in this way ; and the builders in the end accom- 
 plished their object, for the cathedral is thoroughly well 
 lighted ; we may be thankful that they did not insert big 
 windows in the end walls of the central transept. The 
 eagle lectern was given to the abbey some few years before 
 1471.
 
 270 
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 
 
 TENTH PERIOD. Till the last years of the fifteenth 
 century the cathedral remained unchanged in plan. But 
 it had no procession path, and only two eastern chapels ; 
 between 1438 and 1528 therefore the apse of the presbytery 
 was encircled by a low square-ended aisle broad enough to 
 contain a procession path and three chapels. This was the 
 work of Abbot Ashton (1438-1471) and Abbot Robert 
 Kirton (1496-1528), whose rebuses occur repeatedly. It 
 
 is ceiled with a 
 fan vault ; if this 
 be examined, it 
 will be found that 
 most of the joints 
 occur about half- 
 way between the 
 ribs : really there- 
 fore, construc- 
 tionally, it is not 
 a ribbed vault at 
 all ; but consists 
 of panels accu- 
 rately fitted to- 
 gether, with deco- 
 rative ribs carved 
 on their inner 
 surfaces. Out- 
 side, the but- 
 
 THK RETRO-CHOIR seated figures in- 
 
 stead of pinnacles. 
 
 As completed, the ritualistic divisions of the church, com- 
 mencing at the east, were as follows: (i) Three eastern 
 chapels and procession path : (2) aisled presbytery, con- 
 sisting of four bays and an apse ; with the High altar to the 
 east and probably the choir altar in the centre : (3) choir 
 occupying the crossing and the two eastern bays of the nave, 
 as at present ; at the west of it, between the second piers 
 from the tower, was the Choir screen, on which an altar was
 
 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL 2? I 
 
 placed ; (4) the Rood screen was between the next pair of 
 piers ; some traces of its loft may be seen in the triforium ; 
 (5) the ritualistic nave containing eight bays, including the 
 central bay of the western transept ; on the north is the door- 
 way which led to the lay cemetery ; on the south the two 
 procession doorways which communicated with the cloister. 
 
 ELEVENTH PERIOD. In 1541 the church was made a 
 cathedral on the New Foundation. Henry VIII. is said to 
 have preserved it as a mausoleum to his first wife, Catharine 
 of Arragon, who is buried in the choir. 
 
 In 1643 Peterborough was occupied for a fortnight by 
 two regiments of Cromwell's troops, and the cathedral was 
 atrociously maltreated ; hence the bareness of its interior. 
 Recently stalls have been re-erected, and the mistake has 
 been made of paving the presbytery with marble, making 
 the venerable freestone around look mean and common. 
 Over the altar Mr Pearson has erected a baldachino of 
 Italian design. The ritualistic arrangements have been 
 sadly muddled ; the eastern part of the church is too large 
 for the daily services and too small for great diocesan 
 gatherings, as also is the nave. What was wanted was to 
 screen off the daily services in the presbytery, as in Abbot 
 Martin's time, and from 1830 to 1883 ; leaving the whole of 
 the rest of the area of the church for congregational pur- 
 poses, and providing it with an altar and stalls of its own. 
 
 ISiiu.ioGRAi'iiY. Gunton's History of Peterborough, with Dean 
 Patrick's Supplement, 1686. 
 
 John Bridge's Northamptonshire^ 1793. 
 
 G. A. Poole's "Peterborough Cathedral": in fan, Associated Archi- 
 tectural Societies Reports, 1855, p. 199. 
 
 F. A. Vdstf ^Peterborough Cathedral, 1859. 
 
 Canon Daws' Guide to Peterborough Cathedral, 1860. 
 
 Thomas C ruddock, History of Peterborough Cathedral, 1864. 
 
 J. I'. Irvine in Archaeological Journal, vol. 50, and in Huildcr, 
 51 h May 1894. 
 
 Tlie most complete and most accurate account of the cathedral is that 
 i^iven by Mr C. R. Peers in '1'lie Victoria County History of Northampton- 
 shire, 1909. 
 
 For manuscript and other sources see the bibliography in Craddock s 
 Peterborough Cathedral, p. 227.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. PETER AND ST. WILFRID, 
 RIPON 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 RIPON minster lias passed through strange vicissitudes. 
 It was founded c. 657, but on a different site, 
 for Scottish monks attached to the Celtic Church. 
 In 66 1 it was taken away from them and granted to the 
 famous St. Wilfrid. In 68 1 the church became a cathedral, 
 but only till 686. At some period before the Norman 
 Conquest it became the church of a college of secular canons. 
 It was dissolved with the other collegiate establishments by 
 Edward VI., but was made collegiate once more by James I. 
 In 1836, for the second time, it became a cathedral. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. Both the minsters built by St. Wilfrid- 
 Ripon and Hexham retain their crypts. He was a Roman- 
 iser in architecture as in ritual, and well acquainted with 
 Italy. So his seventh-century church at Ripon was modelled 
 after the early Christian basilicas which he had seen at 
 Rome. Like them, it had a confessionary or crypt, which 
 still exists beneath the central tower; like them, it was 
 orientated to the west. He seems even to have brought over 
 Italian masons to direct or to execute the work, lor the 
 crypt is vaulted, and the vaulting is of excellent construction ; 
 the masonry is smooth, and is covered "with a line and 
 very hard plaster which takes a polish." At present the 
 altar is at the east end, but it may originally have been 
 at the west end : at its east end an aperture through which a 
 glimpse of the interior might be obtained from the Saxon nave. 
 Round the walls are little niches in which lights were placed. 
 " St. Wilfrid's Needle " is merely a niche with the back 
 knocked through. Similar Saxon crypts remain at Hexham 
 
 272
 
 KIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 273 
 
 and Wing, and a Norman crypt at St. Peter-in-the-East, 
 Oxford. They usually consisted of a small central chamber, 
 with a passage all round it. There were two staircases 
 descending from either side of the nave ; pilgrims went 
 down one flight of steps, proceeded along the passage, 
 getting a glimpse of the relics through openings in the wall 
 of the central chamber, and 
 then returned up the other 
 flight of steps into the nave. 
 Both staircases survive in the 
 Hexham crypt. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. Early in 
 the twelfth century a Norman 
 church seems to have been 
 built, wholly or in part, by 
 Archbishop Thomas or Arch- 
 bishop Thurstan. Of this 
 there remains only an apsidal 
 building, with undercroft be- 
 neath, on the south side of the 
 south aisle of the present 
 choir. Aii eleventh-century 
 chapel formerly existed, with 
 crypt beneath it, in precisely 
 the same situation at Wor- 
 cester ; and there is a twelfth- 
 century chapel in the same 
 position in Oxford cathedral ; 
 in Oxford this chapel was the 
 Lady chapel. It may be that 
 the Ripon chapel also may 
 have been a Lady chapel. If 
 
 the Norman church extended as far eastward as at present, 
 it would have been impossible to build a Lady chapel to the 
 east of the choir ; the ground falls far too steeply eastward. 
 On the other hand it may have been an apsidal sacristy with 
 undercroft. In the upper chamber, the present vestry, on 
 the south side ol the apse are piscina and aumbries, pointing 
 18 
 
 SCA1.E OF METRES
 
 274 
 
 RIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 to the existence of an altar. Now at Westminster the 
 Revestiary forms at its east end the chapel of St. Faith. It 
 may be then at Ripon that the upper apse held an altar of 
 Our Lady, but that the rest of the upper chamber together 
 with the undercroft formed the sacristy and treasury of the 
 church, and were retained by Archbishop Roger when he 
 built his choir. In the south-eastern buttress is a curious 
 chamber which, like the feretory at Gloucester, may have 
 
 provided a treas- 
 ury for small ob- 
 jects of exceptional 
 value. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. 
 From 1154 
 r 1 8 1 there ruled 
 at York a man of 
 great energy and 
 p o w e r A r c h- 
 bishop Roger. He 
 condemned his 
 two Nor m a n 
 churches at York 
 and Ripon ; made 
 no attempt, as at 
 Peterborough and 
 Fly, to improve 
 them : simply pul- 
 led them down, 
 and started again 
 tit' noi'o. The two new Yorkshire minsters seem to have been 
 somewhat similar: both had square east ends, both had ex- 
 ceptionally broad naves. Ikit Ripon minster was merely a 
 collegiate church ; therefore it was not planned in cathedral 
 fashion. Its eastern limb was probably of the same 
 dimensions as at present. The original ritualistic arrange- 
 ments have been swept away by the restorers, and the 
 levels altered so that the eastern limb might be used for 
 congregational purposes, tor which it was never intended. 
 
 THE SOUTH TRANSEPT
 
 RIPON CATHEDRAL 275 
 
 and for which it will always be inadequate. Originally both 
 the High altar and the sedilia were in the second bay from 
 the east, and the easternmost bay formed the procession 
 path ; it seems also to have contained the Head Shrine of 
 St. Wilfrid, whose body was buried, first on the south side, 
 but afterwards on the north side of the presbytery. The 
 Saint's chapel with the shrine of St. Wilfrid was not east of 
 the High altar, but beneath the easternmost arch of the 
 north aisle of the choir. The minster was and is still 
 parochial as well as collegiate ; and for its parishioners a big 
 nave was built. It was built, as parish churches originally 
 were as a rule built without aisles. This was the great 
 feature of the minster, a 4o-ft. nave without aisles. The 
 combination of unaisled nave and aisled choir must have 
 produced a very remarkable interior ; quite unlike anything 
 now existing in England, but to be paralleled by such 
 cathedrals as Gerona and Toulouse. 
 
 Of this remarkable nave nothing is now left except 
 two fragments, one at the east, and one at the west end 
 on either side. All the rest has been replaced by sixteenth- 
 century piers, arches, and clerestory. But if in imagination 
 the two ends of the nave are joined together it is well 
 to do so in an actual drawing the design of the whole of 
 the original nave can be recovered with exactitude. A 
 very remarkable design it was. It consisted of three 
 stories ; the lower story was simply a blank wall. The 
 second contained a passage in the thickness of the wall, 
 which was divided into bays alternately broad and narrow ; 
 the broad bays having semicircular, the narrow bays pointed 
 arc-lies ; which again were respectively subdivided into four 
 and two minor arches, all pointed and with the spandrels 
 pierced. A similar wall passage occurs in the pretty nave 
 of the nuns' church at Nun Monkton, near York. In the 
 clerestory the narrow bays had a blank arcade of three 
 pointed arches ; the broad bays a round-headed window 
 flanked on either side by a blank pointed arch. Neither 
 in the ground story nor in the middle story were there any 
 windows. Everywhere else people were trying to get all
 
 2/6 RIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 the windows possible into their churches ; here alone a 
 "dim, religious light" was preferred. And filtering in, as 
 it did, through small lancet windows at a great height, 
 as in Pugin's cathedral at Killarney, the effect must have 
 been most dramatic. The destruction of this unique nave 
 is one of the heaviest losses that English architecture has 
 sustained. 
 
 Of the central tower, the south-east pier has been rebuilt : 
 the north-east and south-west piers have been cased. The 
 north and west arches of the tower survive ; the south and 
 east arches have been rebuilt. The nave was considerably 
 wider than the central aisle of the choir ; the tower was 
 therefore not built square ; the northern arch being set 
 obliquely, and not parallel to the southern one. Outside, 
 however, the north side of the tower is corbelled out till 
 the tower becomes square. 
 
 The design of the choir is similar to that of the north 
 transept, which retains the original round-headed windows. 
 The design of transept and choir is almost Cistercian in its 
 severity. Very effective is the contrast of broad wall-surface 
 and plain splayed window with the light and slender shafted 
 arcades of triforium and clerestory. In proportions, too, it 
 is superior to most later designs. The pier-arches are tall 
 and narrow, and the triforium thoroughly subordinated to 
 the tall clerestory; the proportions approximate to those of 
 Westminster abbey and Beverley minster. It is remarkable, 
 too, for the studied absence of foliated ornament. Not that 
 the builders could not design a foliated capital ; they have 
 left one or two, in unnoticed corners of the north transept, 
 to shew their powers. All the capitals of the choir are 
 molded capitals: as at ISyland, Furness, Holme Cultram, 
 Roche, Old Malton, Darlington, and Hartlepool : these 
 hollow-necked capitals are evidently due to the influence of 
 the Yorkshire Cistercians ; like them, the builders chose to 
 rely on architectural effects pure and simple. Equally re- 
 markable is the abolition of Norman ornament. The billet, 
 the xig/ag, the whole barbaric congeries of Norman orna- 
 ment is contemptuously cast aside. In this respect, indeed,
 
 RIl'ON CATHEDRAL 
 
 277 
 
 Ripon is much more advanced than Canterbury choir, 
 which was not commenced till 1175. The clerestory, how- 
 ever, is of a familiar Norman type, being an adaptation of 
 
 that of Romsey and Waltham abbey, and Peterborough and 
 Oxford cathedrals; another version of it was produced a 
 little later in Ilexham choir. 
 
 The aisle of the north transept is vaulted in square bays.
 
 2/8 RIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 each quadripartite, with wall-ribs and also with ridge-ribs, 
 both longitudinal and transverse. The ridge-ribs consist only 
 of a single roll and are merely decorative. The diagonal 
 ribs have a triple roll. The cells are filled in, French 
 fashion, with courses parallel to the ridges. The bays are 
 separated by broad, square-edged arches. It is a most 
 extraordinary vault for the period ; for such a combination 
 of longitudinal and transverse ridge-ribs does not occur else- 
 where till the vault of Lincoln nave was set out c. 1240. 
 
 The vaulting-shafts of the choir rest on the abaci, French 
 fashion, and occur in groups of five, which in the clerestory 
 are reduced to a single shaft ; shewing that, as in the 
 western bays of the nave of St. Albans, it was originally 
 contemplated to vault the choir, but that the intention 
 was abandoned when the triforium was completed. It is 
 probably because it was meant to vault the choir, that it 
 was set out so much narrower than the nave, in spite of the 
 awkward plan which resulted in the central tower. In the 
 transept there are three vaulting-shafts in each group, point- 
 ing to an intention to build a quadripartite vault, similar 
 to that of the choir aisles. But in the choir there are five 
 vaulting-shafts in a group. These are difficult to explain. 
 It may be that the central shaft was to carry the transverse rib 
 of the vault, while its flanking shafts carried the diagonals ; 
 and that the outer shafts were merely to support the wall- 
 ribs ; in that case it would be a simple cjuadripartite vault. 
 
 The facades of the north transept present a rare example 
 of a complete facade of the period ; the doorways of both 
 transepts are of much interest. 
 
 In spite of round-headed windows and round-headed 
 arches here and there, the whole design of the interior was 
 light and graceful, thoroughly Gothic. Externally it was just 
 the reverse ; but for a pointed arcade in the clerestory one 
 might imagine one was back again in the early days of the 
 twelfth century. It is when one compares the interior with 
 that of Oxford cathedral, which is precisely contemporary, 
 and with St. David's, which is later still, that one realises 
 what a long step forward in the evolution of our Gothic
 
 RIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 279 
 
 architecture was taken at Ripon. It may well be that 
 Archbishop Roger's choir at York, pulled down c. 1380, 
 was a sister design to his Ripon minster. With Ripon 
 should be compared Holy Trinity church, York ; and for 
 the later development of the design the choir and eastern 
 transept of the neighbouring abbey of Fountains and the 
 thirteenth-century portion of Beverley minster. To get at 
 the genesis of the Ripon design it would be necessary first 
 
 FROM THK SOUTH-EAST 
 
 to stucl\- the contemporary examples, and those a little 
 earlier, of Cistercian architecture in Yorkshire, such as 
 Roche and Hyland ; and secondly, to look for analogies and 
 precedents in the district from which Cistercian design 
 hailed, vix., Burgundy and the neighbouring districts, e.g., 
 the resemblances in design between Ripon minster and 
 \otre Dame, Chalons-sur-Marnc, are numerous and striking. 
 The whole subject of the Early Gothic school of the North 
 of England remains practically unexplored.
 
 28O RIl'ON CATHEDRAL 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. To the thirteenth century belong the 
 vaulting and piers of the present Chapter house ; and the 
 west front, which, like York transept and Southwell choir, 
 is attributed to Archbishop Gray. Indulgences for its 
 completion were issued in 1233 and 1258. The west front 
 is flat ; deficient in play of light and shade ; correct and un- 
 interesting. It is ruined by the loss of its wooden spires, 
 removed in 1664; and by the miserable little pinnacles put 
 up in 1797. Before the aisles were built, these towers 
 projected clear of the nave, and their inner walls formed 
 the western bay of Archbishop Roger's nave, with fine 
 arches cut into them in the thirteenth century to throw 
 them open to the nave. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. About 1290 the east end of the choir 
 seems to have collapsed partly, perhaps, in consequence 
 of the steep fall of the ground eastwards. It was rebuilt, 
 with the damaged portions of the choir, with exceptional 
 strength in consequence. The east end is a vigorous, 
 massive design, something like that of Guisborough or 
 Selby. Only the eastern portion of the choir has flying 
 buttresses. The clerestory windows have an inner arcade. 
 Ripon choir alone, of English cathedrals, possesses a complete 
 "transparent" triforium, the lean-to roof of the aisles having 
 been replaced by a fiat roof. 
 
 Inside the south-eastern buttress is a staircase at the top 
 of which is a cell, probably for an anchorite. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. To the first half of the fourteenth 
 century belong the Sedilia and the Lady Loft. The shafts 
 of the sedilia have been clumsily renewed at some later 
 period. It has been suggested that the original altar of 
 Our Lad\' was in the apse of the sacristy. In the fourteenth 
 century a separate Lady chapel was built above it. The 
 lower row of lancets in the west front once had charming 
 tracery, inserted 1379-1380. This was removed by Scott : 
 an abominable example of " restoration." A good illustration 
 of the windows before the " restoration " will be found in 
 Murray's "Northern Cathedrals," i. 151. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. In 1458 the southern and eastern
 
 KIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 28l 
 
 sides of the central tower collapsed, greatly damaging the 
 adjacent parts of the choir and south transept. The eastern 
 aisle of the south transept and much of the south side of 
 the choir, as well as part of the tower, had to be rebuilt. 
 In the choir both in the work of 1290 and in that of 1458, 
 the builders preserved all they could of the twelfth-century 
 work, retaining in the triforium the semicircular arch of the 
 older design. The result is a curious blend of styles. Of 
 the piers, those on the south which are lo/enge-shaped 
 
 THK NORTH SIDK OF THE NAVK 
 
 belong to the fifteenth-century work ; the rest of the work 
 of the choir is of the twelfth century where the material is 
 gritstone : in some cases, however, the twelfth-century grit- 
 stone may have been reused in the work of 1290. To 
 give more support to the tower, the north-east and south-west 
 piers were cased ; the south-east pier was rebuilt, as well 
 as the southern and eastern arches. To strengthen the 
 eastern piers of the tower, the two western bays of the 
 arcade of the choir were blocked up, and a massive choir-
 
 282 KIPON CATHEDRAL 
 
 screen was inserted c. 1480. To this period belong the 
 magnificent stalls with tabernacled canopies, bench ends, 
 elbow rests, and misericords unsurpassed in England. 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. In the next century, 1503-1521, the 
 canons unhappily determined to give their unique church 
 more of the look of a cathedral by adding processional aisles to 
 the nave. It is pleasant to add that they were unsuccessful. 
 The nave is low in proportion to its exceptional span ; and 
 being, moreover, unprovided with a triforium, does not look 
 in the least like a cathedral, but like an ordinary parish 
 church. Externally, the buttresses are of fine composition, 
 and if the pinnacles were completed, the nave would be very 
 handsome externally. Indeed all the details of the work 
 are exceptionally good. It will be noticed that all the three 
 west doorways opened into the old unaisled nave. The 
 window above the font has a collection of fragments of fine 
 early fourteenth-century glass. 
 
 NINTH PERIOD. In 1593 the central spire of timber 
 and lead was struck by lightning, and in 1660 it was 
 removed. It was 120 ft. high. In 1664, for fear of a 
 similar catastrophe, the western spires also were removed. 
 The result is that, seen from a distance, minus spires and 
 minus pinnacles, Ripon minster is somewhat stunted and 
 squat. Nevertheless, seen from the railway the masses com- 
 pose well ; and seen at a distance the cathedral holds its 
 own and is a dominating feature in the landscape. 
 
 ]->iui.io<;K.\rn v. Chapter Acts and Mcmonah of I\ifon Minster, 
 edited by Rev. J. T. Fowler, D.C.L., for the Surtees Society: vols. 64, 
 74, 78, Si. 
 
 Sir Gilbert Scott in Archaological Journal, vol. xxxi. 
 
 Sir Gilbert Scott's Recollections. 
 
 1. R. Walbran's Guide Book.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. ANDREW, ROCHESTER 
 
 BUILT FOR BENEDICTINE MONKS 
 
 ROCHESTER and London, next to Canterbury, are the 
 oldest of all the English bishoprics, unless we are 
 prepared to aceept a pre-Augustine bishopric of 
 Hereford. St. Augustine, soon after his landing in 597, 
 came to preach at Rochester. His reception was not en- 
 couraging ; the rude people hung fish-tails to his coat. 
 Wherefore in anger the saint prayed " that the Lord would 
 smite them in posteriora to their everlasting ignominy. So 
 that not only on their own but on their successors' persons 
 similar tails grew ever after." The worst of it was that the 
 story spread, and not only Rochester people but all English 
 folk were believed on the Continent to be caudati (tailed). 
 So that even in the sixteenth century "an Englishman now 
 cannot travel in another land by way of merchandise or any 
 other honest occupying, but it is most contumeliously thrown 
 in his teeth that all Englishmen have tails." 
 
 Among St. Augustine's Italian missioners were St. Justus 
 and St. Paulinus. St. Justus became first bishop of 
 Rochester in 604. St. Paulinus, after eight years of mission 
 work in Northumbria, became bishop of Rochester in 633. 
 The first English bishop was Ythamar (644-655). Paulinus, 
 Justus and Ythamar were the chief local saints of Rochester 
 in early days. 
 
 St. Augustine and his missioners had come from the 
 monastery of St. Andrew, Rome. To St. Andrew, therefore, 
 they dedicated the first Saxon cathedral. In 1542 the 
 
 cathedral was re-dedicated to Christ and the Blessed Virgin 
 
 283
 
 284 
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 Mary of Rochester. Till 1082 the cathedral was served by 
 secular canons ; .Archbishop Lanfranc replaced them by 
 Benedictine monks. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. In 1888 the foundations of an early 
 
 church were found 
 running towards the 
 south-west ; its apse 
 was beneath tile- 
 north-west corner of 
 the nave. It had 
 neither aisles nor 
 transepts ; the walls 
 were only 2 ft. 4 in. 
 thick ; it was 42 ft. 
 long, 28 ft. broad. 
 From the resem- 
 blance of its plan to 
 that of St. Pancras, 
 Canterbury, and Re- 
 culvers, especially in 
 the possession of a 
 chancel arch com- 
 posed of a triple ar- 
 cade, it would seem 
 to be of seventh- 
 century date ; in 
 which case it is the 
 identical church re- 
 corded to have been 
 built by King Kthel- 
 bert of Kent. 
 
 SKCOND PERIOD. 
 Soon after 1082 a 
 
 Norman cathedral was begun ; in this Gundulf received much 
 aid from Lanfranc. ( lundtilf first built to the north a detached 
 tower, the lower part of which remains. Being detached, 
 and having walls 6 ft. thick, it was probably a military keep. 
 Gundulf was fond of building keeps ; those of the Tower of 
 
 1 11]). Lawrence's Tom 
 
 2 ,, (ilanville's ,, 
 q ,, Gundulph'.s ,, 
 
 4 ,. Inglethorpe's 
 
 5 ) Tombs of the 
 
 6 ; I.e Warner 
 
 7 ) Family 
 
 8 John De Sheppy 
 
 9 Walter De Mcrton 
 
 10 St. William 
 
 11 Bishop I, owe 
 
 12 Hamo De Ilythe 
 
 13 John De Bradfiek! 
 
 14 Lord John Hennike 
 
 15 Dame Henniker
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 285 
 
 London and Mailing still exist. Rochester had suffered 
 from attacks of the Danes, sailing up the Medway, in 840, 
 884, and 999. There was a striking memento of them on 
 the great west doors of the cathedral, which Pepys, as late 
 as 1661, found "covered with the skins of Danes." We may 
 conjecture that it was as a refuge against similar attacks that 
 Gundulf built the northern keep. But the tower was also 
 used as a campanile as early as 1154. Of Gundulf's church 
 there remain portions in the keep, the nave, the choir, and 
 the crypt. The original monastery was built in the normal 
 position, south of the nave. To enclose the cloister, there- 
 fore, on the north, the south side of the nave would be pro- 
 ceeded with first. The south aisle-wall is very thin and not 
 intended to support a vault ; it extended west from the 
 transept to about 9 ft. from the present west front. The 
 six piers adjacent to what remains of the aisle-wall, are, like 
 it, of tufa, but were afterwards cased up. The pier-arches 
 are also Gundulf's, but the outer order on the side of the 
 nave was replaced a little later by richer work. On the 
 north side of the nave he seems to have built only the three 
 bays westward of the transept ; these are marked by a rich 
 string-course and two shafted pilasters on the aisle-wall. 
 His presbytery, the present choir, was separated from the 
 aisles by solid walls, as at St. Albans. There were tran- 
 septs, but they had no eastern apses ; for to the east of the 
 north transept is Gundulf's keep, and east of the south 
 transept was a smaller engaged tower ; a fragment of tufa 
 quoins remains in the south wall of the south choir aisle, 
 west of the cloister doorway. Excavations in the crypt have 
 shewn that the presbytery was square-ended, and that there 
 projected centrally from it a small square eastern chapel. 
 This plan is utterly different from either of the Anglo- 
 Norman normal plans ; it is neither periapsidal, like 
 Gloucester and Norwich, nor has three parallel eastern 
 apses, like Durham; one suspects that it was a church 
 the only large Norman church in England which followed 
 Anglo-Saxon traditions of planning. The western part of 
 the present crypt is Gundulf's. It has a groined vault,
 
 286 
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 which retains the Norman plaster and the board-marks of 
 the centering. There remain two detached shafts which are 
 monoliths, and circular and rectangular responds of coursed 
 tufa ; they have rude cushion capitals. 
 
 ./ 
 
 I 
 
 THK XAVK. 1'ROM THF. F.AST 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. The works on the church were now 
 probably suspended for a considerable time, while the 
 monks, as at Gloucester, replaced the temporary buildings 
 of the monastery by permanent ones. These temporary 
 wooden buildings seem to have been situated in the usual
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 287 
 
 position viz., south of the nave. It was perhaps not to 
 interfere with these that the permanent monastic buildings 
 were placed in an abnormal position, south of the choir. 
 Much of this work was done by Bishop Ernulph (1114- 
 r 1 24), who had been a great builder at Canterbury, while 
 prior, and afterwards at Peterborough, as abbot. Parts of his 
 cloister, refectory, and chapter house remain at Rochester. 
 
 When at length the builders returned to the nave of the 
 cathedral (c. 1120), fashions had changed. Gundulph's 
 eleventh-century design and his rough tufa masonry must 
 have seemed archaic and barbaric. His tufa was therefore 
 cased on the side of the nave with good Caen stone, as 
 was done later in the century at Chichester ; his piers and 
 capitals were remodelled, and on the side of the nave 
 the outer square order of the pier-arch was covered with 
 zigzag ornament. Then the north arcade of the nave 
 was completed, the form of each pier being copied from 
 the corresponding one in the south aisle ; the new piers 
 were not built in tufa, but in ashlar ; the western bases 
 have a " spur " of leafage, a sign of late date. The aisles, 
 as at Hereford, where a precisely similar transformation 
 of eleventh into twelfth century work was taking place at 
 the same time, were left unaltered. Gundulph had placed 
 shafted pilasters along the inner face of his north aisle- 
 wall ; perhaps intending that the aisles should be vaulted ; 
 but his successors apparently thought the walls too thin, 
 as at Carlisle, to support a vault; so, instead of vaulting 
 the aisles and obtaining thus a continuous chamber the whole 
 length of the church, they constructed a passage in the 
 thickness of the wall of the triforium. Thus Rochester has 
 the distinction of possessing a sham triforium. Waltham 
 abbey also has a triforium arcade, but no triforium floor; 
 but that is because the vaults which originally covered the 
 aisles were subsequently taken down. In the triforium 
 passage of Rochester the arches are slightly pointed to get 
 more head room. 
 
 Still later about the middle of the twelfth century is 
 tin' west front, with its magnificent doorway, and the diaper
 
 288 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 of the triforium. Originally the spandrils of the triforium 
 arcade were open, as at Romsey ; afterwards they were 
 filled up solid with diapered bloeks, which, where they did 
 not fit the containing arch, may be seen to have been hacked 
 to shape. Foundations for small western towers have been 
 found, but, as at St. Albans, they were never carried up. In 
 the south-west angle of the nave is a staircase-doorway 
 with voluted caps. The west windows of the aisles have 
 true tooth ornament. Taking the tooth ornament and the 
 "spurs" of the western pier-bases into account, it is pro- 
 bable that the nave was completed not before but after the 
 dedication of 1 130. In this case what was dedicated would 
 be the monastic part of the church westward up to the rood- 
 screen, leaving the western bays of the nave unfinished. 
 These bays were parochial and had the parochial altar of 
 St. Nicholas backing on to the rood-screen. (In 1423 a 
 church of St. Nicholas was built for the parishioners to the 
 north of the cathedral, ff. Chester cathedral.) 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD.- In 1179 the cathedral was greatly 
 damaged by fire ; partly because of this, and, as at Canter- 
 bury, partly because the eastern half of the cathedral had 
 been planned inconveniently, the monks set to work to 
 rebuild the eastern limb. First, they built to the east a 
 new presbytery, and as they did not wish it to be at a low 
 level like the eastern extension at Worcester, they had to 
 extend the crypt eastward. In the centre of the presbytery, 
 more to the west than its present position, they placed the 
 High altar; the supports of its reredos may be seen in the 
 crypt. Most of the vault is sexpartite, following the pre- 
 cedent of Canterbury choir. The presbytery is admirably 
 lighted, having no less than twenty-two windows. On the 
 other hand, it is the only English cathedral destitute of a 
 procession aisle round the High altar. Moreover, the 
 presbytery has occupied the position usually filled by an 
 eastern chapel. The loss of the chapel, however, was 
 remedied by throwing out an eastern transept, with eastern 
 aisles, each containing two altars. The aisles are vaulted : 
 and above the vaults are chambers with external windows, so
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 289 
 
 that there is no triforium arcade or clerestory. Nor is there a 
 triforium chamber anywhere in the church. Another defect 
 in the plan is the absence of provision for a feretory. The 
 result was that St. William's shrine had to be placed in the 
 
 northern arm of the eastern transept. (It was approached 
 from the north choir aisle, the steps in the middle of which, 
 now covered with wood to protect them, are deeply worn 
 by the footsteps of pilgrims.) The presbytery, however, 
 19
 
 290 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 was spacious, and there was both a choir or matins altar in 
 the crossing of the eastern transept and the High altar farther 
 eastward. The presbytery was finished in 1214 or earlier, 
 for in that year Bishop Granville was interred in it. His 
 mutilated tomb is on the north of the presbytery in the 
 third bay from the east. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. The next task was to convert the western 
 part of Gundulph's presbytery into a choir ; its internal walls 
 were convenient as a backing for stalls, and so were retained. 
 The supports of the desks of these stalls remain. The 
 northern thrusts of the sexpartite vault of the choir were 
 provided for by a flying buttress; but owing to the great 
 width of the southern aisle and the presence of the cloister 
 south of the aisle, all that could be done was to build a 
 huge buttress inside the choir aisle ; it is close to the steps 
 leading down to the crypt. The wall paintings in the choir, 
 including the Wheel of Fortune, are c. 1345. The monks 
 entered their new choir in 1227: but the eastern works 
 cannot then have been finished, for the new eastern limb 
 was not dedicated till 1240. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. Next, the north arm of the central 
 transept was built between 1240 and 1255, but not yet 
 vaulted. On the east wall of its eastern recess was a Rood : 
 the corbels which supported it are still there. 
 
 SF.VKNTH PERIOD. Hitherto there had been no central 
 tower. It was now determined to build one, and first the 
 eastern and then the western piers of the crossing were 
 carried up. At the same time, two bays of the ground 
 story were rebuilt to some height ; a solid buttress, still 
 existent, being set against the north-west pier of the crossing. 
 Springers also for a vault were put up in the adjacent bays 
 of the aisle. 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. The south transept was next built, 
 and the piers and arches of the crossing were completed. 
 The north transept was then vaulted. 
 
 NINTH PERIOD. Next, Gundulfs southern tower was 
 removed, the space gained being thrown into the south 
 choir aisle. The tower being removed, it was now possible
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 291 
 
 to build the clerestory of the east wall of the south transept, 
 and to vault the transept in wood. This practically brings 
 to an end the Novmn Opus which, begun after the fire of 
 1179, must have occupied a whole century. The develop- 
 ment of the window tracery in the sixth, eighth, and ninth 
 periods is particularly worth study. 
 
 What enabled the monks to undertake such a great work 
 as the rebuilding of the cathedral, and why, after doing so 
 much, they suddenly stopped, has now to be explained. 
 What had brought wealth to Rochester was that in 1201 
 the monks acquired a new saint, St. William. " He was 
 by birth a Scot, of Perth ; by trade, a baker ; in charity 
 so abundant that he gave to the poor the tenth loaf of his 
 workmanship ; in xeal so fervent that in vow he promised, 
 and in deed attempted, to visit the places where Christ was 
 conversant on earth ; in which journey he made Rochester 
 his way, where, after that he had rested two or three days, 
 he departed toward Canterbury. But ere he had gone far 
 from the city, his servant a foundling who had been brought 
 up by him out of charity led him of purpose out of the 
 highway, and spoiled him both of his money and his life. 
 The servant escaped, but his master (because he died in 
 so holy a purpose of mind) was by the monks conveyed to 
 St. Andrews and laid in the choir. And soon he wrought 
 miracles plentifully." It was, then, from offerings at the 
 shrine of St. William of Perth, left by countless pilgrims 
 on their way to the shrine of a yet greater saint at Canterbury, 
 that the expenses of the Novum Opus were paid. And it 
 was probably because in the course of time the repute of 
 the murdered baker paled and waned before the ever-growing 
 fame of the martyred archbishop, that the monks had to 
 renounce their ambitious project of rebuilding the whole 
 of the nave. It seems, however, that for a considerable 
 time they were unwilling to give up hope; for one bay of 
 the Norman triforium was pulled down, leaving a gap, which 
 was not filled up till the fourteenth century ; when it was 
 rebuilt in the same Xorman style as before, but in greensand 
 a rare medieval example of " architectural forger}'."
 
 292 
 
 ROCIIESTKR CATHEDRAL 
 
 TENTH PKRIOD. But though the rebuilding of the nave 
 was definitely abandoned, a good deal of other work was 
 done in the first half of the fourteenth century. Another 
 story was added to the central tower, and in 1343 this was 
 capped by a wooden spire. A solid stone screen was inserted 
 between the piers; a grand doorway to the Chapter house 
 was built ; its two principal figures represent the Christian 
 
 FROM THE SOUTH-WEST 
 
 and Jewish dispensations ; to the same work belong the 
 windows on either side of it with flowing tracery. Then the 
 north aisle of the choir was raised and vaulted : and traceried 
 windows were substituted for lancets on either side of the 
 presbytery. Later in the century come the sedilia (1373- 
 
 1389)- 
 
 ELEVENTH PERIOD. The next step was to improve the 
 lighting of the nave. Larger windows, with rectilinear
 
 ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 293 
 
 tracery, were inserted in the aisles, and the clerestory was 
 rebuilt and heightened, and consequently a new roof nearly 
 flat, the present open timber roof, had to be put up ; also 
 the great west window of the nave was built. And a nine- 
 light window was inserted in the east wall of the presbytery ; 
 this was restored away by Sir Gilbert Scott. 
 
 TWELFTH PERIOD. In the sixteenth century the monks 
 set to work to enlarge their Lady chapel. This was in the 
 south transept, where the previous double bay had already 
 been thrown into one bay to hold a central altar of Our 
 Lady. Now the transept was prolonged three bays to the 
 west. The extension was planned to have two central 
 columns carrying a fan vault ; but the monks did not dare 
 to erect it, because of the lack of abutment on the north 
 side. 
 
 THIRTEENTH PERIOD. In 1664 much of the south aisle 
 of the nave was recased ; in 1670 it was found necessary to 
 rebuild three bays of the north aisle ; vi/., the third, fourth, 
 and fifth from the west front. In i 749 the upper part of 
 the tower and the spire were rebuilt ; in 1830 they were taken 
 down by Mr Cottingham, who built a new tower. A wooden 
 spire has recently been put up from a design of Air ('. 
 Hodgson Fowler, based on seventeenth-century prints. 
 
 BiBi.iocKAi'HY. The history of this cathedral is loo complicated and 
 perplexing to be more than summarised here : it is set forth in detail 
 in Mr \V. II. St. John Hope's Cathedral Church and Monastery of 
 S/. .-Indrcii', at Rochester. Mr Livetfs papers in recent volumes of 
 the Archtzologia Canliana should also lie consulted.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. ALBAN 
 
 BUILT FOR BENEDICTINE MONKS 
 
 OF all our cathedrals none is so composite and hetero- 
 geneous as the ancient church of the Benedictine 
 abbey of St. Alban. Tt is mainly built --even the 
 fourteenth-century Lady chapel of Roman tiles. Saxon 
 balusters appear in the triforium of the transepts. In the 
 nave and transepts and tower is Early Norman work, un- 
 equalled in extent and scale ; in the south transept are 
 built up the fragments of a Late Xorman doorway, to which 
 period, 1151-1166, belongs the interlacing arcade now 
 placed above it. In the west front and the western bays of 
 the nave is early thirteenth-century work of two periods. 
 In the sanctuary, ante-chapel, and Lady chapel the work 
 went on almost uninterruptedly from c. 1250 tor. 1320. To 
 the style of the first half of the fourteenth century belong 
 the five eastern bays on the south side of the nave, the 
 remains of the cloisters, the shrines of St. Alban and 
 St. Amphibalus, and the Rood screen. This practically 
 completed the abbey church structurally : but much im- 
 portant minor work was added in later days up to the 
 Dissolution. It included the alterations to the cloisters, 
 the abbey gatehouse, the triforium windows on the north 
 side of the nave and choir, inserted when the aisle roots 
 were lowered, the watching loft, the chantries of the Duke 
 of Gloucester and Abbot Wheathampstead, and the reredos 
 and painted ceiling. Tudor work appears in the chapel of 
 the Transfiguration, and in the admirable chantry of Abbot 
 Ramryge : while the "Gothic revival '' is stamped on every 
 feature of Lord Grimthorpe's facades to the west, north, 
 and south. There is not a sinyle hiatus in the series. St.
 
 ST. ALBAXS CATHEDRAL 
 
 MONUMENTS 
 
 295 
 
 PLAX
 
 296 
 
 ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 Albans is a veritable architectural handbook, written in 
 brick and stone. The student should remember, however, 
 that at St. Albans there is a good deal of what is called 
 assimilation. The two groups of Gothic bays in the nave 
 are not typical and characteristic of their respective periods. 
 The architects of these bays had not a free hand. They 
 were not able to compose the design simply to suit the 
 fashion of the clay. The design was to be brought up to 
 date only so far as might be without ruining the general 
 appearance and proportions of the nave as a whole. With 
 
 FROM THE NORTH-WEST, SHOWING THK WEST FRONT 
 HEFORE RESTORATION 
 
 these reservations, the tyro in architecture is recommended 
 to select St. Albans as his "Introduction to Medieval 
 Architecture." If he comes from London, he should choose 
 the longer route, by the London and Xorth-Western Railway : 
 he will have less distance to walk on arriving, and will see 
 the cathedral from the most picturesque point of view. If 
 time permits, he may proceed direct from the railway station 
 to Verulamium, and see the Roman walls and fosse, and 
 the interesting church of St. Michael's, with the famous 
 monument of Lord Baron, before visiting the cathedral.
 
 ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 297 
 
 In Roman times the city was on the other side of the 
 little river, the Yer, a tributary of the Colne, and hence was 
 called Yerulamium. In the revolt of Boadicea it was burnt, 
 but \vas soon rebuilt. In the year 303, "there was gret 
 persecution of Christen pepell by the tyrant Diocletian"; 
 and Alban, a citizen of Yerulamium, who had given shelter 
 to a Welsh priest, Amphibalus, was scourged, and then 
 dragged along the ancient British causeway, which still 
 exists, across the Yer, and up the lane to the top of the hill 
 afterwards called Holmhurst, and there put to death. 
 
 Amphibalus suffered the same fate. On the west wall ot 
 the north transept of the cathedral, just under a round- 
 headed window, is a small black cross cut in stone. " This 
 murks the traditional site of the martyrdom of St. Alban, 
 when there was neither town nor abbey in this place, but 
 only a flowery slope planted with trees."' In the fifth century 
 the English conquered the district. They abandoned 
 Yerulamium, perhaps because it was not on the main road, 
 and built the present town on the hill of Holmhurst, calling 
 it Watlingceaster, as Watling Street ran through it. In the 
 year 793, Offa, King of Mercia, treacherously murdered
 
 298 ST. ALBANS CATIIKDRAL 
 
 Ethelbert, King of East Anglia. It was revealed to him in a 
 vision that, by way of penance, he should seek out the body 
 of St. Alban, and there erect a monastery. King, arch- 
 bishop, bishops, priests, and a great multitude of common 
 people searched the hill of Holmhurst, and found the relics 
 of the martyr. A church was built, and richly endowed, 
 and was entrusted to Benedictine monks. It remained a 
 Benedictine abbey church till the Dissolution, in 1539. 
 Then it became a parish church, and in 1875 ;i cathedral. 
 
 The relics of St. Alban had an eventful history. First 
 they were carried off by pirates to Denmark, but were 
 afterwards restored. Then, in expectation of another 
 Danish raid, the}' were sent for safety to Ely. When the 
 Danes had gone, the monks of Ely, being desirous to keep 
 the precious bones in their possession, palmed on the 
 monks of St. Albans some supposititious relics. Where- 
 upon the monks of St. Albans asserted that neither had 
 they sent to Ely the genuine relics, but only sham ones, 
 to draw attention away from the fact that they had hidden 
 the authentic bones of the martyr in a hole in the wall of 
 their own church ! '' Crcdat [udcciis Apelles" 
 
 Towards the end of the eleventh century Nicholas 
 Breakspear was born at Abbots Langley, in Hertfordshire. 
 He applied to the abbey of St. Alban to be admitted 
 a monk, but was scornfully rejected, and rebuked for his 
 impudence, being, as he was, son of one of the menials of 
 the convent. This same man became Pope in i i ^4 the 
 only Englishman who ever became Pope. And when he 
 became Pope, under the title of Adrian IV., he forgot not 
 the monks of St. Albans, but forgave them, and made their 
 monastery free of episcopal jurisdiction for ever, and subject 
 only to the see of Rome. And to the abbot he gave 
 precedence over all other English abbots ; which precedency, 
 after much dispute with Westminster, St. Albans retained 
 till the 1 )issolution. 
 
 In 1455 was fought the first battle of St. Albans, when 
 Henry AT. was wounded in the neck by an arrow, and 
 made prisoner by the Yorkists under the Earl of Warwick.
 
 ST. ALBANS CATHKDKAL 299 
 
 The forces met in Holywell Street between the Key and 
 Chequer. In the second battle, 1461, the Earl of Warwick 
 was defeated by Queen Margaret. 
 
 St. Albans was an exceedingly wealthy abbey ; it had 
 estates in almost every county in England, and at the 
 present value of money its income would amount to at 
 least a million. Its conventual buildings must have been 
 immense. One of the guest halls, in addition to parlours 
 and bedrooms, had stables for three hundred horses. Of 
 all these vast structures nothing remains but one of the 
 gatehouses, built f. 1380. In it were detained the French 
 prisoners in the Napoleonic wars ; afterwards it became 
 a common gaol : now it houses the Grammar School. 
 
 In visiting the church, the first thing to be done is to 
 walk the whole length of it from west to east, inspecting 
 successively the seven divisions now to be described. 
 
 Internally, it is divided from west to east, in ancient 
 monastic fashion, into (i) nave, (2) choir, (3) sanctuary, 
 (4) Chapel of St. Alban, (5) Chapel of St. Amphibalus, (6) 
 processional path or ambulatory, (7) Lady chapel. Only at 
 Winchester can the ritualistic arrangements of a monastic or 
 cathedral church be studied so easily and clearly, (i) 'The 
 ritual nave occupies the ten western bays only of the 
 architectural nave, and terminates at the Rood screen. (2) 
 The ritual choir is not placed in the eastern limb ; but, 
 following a more ancient precedent, in the three eastern 
 bays of the architectural nave, and in the crossing (that part 
 of the transept which is beneath the central tower). This 
 was the place of the choir in the primitive basilicas, and in 
 the early monastic churches. The " Coro " of the Spanish 
 cathedrals is still placed in the nave. The same arrangement 
 survives in this country in Westminster abbey and Norwich, 
 and has lately been restored at Peterborough. Of this space 
 the stalls occupied the eastern part, extending up to the 
 eastern arch of the tower ; in the western part of it there 
 was a choir screen, against which the stalls were returned, 
 i.e., backed. Between this choir screen and the existing 
 rood screen there would be room for a couple of altars, one
 
 3OO ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 on cither side of the central doorway of the choir screen. 
 (3) The sanctuary extends from the tower to the great 
 reredos, and provided a free space in front of the High altar. 
 It is so long that it probably also contained, as at West- 
 minster, a "matins" or "choir altar'' placed about the 
 centre of it. The sanctuary, with its two altars, seems to 
 have been separated from the choir, as at St. David's, by a 
 light wooden screen ; the end of the upper portion of this 
 screen remains imbedded in the centre of the southern pier 
 of the tower. (4) The Saint's Chapel proper, that of the 
 patron saint, was occupied, as at Westminster, by a shrine 
 resting upon a stone pedestal (lately replaced); at West- 
 minster the shrine or coffer contains to this day the body of 
 St. Edward Confessor, here it contained that of St. Alban. 
 Till the great reredos of the High altar was erected, the 
 shrine of St. Alban would be seen all the way down the 
 sanctuary and choir, towering up above the High altar. 
 (5) In the next bay to the east- that on the other side of 
 the three eastern arches of St. Al ban's chapel the shrine of 
 St. Amphibalus was placed by Abbot de la Mare (1349- 
 1396). (6) The next bay eastward provided a processional 
 path, or ambulatory, or eastern choir aisle at the back of 
 the shrines, (7) The Lady chapel possesses the unusual 
 feature ot a small vestibule, for two small lateral altars. At 
 St. Albans it occupies the normal portion of a Lady chapel, 
 vi/., the extreme east. Where there was no room for further 
 eastward extension of the cathedral, the Lady chapel may 
 be found on the north or south side of the choir, as at 
 Bristol and Oxford. Here, as at Salisbury and Winchester, 
 the high roofs do not extend over the easternmost of the 
 ritualistic divisions of the church ; at York, Lincoln, and 
 Ely the church retains its full height uninterruptedly to the 
 extreme east end ; the ritualistic divisions of the church were 
 there marked by screens only. 
 
 In Norman times the church did not extend so far east- 
 ward. The sanctuary ended in three semicircular apses, of 
 which those of the aisles were semicircular inside but square 
 outside, as at Romsey. And, in lieu of eastern aisles, the
 
 ST. ALLANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 3 OI 
 
 transepts had each a pair of semicircular chapels, the arches 
 leading into which may still be seen in their eastern walls ; 
 excavations shew that the inner of each pair was much 
 longer than the other. 
 
 FIRST PKRIOD. 
 We now retrace 
 our steps to the 
 clioir and examine 
 the N o r m a n 
 masonry above 
 the new stalls. 
 " In 1077, Paul, 
 a monk of St. 
 Stephen's, ( laen 
 (the Abbaye-aux- 
 Ho mines), was 
 elected Abbot, 
 through the in- 
 fluence of Arch- 
 bishop Lanfranc, 
 whose kinsman he 
 was." In these 
 words we have the 
 origin of St. Al- 
 bans cathedral ; 
 and not of St. 
 Albans only, but 
 of all the mediaeval 
 architecture of 
 our land, whether 
 Romanesque or 
 (Jot hie. Before 
 the Norman con- 
 quest we had a native style of our own : a kind of primitive 
 Romanesque, of which remains survive at Jarrow, Wing. 
 Worth, Deerhurst, and elsewhere, as well as in the crypts 
 of Ripon, Hexham, and Repton. IUit the invasion of 
 the Normans changed all this. The primitive indigenous
 
 302 ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 Romanesque of England was thrown aside in favour 
 of the far more advanced Romanesque of Normandy. 
 From the great monastery of St. Stephen, Caen, came 
 Lanfranc, the first, and Ansel m, the second Norman Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury. When Lanfranc set to work to 
 rebuild Canterbury cathedral, he made it in length and 
 breadth and height an exact copy of the church of St. 
 Stephen, Caen. What Lanfranc did at Canterbury, the 
 Walkelins did at Winchester and Ely, and Abbot Paul at 
 St. Albans. They set to work to rebuild the English 
 minsters after the manner of the abbey churches of 
 Normandy, especially St. Stephen's, Caen, and Cerisy-la- 
 Foret ; these churches are the chief links between the 
 eleventh-century architecture of Normandy and the eleventh 
 and twelfth-century architecture of England. 
 
 But though in origin Winchester, Ely, St. Albans, and 
 the rest hail from Normandy, they all far surpass their 
 models in vastness of scale. Winchester and Ely even 
 committed the magnificent extravagance of having a western 
 as well as an eastern aisle to the transepts : and though St. 
 Albans, like Canterbury, had an aisleless transept, yet its 
 nave was set out on the same gigantic scale as the naves of 
 the Norman churches of Winchester, Old St. Paul's, Bury 
 St. Edmund's, Peterborough, Ely, and Norwich. In the 
 thirteenth century three more bays were added to the nave, 
 making the nave 292 ft. long and the whole church about 
 430 ft. long, while the transepts had a length of 177 ft. In 
 the fourteenth century, owing to the eastward extensions, St. 
 Albans became longer still 520 ft. inside, 550 ft. outside. 
 (Winchester is even longer still: 2 yds. longer than St. Albans : 
 3 yds. longer than Ely : 4 yds. longer than Canterbury.) 
 
 Of the work of Paul of Caen ([077-1093), we have the cen- 
 tral tower and transept practically complete, and large portions 
 of the nave and sanctuary. The design is strictly conditioned 
 by the material, Roman tiles ; in consequence of the employ- 
 ment of which the architect was driven to rely for his 
 effects, not on ornament or detail, but on what is nobler 
 far, vastness of scale. It is worth while to compare the
 
 ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 303 
 
 tile transept of St. Albans with the contemporary transept 
 
 of Winchester, where the design is conditioned by the use 
 
 of stone. The masonry consists mainly of tiles, with a 
 
 large amount of flint and some stone brought from Veru- 
 
 lamium ; nearly all the tiles are 16 by 12 in., and i| in. thick ; 
 
 the joints are nearly as thick as the tiles, and cement rather 
 
 than mortar was employed. All wall surfaces, both internal 
 
 and external, including those of the tower, were cemented 
 
 over, and no doubt the cement was whitewashed ; when 
 
 finished, the whole church 
 
 would be white as snow, 
 
 both within and without ; 
 
 the flint and tile work was 
 
 not intended to be visible. 
 
 Simple decorations were 
 
 painted on the surfaces 
 
 of the internal piers and 
 
 arches, and have recently 
 
 been restored. On the 
 
 nave piers are remains of 
 
 reredoses painted above 
 
 altars which must have 
 
 stood against the west side 
 
 of the piers ; those on the 
 
 west faces of the piers are 
 
 of the thirteenth century, 
 
 those on the south are of .,.,. TRIFORIUM OI , snrTH 
 
 the fourteenth. Internally TKANSKI-T 
 
 the Norman church was 
 
 divided into three stories nearly equal in height; in each 
 
 bay of the triforium was a single open arch, and another 
 
 in the clerestory, rather taller. The piers are compound, 
 
 and the arches are semicircular and have three narrow 
 
 recessed orders or sub-arches : instead of capitals, they rest 
 
 on plain imposts. This rude work extends far down the 
 
 nave on the north. 
 
 If now we pass from the choir into the soiitli ui$h\ we see 
 overhead some of the original groined, i.e., unribbed, vault
 
 304 
 
 ST. ALHAXS CATIIKDRAL 
 
 ing, of rubble. In the triforium of the south transept, hard 
 by. the balusters are Anglo-Saxon, provided with additional 
 Norman capitals. Below the balustered stage are seen 
 blocked arches, which led to two apses now gone. The 
 Norman church is said to have been finished in ro88, but 
 it was not consecrated till i i 10 : what was finished in 1088 
 
 probably was the eastern part 
 the Norman Choir screen. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. To the second half of the twelfth 
 century belongs the fine arcade and doorway removed from 
 the slype, i.e., the passage on the other side of the doorway, 
 to the south wall of the south transept by Lord Grimthorpe. 
 He is good enough to tell us that the new work which he 
 has interpolated in it is so artful that no archaeologist in
 
 ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 305 
 
 future shall be able to ascertain which portions are old and 
 which are new. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. We now walk down the nave and out 
 into the open air by one of the western doorways. Vast as 
 was the Norman nave, it was still not enough in the eyes 
 of the thirteenth-century builders. It was resolved to add 
 three bays to it, and to put up a fine west front, which, after 
 the manner of Bury, Peterborough, Lincoln, and Wells, was 
 to have flanking towers. They began at the west end of 
 
 THE CHOIR TKIFORIUM, SOUTH SIDE 
 
 the nave. First, John de Cella in 1198 proceeded to build 
 a new west front on a lovely design, and with a wealth of 
 costly marble and carving. Of this work there remain 
 portions in the north-west and central porches of the 
 facade. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. We now return into the church and 
 
 look at the westernmost bays on each side of the nave. 
 
 John de Cella's successor, William de Trumpington, was 
 
 more economical, and produced more work. He completed 
 
 20
 
 306 
 
 ST. ALIiAXS CATHEDRAL 
 
 the porches, and built in the western end of the nai ] e four 
 bays on the north and five bays on the south side. It can 
 still be seen how he economised, not only on John de 
 Cella's design, in the arch that was to have led into a south- 
 western tower, but on the design of his own bases, piers, 
 and vaulting-shafts, leaving places for marble shafts which 
 
 he never put in : 
 he even renounced 
 
 thc 
 
 l of v;lult - 
 work at ali 
 
 We now pass 
 up the nave to the 
 sanctuary, where 
 the next work was 
 done. The nave 
 was now com- 
 pleted, but it is 
 recorded that the 
 eastern part of the 
 church had be- 
 come ruinous. It 
 is difficult to see- 
 how that could be- 
 considering the 
 enormous mas- 
 si vencs> of tile- 
 walls, unless, in- 
 deed, the sanctu- 
 ary had a high vault against whose thrusts adequate abutment 
 had not been provided. Anyhow, the Xorman apse was 
 demolished, and all of the side walls of the sanctuary except 
 the ground story : if these had been removed the tower might 
 have collapsed. Note the coloured altar-piece in high relief 
 by Mr Alfred Gilbert : in which is represented the Resur- 
 rection in a hiifhlv original wav.
 
 ST. ALP.ANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 307 
 
 Soon after, the lower parts of the Saint's chapel and the 
 eastern chapels were built ; these were not completely 
 finished till c. 1315. There, too, "vaulting ambition had 
 o'erleapt itself": the monks made preparations for a stone 
 vault inside, the springers of vault ribs are to be seen, 
 outside, the places where the flying buttresses were to have 
 been inserted in the wall but in the end they put up a 
 flat wooden ceiling, recently repainted. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. Passing on into the Lady chapel, we 
 see the last of the eastern extensions. Begun c. 1300, 
 it was ready for glazing in 1308. Notice the tracery of the 
 windows and the 
 trails of ball-flower 
 in their jambs ; 
 also the admirable 
 leaf- carving, de- 
 signed and exe- 
 cuted by Mr John 
 Baker, an epitome 1 
 of local botany. 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. 
 The monks had 
 now done all they 
 meant to do. The 
 eastern limb was re- 
 built. They meant 
 
 to do no more in the nave. But their hands were forced. 
 In 1323 five Norman bays collapsed on the south side of 
 the nave, and the monks had perforce to rebuild them. 
 And as the walls fell on the cloister, that had to be rebuilt 
 also, as may be seen outside. The design of the new bays 
 of the nave is closely assimilated to that of the thirteenth- 
 century bays to the west; the clerestory actually having 
 lancet windows without tracery; but the tooth ornament 
 is replaced by the ball-flower. 
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. The rest consists of minor work, but 
 of the greatest importance and interest. Pass once more 
 eastwards towards the Lady chapel, and turn to the left 
 
 THK WATCIIIM; LOFT
 
 3 o8 
 
 ST. ALRANS CATHEDRAL 
 
 into the north choir aisle, (i) Here have been put together 
 fragments of the shrine pedestal of Si. Ainphibalus, c. 1350. 
 
 (2) A little further west, on the left, is the back of the 
 Watching Loft, with delicate carving of the " Months.'' 
 
 (3) Passing into the Saint's chapel, in the centre is the 
 shrine pedestal of St. Allmn, c. 1308. (4) Its treasures 
 
 were watched by 
 monks stationed 
 in the upper floor 
 of the oak Watch- 
 ing Loft, in the 
 lower part of 
 which are cup- 
 boards for relics 
 (1420). (5) Op- 
 posite is t h e 
 ni o n u m e n t of 
 Duke Humphrey 
 of Gloucester, 
 with the original 
 palisades (1447). 
 Returning to the 
 south aisle, a few 
 steps to the right 
 is the immense 
 brass, not in situ, 
 executed in Flan- 
 ders, of Abbot de 
 
 la jMare ( 1396). 
 Then entering 
 the sanctuary 
 again, on the 
 
 south is tlie chantry chapel, which, from the presence 
 of wheat ears in a shield, has usually been attributed to 
 Abbot Wheathamstead : it is, however, that of Abbot 
 William of Wallingford, who erected the great rereclos, 
 where also a shield with wheat ears occurs ; on the north 
 is that of Abbot Ramryge rams with RYGE on the collar.
 
 ST. ALBANS CATHEDRAL 309 
 
 The great reredos to the east was put up between 1476 and 
 1484. The fine stalls in the choir are by Mr J. O. Scott. 
 The visit ends with the pretty seventeenth-century bread 
 cupboards affixed to the west wall of the south transept. 
 
 In recent times vast sums have been spent in under- 
 pinning and securing the walls and tower ; and we have had 
 a commonplace west front and atrocious transept ends 
 designed by Lord Grimthorpe. 
 
 Bim.ior.RAi'ilY. Messrs Buckler. History of the Archilcftnre oj 
 Saint A I bans. 
 
 Xeale's St. Albans. 
 
 Ciiiidc Hook by Sir Edmund Beckett. 
 
 Paper by Mr John Chappie, Clerk of the Works, in Si. A lban 
 Air/n't, and Archaol. Soaely, January 1874. 
 
 ]'ii~toria Count v History of Hertfordshire, vol. ii. p. 483.
 
 FROM THE RIVKR 
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. MARY, SALISBURY 
 
 Uuii/r FOR SF.CUI.AR (CANONS 
 
 TWO English cathedrals surpass all others in external 
 effect : Lincoln and Salisbury : each of them at its 
 best as seen from the north-east. But Lincoln lacks 
 "the quiet tranquillity of the close of Salisbury, the half- 
 hidden houses, covered with vine and creepers, that nestle 
 among the trees, the sense of being shut off from the 
 work-a-day world. If Durham seems the petrified inter- 
 pretation of the Church militant, Salisbury is the very type 
 and picture of the Church of the Prince of Peace. Un- 
 worldliness and peace brood over church and close.''" 
 
 The ancient Norman cathedral stood within the fortifica- 
 tions of Old Sarum. The site was cramped, and extension 
 was impossible ; there was too much wind and too little 
 water: moreover, the soldiers who garrisoned the castle 
 were objectionable neighbours. So. by permission of the
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
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 SCALE or- METK.EK 
 
 PLAN
 
 312 
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 Pope, Bishop Richard Poore in 1220 commenced a new 
 cathedral on the present site. 
 
 It was a virgin site : and from this fact resulted a 
 cathedral different from any other in England, and as 
 a study in design more important than any other we 
 possess. In other cathedrals we study the mediaeval 
 architect designing under difficulties ; what we see in 
 
 such a composite cathedral as Hereford or Chichester or 
 Rochester is not one design, but half a dozen designs trying 
 to blend into one design ; sometimes, as at Canterbury 
 and Rochester, rather ineffectually, sometimes, as at 
 Heverley and Westminster, with remarkable success. At 
 Salisbury it is not so : the design is one design : all sprang 
 from a single brain, except the west front and the upper
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 313 
 
 part of tower and spire. We have no such homogeneous 
 design in our mediaeval cathedrals. The French were less 
 conservative ; their Gothic architects were iconoclasts ; no 
 French architect could have allowed such solecisms to 
 remain as disfigure the English cathedrals to the purist 
 eye, and endear them to the artist. 
 
 TIIK CHOIR, I.OOKINC KAST 
 
 Bishop 1'oore's architect had what no other of our 
 Gothic architects had -a free hand. Salisbury, then, tells 
 us what no other cathedral does- what an English architect 
 thought a cathedral ought to be like, when not hampered 
 by having to preserve or assimilate pre-existing work or to 
 build on pre-existing foundations. Canterbury nave is not
 
 314 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 the best the architect could do : it is the best he could do 
 subject to the restriction that his nave must be neither 
 longer nor broader than Lanfranc's ancient nave. Here 
 there were no such restrictions; the cathedral was to be 
 built in the green pastures, and there was plenty of room. 
 It has the distinction among our cathedrals of having a 
 design which is practically uniform. It is said, indeed, and 
 with perfect truth, that the homogeneity and uniformity of 
 the design of Salisbury makes it less interesting than the usual 
 composite cathedral of England, with its design changing, 
 as in Binham and Selby naves, almost in every bay. When 
 we have seen one bay of Salisbury nave, we have seen the 
 other nine, and we know that we shall find practically the 
 same design in the choir. Vet we can afford very well, in 
 England, to have one great design, the product not of a 
 do/en minds, but of one mind ; a work completed in less 
 than half a century, and not spread out, like Canterbury, 
 over four centuries, or like Hereford, over seven. 
 
 Again, building on a virgin site, the architect did what all 
 great builders have always wished to do he made his build- 
 ing symmetrical. It is the fashion to contrast the symmetry 
 of Greek with the picturesqueness of (iothic architecture. 
 The comparison may be carried too far. The Erech- 
 theum is as unsymmetrical and picturesque as any (iothic 
 building. The great cathedrals of northern France, and 
 Salisbury and Exeter, are (mite classical in their symmetry. 
 But they are not pedantic in their symmetry. Because nave 
 balances choir, the north transept the south transept, and 
 the north-east transept the south-east transept, the builder 
 was not so foolish as to construct on the south a big porch 
 to balance that on the north side of the nave. Instead ot 
 that, he built to the south an octagonal Chapter house, and 
 this he placed unsymmetrically i.e., picturesquely because, 
 so placed, it was more to the convenience of those who 
 would have to use it. In other words, he did not purpose- 
 fully aim at the picturesque and the irregular. Gothic 
 cathedrals are picturesque, either of accident, as at Canter- 
 bun', owing to the casual collocation of work of different
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 315
 
 316 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 design in the course of several centuries, or because the 
 different parts of the cathedral, being intended for different 
 functions, have been designed different in plan, in dimen- 
 sions, and in details. The latter is the case with Salisbury. 
 
 Two chief types of cathedral plan were at the architect's 
 disposal : what we may call the York type, and the Wells 
 type. In the latter, the cathedral continues at full height 
 from the western doors to the far east of the presbytery ; 
 then the retro-presbytery (sometimes divided into Saint's 
 chapel and procession path or ambulatory) is roofed at a 
 lower level, and east of it is a Lady chapel, similarly on a 
 low level. And, of course, as the upper wall of the east 
 end of the sanctuary requires to be supported, arches have 
 to be built beneath it opening from the sanctuary into the 
 retro-presbytery. The plan is a beautiful one it is our 
 English equivalent for the " chevets " of northern France. 
 Externally, the different portions of the eastern limb tell 
 distinctly the purposes for which they are built : standing to 
 the east of Winchester, or Wells, or Hereford, you say at 
 once, ''This building is the Lady chapel; there is the pro- 
 cession path and probably the shrine of the local saint. 
 there is the east end of the sanctuary, and the light from 
 that east window at the early morning services streams down 
 on the High altar below.'" Internally, too, the effect is 
 delightful : the upper story of the cathedral is, of course, 
 really greatly curtailed in length, but the interior is not 
 shortened to the eye : the mysterious vistas through the 
 east arches of the presbytery more than restore the height 
 lost above : the glimpses of Lady chapel behind ambulator}-, 
 and ambulatory behind Saint's chapel, as seen from far west 
 in the nave, make the termination of the Lady chapel, 
 invisible from many points of view, seem infinitely distant. 
 Of these mysterious distances, shadowy recesses and chang- 
 ing vistas, there is nothing in such an interior as that of 
 York: the whole eastern limb is seen at a single glance, 
 and, unfortunately, is foreshortened by the eye. Salisbury 
 internally looks longer than it is, York much shorter. In 
 mediaeval davs. however, the ritualistic divisions of churches
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 317 
 
 were marked off by a series of screens, each adding apparent 
 length to the interior. So many of these screens, however, 
 have been swept away by Wyatt, Scott, and the like, or 
 replaced by paltry open work, as at Lichfield and Durham, 
 that many cathedrals are now mere open barns ; all sense of 
 mystery, all sense of magnitude gone. Externally, York, 
 Lincoln, and Ely have the best of it. The sweep of a sky- 
 line, 500 ft. in length, at a height so vast, is sublimely 
 impressive. The cost of an exterior kept at an unbroken 
 height for such a distance is very great, but it is worth the 
 cost. 
 
 Cathedrals of the latter type are quite presentable with a 
 central tower of moderate height, provided that it is rein- 
 forced by more important towers to the west. An exterior 
 of the former type, that of Wells and Salisbury, demands an 
 important central tower. Accordingly, every cathedral of 
 this type has a big central tower, vi/., Gloucester, St. Albans, 
 St. 1 )avid's, Wells ; Exeter has two central towers ; Chichester 
 and Hereford had both central tower and spire. (Winchester 
 is an exception which proves how much a lofty central tower 
 is needed.) In such exteriors, looked at from the east, hills 
 rise beyond hills, alps beyond alps, and the eye instinctively 
 looks up to see the highest ranges aspire into the pyramidal 
 outline of a Matterhorn. And this is what is given us at 
 Salisbury. 
 
 It is not, however, what the original architect meant. No 
 spire, or even upper tower, says Sir Christopher Wren, was 
 originally contemplated, any more than at Westminster. 
 The slenderness of the piers of the crossing is certain 
 evidence of that. The diameter of the piers on which the 
 central tower of Canterbury rests is 12 ft.; those at York. 
 Norwich, and Winchester have a diameter of 10 ft.; those 
 at Worcester 9 ft.; those of Peterborough tower (which 
 collapsed) and of Salisbury, 7 ft. only. It is almost terrible 
 to stand between these four slight piers of Salisbury and 
 think how many hundred tons of stone in tower and spire 
 above they have been made to bear. They were never 
 meant to bear any such weight, especially planted as they
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 are, like tin.; whole cathedral, on the insecure foundation of 
 a spongy hog. Indeed, not merely the tower and spire, but 
 the whole cathedral, ought never to have been built where 
 they are. Recklessness is by no means a strong enough 
 word to use of the mediaeval builders' wanton carelessness 
 about foundations. Peterborough cathedral was built 
 practically without foundations on water-logged peat; beneath 
 the central tower of Carlisle cathedral were two running 
 springs ; Wells is reared on the boggy shores of a ring of 
 pools. ''Salisbury," a local saying goes, "is the sink of 
 Wiltshire, and the cathedral close is the sink of Salisbury."' 
 In the cathedral continuous bases are built from pier to pier. 
 
 The original de- 
 sign, no doubt, 
 was to give us an 
 exterior something 
 like that of Bever- 
 ley minster or 
 Westminster ab- 
 be}-. The whole 
 elevation of the 
 cathedral. how- 
 ever, clamoured 
 for a tall tower 
 and spire. M he 
 first design was 
 abandoned, and 
 the foolhardy en- 
 terprise was taken 
 in hand (c. 1320) 
 of adding to the 
 existing tower, 
 which only just 
 rose above the 
 roofs, two more 
 
 stages, and on these a spire, and that not of wood, but of 
 stone. To abut the tower as much as possible, great flying 
 buttresses were added, some external, others running through
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 319 
 
 the clerestory and triiorium of the interior of the church. 
 Moreover, to lessen the weight, the tower walls were 
 built in thin shells ; while the spire, which for 20 ft. 
 is 24 in. thick, is reduced thenceforth to 9 in. That 
 the builders left their timber scaffolding in the spire, 
 where it still is, to give its sides a little additional 
 support against wind pressure, shews that they were alive 
 themselves to the fragility and insecurity of their work. 
 Later on, in the fifteenth century, stone girders were put 
 across the piers of the central and eastern transepts, as at 
 Canterbury and Wells, by way of struts, to keep the piers 
 from bulging inwardly, though, as a matter of fact, ties 
 were wanted quite as much to keep them from bulging 
 outwardly. 
 
 Externally, however, the madness of this engineering feat 
 does not trouble one. The addition of the tower and spire 
 gives to the whole composition that pyramidal outline 
 which always presents such a satisfactory appearance of 
 stability to the eye. In Wren's masterpiece, St. Paul's, one 
 has tlie same central pyramidal outline of all the masses, 
 but in a still higher degree. In both cases, in St. Paul's 
 and in Salisbury, unity is secured. Salisbury spire is tall 
 enough, St. Paul's dome is tall and broad enough, to impose 
 unity on all the diverging masses of the building. The low 
 towers of Worcester and Hereford have no such supreme 
 dominance. 
 
 Next to the abiding presence of the spire, unity is secured 
 by scoring strong, horizontal lines round the building, 
 welding its masses into one composition. Most cathedrals 
 are contented, like Wells, with one strong hori/ontal line 
 a broad parapet. l>ut at Salisbury there is not only a 
 horizontal parapet, but a hori/ontal corbel table as we'll : 
 and there are no less than three horizontal strings one 
 running round the base ot the walls, a second running along 
 beneath the windows, and a third running round the 
 buttresses ; moreover, each ot these hori/ontal lines is scored 
 far more heavily than anywhere else. Especially remarkable 
 is it to find the upper flow of the buttresses stopped by a
 
 32O SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 heavy string. Equally strong is the determination to keep 
 in check the vertical lines of the interior. Bold string- 
 courses, above and beneath the triforium, emphasise the 
 horizontal lines of the whole church, from west to east, from 
 north to south ; nor are the vaulting-shafts allowed to 
 descend to the floor story ; so that the pier-arcade of the 
 nave is tied by the string-courses to the west front of the 
 tower, and not to the vault above. How gladly would he 
 have tied together the bays of his vault by a horizontal 
 ridge-rib ; but this the Lincoln folk had not invented when 
 Salisbury was set (nit. Usually, in Gothic, if a horizontal 
 meets a vertical line, the former gives way ; here, as in 
 Greek architecture, the vertical gives way to the horizontal 
 line. This architect saw, what few others of his day saw, 
 that you may make too much of the '''aspiring principle" of 
 Gothic ; that if you suppress the horizontal lines, you weaken 
 the unity of the building, by failing to tie all its parts 
 together. 
 
 As we have seen, the appearance of stability was enhanced 
 by the pyramidal outline which the whole building ultimately 
 assumed. But the eye instinctively looks downwards also 
 to see that the pyramidal outline is continued there : it 
 instinctively demands an emphatic spreading base. It likes 
 to see a rock-like foundation. At Salisbury all below is but 
 greensward. All the more carefully, therefore, has the 
 builder spread out and broadened and emphasised his base- 
 courses, till art gives the appearance of stability which nature 
 had denied. 
 
 Stable, therefore, below and above, the exterior of Salis- 
 bury has much of that "monumental appearance, stability, 
 and indeterminate duration " which is the attribute of a 
 great architecture, which one desiderates in a building 
 "built not for time, but for eternity, whose walls will long 
 be washed by the passing waves of humanity." Such a 
 building gravity and simplicity befit : its design should be 
 solid and monumental, sober and restrained : it is not a 
 field for the frippery of ornament : its best decoration is the 
 stain of time. Built for eternity, it should suggest infinity
 
 SALISBURY CATIIKDKAL 321 
 
 an infinite length which the eye cannot measure, an infinite 
 height which the eye cannot estimate, a vastness of area 
 that overpowers the imagination. Bigness counts for much 
 in the painter's work and the sculptor's ; it counts for yet 
 more in architecture. A building in the grand style has to 
 be big, and if it is a Gothic building it has to look bigger 
 still. Salisbury is really big : it is 473 ft. long, its spire is 
 404 ft. high, its vaulted roof, 84 ft. high, is the highest 
 of any English cathedral. But the eye does not measure 
 in feet. Salisbury spire and Louth spire, acute and slender, 
 look hundreds of feet above their real height ; Oxford 
 and Chichester spires look lower than they really are. As 
 for length, follow the wall of Salisbury from east to west. 
 As you pass round cape and headland and promontory, you 
 forget the point from which you started, or the goal for 
 which you are bound. How foreshortened in comparison 
 is the long facade of Pitti Palace ! As for area, in all 
 honesty Mr YVhittington gravely declared that Salisbury 
 was "a much larger church altogether than Amiens." The 
 error was natural. Amiens has fewer parts than Salisbury, 
 and necessarily seems smaller. Going round Salisbury we 
 pass no less than seven facades, at Amiens only three. 
 There are thirty-nine bays in Amiens ; in Salisbury there 
 are sixty. As usual, multiplicity of parts produces apparent 
 increase of magnitude. 
 
 Much of the impressivcness of the exterior is due, not 
 only to its grandeur of scale, both real and apparent, but 
 to the lovely hue of the stone of which it is built, and the 
 perfection of the masonry. At first sight the appearance 
 of the masonry of Salisbury is almost uncanny. Salisbury 
 is not mouldered or corroded with age. "Time prints no 
 wrinkles on its brow/'' Its antiquity is that of a goddess 
 ever young. The masonry, too, is that of a Greek temple: 
 the precision that of the builders of the Parthenon ; the 
 joints fine ; the blocks squared with mathematical precision ; 
 pass round the building from south transept eastward to 
 north transept, and you will find that the stones in each 
 course preserve their height with utmost exactness all these 
 21
 
 322 SALISUUKV CATIIKDRAL 
 
 hundreds of feet. And so the building has the feeling of 
 Greece in it. Gothic is a "small-stone" style, with joints 
 openly displayed. Here, as in a Parthenon, the joints are 
 practically invisible; the whole building seems one solid block 
 a monumental effect indeed. The crumbling masonry of 
 Ely might belong to the ancient days of Saturn ; Salisbury 
 seems the work of a younger race of gods. Only when we 
 scan its colour the lovely colour of the Salisbury stone, that 
 is seen nowhere else "a pale, ashy grey, stained below with 
 broad patches of red and yellow lichens " do we realise 
 that this is no temple of yesterday, but one that has faced 
 the stress of storm for more than six centuries. Her 
 perpetual juvenility is at once the charm and the dis- 
 appointment of Salisbury. 
 
 Very noteworthy, also, are the sobriety and restraint and 
 repose of the whole design : very ungothic, too. At first 
 it passes unnoticed ; after a time it is noticed and noticed 
 with astonishment that the beauty of a design of con- 
 summate loveliness is gained in some mysterious way with 
 hardly any use of ornament. One realises at Salisbury 
 perhaps for the first time that ornament is non-essential 
 even in Gothic design. What ornament there is is of the 
 slightest a floriated finial to a buttress, a trefoiled corbel- 
 table, a few foliated capitals round the High altar; the 
 design would be little the worse if even this trifling amount 
 of decoration were omitted. 
 
 The success of the exterior of Salisbury depends, not on 
 the littlenesses of architectural design, but on the great 
 leading factors of every great style vastness of scale, yet 
 further enhanced to the eye by multiplicity of parts : bold 
 handling of the masses, combined nevertheless into a 
 symmetrical whole : unity, harmony, proportion, shadow- 
 effects. Beside these elemental factors, sculptured ornament 
 is but "mint and cummin." 
 
 Straighten out Salisbury cathedral in imagination, till 
 Lady chapel and retro-choir and eastern transepts and choir 
 and central transepts and nave are all in one long straight 
 line. Then let it resume its shape, and you will see what
 
 SALISBURY CATIIKDRAL 323 
 
 is meant by " bold handling of the masses," and the differ- 
 ence it makes. Nevertheless, don't go away with the idea 
 that the lines of Salisbury cathedral were pulled about in 
 this way for picturesqueness' sake for the sake of effect. 
 The Gothic architects pace Peterborough west front did 
 not design for effect. All the parts of the building are there 
 either for some constructional or for some ritualistic reason. 
 A central tower weights the piers of the crossing in the same 
 fashion as pinnacles do buttresses ; a big central tower will 
 not stand without abutment to the north and south ; there- 
 fore there has to be a central transept. The long stretch 
 of clerestory wall which in the church as first built had 
 no external flying buttresses will be all the better for the 
 support of two transepts and a lofty porch : they are added. 
 Transepts, moreover, were useful in providing chapel-room 
 lor various great saints of Christendom, as well as for the 
 local saints of the cathedral, and they provided altars where 
 each of the forty-two canons should say his daily Mass. 
 The porch is useful as providing neutral ground for various 
 functions half religious, half secular ; the porch is added. 
 And so with the Chapter house. Every one of the appanages 
 which make a Gothic exterior so picturesque was built, not 
 because it would be picturesque, but because it would be 
 useful. The one exception is the spire. 
 
 And see what pits and abysses of shadow lurk behind each 
 projecting buttress, and still more in each dee}) sound that 
 runs inland, like some Norwegian fiord, between towering 
 precipices on either side. Hut these grand shadow-effects 
 varying from minute to minute as the sun moves round 
 varying from day to day as summer treads on spring, autumn 
 on summer -were not in the designer's first intent. The 
 projecting masses had to be there : the play of light and 
 shadow which ensued, he did not plan ; he only welcomed it. 
 lie had little control over it ; in the windows, indeed, which 
 were within his control, he made the jambs so shallow that 
 the windows are externally almost shadowless ; almost the 
 whole depth of the window he gave to the interior, pre- 
 ferring to enrich the interior of each window with an inner
 
 324 SALISBURY CATI1KDRAL 
 
 arciiclc feeling, doubtless, that he need do nothing externally 
 to add to the shadow-effects of the projecting buttresses. 
 
 But the life-blood of an architectural design is proportion. 
 Unfortunately one never notices its presence. Only when 
 a building is out of proportion does one recognise that such 
 a thing as proportion exists. And as it is the most subtle, 
 so it is the most important factor in design design small 
 or large Salisbury cathedral, the Pandolphmi Palace, a 
 Chippendale chair, or a Wedgewood vase. Alter the shape 
 of the vase, and see the difference. In the same way, see 
 if you can lengthen or shorten Salisbury nave for the better, 
 or the transepts, or the porch, or the Lady chapel ; or if you 
 could heighten the Lady chapel or retro-choir to advantage ; 
 or if you could make the roofs an inch more acute or more 
 flat. The proportions of this, as of every really great building, 
 are subtle in the extreme and interlock in every direction. 
 Each part is in proportion to the whole ; each part is in 
 proportion to contiguous parts : and each individual bit of 
 each part is in proportion to the rest of it. More than that 
 the proportions of the nave, choir, transepts, &c., are those 
 which are suitable to a church 473 ft. long and 404 ft. high. 
 If you built a church with a nave, choir, and transepts 
 exactly twice as large as those of Salisbury, it would not be 
 in proportion, but out of proportion. The same lack of 
 proportion would ensue if you copied the design of Salisbury 
 in a parish church of exactly half its dimensions. Salisbury 
 cathedral, like the Parthenon, cannot be copied with 
 impunity, unless you preserve not the dimensions but the 
 ratios. Modern designers, not recognising this, have too 
 often wrought themselves disappointment by unintelligent 
 imitations of ancient work. 
 
 To the north and south another charming effect is seen 
 in the gradual growth of the ornament upward. This is 
 to the credit of Time, and not of the architect. From i 220 
 to 1330 window-tracer}' was ever growing richer day by day, 
 and Salisbury cathedral was ever growing upward. And so 
 the ornament culminates most rightly, yet most accidentally, 
 in the higher stories of the transepts, in the tower and spire.
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 325 
 
 Finally, nature has come to the aid of art. In France 
 the cathedral is a town church ; it rises precipitous from 
 the narrow lane or the huxtering of the " place," its flanks 
 hemmed in by squalid shops, in front a Sahara of dust. 
 Here great elms branch up from emerald turf, each giving 
 scale to cathedral and spire ; while all around are the 
 creepers and flowers, and warm brick and mouldering stone 
 
 THF. I.ADY CHAI'KI., I.OOKINC WEST 
 
 of canons' houses. Surely there is no more lovely environ- 
 ment upon earth. 
 
 Only one criticism suggests itself before we leave Salis- 
 bury cathedral as seen from the north-east. Are not the 
 voids in excess two windows in the aisles and three in 
 the clerestory, where one would produce a more monumental 
 and solid effect? Such single windows, filled with the 
 opaque grisaille glass ol tin- period, would have subdued 
 the glare of the interior. Hut T have not the slightest
 
 326 
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 doubt that the critics of the day infinitely preferred the 
 uniform good lighting of Salisbury to the " dim, religious 
 light " of Lincoln and its darksome corners and recesses. 
 In Salisbury there is not a quiet spot anywhere where you 
 can pray in peace ; the blinding light pursues you every- 
 where. But good people in those days liked a cheerful 
 church full of light, sparkling with stained glass, brilliant 
 with gilding and paint : religious gloom had not yet become 
 fashionable ; it did not come in till the time of the Puritans. 
 In every other respect in Salisbury, as in Lincoln minster, 
 internal seems to have been subordinated to external effect. 
 
 The interior is, 
 indeed, very fine. 
 It could hardly 
 help being fine ; 
 a nave so spacious 
 and so propor- 
 tioned could under 
 no circumstances 
 be a failure. It is 
 immensely high, 
 and is long in pro- 
 portion. The pro- 
 portion of height 
 to span (2 1 to i ) 
 is better than in 
 most English 
 churches. The 
 harmony of the 
 design practi- 
 cally the same 
 from east to west, 
 and from north to 
 
 Il'NCTION OF CHOIR AND NORTH TRANSEPT SOllth IS Ulliqile 
 
 (I-NDKR THK CENTRAL TowKR). i" England, and is 
 
 most impressive'. 
 
 The Lady chapel is a miniature church, with nave and 
 aisles dulv adjusted for three eastern altars. But. as in
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 327 
 
 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 an unfortunate design. In West- 
 
 minster and Lincoln presbyteries and Lichfield nave, two 
 arches are placed in each hay of the triforium arcade. If both 
 these be set under a common containing arch, as in York 
 transept and Bayeux choir, the triforium arcade has to be
 
 328 
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 heightened so much that it has to he given height which 
 ought to form part of the elerestory. This the Salisbury 
 architect saw ; and he got out of the difficulty by flattening 
 his containing arch, producing a form utterly out of harmony 
 with every arch of the cathedral. In his arcade, moreover, 
 he makes great use of Purbeck marble shafts ; yet it was not 
 to be expected that its dark marble shafts would tell against 
 a dark background black on black. Add to this the dread- 
 fully new look of even-thing partly due to the very perfection 
 
 TIIK CI.oIS'l KRS 
 
 of the masonry, partly because Scott has been here and the 
 overpowering glare : one almost feels as if one were in the 
 Crystal Palace. But this will be remedied as more of the 
 windows receive good modern grisaille glass. Begun in 
 1 220, the whole cathedral, except west front, tower, and 
 spire, was complete in 125^, having cost what is equivalent 
 to nearly half a million of our money. 
 
 As this was not a church of Regulars, the whole of the 
 nave- and probably the central transept we're accessible to the 
 laitv. The choir screen stood under the eastern arch of
 
 SALISBURY CATHEDRAL 
 
 329 
 
 thu tower and had two altars west of it. The choir occupied 
 three bays, as did the presbytery; the High altar, dedicated 
 in honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary, was 
 placed one hay further to the west than at present, as may 
 he seen from the foliation of the capitals and from the 
 representation of "Our Lord in Glory" painted on the vault. 
 In the hay now occupied by the High altar was probably the 
 altar of St. Os- 
 m u n (1, w h o s e 
 tomb, however, 
 was in the Lady 
 chapel, where also 
 his shrine was 
 erected on his 
 canonisation in 
 1456. East of the 
 three eastern 
 arches was the pro- 
 cession aisle. Then 
 came the Lady 
 chapel, three bays 
 long, flanked by 
 chapels. In the 
 Lady chapel there 
 were three altars ; 
 that is why it has 
 three aisles and 
 t h re e ga b 1 e s. 
 There was room 
 in the transepts 
 for ten altars. The 
 
 cathedral therefore was planned for a minimum of eighteen 
 altars, all placed due north and south. There were ultimately 
 at least twenty-seven altars. The plan is typically English, 
 and satisfies every single requirement of ritual. 
 
 To this superb cathedral was tacked on quite the worst 
 facade in England ; replacing the twin towers which origin 
 allv no doubt were 1 intended. The cloister was not at first 
 
 TIIK CIIAI'TKR IIOUSK
 
 330 
 
 SALIS1HTRV CATHEDRAL 
 
 contemplated ; when therefore it was erected, it could not 
 he built up to the south aisle of the nave, but had to be 
 built detached; its date may be c. 1270. The Chapter 
 house is a little later ; beneath the pavement were found 
 several pennies of Edward I., who came to the throne in 
 1272 ; the sculptures of its doorway are particularly fine. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Francis Price's Observations on Salisbury Cathe- 
 dral, 1774. 
 
 W. II. Jours. Fasti Ecclesiae Sarisberiensis, 1879. 
 
 Dayman and [ones' Statutes and Ordinances of Salisbury Cathedral. 
 Privately printed in 1883. 
 
 Canon Wordsworth's Cereinonier and Processions oj the Cathedral 
 Church of Salisbury* 1901.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. SAVIOUR, SOUTHWARK 
 
 BUILT FOR AUGUSTINIAN CANONS 
 
 THK original dedication of the church was to St. Mary 
 Overie. Like many other churches, it received a 
 sound Protestant dedication lenip. Henry VIII. It 
 is probable that St. Alary-over-the-Rie merely means St. 
 Mary -over- the - ri ver ; just as 
 in Norfolk Burnham Overy is 
 a village separated by a small 
 stream from the other Burn- 
 hams. Stow tells a story that 
 the first church was founded 
 by Mary Overy, whose father, 
 John Overy, possessed the tolls 
 of the ferry across the river, 
 where now is London Bridge ; 
 and that with the wealth in- 
 herited from him she built a 
 house of sisters here. Pro- 
 bably, however, the whole 
 story was elaborated to account 
 for the etymology. -Stow goes 
 on to say that St. Swithun, 
 Bishop of Winchester from 
 
 8^2 to 862, re-founded the 
 j 
 
 nunnery as a college of priests, ^ ., r[tT 
 
 i.e.. Secular Canons. L T p to 
 the Reformation the diocese 
 
 of Winchester extended east to the south of London, 
 and included St. Mary ( )verie ; moreover the great palace 
 
 33' 
 
 J^^^ ^^J^^^f^
 
 332 SOUTIIWARK CATHEDRAL 
 
 of the Bishop of Winchester was next door to the church. 
 From the first great interest was taken in St. Mary Overie 
 by bishops of Winchester, St. Swithun, Peter de Rupibus, 
 Cardinal Beaufort, Richard Fox, and Lancelot Andrewes. 
 
 In 1 1 06 its constitution was once more changed, and 
 it was handed over to Regular Canons of the Augustinian 
 order as a Priory, and was served by these Austin Canons 
 up to 1540, when the house was dissolved, and under the 
 new name of St. Saviour, the collegiate church became 
 parochial. In 1897 it was made collegiate once more, 
 and became a cathedral in 1905. 
 
 FIRST PKRIOO. Of the church built soon after 1106 
 some portions remain. They include the wall of the north 
 aisle of the nave, in which, towards the west, is a tomb 
 recess with a Norman segmental arch : and to the east, the 
 eastern of the two processional doorways. The banded 
 shafts and bases with the "spur"' ornament and the 
 Corinthianesque capitals point to a date early in the twelfth 
 century for this doorway. The four piers of the central 
 tower are enormously massive, and no doubt contain a 
 Norman core of rubble cased over with Gothic ashlar. 
 The thick north wall of the transept, in which may be seen 
 a fragment of a sculptured Norman string, appears to be of 
 still earlier date. Norman also is the double chapel, that 
 of St. John the Divine, east of the transept. But while the 
 scalloped capitals of this double entrance point to a twelfth- 
 century date, the fragmentary shafts and string in the north- 
 eastern corner of the chapel are just as clearly Norman work 
 of the eleventh century. Putting these data together, it 
 results that the Norman nave was probably of the same 
 dimensions as the present one, as was its narrow northern 
 aisle. But as the present southern aisle is wider than the 
 northern one, it is possible that it was added at some later 
 period : it may be, indeed, that, as originally built, the 
 Norman church had an aisle on the north side only. It 
 had a crossing and central tower, and a northern transept of 
 the same dimensions as at present : and no doubt a corre- 
 sponding southern transept. An eastern limb of some sort
 
 SOUTIIWAKK CATHKDRAL 333 
 
 it must have hiicl ; doubtless this would be but short, con- 
 taining merely the presbytery. 
 
 The pu/xle of the church is that the foundations of an 
 apse have been found, set centrally in the eastern chapel 
 of the north transept, and occupying the whole breadth of 
 it. Since the rectangular chapel is eleventh-century work, the 
 apse must belong to a still earlier period. Two explanations 
 may be offered, (i) It has been assumed that it is the 
 eastern apse of a Pre-Conquest transept. The objection is 
 that this is to assume a type of plan which is common 
 enough in Norman work, but which is not known to have 
 been in use in any Anglo-Saxon example. (2) That being so, 
 it seems likely that it is the apse of the Pre-Conquest church 
 of the Secular Canons ; its nave would extend west across 
 and beyond the transept. This apse was superseded by a 
 large rectangular presbytery built by the Secular Canons in 
 the hitter half of the eleventh century, which may itself have 
 had an apse east of the present east wall of the chapel. In 
 i 1 06 came the Austin Canons, who retained the chapel; 
 but, as they wished to build a lofty north transept, substituted 
 a double arch for the previous single arch of entrance, 
 which would have been unable to carry the weight of the 
 east wall of the transept. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. The next event was the rebuilding both 
 of the eastern and western limbs by Bishop Peter de 
 Rupibus (1205-1238) ; this was partly brought about by the 
 damage done by a fire in 1213 ; as regards the eastern limb 
 it was also due no doubt to the desire to increase the length 
 of the presbytery and to provide it with a procession path, and 
 in addition to erect four eastern chapels. As at Gloucester, 
 there was no local saint, and therefore no need to provide a 
 saints' chapel. The High altar stood where it stands now, 
 or perhaps a little more to the west, and the whole 1 ol the 
 space up to the central tower formed the presbytery. The 
 choir was in the crossing ; which is one step higher than the 
 nave ; the piers of the central tower are Hat-faced so that 
 stalls might be placed against them. The choir screen was 
 beneath the western arch of the tower ; and the rood screen
 
 334 
 
 SOUTIIWAkK ('. \TIIKDk.\I. 
 
 was one hay further to the west. Both the Norman tran- 
 septs, with their chapels, seem to have been left untouched. 
 The retro-choir, which really is a retro-presbytery, contains 
 a procession path and four chapels, each of which is two 
 bays deep. Underneath each of the four eastern windows 
 would be an altar ; the piscina of the northernmost of the 
 four remains ; another has been found, and blocked up. 
 From the presbytery there opened into the retro-choir two 
 
 open arches now closed. The plan is a reduced version of 
 that of the mother church at Winchester. A similar plan, 
 on a still smaller scale, is seen in the church of the 
 Cistercian abbey at Dore, Herefordshire. Of this admirably 
 planned church all that was east of the crossing remains, 
 but largely restored by Mr (iroilt (1821-1832), the exterior 
 being wholly new. The design of the presbytery is a re- 
 markable one. Though not commenced till after the lire 
 of 1 2 1 3, it altogether lacks the lightness and grace of
 
 SOUTHWARK CATHKlJkAL 335 
 
 Lincoln choir and Winchester retro-choir, still more that of its 
 contemporaries, Salisbury cathedral and the Temple choir, 
 London. It is kept as low as possible ; and the piers, 
 though short, are exceedingly thick, as are the arches and 
 walling which they support. The triforium arcade is rein- 
 forced by a solid wall behind. Evidently no confidence 
 was felt by this architect in the new-fangled system of relying 
 for stability on buttresses and flying buttresses : at South- 
 wark he relies on thickness of wall, and that wall kept as 
 low as possible. Nor is there any of that profuse use of 
 Purbeck marble which, even before the twelfth century was 
 ended, Canterbury choir had taught I )urham and Chichester 
 and Lincoln. Remove all the pointed arches and substitute 
 semicircular ones, and the church would be seen to be what 
 it is almost as Romanesque in construction and in feeling 
 as Malmesbury. 
 
 The nave has been rebuilt by Sir Arthur Blomfield from 
 very careful drawings of the thirteenth-century nave made 
 by Mr Dollman ; the historic value of the reproduction is, 
 however, gravel}' diminished by wholesale deviations from the 
 drawings. It is said that the nave was originally vaulted, 
 and that its flying buttresses were removed temp. Richard II. 
 occasioning the fall of the vault. Then it was roofed in 
 wood, and this roof remained till 1831, when the nave was 
 demolished. (A new nave was built in 1838, which in turn 
 was pulled down in 1890.) The surviving bosses of the old 
 roof are piled up in the north transept ; one of them has the 
 rebus of Prior Burton (1462-1486), "three burs or thistles on 
 a barrel." Between the south-west doorway of the nave and 
 the west end of the interior of the church there remains part 
 of the original arcading of the aisle walls : at one place a 
 corbel has been substituted at some later period for a shaft ; 
 this has been repeated in the new arcading of the west wall. 
 The south-west porch is one of the finest we possess, and 
 bears comparison even with the western porches of Kly and 
 St. Albans ; authority for it is to be found in an old print 
 of Hollar. The second piers from the west were originally 
 very big and massive, and they carried a very broad arch ;
 
 336 SOUTHWARK CATIIKDKAL 
 
 evidently the church was planned to receive a large square 
 tower as broad as the nave, and engaged in the aisles. 
 Whether any such tower was ever carried up is not known. 
 The presbytery and retro-choir have simple quadripartite 
 vaulting ; it should be noted that the wall-ribs die away 
 into the web, and that the spring of the vaulting cells is of 
 pronounced "plough-share" form, in order to block the 
 light from the windows as little as possible. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. At some date later than 1273 the 
 Archbishop of York is recorded to have promised thirty 
 days' indulgence to all who helped in the good work at St. 
 Mary Overie. We assign, therefore, to the last quarter of 
 the thirteenth century certain large windows with geometrical 
 tracery, as well as the greater task of remodelling the Norman 
 north transept. The three walls of the transept were cased 
 over with lofty pointed arcading. On the east side, as now, 
 there was a central pier between two Norman arches. This 
 fixed the position of the two northern arches of the arcading. 
 Hut the space left for the southern arch was too narrow ; 
 hence its present truncated form. On the south side of the 
 transept are bases greatly stilted; evidently a solid wall of 
 considerable height blocked off this transept from the 
 crossing. It looks as if on this side of the church of St. 
 Mary there was what was practically a distinct church of 
 St. John the Divine, of which the north transept formed 
 the choir, and the Harvard chapel the sanctuary. At the 
 same time there may have been in the transept other altars, 
 the position of one of which is indicated by the aumbrey 
 in the north wall. 
 
 Not much later may be placed the work in the lower half 
 of the west wall of the south transept ; two examples survive 
 of naturalistic foliage, greatly undercut ; this work can hardly 
 be later than t. 1310. Then there seems to have been a 
 stoppage of the works for some time : and when they were 
 resumed, the remainder of the transept and ground story 
 was completed in a simpler style without marble shafts. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. A good deal of work was done in the 
 second quarter of the fourteenth century. Tracery of that
 
 SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL 337 
 
 date is seen on the west wall of the retro-chancel above the 
 tomb of Bishop Andrewes. This must mean that at this 
 time a low reredos such as the contemporary one in Keverley 
 minster was now erected : what we now see is the back of 
 it ; the west side of it must have been removed to make 
 room for Bishop Fox's reredos. In the north-east corner of 
 the retro-choir is a window with reticulated tracery, inserted 
 to give more light to the northernmost of the four altars of 
 the retro-choir. In the third bay from the north two straight 
 joints in the eastern wall of the retro-chancel fix the position 
 of a projecting Lady chapel now built out. Old prints shew 
 that its side windows had reticulated tracery ; it is therefore 
 part of the work of this period. Where the High altar of a 
 church was dedicated, as here and in Lincoln minster, 
 in honour of Our Lady, it had been unusual to provide 
 a special Lady chapel ; at Lincoln the Lady Mass was held 
 at the altar of St. John Baptist. But in later days it became 
 common in such churches to build, as at Southwark, a 
 separate Lady chapel. In this chapel, which had two bays, 
 originally stood the canopied tomb of the saintly Bishop 
 Andrewes (ob. 1626), after which date it was known as the 
 " Bishop's Chapel." The Lady chapel was pulled down in 
 1830, as interfering with the approach to London Bridge, 
 which it did not. At this time the bishop's tomb, minus 
 its canopy, was transferred to its present position ; convert- 
 ing, unintentionally, this bay of the retro-choir into a saint's 
 chapel in the normal position of those of Winchester and 
 St. Albans. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. The eastern and western windows of the 
 south transept somewhat resemble those of Abbot Litlington 
 at Westminster in the cloisters and the abbot's hall ; in both 
 the Westminster windows of 1349-1362, and in the South- 
 wark ones the supermullion is just beginning to find its way 
 into the tracery. But the Southwark tracery is much more 
 complicated in character ; and is more likely to be early 
 fifteenth-century work, done by Cardinal Beaufort, who was 
 Bishop of Winchester from 1405 to 1447. It was he 
 probably who at last completed the remodelling of the
 
 338 SOUT1IWARK CATHEDRAL 
 
 church, which had occupied some two hundred years. On 
 the east wall of the transept is carved a cardinal's hat and 
 tasselled strings, enclosing his arms : as son of John of 
 Gaunt he quarters the fleur-de-lis of France with the lions 
 of England. Similar tracery, both in the aisle windows 
 and in those of the clerestory, replaced the lancet lights 
 of the nave, with two or three exceptions ; the only one 
 replaced by Sir Arthur Blomneld is that above (Power's 
 tomb. He also substituted his own design for that shewn 
 in the drawings of the great south window of the south 
 transept. The arch now occupied by the organ once was 
 the western entrance of the church of St. Mary Magdalene, 
 which adjoined the south aisle of the presbytery. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. By Bishop Fox the great reredos was 
 put up in 1520; on it appears his crest, the pelican, and 
 his rebus, a man chasing a fox. Here again the influence 
 of Winchester is apparent. The great reredos of Winchester 
 probably came from the same shop as that of St. Albans, 
 which was put up between 1476 and 1484. About 1520 
 the poor upper portion of the tower is thought to have 
 been erected. A new western fagade was also built ; not 
 reproduced in the new nave ; drawings appear in Mr 
 Dollman's folio. 
 
 MINOR DETAILS. No church in England possesses such 
 an interesting collection of modern glass ; it deserves special 
 attention. The following is a convenient route round the 
 church, (i) Proceed up the north aisle of the choir. On 
 the wall is a bust of John Trehearne, Gentleman Porter 
 to James I. ; with an amusing inscription. (2) Nearly 
 opposite are three charming kneeling figures of Richard 
 Humble and his two wives, erected in \ 6 1 6 ; the pretty 
 verses are worth copying. (3) On the wall are two tomb 
 recesses, in style resembling the doorways of the reredos, 
 and therefore c. 1520. In the eastern recess has been 
 placed an oak effigy, quite admirable sculpture, of a knight 
 in mail armour and surcoat, c. 1300. (4) At present there 
 lies in the north-east corner of the retro-choir a stone 
 skeleton, originally placed beneath some effigy in rich
 
 SOUTIIWARK CATHEDRAL 339 
 
 costume or armour, as a monition of the vanity of riches 
 and power. (5) Mr Kempe's window in the north-east 
 corner represents three martyrs, King Charles the martyr, 
 Saint Thomas of Canterbury, and Archbishop Laud ; by 
 way of counterblast apparently to the commemoration of 
 Protestant martyrs in the other windows. In 1555 the 
 trial for heresy took place in this chapel of Rev. L. Saunders, 
 Bishop Ferrar of St. David's, Rev. Rowland Taylor, Rev. 
 John Rogers, Bishop Hooper of Gloucester, and Rev. 
 John Bradford, whose portraits appear in eastern windows 
 successively from north to south. All were found guilty 
 and burnt ; with them was burnt Archdeacon Philpot, who 
 is commemorated in the central window on the south side. 
 (6) Proceeding down the south aisle, just before we reach 
 the transept, are some ancient tesserae, removed here from 
 the graveyard to the south-east, where more remain ; they 
 are said to be of Roman date. (7) In the south transept, 
 on the left, is Cardinal Beaufort's hat and arms; and on 
 the wall opposite a small tablet to William Emerson, 1575, 
 "who lived and died an honest man"; from him has been 
 claimed descent of Ralph Waldo Emerson. There is fine 
 glass by Kempe in the great south window ; and in the 
 eastern wall has been inserted in his memory perhaps the 
 best glass of that character yet produced. (8) From the 
 centre of the central tower hangs in its original position 
 a magnificent chandelier presented in 1680. (9) We now 
 proceed down the south aisle of the nave ; passing a series 
 of windows by Kempe. (10) The large window probably 
 indicates the site of a screened chapel with altar; there is 
 known to have been in the north aisle, nearly opposite, 
 a chantry chapel to St. John Baptist. In the central light 
 is a figure of Poesy, with Shakespeare and Spenser on 
 either side. Shakespeare's brother, Edmund, is buried in 
 the church ; a modern gravestone commemorating the fact 
 may be seen in the choir. (11) In commemoration of 
 Massingcr's play of the "Virgin Martyr" St. Dorothy is 
 represented below : and above she is shewn bringing a 
 basket of flowers from heaven to convince a sceptic.
 
 340 SOUTHWARK CATHEDRAL 
 
 Massinger is buried somewhere in the church. (12) In 
 commemoration of the ''Knight of Malta" by Fletcher, 
 who also lies in an unknown grave in the church, the 
 ceremony of the investiture of a knight of Malta is shewn ; 
 below is St. John Baptist, the patron of the knights 
 (13) The next window, with a representation of David 
 and Jonathan, commemorates Fletcher's fellow-dramatist, 
 Beaumont. (14) Then comes a window to Edward Alleyn. 
 Below is a figure of Charity. Above, Alleyn is reading 
 the charter of his foundation at Duhvich to Lord Chancellor 
 Bacon, Inigo Jones, and others. (15) Then comes a font 
 by Mr Bodley, which badly wants an elaborate cover. 
 (16) Behind it is a window to St. Paulinus, shewing one 
 of his famous baptisms in the Swale or the Medway. He 
 died bishop of Rochester. St. Mary Overie was first in 
 the diocese of Winchester, then in that of Rochester, now 
 in that of Southwark, which extends south through Surrey 
 up to the Sussex border. (17) Then conies a window to 
 St. Swithun, who introduced the Secular Canons. (18) 
 Overhead is a flaming window by Mr Henry Holiday, over- 
 crowded with subjects, which include the Six Days of 
 Creation and the canticle " Benedicite omnia opera.'' 
 (19) We pass now into the north aisle. The western 
 window is to St. Augustine, in memory of the Austin 
 Canons who served the church from i 106 to 1539. (20) 
 The window in the first bay is intended for Oliver Gold- 
 smith. Below is a late Norman recess. (21) The next 
 window is to Samuel Johnson. Below were found the 
 foundations of the western procession doorway. (22) Next 
 is a window to Dr Sacheverell, chaplain here from 1705- 
 1709. (23) Next is a window to the writer of Cruden's 
 "Concordance," buried in this parish. (24) Next comes 
 the tomb of John Ciower, ''father of English prose," who 
 died in 1408 and is buried below. (25) The next window 
 is to Geoffrey Chaucer. Below, on the other side of the 
 door, is the fragment of the Norman eastern procession 
 doorway. Near it is a big. rude holy-water stoup, also 
 very ancient. (26) Passing into the crossing, we see high
 
 SOUTHWARK CATIIKDKAL 34! 
 
 up to the east, above the reredos, an impressive window 
 by Keni])e. (27) In the chapel of the north transept is 
 a window presented by Mr J. H. Choate, the American 
 ambassador, to commemorate the founder of Harvard Uni- 
 versity, John Harvard, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 
 who was baptized in St. Saviour's in 1607. The lower 
 panels, very beautiful in colouring, exhibit a pretty if un- 
 conventional treatment of the Baptism of Christ; the effect 
 is somewhat marred by the insertion of a square of ancient 
 glass between the arms of Emmanuel College and Harvard 
 University. (28) /// the north transept have been placed 
 (a) an inlaid oak chest, one of the grandest specimens of 
 furniture in England ; it was presented by Hugh Offley, 
 sheriff of London in 1588. (/>) Above it is the highly 
 allegorical monument to William Austin, who died in 1663. 
 
 (c] By the north wall is a coffin of Purbeck marble, incised 
 with a floriated cross; perhaps of the thirteenth century. 
 
 (d) Near it is the simpering effigy of a successful seventeenth- 
 century druggist, patentee of a pill extracted from sunshine, 
 and efficacious against most mortal ills. (29) Outside, 
 near the west front, is some herring-bone brickwork, found 
 beneath the vestry.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 THE BLESSED MARY THE 
 VIRGIN OF SOUTHWELL 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 SOUTHWELL MINSTER, as it is usually but incorrectly 
 styled, was originally what is called a collegiate church. 
 It is as if, in any parish church of unusual importance 
 or with an exceptionally large population, there should be- 
 not one rector, as nowadays, but a do/en or so, this do/en 
 being formed into a corporation, with a dean, precentor, 
 chancellor, and treasurer (the two first officials did not exist 
 at Southwell). All the cathedrals of the old foundation 
 had from the earliest time such a collegiate constitution 
 as the above : vi/., Chichester, Exeter, Hereford, Lichfield, 
 Lincoln, London, Salisbury, Wells, York, and the four 
 Welsh cathedrals. l>ut all these were also cathedrals : i.e., 
 they possessed a bishop's chair (cathedra} ; Southwell did 
 not become a cathedral there was no bishop of Southwell 
 till 1884. 
 
 Like the other ecclesiastical colleges those of cathedrals 
 excepted that of Southwell was suppressed by Edward VI. : 
 but under Queen Mary it had the good fortune to be recon- 
 stituted and re-endowed. Its sister church, IJeverley minster, 
 also a college of Secular Canons i.e., priests not living under 
 a monastic rule became and has remained a parish church. 
 The only collegiate churches remaining with their original 
 constitution are Windsor, Westminster, Heytesbury, Middle- 
 ham, and St. Katherine's Hospital, London omitting, of 
 course, the cathedrals of the old foundation.
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 
 
 343 
 
 Though, however, there was till recently no bishop of 
 Southwell, yet the church up to the Reformation was 
 practically a cathedral. Just as the bishop of Wells had 
 at different times other cathedrals besides that of Wells 
 at one time at Bath, at another time at Glastonbury ; and 
 as the bishop of the Mercian diocese had at one time 
 three chairs vix., at Lich- 
 field, Chester, and ("oven- 
 try so the archbishop of 
 the immense northern king- 
 dom of Northumbria re- 
 quired and possessed four 
 cathedrals : vix., at York, 
 Ripon, Beverley, and South- 
 well. The latter was 
 especially the cathedral 
 of Nottinghamshire. The 
 archbishops had a palace 
 at Southwell which has 
 recently been restored ; 
 and several of the arch- 
 bishops of York are buried 
 in the minster. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. In the 
 seventh century St. Pauli- 
 mis was engaged in mission 
 work in or near Southwell, 
 baptizing great numbers in 
 the Trent, and according 
 to Camden, who gives Bede 
 as his authority, he founded 
 the minster. But long 
 
 before his time in the third century, or thereabouts 
 the Romans were at Southwell. There actually survives 
 in situ a tesselated pavement beneath the floor of the 
 south transept, which may well have belonged to a Romano- 
 British basilica. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. The tympanum of an early Norman
 
 344 
 
 SOUTHWELL CATIIKDRAL 
 
 doorway remains in the north transept. It is not in situ, 
 for the head of one of the principal figures has been cut off 
 to make the slab fit its present position. On the left is 
 a lion which is being throttled by David or Samson ; on the 
 right is St. Michael slaying the dragon : in either case the 
 symbolism is the victory of the Church over the powers of 
 
 evil. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. 
 Between 1109 and 
 1114 the present 
 Norman church was 
 begun. Of this the 
 presbytery has disap- 
 peared. As this would 
 be built first, 1 120 is 
 given as an approxi- 
 mate date for the tran- 
 sept and central tower 
 and for the nave. The 
 cable-moldings, how- 
 ever, of the crossing 
 and transepts, and the 
 carving of the nave- 
 capitals, are so rich 
 and effective that the 
 work may be some- 
 what later. Indeed, 
 the whole of the or- 
 namentation is far 
 
 ahead of that at Ely, Norwich and Peterborough, Tewkesbury 
 or Gloucester. The carved capitals may be compared with 
 those of the nave of Hereford. The interior of the nave is 
 low, but has been improved by Mr Christian's semicircular 
 ceiling. The piers are stumpy cylinders ; the elevation is 
 that of Malvern or St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield : here there- 
 are none of the tall compound piers of Peterborough or Ely, 
 still less the Brobdingnagian cylinders of Tewkesbury or 
 Gloucester. Each bav of the triforium was to have had the 
 
 THK NAVK. I.dOKIM, KAST
 
 SOUTHWELL CATIIKDRAL 
 
 345 
 
 same kind of arcade as that of Romsey choir : vix., two 
 minor arches, with a small shaft rising from their point of 
 intersection. (Projecting stones, intended for the arches 
 and the shaft, may be seen in each bay.) The Romsey 
 design was not a success even in the eyes of the Romsey 
 people, for they tried five other designs in the triforium of 
 their transept ; and the Southwell canons very sensibly 
 omitted this inner arcade. The whole design is illogical ; 
 the great arches were left open, as at Norwich, so that a 
 flood of light might 
 pour into the nave 
 from the windows in 
 the upper part of the 
 aisle-wall ; but these 
 windows are so small 
 that very little light at 
 all can have been ob- 
 tained from them ; a 
 similar mistake is 
 made at Romsey. 
 The clerestory, with its 
 circular windows, is 
 remarkable ; a similar 
 design was worked out 
 very beautifully, later 
 on, in the north tran- 
 sept of Hereford. 
 From each transept 
 
 projected eastward a two-storied apse, as at Norwich ; the arch 
 into the lower chapel remains, and also the noble arcades 
 which opened into the upper chapels. The curve of the 
 apse of the northern transept is marked on the pavement 
 of the present vestry. It is noteworthy that the aisles are 
 vaulted, as at Kirkstall, in oblong compartments : the 
 mason is also feeling his way towards the execution of bosses 
 to take the intersection of the diagonal ribs; both indications 
 of late date. The tall square spires of the west front which, 
 as well as the conical roof of the Chapter house, were 
 
 TIIK SOUTH AISLE
 
 346 
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHKDRAL
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHKDRAL 
 
 347 
 
 restored by Mr Christian on the authority of a drawing 
 attributed to Turner, give the church quite a Rhenish 
 appearance. The two lower west windows of the towers 
 are modern shams ; they replace excellent windows inserted 
 in the fourteenth century ; originally the bottom stages of 
 the towers were probably solid. The north-west tower 
 has a pointed arcade, and is therefore a little later than its 
 neighbour, which has an intersecting arcade of semicircular 
 arches. Originally the facade would be such a one as that 
 which remains in St. Stephen's, Caen. 
 
 A fine string-course 
 of /igxag ornament 
 runs along the nave 
 and round the tran- 
 septs. In places it has 
 been taken out, rein- 
 serted in a different 
 place or copied, when 
 larger windows were 
 inserted in the aisles 
 of the nave ; only one 
 of the original Norman 
 windows is left ; vix., 
 in the north aisle next 
 to its western tower. 
 In the south transept 
 the string-course takes 
 the unusual form of a 
 
 segmental arch over the archbishop's doorway. The great 
 emphasis given to the hori/ontal lines of the Norman build- 
 ing is as remarkable here as at Norwich. There are good 
 examples of the " nebule " corbel table with a later parapet, 
 and of Norman pinnacles ; one of these, over the north porch, 
 is hollow, and served as a chimney for the sacristan or sexton, 
 who, it was enacted, "should lie within the church, to be at 
 hand to ring the bells at the right time." Inside his chamber 
 above the north porch are a fireplace, chimney, and cupboards 
 constructed in the thickness of the walls. The gables of
 
 348 SorTIIWKLL rATIIKDKAL 
 
 UK- transept have very effective xigxag, with interesting 
 differences of treatment ; the pinnacles of the transepts 
 seem to have been removed at some time or other to the 
 central tower, for which they are too small. Norman 
 sculptured capitals of great interest remain on the eastern 
 piers of the tower, hut are now unfortunately covered up to 
 make room for more organ pipes. (A mania for big organs 
 appears to be raging in our cathedrals : nothing short of the 
 roar and rumble of an earthquake will bring people now- 
 adays into a devotional frame of mind.) 1 'holographs of the 
 capitals have been taken by Mr A. J. Loughton. Among 
 the subjects represented are the Last Supper, the Presenta- 
 tion in the Temple, Christ washing the disciples' feet, the 
 Paschal Lamb, and Palm Sunday. In plan, the Norman 
 church had a presbytery of four bays ; its aisles ended in 
 apses, but the presbytery was square-ended, which is re- 
 markable. A still more advanced type of plan was, how- 
 ever, in existence at Hereford and Romsey. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. The Norman presbytery barely existed 
 for a century. The new eastern limb is much influenced 
 by the design of Lincoln nave and central transept, which 
 were well on the way in 1220 : there are the same sexpartite 
 and quinquepartite vaults, the same doming of the vaults, 
 the same longitudinal ridge-rib, the same choir transepts, 
 the same chamfered buttresses with the same gablet-heads. 
 the same strong ground course. In plan and internal 
 elevation the work resembles Pershore, which seems to have 
 been built in the early years of the thirteenth century. In 
 1233 Archbishop (iray of York issued an indulgence for 
 "the completion of the fabric begun some time ago." Also 
 in 1241 a chantry was founded in the new work (/;/ novo 
 ope re). We may therefore assume that the work was begun 
 c. i 230 and finished c. 1250. Externally, the eastern limb 
 ot Southwell is a singularly fine composition, and before its 
 mutilation, must have been one of the best medieval designs 
 in Lurope. Unfortunately the roof's have been lowered, and 
 in the flattened battlemented (.'astern gable a misshapen late- 
 window now appears. Originally the roof of the eastern
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 349 
 
 transepts rose nearly to the top of the clerestory walls, as is 
 shewn by the weatherings remaining. Rut being built with- 
 out flying buttresses, the clerestory wall began to bulge out, 
 and in the fourteenth century flying buttresses and big 
 pinnacles were built ; (one of the flying buttresses used to 
 have a channel on its back to carry down the drainage from 
 the gutter of the upper roof). Take these away in imagina- 
 tion, raise roofs and gables to as sharp a pitch as those of 
 Beverley and Lincoln, and you have a design as noble as 
 it was simple. The alternation of aisled choir and unaisled 
 presbytery with the projecting masses of the eastern transepts 
 provided charming contrasts of light and shadow; the base- 
 courses are almost as strong and emphatic as at Salisbury ; 
 the sharply chamfered buttresses, with their acute pyramidal 
 gablets, are particularly effective : contrary to Salisbury 
 fashion, the windows are deeply recessed externally. The 
 whole design is vigorous and effective. 
 
 The interior of the choir is equally original and interesting. 
 Its design is conditioned by the fact that the architect had 
 made up his mind to vault the chancel, but refused to 
 employ flying buttresses. This made it necessary that the 
 vault should spring low down ; not in the clerestory, as at 
 Beverley, but in the triforium story, as at Salisbury. More- 
 over, the diagonal arches of the vault were slightly pointed, 
 to bring the' thrusts down more vertically. To make things 
 safer still, he kept his ground story low ; instead of the lofty 
 piers of Lincoln nave and Salisbury, his clustered columns 
 are comparatively low, and are connected by a continuous 
 bench-course. Moreover, to make these low piers yet more 
 secure, he dispensed with the beautiful but unconstructional 
 shafts of rurbeck marble which were put up by hundreds 
 at Lincoln : in the plan of his piers he followed the Vork- 
 shire use, which is to be seen at Ripon and Beverley. In 
 his refusal to employ flying buttresses, he was no doubt also 
 influenced by Ripon precedent. In Lincoln nave the 
 method adopted was to employ external flying buttresses, 
 thus enabling greater height to be given to the nave : at 
 Southwell no flying buttresses were employed, and great
 
 350 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 
 
 height was therefore unattainable. The Southwell interior 
 then being necessarily low, the next thing to do was to 
 make it look high. A similar problem had confronted the 
 builders of St. Frideswide's, Oxford : they solved it by 
 framing the triforium arcade in what looks like the arcade 
 
 THK CHOIR, LOOKING WKST 
 
 of the ground story. At Southwell and 1'ershore it was 
 solved by eliminating the triforium arcade. The triforium 
 chamber is there with a blank wall in front of it ; but this 
 wall is set back, and pretends to be nothing but the cill of 
 the clerestory window, whose jambs are brought down to 
 the cill of the triforium. The result is that instead of
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 351 
 
 having two low upper stories, the interior seems to have a 
 single tall story ; it appears to have an elevation, not of 
 three, but of two stories ; and, as two tall stories look taller 
 than three low ones, the architect manages to some extent 
 to disguise the real lowness of his interior. Nevertheless, in 
 spite of all the trouble he has taken, the interior certainly 
 lacks the aspiring vertically one expects to find in early 
 Gothic. 
 
 The planning of the new work is difficult to understand. 
 It has always been assumed that the High altar stood as 
 at present near the eastern wall. The ground for this is 
 that churches dedicated to St. Mary needed no Lady 
 chapel, and that Lincoln minster has none. But it is only 
 necessary to turn to the cathedral of St. Mary of Salisbury 
 to find a church of this dedication with an important 
 eastern Lady chapel. Nor is it a difficulty that there were 
 altars to Our Lady elsewhere in the Southwell church ; for 
 in the Lady chapel at Salisbury none of the three altars 
 was dedicated to Our Lady. It is probable, therefore, that 
 the two unaisled eastern bays of Southwell formed a Lady 
 chapel. In that case the next bay would form the Proces- 
 sion path. There would be no Feretory, as there was no 
 pre-eminent local saint. This would leave six bays east 
 of the central tower. The westernmost of these was filled 
 with a wooden screen, for which the present stone screen was 
 substituted in the following century. The prebendaries 
 were only sixteen in number, and were seldom in residence : 
 the stalls are known to have been placed, as at present, in 
 the two next bays, which furnished room enough for the 
 canons or their vicars choral. This would leave to the 
 east a dignified presbytery of three bays, in the eastern- 
 most of which the fourth from the east wall the High 
 altar would be placed ; it would thus be in a line with the 
 eastern transepts, precisely as at Worcester, Salisbury, 
 Beverlcy, and Pershore. It is true that the sedilia are 
 not now in this bay, but in the second bay from the east. 
 But they arc known not to have been removed to their 
 present position till some years before 1839. It will be
 
 352 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 
 
 seen that all the upper parts, with the finials and pinnacles, 
 have at some time been cut away, so as to leave a horizontal 
 upper edge. This was probably to support a gallery when 
 the sedilia stood beneath one of the southern arches of the 
 presbytery. It is also on record that the sedilia replaced 
 a screen. As is clear from the marks in the northern and 
 southern walls of the western bay, a very lofty oak screen 
 formerly stood in front of the Lad\' chapel, like the stone 
 screen still existing in front of the Lady chapel of Ottery 
 St. Mary. As for the altars of Our Lady, one was the 
 High altar, the other stood " in the north part of the church,'' 
 whatever that may mean. As at Beverley, eastern transepts 
 were thrown out to north and south, each to hold an altar. 
 This would have left the eastern bays free to serve as part 
 of the procession path ; but strange to say, they contain 
 piscinas and aumbries, and that of the south aisle has sedilia 
 as well ; each therefore contained an altar, which must to a 
 large extent have blocked the procession path. It is 
 remarkable that the church does not lie due east, but is 
 orientated some points south of east. 
 
 To interfere with the services as little as possible, the 
 eastern half was built first. If the foliage of the capitals 
 and corbels and bosses be examined, it will be found to be 
 somewhat stiff and formal in the eastern bays, and to be 
 worked with more crispness and freedom towards the west. 
 Moreover the bases of the eastern piers have the water- 
 holding molding : those of the western ones a triple roll. 
 Tlie next thing was to pull down the Xorman presbytery, 
 the material of which is found to be largely built up in the 
 western, but not in the eastern bays. In rebuilding the 
 western bays, the first consideration was not to endanger 
 the Norman tower. So the work was not continued from 
 the east, but was started afresh from the tower. The two 
 portions met in the fourth bay : when it was found that, 
 owing to inaccurate setting-out, the arch on the south side 
 of the choir and the string-course on the north side were at 
 a different level to that of the older work to the east. The 
 awkward junction of the arches was masked by a curious
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 353 
 
 medallion, while the string-course takes a sudden jump 
 upward. The vault of the aisles and transepts is quin- 
 quepartite, as in St. Hugh's aisles and transept at Lincoln ; 
 the high vault is quadripartite ; and both vaults have the 
 wobbling longitudinal rib of the great transept of Lincoln. 
 If the east wall had had the usual group of five lancets, this 
 rib would have dropped down on to the glass of the central 
 light ; that is why there are only four lancets. A special 
 local note of this Southwell work is fondness for fillets of 
 various forms on the shafts and columns ; they abound 
 everywhere. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. A little later, the eastern apse of the 
 north transept was replaced by a double chapel (c. 1260). 
 The shafts have the " keel-molding," both here and in the 
 Chapter house. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. Next was built the cloister i.e., the 
 southern part of the passage leading to the Chapter house. 
 Notice the lovely doorway in the north choir aisle. In this 
 and the arcade is early naturalistic foliage, which fixes the 
 date as c. 1280. Before the upper story was built, and when 
 the eastern arcade was open, it must have been singularly 
 beautiful. From the little courtyard between the cloister 
 and the eastern transept the views are most picturesque. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. Next was built the Chapter house 
 with its vestibule. If in window tracery and leafage it 
 be compared with the Chapter house of York, it will 
 be plain that the Southwell example is the earlier. 
 Southwell Chapterhouse may be 1290, York 1300. York 
 Chapter house is then but a copy of that of Southwell 
 and an inferior copy ; both dispense with a central pier; but 
 Southwell has a magnificent vault of stone, whereas York is 
 vaulted in wood. The Chapter house of Southwell, not that 
 of York, is "among Chapter houses, as the rose among 
 flowers.'' ''What Cologne cathedral is to Germany, 
 Amiens to France," says Mr Street, "is Southwell Chapter 
 house to England.'' Here English stone-carvers produced 
 their best work ; nowhere will you find such capitals or 
 crockets or spandrels, nor such portraits all, no doubt, 
 
 2 3
 
 354 
 
 SOUTH WKLL CATHEDRAL 
 
 here and in the cloister, representing people living at South- 
 well 1280-1300. 
 
 EIGHTH PKRIOD. But the wonders of Southwell do not 
 end yet. Between c. 1315 and 1350 was erected quite the 
 
 DETAIL OF CAKVIXC IN THK CHAI'TKR HOUSK 
 
 loveliest choir screen in England : next comes that of 
 Eincoln, 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
 
 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 355 
 
 unreservedly the reign of the ogee arch. Magnificent sedilia 
 and stone stalls of similar character were erected, which 
 only survive in part. Very charming, too, is the cusping of 
 the reticulated windows inserted in the north transept chapel; 
 and the doors of the north porch. 
 
 The upper parts of the Chapter house and the north 
 transept chapel also were remodelled in this period. 
 
 For two hundred years or more, the highest and best 
 of mediaeval art found cultivated and wealthy patrons at 
 Southwell ; twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth century work 
 are all seen here at their best. Few of our cathedrals, from 
 the point of view either of architectural design or sculptured 
 detail, can be mentioned in the same breath with South- 
 well. Nowhere will the architectural student find such a 
 treasure of the best work of the best periods as in the 
 sister churches of the canons of Beverley and Southwell. 
 It is one of the greatest delights of Southwell that its 
 lovely minster is little known and almost unvisited : one 
 feels as if one were "the first that ever burst into this 
 silent sea." 
 
 NINTH PERIOD. Large windows with rectilinear tracery 
 were inserted in the aisles (<.: 1390) and the west end 
 (fifteenth century) to light the nave; and a doorway from 
 the choir to the archbishop's palace on the south. Between 
 1452 and 1480 the chapel of St. John Baptist, founded 
 c. 1280, was enlarged by William and Laurence Booth, both 
 archbishops of York. It adjoined the south-west tower and 
 the two next bays of the south aisle. After the Reforma- 
 tion it was used as the (irammar School till 1784, when it 
 was pulled down. In 1847 the adjacent aisle-wall fell down, 
 and was re-erected with the present three sham Norman 
 windows. 
 
 TKNTH PERIOD. There is an alabaster monument of 
 Archbishop Sandys (d. 1588), of unusually good design. 
 To the same century belongs the fine Renaissance glass 
 (I'Yench) in the east of the choir. 
 
 The lectern was presented in 1805. Originally it belonged 
 to Newstead abbey, and at the Dissolution was thrown 
 24
 
 356 SOUTHWELL CATHEDRAL 
 
 into Newstead lake. Mention should be made also of the 
 kneeling statue in bronze of Bishop Ridding, by Mr 
 Pomeroy ; one of the noblest memorials of ancient or 
 modern times. 
 
 There were originally sixteen canons or prebendaries at 
 Southwell in charge of the services. But as they habitually 
 resided in their country parishes, they were allowed to 
 appoint sixteen vicars or deputies, to do their work for them. 
 These vicars choral, like the canons, formed a college or 
 corporation. The vicars also found the work hard, and 
 were aided by paid lay-clerks and choir-boys. Besides 
 these there were thirteen chantry-priests. In later days 
 there used to be in residence at Southwell only one canon 
 out of the sixteen ; he came into residence only once in 
 four years, and only stayed three months. The handsome 
 block of brick houses to the east of the minster was built in 
 1780: the eastern house for the canon in residence; the 
 two houses on each side for four of the vicars. It should 
 be added that the church, as at Ripon, had a very large 
 parish attached to it. The whole of the nave was parochial, 
 and at its east end was the parish altar, which was dedicated 
 to St. Vincent. 
 
 Kii'.i.ior.KAi'HY. ]. F. Dimoek's Illustrations of lJi< Collegiate 
 Chureh of Southwell. 
 
 (i. M. Live-It's Guide to Southwell Minster. 
 
 J. L. IVtit in Archaoloffifal Journal, 1^50. p. 2oS. 
 
 A. F. Leurh's J'isifa/ii>>is a>:,/ Memorials of Southwell Minster ; 
 printed by the Caniden Snrietv in 1891.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ALL SAINTS, WAKEFIELD 
 
 FORMERLY PAROCHIAL 
 
 TI I K sec was founded in i 888. Like Manchester cathe- 
 dral, the church is thoroughly parochial in appearance, 
 inside and outside. But, archgeologically, it is of 
 exceptional interest. It is one of those numerous churches, 
 every stone of the exterior of which is of late Gothic date, 
 hut which internally in their arcades reveal the existence of
 
 358 
 
 WAKEFIELD CATHEDRAL 
 
 FROM THE SOUTH-WEST 
 
 much earlier building epochs. Like many others, though 
 now a vast parallelogram, it was once a cruciform church 
 in plan ; and though now it has a western tower, its tower 
 once stood above the crossing. Once its nave was aisleless : 
 then it had narrow aisles : later on, these narrow aisles were 
 replaced by broad ones. The piers and arches of the first 
 aisles were low ; afterwards they were heightened or rebuilt. 
 Originally it had no clerestory : this was not added till tin- 
 fifteenth century. When the central tower fell, the new
 
 WAKEFIELD CATHEDRAL 359 
 
 tower was built 10 ft. west of the nave, so as not to interfere 
 with the services. When it was finished, it was joined up 
 to the nave by the addition of a new westernmost bay. 
 The Norman chancel and its successor were short, and had 
 neither aisles nor clerestory ; the present chancel, the third, 
 is long, having absorbed the space originally covered by the 
 central tower ; and it has a clerestory and aisles, and these 
 have absorbed the transepts. Finally, the font, choir screen, 
 and sounding-board are Jacobean. Wakefield cathedral is 
 a typical embodiment of the history of the Church of 
 England, with a personal identity undestroyed by its many 
 transformations, like the boy's knife which had a new blade 
 and a new handle, but was still the same old knife. 
 
 UlHl.lOc.KAi'HV. The architectural history of the church has been 
 worked out in a paper by Mr J. T. Micklethwaite, forming a chapter in 
 the History of Wakefield Cathedral, by J. W. Walker, Wakefield, 1888.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 ST. ANDREW OF WELLS 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 " r ~T^HE traveller who comes down the hill from Shepton 
 Mallet," says Professor Freeman, " looks clown on 
 a group of buildings without a rival either in our 
 own island or beyond the seas." " From a distance," says 
 Mr Peabody, " the towers and lantern of the cathedral rise 
 above rounded masses of green foliage. When we reach 
 its walls, we find them springing from the a/ure depths of 
 crystalline pools, from emerald lawns and arching trees, 
 the home of cawing rooks and soaring pigeons. Close to 
 the very walls of the ancient cathedral rises one of the 
 noblest springs in the world, to which city and cathedral 
 owe their name ; an ever-abounding and magnificent outburst 
 of waters at the side of the Lady chapel, surging up in a 
 boiling heap in the midst of the unfathomed depths of a 
 translucent pool ; then bounding over in an impetuous 
 cascade, which carries it into the Bishop's moat, to encircle 
 palace and rampart and towers, till it rests in glassy clearness 
 over many-coloured forests of branching or feathery or star- 
 like water-weeds. Never did a Frenchman form such 
 harmonies of church and scenery as one sees at Lichfield, 
 at Salisbury, and at Wells, in their setting of close and 
 cloister and lake, of brilliant garden and clipped green lawn 
 and immemorial elms. Above rise three grey, time-worn 
 towers ; the music of the chimes vibrates and dies away : 
 
 " ' Lord, through this hour 
 
 15e Thou our guide, 
 That by Thv power 
 \o foot may slide.' 
 360
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 361 
 
 References 
 
 A St. Stephen's Chape 
 H St. Catherine's Chapel 
 C N.E. Transept 
 U Chapel of St. John 
 E Crypt under 
 
 Chapter House 
 F Hubwith's 
 Chantry 
 G Sugar's Chantry 
 
 Monuments, etc. 
 
 1 Hishop Hilton ist 
 
 2 ,, Drokensfotd 
 
 3 Dean Gunthorpe 
 
 4 Hishop Still 
 
 5 Hitlon II 
 
 6 Hurewell 
 
 7 Dean Music 
 
 8 Chancellor J. Storthwait 
 
 9 loan Viscountess Lisle 
 
 10 Hishop De Marchia 
 
 11 Dean Cornish 
 
 12 & 13 Altar Tombs to Bishops 
 
 Officers 
 
 14 Joceline De Wells 
 
 15 Hishop De Salopia 
 
 16 Kidder 
 
 17 ,, Berkeley 
 Creighton 
 
 19 Dean Forest 
 
 .K-J8--i--.'|. 
 
 ftufttTT 
 
 SCfll-E Of 
 
 PLAN
 
 362 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 So from hour to hour chant the bells over the peaceful 
 beauty of the bishop's gardens and terraces and the ancient 
 ivy-clad palace ; while within the lonely nave, as the fading 
 sunlight shines through the western window, and casts its 
 coloured glories on sculptured tomb and carved boss and 
 grey stone wall, the organ notes pulsate through the stony 
 fabric : 
 
 " Through long-drawn aisle and fretted vault 
 
 The pealing anthem swells the note of praise. 
 
 The great solemn place is filled with the thrilling sweetness 
 of boyish voices, and we heartily join in their tuneful, long 
 ' Amen,' as it rings and resounds clown the empty nave, and 
 echoes again and again from distant chapel and far-receding 
 vaults. 
 
 " The bishop's palace is romance made tangible, even to 
 ' spell-bound princes oaring their way as swans among the 
 lilies of the moat.' In this home of peace good Bishop 
 Ken led his simple, happy life, awaking with the sun and 
 joining with the birds in their morning hymn, and each 
 eventide singing to his lute : 
 
 "Glory to thee, my God, this night. 
 For all the blessings of the light. 
 
 Beyond the gardens and the moat run avenues of stately 
 elms ; hard by, to the north, are the cathedral's triple towers, 
 and, for background, the mighty range of the Mendips ; all 
 round is meadow-grass ; to the west nestles the little town, 
 with the stately tower of St. Cuthbert's church ; and, five- 
 miles away, conical tors rise on either side of the isle of 
 Avalon, the storied land of Glastonbury, where twice each 
 year bloomed the sacred thorn struck by Joseph of Arimathea 
 from a thorn in the Saviour's crown : where, too, lies King 
 Arthur, borne thither after the fatal battle of Camelot, and 
 buried in an unknown grave with the inscription, ' Hie jacet 
 Arturus rex quondam rexque futurus.' This land of 
 Somerset to the Englishman should be holy ground." 
 
 The peculiar charm of Wells lies, as Professor Freeman
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 363
 
 364 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 remarks, in the union and harmonious grouping of the 
 cathedral with its surroundings. It does not stand alone. 
 On the other hand, it is not crowded by mean, incongruous 
 buildings, like the great cathedrals of France. Nor, again, 
 is it isolated from those buildings which are its natural and 
 necessary complement the palace of the Bishop, the 
 Deanery, the residence of the Archdeacon, the Cathedral 
 school, the Vicar's Close, the homes of precentor, organist, 
 and architect. Nearly all the officials still live in the houses 
 which Bishop Beckington built four centuries ago. And 
 with the most perfect and picturesque of all these, "a double 
 row of little ancient houses," the Vicar's Close, the north 
 transept of the cathedral is connected by a delightful 
 mediaeval bridge. 
 
 The diocese of Wells is an offshoot of that of Winchester. 
 When Wessex grew populous, the bishopric of Sherborne 
 was split off from that of Winchester ; and the shire of the 
 Sumorsaetas was split off from Sherborne, perhaps in 904, 
 and the men of Somerset got a bishop of their own. The 
 diocese long had two cathedrals : one at Wells, served, as 
 at this day, by Secular Canons ; the other at Bath, served 
 by monks of the Benedictine abbey. The latter was sup- 
 pressed by Henry VIII., and ever since the bishop has been 
 but in name Bishop of Bath. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. In 1148 there was a consecration of a 
 Norman cathedral, built or repaired by Bishop Robert. Of 
 this no certain traces survive, except the font. It may have 
 occupied a different site, more to the south ; on the other 
 hand much of the walling of the present cathedral may be 
 Bishop Robert's, unless indeed his church was entirely de- 
 molished, in which case much of his ashlar, being still in 
 good condition, would be reused. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. In 1174 Reginald de Bohun or Fit/.- 
 Joscelinus became bishop, and is recorded to have made prior 
 to 1 1 80 a large grant "to the fabric fund until the work be 
 finished"; the present cathedral therefore must have been 
 begun in or soon after 1 180. Another charter, recording a 
 private gift, alludes to "the admirable structure of the rising
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 365 
 
 church " and is attested by witnesses who appear elsewhere 
 in 1206 and 1221. It appears therefore that by about the 
 end of the twelfth century a considerable amount of work 
 had been done. This documentary evidence is supported 
 by architectural data at Worcester and Glastonbury. At 
 
 THE MA VK 
 
 Worcester the design of the ground story of the two 
 westernmost bays of the nave resembles in many points 
 that of the present choir of Wells, and may be dated back 
 to i 175 ; its capitals are just as much behind those of Wells 
 as might be expected in work live or ten years earlier in
 
 366 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 date. Still more behind Wells are the triforium and clere- 
 story, in which the semicircular arch prevails and in which 
 there is large use of the Romanesque /-ig/ag ornament. At 
 Glastonbury the Lady chapel (wrongly styled St. Joseph's 
 chapel) is definitely known to have been begun after the 
 fire of 1184 and to have been consecrated in 1186; its 
 vault system is precisely that of Wells. It is true that 
 much of its sculptured foliage is largely Romanesque in 
 design, but it is deeply undercut, and evidently the work of 
 exceptionally skilled masons ; nor is there anything remark- 
 able in the fact that the Glastonbury monks should be 
 more conservative than the Wells canons. St. 1 )avid's 
 cathedral was also building at the same time as Wells 
 cathedral, and is more retrogressive than either Wells or 
 Glastonbury. So it may be taken that at Wells we see the 
 first important English church ever built in the Gothic 
 style, and that the primacy of English Gothic belongs to 
 Wells, and not to Lincoln, which was not begun till 1192. 
 Nor can priority be claimed for the Yorkshire Gothic, as 
 seen at Roche abbey and Ripon minster : for in the 
 Northern work the semicircular arch still lingers, whereas 
 at Wells it is utterly exterminated ; pier-arches, wall arcade, 
 windows, doorways, vaults all have pointed arches and 
 nothing else. Compared with Lincoln, Wells is vaulted 
 throughout, whereas Lincoln choir originally had no vaults, 
 nor was designed for vaults. 
 
 In plan Reginald's church consisted of an aisled nave of 
 ten bays, of aisled transepts, and of a square-ended aisled 
 eastern limb of four bays. The stalls of the choir, till the 
 fourteenth century, were placed in the crossing, and the 
 easternmost bay of the nave : marks where the choir screen 
 was fixed may still be seen in the first pair of piers from 
 the central tower and in the walls of the aisles ; the ritual 
 nave therefore consisted of nine bays. The transepts had 
 both eastern and western aisles. In each eastern aisle was 
 a couple of chapels ; and adjoining the southern of these 
 eastern aisles was a sacristy, very much as at Worcester. 
 For a church so small as Wells to have western aisles to
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 367 
 
 the transepts seems rather an extravagance ; but a western 
 aisle was necessary in the south transept, in order to get 
 access to the eastern walk of the cloister ; which walk 
 could not be built further to the east because in the way 
 was an early Lady chapel. As for the western, aisle of the 
 north transept, it may also have been used, as at present, 
 as an additional sacristy ; or as Chapter house till the present 
 Chapter house was built. If the exterior of the present 
 choir aisles be examined, it will be seen that the second 
 buttress from the west is much more massive than the one 
 east of it. This shews that the latter was in line with a 
 thin and therefore a low wall, while the former lined with 
 a thick and lofty wall. This latter therefore was the 
 high end-wall of the presbytery, and the former the eastern 
 wall of a low aisle running north and south ; just as at the 
 Cistercian abbey of Dore, which was building at the same 
 time, and probably at Glastonbury. The presbytery would 
 open into the aisle behind by two arches, as at Exeter, or 
 three, as at Dore; the aisle would probably provide both 
 a row of altars and a procession path. This leaves three 
 bays for the presbytery ; and if we pass within, we shall 
 find all its three arches still in existence on either side. 
 The easternmost of these arches would formerly rest to the 
 east on very massive piers in a line with the bigger 
 buttresses ; these could not be allowed to remain when 
 the presbytery was prolonged eastward in the fourteenth 
 century ; so they were replaced by fourteenth - century 
 piers of more moderate dimensions, this being done with- 
 out taking down the arches. 
 
 The Wells design deserves most careful study, both from 
 the earliness of its date and from its great influence on the 
 school of West Country Gothic. In the design the con- 
 trolling factor is the vault and abutment system. The 
 remarkable feature about the vault is that instead of adopt- 
 ing the usual Gothic method of making the diagonal arches 
 semicircular, and pointing the transverse ones till they rose 
 to the level of the central boss the course taken in the 
 westernmost aisle-vault of Worcester nave the Wells
 
 368 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 architect determined to point the diagonal arches as well. 
 The same course was taken in the choir and aisles of St. 
 Cross, Winchester, which was probably built some twenty 
 years earlier, and in the contemporary Lady chapel at 
 Glastonbury. Vaults with pointed diagonal arches are of 
 course easier to construct, the lower courses approaching 
 
 the vertical to such an extent as to require little centering. 
 A more important advantage is that the more pointed a 
 vault, the more vertical are its thrusts, and the less abutment 
 they require ; probably this weighed most in the \Vells 
 design, which above all things aims at securing stability. 
 But a vault with pointed diagonals has its detects. If the 
 transverse arches are made as loftv as the diagonal ones.
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 369 
 
 the whole vault will he very lofty and proportionately heavy 
 and expensive. If, on the other hand, the former are kept 
 low, the vault will be domical in form, i.e., much higher at 
 the centre than at the sides, and this is precisely the state 
 of things at St. Cross. Hut in England the architects were 
 all for non-domical vaults, i.e., vaults with their longitudinal 
 ridges level. They had indeed tried domical vaulting in 
 Lincoln central transept and Southwell choir, hut it was not 
 satisfactory, and was abandoned. At Wells also it was 
 determined to have a vault with level ridge. The difficulty 
 was how to combine it with pointed diagonals without 
 unduly increasing the height of the vault. This is how it 
 was done. Let us imagine in the first place that the nave 
 was to be vaulted in square bays, not as now in oblongs. 
 The diagonals of a square would be longer than those of an 
 oblong bay, and would rise to a very great height. Hut if 
 we vaulted the nave in rather broad oblongs, the diagonals 
 would not rise so high ; and if for broad we substituted 
 narrow oblong bays, the diagonals would be lower still. 
 This is precisely what was done at Wells. The central aisle 
 was set out in very narrow oblongs. Hut of course all the 
 vaults require supports, and these supports are the piers 
 down below. The result, therefore, of narrowing the bays 
 of the vault was that more bays were required, and conse- 
 quently more piers and arches were required also. This 
 then is the reason why the short nave- of Wells has actually 
 nine piers and ten arches on each side. Lincoln nave has 
 six piers and seven arches ; and while the aisled part of 
 Lincoln nave is iSi It. long, that of Wells is only 161 ft. 
 
 Another important factor in the vault design was the 
 lighting system. Much importance was evidently attached 
 to good lighting at Wells. All the lancet windows are 
 exceptionally broad, owning no kinship whatever to the 
 slender, graceful lancets ot Lincoln and Salisbury: but 
 following the proportions ol the- round-headed windows in 
 St. ( 'ross choir and Worcester nave. Hut it would have 
 been useless to put large lancets in the clerestory if they 
 were to be obstructed bv the vault : therefore, to unmask
 
 37O WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 the clerestory windows, the side cells of the vault were tilted 
 upward, as at Pershore, instead of having level ridges. 
 
 Then the serious question of abutment had to be con- 
 sidered. Here the builders shewed themselves thoroughly 
 sceptical of new-fangled Gothic methods. Flying buttresses 
 in the open air, like those going up simultaneously at 
 Chichester, they would none of. They actually had 
 little faith even in vertical buttresses ; they put them up 
 indeed ; but both in the aisles and the clerestory, as at the 
 east end of Pershore, they have little more projection than 
 Norman pilaster strips. What they believed in, as the archaic 
 Xorman builders had done, was thickness of wall. Here, 
 as at St. Gross, which seems to have been largely the 
 prototype of the early Gothic of Worcester and Wells, the 
 walls are very thick ; those of the aisles being 5 ft. 3 in., 
 those of the clerestory 6 ft. 2\ in. at the top. Though no 
 flying buttresses were built outside, yet they are present 
 inside the triforium chamber, their heads being about on 
 a level with the corbels which support the vaulting-shafts 
 within, the idea being, correctly enough, that the thrusts 
 of the high vault would be exerted not at the level of its 
 spring, but a little distance lower. And, curiously enough, 
 their heads are also made to carry the clerestory buttresses ; 
 the latter are not, as in Lincoln choir, brought down to the 
 door of the triforium chamber to rest in ''false-bearing" on 
 the transverse arch of the aisle-vault.* Then, after all this 
 engineering, to make things more stable still, the ground 
 story was built exceedingly low. 
 
 As has been said above, the clerestory walls are very 
 thick : it follows that the piers below, which carry them, 
 have to be very massive also. And as they are also low, 
 they are very squat piers indeed: so they are at Lichfield 
 also. The next problem to be solved was how to make 
 them look taller. The answer was multiply the number 
 of vertical lines by encircling the piers with all the shafts
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 3? I 
 
 that can possibly be packed together. Accordingly in the 
 presbytery the piers have sixteen shafts, while in the nave 
 the number rises to twenty-four, which in the latter are all 
 arranged in triplets. It is to be noted that the shafts are 
 not detached and are not of marble. Here again the 
 design hails from Worcester nave, where it appears in a 
 less perfected form. These low massive piers, surrounded 
 by triplets of shafts in coursed freestone, appear in the 
 parish churches of St. Cuthbert, Wells ; Llanidloes ; St. 
 Mary, Shrewsbury, and St. Sepulchre's, Northampton ; and 
 at Pershore, Lichfield, Dore, Chester cathedral, and Christ 
 church, Dublin. 
 
 Another curious feature is the non-correspondence of 
 the intermediate story externally and internally. If we 
 pass outside, we shall find that the aisle roof rises up to 
 the sill of the clerestory windows, leading to the expectation 
 that inside the church we shall find a lofty triforium arcade. 
 But on re-entering the transept and nave, we find that the 
 triforium arcade is quite low. But though it is low, behind 
 it there is a lofty triforium chamber, rising, as externally, 
 up to the sill of the clerestory window. The clerestory 
 string therefore does not tell the truth about the elevation ; 
 it pretends to demarcate the triforium from the clerestory, 
 but it does nothing of the sort. This string is in reality 
 not much more than half-way up the front of the triforium 
 chamber. At Worcester the string is in its proper place, 
 i.e., just below the sill of the clerestory windows, and the 
 vault springs from the top of a pier situated between the 
 clerestory windows. But the Wells people did not care 
 to spring their vault from piers, however broad, but pre- 
 ferred that the vault should spring from a broad surface 
 of solid wall unbroken by any openings. Consequently in 
 the nave all the wall from the sill of the clerestory window 
 to the top of the triforium arcade was left solid, and against 
 this the builders with confidence set their vaults. What 
 space was left between this solid wall and the tops of the 
 pier-arch was but inconsiderable, and it was this that was 
 pierced with a low triforium arcade. This arcade differs 
 
 25
 
 372 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 from any other in England. Elsewhere, and at Wells itself 
 in the transept, the triforium arcade is divided by piers 
 into bays corresponding with those of the ground story 
 and the high vault. In the nave of Wells on the other 
 hand it is made to correspond with the broad strip of 
 solid wall beneath the clerestory windows, extending all 
 the way from the central tower to the west end without 
 any relation as to the disposition of its arches either to 
 the pier-arches below or to the clerestory and vault above. 
 
 Erom this curious treatment of the three stories a very 
 remarkable internal elevation results ; one with a clerestory 
 made to appear nearly as tall as the ground story, and a low 
 triforium arcade between. A similar elevation no doubt 
 was once to be seen in Lichfield choir, but only its ground 
 story survives. At Pershore, however, the whole elevation 
 remains, but with further attenuation of the intermediate 
 story ; the arcade of the triforium chamber being there 
 omitted altogether : the same treatment is to be seen in 
 Southwell choir ; both of them are later than Wells nave. 
 
 As to the order of all this work, it proceeded in the usual 
 way from east to west. The first section of the work is that 
 of Bishop Reginald, and was done between c. \ \ 80 and his 
 death in 1191; this would probably include only the pres- 
 bytery and part of the eastern sides of the central transept ; 
 the plan of the piers and the archaic foliage of the capitals 
 differentiate it from all the western work. The second sec- 
 tion includes the rest of the central transept and about half 
 of the nave, in which, half-way clown, is a marked break in 
 the masonry, as well as a change in the foliation of the 
 capitals, which now swarm with grotesque birds and beasts ; 
 the lovely north porch probably belongs to this period. 
 This section was probably put up between 1191, the year 
 when Reginald died, and 1206. The work must now 
 have been abandoned from 1206-1216, during which the 
 income of the see was confiscated and the revenues were 
 paid yearly into the king's purse ; this was the wretched 
 King John, who died in 1216. At length the works were 
 resumed in 1220 by Bishop Joscelin, who found the
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 373 
 
 church much dilapidated after fourteen years' stoppage 
 of the works. To him may be attributed the western bays 
 of the nave, which retain the indigenous Gothic style of 
 the West Country, but banish the birds and beasts from the 
 capitals. He is recorded to have consecrated the church 
 in 1239. This must mean that the western bays of the 
 nave were now finished ; it does not necessarily imply that 
 the west front was finished also, except so much as was 
 necessary to close up the west end of the nave. 
 
 From the great diversity of style in the foliated capitals, 
 it would seem that many of them, together with the corbels 
 in the transept, were left in block and were not carved till 
 much later ; this is certainly the case with the capitals of the 
 south transept -the finest of their type in England on 
 which are representations of the cure of toothache by 
 Bishop Bytton or Button, who both in life and death 
 achieved many cures, and who did not die till 1274. 
 
 As we have seen, the design of the nave of Wells has 
 great archaeological interest ; it has also a decided artistic 
 distinction of its own. In the first place, the interior looks 
 taller than it is. It is but 67 ft. high, and is thus one of the 
 lowest of our cathedrals ; yet it looks sufficiently lofty. This 
 is due to the narrowness of the bays, the great number of 
 piers, and the multiplicity of shafts by which they are 
 encircled. But the main impression is rather of great length 
 than of great height. This is because the piers and arches 
 are so numerous, and in the nave because of the obliteration 
 of vertical divisions in the triforium and ground story, which 
 are not separated off, as usual, into bays by vaulting-shafts. 
 Here these are stopped just below the sill of the clerestory, 
 and the triforium runs in an uninterrupted arcade the 
 whole distance from west to east. And the free flow, east 
 and west, of the broad horizontal band of the triforium is 
 aided still further by designing it void of shafts, bases, and 
 capitals alike. 
 
 THIRD PKRIOD. Then comes perhaps the most remark- 
 able volte-face in the history of English mediaeval design. 
 All this fine church had been built in West Country Gothic.
 
 374 
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 But Bishop Joscelin was often at Salisbury (commenced in 
 1220), and no doubt had many a talk with Bishop Poore. 
 Now Salisbury, except as regards its abutment system and 
 thick walls, is not West Country Gothic ; it belongs to the 
 South-Eastern school, which had produced Canterbury choir, 
 and Chichester and Winchester retro-choirs, and of which 
 the sign manual is the profuse employment of detached 
 
 THE WEST FRONT 
 
 shafts of marble. Therefore, discarding local talent, he 
 seems to have sent for masons of the alien school, and both 
 in the west front of the cathedral and in his own palace 
 followed the Lincoln and Salisbury manner; (in his palace 
 it is curious to see how heavily he scores his buttresses in 
 Salisbury fashion). 
 
 We may now pass out and survey this famous facade and 
 its immense collection of sculpture by far the best mediaeval
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 375 
 
 figure-sculpture in England, and only surpassed by the yet 
 earlier sculpture of Chartres. The visitor will do well to 
 study it in detail in the admirable series of photographs, 
 taken when the scaffolding was up for the restoration of the 
 facade. Much of the statuary must have been executed 
 after the completion of the facade, and, in the opinion of 
 Comte Robert de 
 I.asteyrie, belongs 
 to the closing 
 years of the cen- 
 tury. As for the 
 composition of 
 the west front, it 
 has been severely 
 criticised, but two 
 things must be 
 borne in mind. 
 The first is, that 
 the towers were 
 probably designed 
 for spires. Add 
 the spires, and as 
 Xotre Dame, 
 Paris, the squat- 
 ness of the facade 
 disappears. There 
 are, however, no 
 squ inches for 
 stone spires at 
 Wells ; if spires 
 were intended, 
 they would have- 
 had to be- of wood. Secondly, it was designed for the sculp- 
 ture a sort of open-air reredos and not tin- sculpture for the 
 facade. Nevertheless.it is not good, even as a reredos. The 
 windows are mere slits in the wall, the doorways mere " holes 
 for frogs and mice.'' Hut it must be remembered that these 
 doorways merely led to the cemetery in front of the facade : 
 
 DKTAII. OF TUK NORTH TOWER 
 NORTH SIIIH
 
 376 
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 the entrance for the town folk was through the south-west 
 tower ; that for the dean and canons was the north porch. 
 The facade, however, certainly lacks variety : the six big 
 buttresses project, but have all the same amount of pro- 
 jection. The arcading below the west window is confused 
 and muddled, and, as in the south transept of York, is cut 
 into anyhow by the central doorway. Nevertheless,, its 
 great breadth makes this facade of Wells more impressive 
 than any other in the country, except that of Peterborough. 
 What would it have been with the spires added ! 
 
 The chapels of the western towers are of the same period 
 as the west front, and are full of delightful detail ; especially 
 fine is the doorway into the cloister. It may well be that 
 
 Bishop Joscelin 
 commenced the 
 west front before 
 completing the 
 western bays of 
 the nave, employ- 
 ing in the latter 
 t h e S o m e r s e t 
 masons and in 
 the west front out- 
 siders. It is known 
 that little was done 
 at Wells from 
 i 242-1 268 ; we 
 may therefore 
 date the west 
 front (except some 
 of the statuary) 
 between i 220 and 
 1242. It may be 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE CHATTER HOUSE 
 
 same flat-topped 
 
 helmets occur as in the arcading inside Worcester retro- 
 choir, which was begun in 1222. 
 
 FOURTH PKRIOD. While the west front was
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 377 
 
 peopled with statuary, the undercroft of the Chapter house 
 was built. A similar Chapter house, two stories high, once 
 existed in precisely the same situation i.e., east of the north 
 transept at Beverley minster, the exquisite staircase to 
 which still survives. Westminster has a vaulted undercroft, 
 which was used as the Royal Treasury ; at Wells the strong 
 door and bars point to a similar use. The Wells treasury 
 cannot be much later than 1286. The staircase or vestibule 
 to the Chapter house, with simple tracery of cusped circles 
 in its windows, is prior to 1292. The work here deserves 
 the closest inspection. The naturalistic foliage of the 
 capitals and corbels is superb : especially notice the first 
 corbels, represent- 
 ing a monk and a 
 nun treading on 
 serpents. The 
 staircase leads by 
 the chain bridge 
 to the vicars' close, 
 as well as to the 
 Chapter house. 
 The Chapter I 
 
 house is one of 
 
 t 
 
 the noblest in 
 England. The 
 long-lobed trefoils 
 
 in the window tracery indicate that it is not earlier than the end 
 of the thirteenth century ; while the profusion of ball-flower 
 round and beneath the windows, and the ogee dripstones 
 outside the windows, indicate' that it was not completed till 
 later still. Canon Church has ascertained that the vestibule, 
 floor, and temporary roof of the Chapter house were com- 
 pleted between 1293 and 1302, but that the outer walls, 
 windows, stalls, central shaft, vault, and parapet were built 
 between 1306 and 1 319. 
 
 Firm PF.KiOD.---A much more important work remained, 
 which had hitherto been postponed, owing perhaps to the 
 great expense involved in the completion of the west front 
 
 THK CHAPTER HOfSE VAULT
 
 373 
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 and the Chapter house. It was to extend the choir eastwards. 
 The defects in the planning of Bishop Reginald's church 
 were that the stalls were outside the eastern limb of the 
 church, that there was no separate procession path, and that 
 
 THE KKTKO-CIIOIK, LOOKING EAST 
 
 the Lady chapel was outside the church. As usual, the 
 easternmost part of the work, the Lady chapel, was started 
 first ; it was finished in 1326. Its windows have beautiful 
 reticulated tracery of early type ; and there is lovely carving
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 379 
 
 in the capitals, bosses, reredos, sedilia, and piscina. Nowhere, 
 not even in Lichfield, is there such an assemblage of Gothic 
 capitals as at Wells ; the development of the foliated capital 
 should be studied successively (i) in the present choir and 
 the eastern aisles of the central transept ; (2) in the eastern 
 nave; (3) in the western nave; (4) in the western aisles of 
 the central transept; (5) in the west transept, west end and 
 west front; (6) in the staircase of the Chapter house; (7) 
 in the Chapter house: (8) in the Lady chapel, retro-choir, 
 and the present presbytery. 
 
 The Lady chapel is polygonal and is flanked by two 
 lateral chapels. In the retro-choir the vaults are planned 
 most picturesquely : the controlling factors being the neces- 
 sity to connect the broad central arch of the Lady chapel 
 with the narrow central arch of the presbytery. This is 
 achieved quite simply by forming the centre of the retro- 
 choir into a square bay. It almost looks as if the 1 central 
 square was arranged for the shrine of some local saint, but 
 there seems to have been no such saint at Wells. May it 
 have been intended for the tomb of Bishop William de 
 Marchid, tor whose canonisation the canons made great 
 but unsuccessful efforts at Rome, and whose tomb is in 
 the south transept. In the Chapterhouse a single central 
 stalk branches upward and outward in all directions, like 
 some palm tree transmuted into stone. This beautiful 
 effect is transferred to the retro-choir, but multiplied six 
 palm trees in place of one ; for each of the six piers of the 
 retro-choir emulates the Chapter house's central stalk. "It 
 is difficult to determine whether the effect is more striking 
 in the early morning, when the ancient splendours of the 
 stained glass are reflected on the slender shafts of I'urbeck 
 marble and the clustered vault : or at the late winter 
 services, when the darkened figure's of saints and prophets 
 in the clerestory combine 1 with the few lights burning in the 
 choristers' stalls to add something of mystery and solemn 
 gloom to the ma/e of aisles and chapels, half hidden, half 
 revealed.' There is certainly no such lovely chevet in 
 England : Salisbury perhaps exhibits the nearest approach
 
 380 
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 to it ; hut at Wells the unsymmetrical arrangement of the 
 piers of the retro-choir and those of the three arches opening 
 into it from the presbytery open out vistas which are a 
 veritable glimpse into fairyland. The delightsomeness of the 
 planning is still further increased by throwing out little 
 eastern transeptal chapels, as at Southwell. These make 
 up for the four altars which had occupied the east end of 
 Bishop Reginald's church. In this retro-choir of Wells 
 
 
 THE RETRO-CHOIR, LOOKING WEST 
 
 we have something really worthy of comparison with the 
 intricate vistas and perspectives of Amiens and Le Mans. 
 
 The next thing was to remove Bishop Reginald's eastern 
 aisle and to build three new bays connecting the retro choir 
 with his presbytery. This done, new stalls were built, and 
 were placed in the eastern limb, the three western bays 
 now becoming choir, and the three eastern ones presbytery. 
 (The present stalls are modern, but retain the ancient 
 misericords, which are admirably carved.) Moreover, a
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 381 
 
 new choir screen was added under the eastern arch of the 
 central tower, against which the stalls were returned. Larger 
 windows also were 
 inserted 
 aisles of 
 
 the 
 
 in 
 
 the new 
 
 choir. The vault, 
 like the contem- 
 porary one of 
 Gloucester choir, 
 is a new departure. 
 It is not really a 
 vault whose web 
 is supported by 
 ribs, but a pointed 
 barrel vault cut 
 into by lunettes 
 for the windows ; 
 on its inner sur- 
 face are carved 
 patterns ill adap- 
 ted for the pur- 
 pose. The thrusts 
 of this vault are 
 taken by external 
 flying buttresses : 
 the junction of 
 
 the two systems of abutment is well seen from the grave- 
 yard to the south. 
 
 So early as 1321 the central tower had been raised to its 
 present height. As was so often the case, the additional 
 weight l> caused the four great piers, on which it rested, to 
 sink into the ground. This, of course, tore away the masonry 
 of the four limbs of the church from the piers, and yawning 
 gaps began to appear between the tower arches and the 
 main walls of the church." The piers had to be strengthened 
 and the gaps filled up. This was done about 1338. At 
 Canterbury the central piers were strengthened by running 
 across a hori/ontal stone girder ; at Wells, as at Glastonbury, 
 
 THK CHOIR, LOOKING EAST
 
 382 WELLS CATHEDRAL 
 
 the exceedingly strong and exceedingly ugly form of an arch 
 carrying an inverted arch was adopted. This stone frame- 
 work assumes something of the shape of St. Andrew's cross, 
 by which name it is generally known. The eastern arch is 
 not strengthened in this fashion, but by a massive screen, 
 which is practically a solid wall, as at Canterbury, York, and 
 Ripon. What makes the St. Andrew's cross more objection- 
 able still is the large scale of its moldings, which dwarf 
 everything in the cathedral into insignificance. Probably 
 one of the last works of this period was to crown the whole 
 exterior of the cathedral with a fine pierced parapet. These 
 great works, beginning at the Lady chapel, may be said to 
 have begun on the completion of the Chapter house in 1319, 
 and were probably finished, or nearly so, by 1349, the year 
 of the Black I >eath. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. The central tower being saved, the next 
 thing was to carry up western towers. Of these the southern 
 was built after the year 1386 : the northern tower is later 
 than 1424. Moreover, rectilinear tracery was inserted in 
 many of the early windows e.^., by Bishop Beckington in 
 the clerestory and aisles of the nave (1443-1464). The 
 same prelate built the three gatehouses, all of which display 
 his rebus, a beacon in flames issuing from a barrel : vi/., 
 the Chain Gate, the Penniless Porch (opening to the Market 
 Place), and Browne's Gate (at the end of Sadler Street). 
 His magnificent canopied tomb, retaining much of the 
 original colouring, was cut in two by the' "restorers" at the 
 time when they also restored the stalls out of existence : the 
 tomb is in the south aisle of the presbytery, the canopy in 
 the south transept. 
 
 The present cloister was built in the first half of the 
 fifteenth century. Bishop Reginald had merely provided 
 a covered walk to the external Lady chapel and his palace : 
 its eastern wall was retained, but the walk was now vaulted : 
 southern and western walks were also added, a three-sided 
 cloister being thus obtained. The absence of a north walk 
 indicates that the purpose of the cloister was to provide a 
 path under cover for the processions on Sundays, Corpus
 
 WELLS CATHEDRAL 383 
 
 Christi Day, Palm Sunday, and other great feasts; the 
 processional path in the cloister starts at the eastern and 
 ends at the western processional doorway of the south aisle 
 of the nave. From the presence of a music gallery in the 
 south clerestory of the nave lacing the northern entrance it 
 may be argued that the Palm Sunday procession re-entered 
 the church by the north porch. 
 
 In the nave are two large chantry chapels ; on the north 
 side that of Bishop Bubwith (pb. 1424), on the south that 
 of 'Treasurer Hugh Sugar (pb. 14^9). 
 
 'The stone pulpit was put up by Bishop Knight (pb. 1547) ; 
 the lectern by Robert Creyghton, who became dean in 1660. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. Professor Willis in Ecclesiologist, xxiv. 303: and 
 in the Bristol volume, 1853, of the British Archaeological Association : 
 and in \\\<z Journal of the Somerset Arclusological Society for 1863. 
 
 |. II. Parker in Gentlematt s Magazine, (Eeclesiology volume), pp. 278 
 and 294. 
 
 Professor Freeman in Somerset Archaological Society 1 s Journal for 
 1888, vol. 34. 
 
 Profe.ssor Freeman's Cathedral Church of Wells, London, 1870. 
 
 |. T. Irvine in Somerset Arclutolo^ical Society s Journal for 1873, 
 vol. xix. 
 
 Parker's edition of Rickman's Colliie Areliileetiire, 1881, p. 167. 
 
 All the above need to be corrected in the lii^lit of the new evidence- 
 brought forward in ('anon Church's Early Charters of ll'ells. 
 
 Messrs Hope and Lethaby on the "Statuary of the West Front," 
 in Arcfueologia, lix. 143.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 THE HOLY AND INDIVISIBLE 
 TRINITY AT WINCHESTER 
 
 BUILT FOR BENEDICTINE MONKS 
 
 THE present legal designation of Winchester cathedral 
 dates only from the time of Henry VIII. It was 
 originally the church of the abbey of St. Swithun ; 
 and, next to St. Swithun, its greatest patron was St. Birinus. 
 Later on, an alternative dedication was to St. Peter and 
 St. Paul. 
 
 It is the longest mediaeval cathedral in Europe. Once 
 it was surpassed by Old St. Paul's, London ; now its only 
 rival is St. Albans. But Winchester has an internal 
 length of 526 ft. 6 in. ; exceeding that of St. Albans by 
 5 ft. 4 in. ; originally, before its Norman facade was pulled 
 down, it was 596 ft. long externally. The nave, with its 
 aisles, is 88 ft. wide; the Norman west front was 128 ft. 
 from north to south ; it therefore projected 20 ft. beyond 
 each aisle ; it is said to have contained two western towers, 
 but the plan of the excavations shews that it may have 
 been set (Kit like Bury and Ely, with a single central tower 
 flanked by chapels. 
 
 Vast as it is, no cathedral shews up so little. It has 
 but one tower, and that barely overtops the roof; in out- 
 line it is depressed and monotonous ; there are none of 
 the double transepts, and lofty side-porches, which so 
 picturesquely break up the lines of Salisbury, Lincoln, and 
 Hereford. It has no conspicuous facade to give it grandeur 
 to the west ; it lacks the wide reach of open square and 
 verdant close that delights at Salisbury and Wells. So 
 far from dominating the city, like Lincoln or York, it hides
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 385 
 
 CMAPLU Or THE 
 
 BISHOP lAKCTOHS 
 
 :HAPC.I-
 
 3 86 
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 out of sight. You walk all the length of the High Street 
 and never get a glimpse of it ; never was such a retiring 
 cathedral. Generally, it is approached from the High 
 Street through a hole in the wall ; up a narrow passage, 
 and down an avenue of obscuring elms. Slowly its huge 
 mass uproars itself, sprawling over the ground like some 
 stranded prehistoric monster. And, externally, it is as 
 plain as it is huge : mainly an enormous bulk of blank 
 
 FROM THE NORTH-WEST 
 
 wall. Once it presented a better appearance; for though 
 the Lad\' chapel to the east was rather shorter, to the 
 west the nave was 40 ft. longer, and was flanked, like 
 Southwell, by two Norman towers, or else was designed 
 with a western transept, like Ely. The present west 
 front does anything but prepare us for an interior so 
 vast ; as at Norwich and Gloucester, it seems rather 
 the approach to some parish church of the second 
 rank. All the more, perhaps, is one struck with the
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 387 
 
 glorious interior. Only from St. Giles' hill, where Earl 
 Waltheof was beheaded at dawn in 1076, can a compre- 
 hensive view of the vast cathedral he obtained ; from this 
 point in the early morning the view is one not to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. Bishop Walkelin began work in 1079; 
 in 1086 a grant of oaks was made by the king, no doubt 
 for the roofs, where several in good condition still remain 
 in use as tie-beams, especially in the transept : this grant 
 shews that the first part of the work was near completion : 
 
 FROM THE SOUTH-EAST 
 
 there was a consecration in 1093. Walkelin's eastern work 
 has disappeared above ground, with the exception of the 
 base of a cylinder inside Gardiner's chantry, a buttress on 
 the north wall of the presbytery aisle near the north 
 transept, and fragments at the eastern ends of the 
 presbytery ; but it remains in the crypt ; from which it 
 appears that the presbytery consisted of four bays and an 
 apse, and was encircled by a procession path. From the 
 latter a very long apsidal chapel of four bays projected 
 eastward. Instead of the north-east and south-east chapels 
 being tangential to the procession path, they are turned 
 26
 
 388 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 due east, probably to get proper orientation for the altars ; 
 from the thickness of their walls it is possible that they 
 were crowned by small square turrets of the character of 
 those at Canterbury. Walkelin also built a low central 
 tower, and to abut it, he must have built most, if not all, 
 of the transepts, and the eastern bays of the nave up to 
 the Norman rood screen. Nothing is known of the building 
 of the remainder of the long nave and the old west front ; 
 the work may have gone on, as at Ely and Peterborough, 
 till the third quarter of the century. The crypt, as at 
 Canterbury and Gloucester, was no doubt meant to be 
 used ; but there are no signs of altars, piscinas, or 
 aumbries ; probably from the very first it was liable to be 
 flooded by water rising from the neighbouring stream, the 
 Itchen. 
 
 In the north transept we are in presence of the earliest 
 completed work in the cathedral. Much of it is the work 
 of Bishop Walkelin (1070-1098); and, with the exception 
 of some traceried windows inserted early in the fourteenth 
 century to give more light to the eastern altars, it remains 
 much as he left it. As his work is in the transepts, so once 
 was the whole cathedral. As finished in the twelfth century, 
 Winchester, in vastness of scale and stern power, must have 
 been one of the most impressive cathedrals of England : more 
 overwhelming than Ely or Peterborough ; not inferior even 
 to Durham. One is not sure that every change and trans- 
 formation that took place at Winchester between the 
 eleventh and the sixteenth century was not a change for 
 the worse. For of the earliest temples of our race, torn 
 as it were out of the solid rock, Walkelin's cathedral was 
 one of the most awful and the most religious. The south 
 transept of Hereford and the north transept of Chester 
 are, in comparison, humble indeed. In colossal scale it 
 finds one rival only the mighty church of St. Alban. 
 Artistically, they are miles apart : as far apart as two de- 
 signs can be, one conditioned by the use of stone, the 
 other of brick.
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 389 
 
 But not all the work of the Winchester transepts is by 
 \Valkelin ; it is Norman, but part of it is a rebuilding 
 rendered necessary by the fall of the central tower in 1107. 
 The original work is readily distinguished. Those parts of 
 the transept which are the nearest to the central tower have 
 fine-jointed masonry ; the vaulting of the aisles has ribs ; 
 the piers are larger. The further and earlier part of the 
 masonry is much ruder, and the joints wider ; the vaulting 
 is without ribs, and the piers are smaller. In both parts 
 the arches are square-edged, greatly adding to the peculiar 
 severity of the aspect of this part of the church. The pier- 
 arches are raised on stilts in order to get their crowns on a 
 level with the intersection of the diagonal groins or ribs ; 
 for English builders in all periods, adhering to the Roman 
 tradition, disliked domical vaults. The cushion or cubical 
 capitals are of a simple type, little subdivided. Both 
 transepts have double aisles. Lan franc, in his metropolitan 
 cathedral at Canterbury, was content with an aisleless 
 transept ; but Winchester cathedral was built on a scale 
 befitting what was then the capital of the Norman realms ; 
 frequented all the more because it was a half-way house 
 between London and Rouen. At the ends of the transepts 
 the Norman aisles are returned, as at St. Stephen's, Caen, 
 St. George de Boscherville, Cerisy-la-Foret, and originally at 
 Westminster and Ely. If the transept ends be examined 
 externally and internally, it will be found that the two 
 corner bays of each were intended for towers. Restore 
 these in imagination and add another stage or two to the 
 central tower, and there would be a central group of five 
 towers, such as is unknown in England, but may be seen 
 in the Romanesque cathedral of Tournai ; with the addition 
 of the great western tower, the exterior of Winchester would 
 have been the most impressive, as it is now the most dis- 
 appointing, in England. Partly no doubt from the exten- 
 sive repairs necessitated by the fall of the central tower 
 in 1107, partly from the great cost of a nave twelve 
 bays long, transeptal towers were abandoned. Vast as
 
 3QO WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 this abbey of St. Swithun, there were two more abbeys, 
 nearly as large, between it and the High Street; to the 
 north that called the New Minster, to the south the nunnery 
 of St. Mary. Adjoining New Minster to the north was the 
 king's palace ; altogether a marvellous group. Ultimately 
 the New Minster was crowded out, and was replanted out- 
 side the town under the name of Hyde abbey ; in its 
 precincts were reburied the bones of King Alfred, no man 
 knows where. 
 
 The Crypt. From the north transept one descends to 
 the crypt, which is well worth a visit, when not under water. 
 The level of the river seems to have risen since the eleventh 
 century, causing the crypt to be frequently flooded. It 
 extends to the extreme east end of the present cathedral, 
 and is in three parts. The first part, the western, consists of 
 the substructure of the original presbytery. Secondly comes 
 a very remarkable feature, of the same date viz., a long 
 aisleless chapel beneath the present retro-choir. Whether 
 the chapel above it was a Lady chapel is a matter of un- 
 certainty ; for Lady chapels do not seem to have come 
 into fashion till the thirteenth century. Thirdly, to the 
 extreme east, comes the substructure of Courtenay's Lady 
 chapel, built between 1486 and 1492. Most interesting 
 of all is the sacred well, immediately beneath the High 
 altar ; far older than Norman crypt or Norman cathedral : 
 the holy central spot of bygone Saxon and even British 
 minsters. 
 
 South Transept. Crossing the choir, we pass down a 
 flight of steps to the south transept. At the to]) of these 
 steps are the bolt-holes of the iron gates, which are now 
 placed in the north-west corner of the nave, but which once 
 stood here as a barrier to the pilgrims, who were allowed 
 access to the north transept and choir aisles, but not to the 
 choir itself, or to the south transept. They entered the 
 cathedral by a doorway which may still be seen from the 
 outside at the south-east corner of the north transept. In 
 the south transept the same two periods of Norman work
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 3QI 
 
 arc recognisable which we saw in the north transept ; hut 
 the aisles have been shut off by walls and screens, forming 
 chapels on the east side and treasury on the west. 
 
 The central tower fell in 1107. Its fall was regarded 
 as a judgment, William Rufus having been buried under it 
 in MOO. The piers, as strengthened, are "most unwieldy 
 and intrusive from their excessive size and squareness of 
 form ; the largest tower piers in England in proportion to 
 the span of the arches that rest upon them." The tower 
 windows could formerly be seen from below, as well as a 
 grand specimen of late Norman arcading : now hidden from 
 view by the wooden fan vault erected in 1634. The 
 northern and southern sides of the piers were designed 
 nearly Hat, so as not to interfere with the stallwork of 
 the monks. Originally the monastic choir of Winchester 
 extended still farther to the west, being separated from 
 the western bays of the nave by a stone screen. The old 
 arrangement has been preserved at Norwich, Westminster, 
 and Gloucester, and has been restored at Peterborough. 
 Before leaving the south transept, the northern bay of the 
 western triforium should be noticed. It has been only par- 
 tially transformed into the style of the nave ; for the semi- 
 circular upper arch of the Norman triforium can still be 
 seen. This helps us to restore in imagination the original 
 triforium of the whole Norman nave. Near the steps lead- 
 ing up to the screen there remain some of the capitals ot 
 the Norman nave ; from these it can be seen how low the 
 Norman pier-arcade was. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. Of the period 1145-1190 only two 
 traces seem to remain at Winchester. One is the doorway 
 below the triforium bay mentioned above. Its /ig/ag 
 ornament is of Norman character, but the obtusely pointed 
 arch shews that it is subsequent, yet not much subsequent, 
 to 1145. This doorway, with its queer fluted pilasters, may 
 have 1 been built by Henry de Blois (1129-1171) when 
 he walled off this western aisle to serve as a treasury. 
 If so, it is the only trace in the structure of this, the
 
 392 
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 greatest of all Winchester's bishops. The other is the 
 font, which like other fonts in Hampshire and those in 
 Lincoln minster, Thornton Curtis, and Ipswich, is of 
 black marble, brought from near Tournai. Among other 
 subjects, there are representations of the legend of St. 
 Nicholas. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD Retro-choir. Traversing the north choir 
 aisle, we reach a large retro-choir ; it consists of three 
 bays, with an east end originally consisting of three chapels, 
 of which the central one was a Lady chapel and projected 
 
 slightly beyond 
 the rest; this 
 chapel was elon- 
 gated still more 
 in the fifteenth 
 century. This 
 retro -choir was 
 built by Bishop 
 Godfrey de Lucy, 
 between 1189 
 and 1204, and 
 therefore, with 
 the Chapel of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, 
 is the earliest 
 Gothic work in 
 the cathedral, and 
 
 contemporary with St. Hugh's work at Lincoln. I )e Lucy's 
 work is not very ambitious, nor very rich, nor artistically on a 
 plane with the Lincoln work. The object of the extension 
 seems to have been to obtain a central Saint's Chapel sur- 
 rounded by aisles, as well as more spacious eastern chapels. 
 In the very centre, between the later monuments of Beaufort 
 and \Vaynflete, would rise a pedestal supporting the shrine of 
 St. Swithun. Over the shrine I )e Lucy seems to have built 
 a tower, for in 1241 a flabelhun, i.e., a louvre board or 
 shutter, fell down and damaged the shrine. It is quite 
 impossible that the four slender piers now surrounding the 
 
 THE FONT
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 393 
 
 site of the shrine can have carried a tower ; this central part 
 of the retro-choir, however, seems to have undergone con- 
 siderable remodelling, judging from masonry to be seen 
 above the vault. The great defect is that, in relation to 
 its area, it is so miserably low. To get it high, the architect 
 would have had to sacrifice the east windows of the clerestory 
 of the choir ; and this he was not allowed to do. 
 
 The best part of the design is seen in the southern wall 
 of the Lady chapel, and in the charming vaulted staircases 
 which lead out of the side chapels to the roofs of the retro- 
 choir and presbytery, and to the clerestory of the presbytery, 
 from which a good view of the interior and of the interesting 
 vault and glass of the presbytery is obtained. At the north- 
 east corner of the retro-choir is an effigy in a vesica : it 
 commemorates Bishop Kthelmar or Aymer, whose heart was 
 buried at Winchester in 1261. 
 
 Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. ~No\\ we return to 
 the north transept, which is cut off from the choir by a 
 massive stone wall, the object being to keep the pilgrims 
 out of the choir, to form a backing to the stalls, and, 
 perhaps, to support organs. At the end of the twelfth 
 century a curious chapel was built on to this wall : it 
 contains frescoes representing the Passion of Our Lord. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD The Stalls. These were executed 
 c. 1305. "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 misericords also are of great interest 
 and beauty. 
 
 It was this period probably that the choir was removed 
 to its present position from the nave. The reason probably 
 was, as at Canterbury, that owing to the presbytery being 
 raised high on a crypt, the High altar was barely visible to 
 a choir placed in the nave. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. All this time the Xorman presbytery
 
 394 
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 remained standing ; judging from the style of the new 
 work, it was taken in hand c. 1320. At first all that was 
 done was to pull down the apse and join up De Lucy's 
 retro-choir to the Norman presbytery. De Lucy's central 
 aisle, however, was narrower than that of the presbytery ; the 
 result was that the east end of the presbytery could not be 
 made rectangular, but had to be polygonal. 
 
 THE CHOIR 
 
 Later on, the Norman presbytery itself was taken in hand, 
 the work being done in very curious fashion. The templates 
 of the 1320 work seem to have been used again, so that the 
 work seems to be rather of 1320 than t'. 1330-^. 1350. 
 It consisted of substituting a two-story elevation, as in the 
 choirs of Wells and Lichfield, for the three Norman stories. 
 From the resemblance of some of the details of the work to
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 395 
 
 that done in Edington church, Wiltshire, which was built 
 by Bishop Edington and dedicated in 1361, it is probable 
 that this bishop (1346-1366) completed the rebuilding, 
 commenced by his predecessor. It would seem that the 
 tracery of the windows had not been inserted when the 
 Black Death attacked Winchester with frightful severity, 
 leaving only some 2,000 alive out of a population of about 
 8,000 ; and that they remained without tracery and glass 
 till late in the century. 
 
 The walls of the Norman aisles were not pulled down ; it 
 is probable therefore that their groined vaults were retained. 
 If so, only the Norman piers, which supported the inner 
 sides of these vaults, would probably be allowed to remain. 
 But on the side next to the presbytery the piers and the 
 spandrels of their arches were cut back, as may be seen near 
 the tower, sufficiently to allow new piers and arches to be 
 inserted in front of them. 
 
 To the same period belong the nine exquisite tabernacles 
 in the retro-choir, on the wall at the back of the feretory ; 
 the naturalistic foliage of which is perhaps the best work in 
 the cathedral. Below is an entrance to the crypt, now 
 called the " Holy Hole." It can hardly be the original 
 entrance. Above it is the inscription : 
 
 " Corpora sanctorum sunt hie in pace sepulla 
 Ex mentis quorum fulgent miracula multa." 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. On his death in 1366 Bishop Edington 
 left money for the work in the nave, which, lie says, had 
 been "begun by himself." It is usual to attribute to him 
 the west front and the two western bays on the north side 
 and the westernmost bay on the south side of the nave, 
 where the windows are broad and low and the cusps of the 
 panelling are foliated. Before commencing this work he- 
 pulled down 40 ft. of the Norman nave, either because the 
 western tower was in a dangerous condition, or because so 
 long a nave was not wanted after the stalls had been removed 
 into the eastern limb. His work in the nave should be 
 compared with that of Edington church, Wiltshire, which 
 he commenced to rebuild in 1352 and which was dedicated
 
 396 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 in 1361. " The moldings at Winchester are largely the same 
 as at Edington, hut are more advanced, being much flatter, 
 and more of the ' save-trouhle ' type ; e.g., the corresponding 
 members of the great west window and the aisle windows 
 are of the same dimensions, in the latter therefore being 
 quite out of scale. It would seem that the bishop did not 
 commence rebuilding the Winchester nave till he had com- 
 pleted or nearly completed Edington. Supposing him to 
 have commenced the rebuilding of the nave c. 1360, the 
 work would have gone on only for six years till his death 
 in 1366; which together with the fact that he had to do 
 so much demolition towards the west would explain why his 
 work in the nave is so moderate in extent. 
 
 William of Wykeham, who succeeded Edington in 1367, 
 resumed the work in the nave in 1371. It is to Wykeham 
 that the upper part of the west front is probably to be 
 attributed. To him belongs the transformation of the first 
 eight bays of the southern pier-arcade, counting from the 
 west. The greater part of the nave, including the magnifi- 
 cent lierne vault of stone, was completed by Wykeham's 
 successors, as is shewn by the arms of Cardinal Beaufort 
 and Bishop William of W 7 aynflete on the bosses of the vault 
 and in the string-course under the triforium. A curious 
 feature of the high vault is that it is constructed without 
 diagonal ribs. In the aisles the liernes are grouped into 
 simple hexagonal or " stellar " patterns. The vault of the 
 nave is often said to be unsupported by flying buttresses. 
 They are there, however, between the vault and the outer 
 roof of the aisles, sheltered from the weather, as are the 
 flying buttresses of 1 )urham nave, Wells, Worcester, and 
 Salisbury. 
 
 This Winchester nave is of exceptional interest. In the 
 first place, for its vast length of twelve bays of 250 ft. 
 Norwich has fourteen bays of 230 ft. Secondly, because 
 its Gothic vesture is little more than skin deep, the solid 
 core of every pier and every wall, from pavement to roof, 
 being Norman. It is just this combination of the massive 
 solidity of Romanesque with the grace and elegance of
 
 WINCH ESTER CAT II KI )RAL 
 
 397 
 
 THK NAYK
 
 398 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 Gothic which makes it \vh;it it is, the finest nave in the 
 country. The walls are Norman; built, in Norman fashion, 
 of rather small and square blocks ; they are thick, nearly 
 10 ft. thick at the top; outside the south aisle may still be 
 seen the flat Norman buttresses ; hidden behind the balus- 
 trade of the clerestory are the upper arches of the Norman 
 triforium, one of which we saw in the south transept. The 
 vault rests on the original Norman vaulting-shafts, though 
 they are stopped by Gothic capitals. They are not really 
 stopped, however ; for when we mount up to the back of 
 the vault we find the vaulting-shafts, piercing through the 
 vault, rising to the very top of the wall, to support, as they 
 once did support, a wooden ceiling like that of Peter 
 borough. The disposition of these shafts, as seen above 
 the vaults, is very curious ; it looks as if there was some 
 intention to vault the nave in Norman days. 
 
 The casing of the Norman work is not merely skin-deep, 
 as in Gloucester choir, where the Norman work can be 
 seen at the back of the Gothic screens and panelling. 
 The casing at Winchester goes at least one stone deep into 
 the piers. Hut it was not executed all in the same way. 
 William of Wykeham's work, in the seven western piers 
 of the southern arcade, has the new moldings cut in the 
 original Norman stones. Hut in the rest of the piers it 
 was found simpler and cheaper to withdraw the Norman 
 stones and replace them with new stones with Gothic 
 moldings cut on them. In the former it will be seen 
 that the blocks are usually small and rather square and 
 with broad joints; in the latter they are large and with 
 fine joints. The moldings of all this work are rather large 
 and coarse ; but we must remember that the architect 
 was restricted at first to such moldings as could be developed 
 out of the Norman detail, and in any case they had to be 
 in harmony with the big and heavy Norman vaulting-shafts 
 which were retained unaltered in the Gothic design. 
 
 The method adopted was similar to that which was 
 employed in Waltham abbey, where the work was left 
 half finished. At Winchester, first the Norman clerestory
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 399 
 
 was pulled down altogether. Secondly the ground story 
 was thrown into the triforium story by removing the arches 
 of the former, together with the masonry in their spandrels. 
 This left nothing standing but tall piers, connected by what 
 had been the containing arches of the triforium ; these 
 arches still exist at the back of the panelled wall below the 
 new clerestory windows. When this had been done, then 
 everything, in the post-Wykeham work, was cased in Caen 
 stone. It was a wonderful idea this transformation of 
 the stern old Norman nave into Gothic but the idea came 
 from Gloucester, where a similar, but less thorough, re- 
 modelling had been commenced c. 1330. In all probability 
 the work in the nave was executed under the superintendence, 
 not of William of Wykeham, one of the busiest men in the 
 kingdom, and with no knowledge of the technique of build- 
 ing, but of William Wynford, who was Wykeham's master 
 mason from 1394-1403. Begun by Bishop Edington c. 1360, 
 the work in the nave was completed by Bishop Waynflete, 
 who died in 1486 ; thus it occupied fully a century. 
 
 From the west door there is a superb view eastwards. 
 The grandeur of the interior of the cathedral is much 
 enhanced by the raising of the choir. This raising of the 
 choir is due, however, to no sesthetic preferences on the 
 part of the architects, nor to any wish to emphasise the im- 
 portance of the clergy, but simply to the fact that, as at 
 Canterbury, the choir is raised on a crypt. The vista, too, 
 from west to east, is of great length. 
 
 Imposing, however, as the vista is, it is not so long as it 
 might be, and it appears shorter than it really is. In the 
 first place, out of the whole internal length of 526 ft., only 
 338 ft. come into the vista. This is because PC Lucy kept 
 his retro-choir so low. Far nobler would have been the 
 interior of Winchester, if, as at Ely, York, Beverley, and 
 Worcester, retro-choir and eastern chapels had been kept as 
 high as presbytery and nave. Indeed, the Winchester vista 
 of 338 ft. is surpassed even by that of the small cathedral 
 of Lichfield. Secondly, owing to the destruction of screens, 
 the apparent length has been greatly diminished. Formerly
 
 4OO 
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 there were two solid screens : a rood screen in the nave, on 
 the footpace of the second hay west from the tower; and a 
 choir screen. Thirdly, as at St. Paul's, the great wall of the 
 reredos is far too lofty, and is placed much too close to 
 the east end of the presbytery, shearing off another 20 ft. 
 of the apparent length of the interior. This reredos, indeed, 
 beautiful as its detail must have been, is a vast mediaeval 
 
 blunder i.e., 
 from an artistic 
 point of view ; 
 which point of 
 view, to tell the 
 truth, the medi- 
 aeval architects 
 cared little about 
 in comparison 
 with the religious 
 purposes which 
 they wished their 
 architecture to 
 subserve. Still 
 here, as at St. 
 Saviour's, South- 
 wark, one cannot 
 help wishing the 
 reredos away; one 
 would like to see 
 once more behind 
 and above the 
 High altar, on 
 their lofty plat- 
 forms, the shrines of St. Swithun and St. Birinus, and on 
 either side of them such delightful peeps as one has at 
 Wells into retro-choir and eastern chapels. Beaufort's 
 reredos has much to answer for. 
 
 In the south arcade of the nave are the two earliest of the 
 magnificent series of chantries which are the especial glory 
 of Winchester. They should be examined in chronological 
 
 THE RKRKDOS
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 4OI 
 
 order. They are those of the following bishops : Edington, 
 
 died 1366; Wykeham, died 1404; Beaufort, died 1447; 
 
 Waynflete, died 1486; Fox, died 1528; Gardiner, died 
 
 1555. Thus they form a continuous record of the growth 
 
 and development of our late Gothic architecture from 
 
 1366 to 1555. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. Building activity now transfers itself to 
 
 the eastern part of the cathedral. Prior Hunton (1470- 
 
 1498) and Prior Silkstede (1494-1524) lengthened the Lady 
 
 chapel and put in the 
 
 admirable woodwork ; 
 
 their rebuses appear 
 
 on the bosses of the 
 
 vault. To Prior Silk- 
 stede is also due the 
 
 fine pulpit and other 
 
 work in the choir, and 
 
 good screen work in 
 
 the south transept. 
 In the Lady chapel 
 
 are important wall 
 
 paintings by an Italian 
 
 artist, illustrating the 
 life of the Blessed 
 Virgin. Here also is 
 the chair in which 
 Queen Mary sat when 
 
 she was married in TOX'S CHANTRY 
 
 this chapel to Philip 
 
 of Spain. The southern chapel was fitted up by 
 Langton (ob. 1500) as his chantry chapel: here 
 elaborate and beautiful woodwork. Between i 500 and 1528 
 Bishop Fox (1500-1528) set to work to complete the presby- 
 tery ; and very likely every trace of early work would have 
 been swept away from the transepts as well had not building 
 operations at Winchester been brought to a stop by the Re- 
 formation. As we saw above, the piers, arches, and clerestory 
 of the presbytery had been rebuilt early in the fourteenth 
 
 Bishop 
 
 also is
 
 402 
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 century. Fox rebuilt the gable of the presbytery, where his 
 statue may be seen, and inserted the great west window. A 
 second task was to rebuild the aisles of the presbytery, which, 
 till now, had remained Norman. A third was to ceil the 
 presbytery with a lierne vault. He built magnificent flying 
 buttresses, evidently for a stone vault ; but in the end put up 
 a makeshift in wood ; the emblems of the Passion, however, 
 carved on the bosses, are of much interest, and should be 
 inspected from the gallery. Fourthly, he built his own chantry 
 
 THE LADY CHAPEL AND HISHOP LANC.TON's CHAI'EL 
 
 chapel and tomb. Indeed, most chantry chapels were built 
 during the bishops' lifetimes. Fifthly, he erected screens of 
 stone between the presbytery and his new aisles. These 
 (iothic screens were plainly wrought by English workmen. 
 Just as plainly, the pretty Renaissance frieze which surmounts 
 them was wrought by workmen imported from Italy. Sixthly, 
 he constructed the Renaissance chests which stand on the 
 screen. Bishop Henry de Blois (1129-1171) had collected 
 from the crypt the bones of saints and kings buried there, 
 and had transferred them, cased in lead, to the presbytery.
 
 WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL 403 
 
 These sacred relics Fox placed in the present six chests. 
 Among them are the bones of several Anglo-Saxon kings 
 and queens ; and of King Canute and William Rufus. The 
 coffin shewn as the hitter's is probably that of Bishop 
 Henry de Blois. 
 
 In this cathedral, like that of St. Albans, the ritual 
 divisions are very clearly marked and deserve attention. 
 They consist of (i) the ritual nave, which extends up to 
 the choir screen in the last bay but two; (2) the choir, 
 in the westernmost bay of the nave and under the crossing ; 
 (3) a presbytery of three bays, extending up to the great 
 reredos ; (4) a feretory of one bay, for minor shrines, relics, 
 and church plate in use; (5) the chief feretory between 
 Beaufort and Waynflete's monuments, encircled by (6) the 
 procession aisle; (7) a Lady chapel with flanking chapels. 
 
 So great is the wealth of minor work surviving in 
 Winchester cathedral, so vast its scale, so impressive both 
 the early Norman and the late Gothic design, so interesting 
 its archaeological history, that it stands almost unrivalled in 
 the bede-roll of our cathedrals. It is not surpassed even by 
 Lincoln; but to compare it with thirteenth-century Lincoln 
 is to compare chalk with cheese ; it is to be compared 
 rather with the other Walkelin's vast cathedral at Ely ; few 
 will put Ely first. 
 
 BlKl.lOGRAPHY. Professor Willis in the Winchester volume of the 
 Royal Archaeological Institute, 1845. 
 
 Woodward's History of Hampshire. 
 
 Winchester Cathedral Records, edited by Dean Kite-bin. 
 
 Winchester in " Historic Towns" series; by Dean Kite-bin. iSijjj. 
 
 Diocesan History of Winchester, by Canon Benham. 
 
 Mr C. E. Pouting on Edington church in Arclucological Journal. 
 xlv. 43.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF 
 
 CHRIST AND THE BLESSED MARY 
 
 THE VIRGIN OF WORCESTER 
 
 BUILT FOR BENEDICTINE MONKS 
 
 AS is indicated by the form of dedication of 1218, "The 
 cathedral church of the Blessed Virgin and Saint 
 Peter and of the Holy Confessors Oswald and 
 Wulfstan," Worcester is one of the pre-Conquest cathedrals ; 
 the present dedication dates only from the time of Henry 
 VIII. With Hereford, Leicester, and Lindsey, the diocese 
 of Worcester was carved out of the immense see of Lichfield, 
 which was coextensive with the kingdom of Mercia, by 
 Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury towards the end of the 
 seventh century. Through the influence of Archbishop 
 1 )unstan, who had been Bishop of Worcester from 957 to 
 961, its Secular Canons were replaced by Benedictine monks 
 by his successor, St. Oswald; and the cathedral was served 
 by monks till the time of Henry VIII., when it was put upon 
 the new foundation and reverted to Secular Canons. In 1062 
 St. Wulfstan became bishop. From his "great piety and 
 dovelike simplicity" of character, he had great influence in 
 the English Church, and was allowed by the Conqueror to 
 retain his bishopric. He repaid William by beating off 
 Robert Courthose, 1 Hike of Normandy, when he attacked 
 Worcester ; he retained the see till his death at a great age 
 in 1095. In the year 1201 miracles commenced at his 
 tomb, "from fifteen to sixteen per diem being cured from 
 every kind of sickness." In 1203 he was canonised.
 
 WO RC ESTE R CAT 1 1 E I ) R A L 
 
 405 
 
 St. Oswald, in 983, had rebuilt the cathedral in the style 
 of his day. Of this Anglo-Saxon cathedral nothing is left, 
 unless it be the balusters in the arcading of the slype. This 
 
 SCALE Of METRES 
 
 work of the holy Oswald Wulfstan pulled down, with many 
 searching;* of heart. Almost he repented of his purpose and 
 long stood silent in the churchyard, groaning. At last he
 
 406 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 burst into a flood of tears, "We wretches," said he, "pomp- 
 ously imagining that we do better work, destroy what the 
 saints have wrought." Many centuries have passed since 
 Wulfstan's day, and there have been many "restorations" 
 of Worcester cathedral, but there is no record that anyone 
 but Wulfstan commenced his work with tears and groans ; 
 modern " restorers " enter on their work with light hearts. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. Wulfstan commenced his cathedral in 
 the new Anglo-Norman style in 1084, and in 1092 a synod 
 met in the crypt, which had already been dedicated. The 
 presbytery contained a shrine at the time of the fire in 1113; 
 and was therefore probably finished by that year, together 
 no doubt with much of the work to the west. Many 
 fragments of Wulfstan's work remain above ground ; e.g., 
 the south aisle wall of the nave, with its tomb recesses;* 
 the vaulting-shafts at the east ends of the two western bays 
 of the nave ; a shaft in the east of the north aisle of the 
 nave ; the two " vices," or circular staircases, in the west 
 corners of the central transept ; the arches which originally led 
 from the central transept into elongated eastern apses, perhaps 
 two stories high ; and traces of his triforium and clerestory 
 in the central transept and in the westernmost bay of the 
 north side (on the inner face, near the junction of the choir 
 to the tower) of the choir. Strange to say, the walls of the 
 choir with the clerestory buttresses still exist ; but they were 
 faced internally with ashlar in the thirteenth century, except 
 the part which is in the triforium chamber. Moreover 
 so much of Wulfstan's crypt is left that we are able to restore 
 the plan of the Norman presbytery. It consisted of three 
 bays, ending in a semicircular apse, and encircled by a 
 procession path, from which probably radiated three apsidal 
 chapels, as at Gloucester. The nave was probably two bays 
 shorter than the present one ; and as its eastern bays were 
 appropriated by the choir and the two screens, what remained 
 to the west would be very short ; it is likely therefore that 
 it was not finished to the west. The transept was of the 
 * But this has been rebuilt or refaced in red sandstone.
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 407 
 
 same dimensions as at present. Since Bishop Samson, who 
 died in i r 12, was buried in front of the rood loft, and it was 
 common to bury a builder in view of his work, it is probable 
 that the eastern and central parts of the nave were built 
 during his episcopate ( 1096-1 1 1 2). Kven when completed 
 afterwards, the nave had but nine bays. The Norman 
 churches of Worcester, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Pershore, 
 
 FROM THK SKVKRN 
 
 Leominster, and others belong to a western school of 
 Romanesque quite distinct in origin from that which 
 produced such churches as Kly, Norwich, and Peterborough: 
 the western group is notable for the shortness of its nave 
 ;md its employment of cylindrical piers, as well as for its 
 predilection for the periapsidal plan. To simplify the 
 vaulting of the crypt by making the compartments as 
 small as possible, it was divided into more than a hundred
 
 408 
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 compartments. Owing to the curve of the apse many of 
 the compartments are not square; yet the difficulty of 
 vaulting triangles and trapeziums was successfully overcome, 
 even at this early date. When nearly all the other traditions 
 of Roman methods of construction had been lost, the 
 architects of mediaeval Christendom still retained in their 
 crypts the traditions of Roman vaulting. 
 
 THE SOUTH TRANSKI'T AND CHAPTER HOUSE 
 
 SKCOND PERIOD. To the first half of the twelfth century 
 belongs the circular Chapter house. Most monastic Chapter 
 houses were constructed in a rectangular form, which best 
 fitted on to the side of a cloister. J>ut the cathedrals of 
 Secular Canons, when they built Chapter houses, usually 
 followed the Worcester precedent, except that they were 
 built polygonal instead of circular. Such was the beauty, 
 however, of the new form, that the monastic houses also, in
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 409 
 
 later times, themselves frequently adopted the polygonal 
 form, as at Westminster, Evesham, Helvoir (Benedictine) : 
 Margam and Abbey Dore (Cistercian); Alnwick, Cocker- 
 sand, Thornton, Carlisle, Bridlington, Bolton (Canons 
 Regular). The polygonal (Chapter house never appears in 
 France ; it is one of the most beautiful features in English 
 Gothic. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. The fourth quarter of the twelfth century 
 was occupied with much important work. Its commence- 
 ment is marked by the record of the fall of the new tower, 
 "nova turris corruit." What was this new tower? It 
 may have been that Wulfstan's nave terminated in a single 
 western tower, as at Ely and Hereford ; but there is no 
 record of the building of it, nor any traces of it. It is far 
 more likely that this collapse in 1175 was of the central tower 
 begun by Wulfstan, but probably not completed till the 
 twelfth century. If so, it was at this time that the bays 
 adjoining the crossing were rebuilt or remodelled. It was 
 intended also to vault the whole of the central transept, 
 for vaulting-shafts are to be seen in the centre of each arm 
 of the transept and at the eastern corners. Now these 
 vaulting-shafts are of the same curious design as those 
 between the two western bays of the nave and its aisles ; 
 consisting of three shafts widely separated on either side 
 from a quirked three-quarter bowtell. On the west wall of 
 the south transept may be seen a trefoiled arch, which must 
 have stood in front of the arcade of the wall passage ; with 
 this trefoiled arcade may be compared that of the north 
 aisle of Lichfield choir. 
 
 At the same time the nave was completed to the west by 
 the addition of two bays, which still remain. These two 
 bays are a landmark in the history of English Gothic ; but 
 their great importance is hardly ever realised. We arc- 
 constantly told that St. Hugh's work at Lincoln is the "first 
 pure-, undefilcd Gothic" in England. But here at Worcester 
 is work considerably earlier than that of Lincoln. And 
 though in detail e.., the sculpture of the capitals and the 
 moldings Lincoln is far ahead, yet, as has been shewn
 
 410 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 above, it was built without high vaults. The work at 
 Worcester, on the other hand, was vaulted throughout. 
 The vault of the south aisle remains, and the vaulting-shafts 
 of that of the north aisle. Moreover, from the clerestory 
 passage the marks of a high vault are clearly seen. This 
 high vault no doubt remained till it was taken down by 
 Bishop Wakefield ; the tufa filling of the old vault seems, 
 however, to have been reused in the present vault. While 
 other builders were fumbling over vaulting problems, which 
 they were to continue fumbling over for another half century, 
 the whole theory was worked out at Worcester soon after 
 1175. The aisle is vaulted in oblong bays; the transverse 
 arches are not broader than the diagonals, as they are in the 
 contemporaneous vaults of Canterbury choir and in the aisle 
 vaults of Lincoln choir, but are of the same section ; the bays 
 of the vault are not domed as in the choirs of Canterbury 
 and Lincoln, but have level ridges ; there are wall arches 
 which, as in Lichfield choir, descend to the pavement 
 without shafts or bases ; most important of all, the narrow 
 arches, the transverse ones, are pointed, while the wide 
 diagonal ones are semicircular ; it is a Gothic vault fully 
 developed, except in the matter of the bosses ; but even in 
 the later work at Pershore the bosses are but tiny rosettes. 
 All this perfectioning of the vault is seen in the Lady chapel 
 at (llastonbury, begun in 1184 and consecrated two years 
 later, and in Bishop Reginald's work at Wells, begun c. 1 180. 
 Of the three the work at Wells is the most advanced ; 
 at Glastonbury much of the detail is Romanesque, especially 
 in the southern doorway. At Worcester, though the semi- 
 circular arch is banished from the ground story, yet it 
 reappears again and again in the triforium and clerestory, 
 where also is much /ig/ag and other Romanesque ornament. 
 At Wells the semicircular arch is expelled altogether. The 
 capitals of the Worcester work are of great interest; by far 
 the most common and characteristic is the "pollarded 
 willow/' very prevalent in St. David's cathedral, commenced 
 in 1180; this capital appears not only in the piers and 
 vaulting-shafts, but outside in the angle shafts of the
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 41! 
 
 buttresses, the doorway of the western slype, and that of 
 the southern entrance to the cloister ; it is common in the 
 contemporary work at Lichfield, and appears, foliated, at 
 Wells ; the most magnificent example of all is seen in the 
 east window of 1'ershore. Other capitals of this work at 
 Worcester are a plantain leaf, symmetrical acanthus, and 
 small knobby volutes. From the evidence of the capitals 
 one would conclude that the work is earlier than that at 
 Lichfield and Wells, and still earlier than that in the neigh- 
 bouring abbey church of 1'ershore. The pier again has not 
 been standardised as at Wells, Lichfield, and Pershore, to 
 which therefore a later date than that of Worcester must 
 be assigned. The Worcester piers indeed are ignorant of 
 the I'urbeck use ; the shafts by which they are encircled are 
 of coursed freestone ; but they are not arranged in triplets, 
 as in the other three churches ; the bases also are without 
 the water-holding molding, and the abaci are square. Kx- 
 ternally, the elevation is wholly Romanesque ; the clerestory 
 windows and the west windows (restored) of the triforium 
 are round-headed ; the wall is very thick, and the buttresses 
 run straight up into the parapet without any stages whatever. 
 Both the work in the transept and that at the west end of 
 the nave are of the same date, and none of it can be much 
 later than i 175. This work included a west front ; the wall 
 passages into which from the circular turret staircases, at tin- 
 levels of the triforium and clerestory respectively, remain, as 
 also parts of the external ground course. 
 
 It is to be noted that this West of England (lothic is not 
 only the earliest we possess, but is purely indigenous ; 
 there is not the slightest trace of French influence in it. 
 Xor if there were any such influence, could it have been 
 exercised at Worcester through copying the work of William 
 of Sens at Canterbury; for the Worcester work and the 
 Canterbury work were set out practically at the same 
 time. 
 
 To the same period belong the vaulted slype or parlour 
 in the west walk of the cloister, adjoining the church ; the 
 cellarage extending downwards towards the river; and the
 
 412 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 doorway leading from the college to the barrel-vaulted 
 passage by which the cloister is reached from the 
 south. 
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. The above work can barely have 
 been completed, when another calamity befell the church, 
 vi/,., a great fire in 1202 ; it was not till 1218 that the 
 church was re-dedicated. To have occupied sixteen years 
 the repairs must have been on a very large scale. Yet 
 there are no parts of the church now visible which bear 
 indications of important repairs of the periods 1202 and 
 1218. If, however, we penetrate into the darkness and 
 dirt of the triforium chambers, we shall find traces of 
 flying buttresses. In most cases the pockets of the vault 
 are filled with vast accumulations of powdery dust ; but in 
 some of the pockets are clearly seen stumps of masonry, 
 the upper surface of which is not horizontal but skewbacked ; 
 plainly it is the springer of a flying buttress. Moreover, 
 in the northern triforium there also remain the uppermost 
 courses (skewbacked) of some of the flying buttresses. 
 On the inner wall, moreover, behind the piers, are disturbed 
 surfaces of masonry in which plainly were once bonded in 
 the heads of flying buttresses. There must therefore once 
 have been in each triforium chamber a whole row of 
 internal flying buttresses, like those which still exist at 
 Wells, and those which formerly existed at Pershore, but 
 which, with one exception, have been removed. When 
 were they put up ? Certainly not in Wulfstan's church, 
 for flying buttresses were not then known. Moreover, his 
 clerestory buttresses are cut into to receive their heads. 
 Nor did they belong to the present choir ; for if they had 
 been built to transmit the thrusts of its high vault, they 
 would certainly not have been removed. It follows that 
 since they do not belong either to the work begun in 1084 
 or to that begun in 1224, they must belong to that necessi- 
 tated by the fire of 1202. On this evidence we conclude 
 that the work done between 1202 and 1218 was none other 
 than the repairing and vaulting of the Norman presbytery, 
 central span as well as aisles, And it was this presbytery,
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 413 
 
 finished in 1218, which controlled the design of that which 
 was commenced some twenty years later, and which to a 
 large extent is hut the previous work recased. 
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. At length the tide turned in the fortunes 
 of Worcester. The body of St. Wulfstan, after lying dormant 
 for more than a century, began to work miracles. Pilgrims 
 came in crowds. It was the age of pilgrimages. Even 
 King John came with offerings ; and his body was brought 
 here for burial in 1216. With the pilgrims came the need 
 for more accommodation in the eastern limb of the church, 
 and from the pilgrims no doubt came the money to provide 
 it; in 1224 it was found necessary to make a final agree- 
 ment between Bishop Blois and the convent as to 
 equitable distribution of the receipts from the offerings 
 at St. Wulfstan's shrine. It was resolved to wholly rebuild 
 the eastern arm of the church, and to extend it to the east. 
 Similar eastern extensions with funds provided from similar 
 sources were going on elsewhere. Winchester cathedral was 
 not long enough to provide for the crowds who re-sorted to 
 the shrine of St. Swithun, the Healer ; Rochester had 
 turned a Scotch baker into St. William of Perth, and had 
 to provide eastward extensions ; Ely had to rebuild its 
 presbytery to give room to the votaries who came from all 
 East Anglia to venerate St. Etheldreda ; Durham erected 
 the Chapel of the Nine Altars to accommodate those who 
 flocked from all northern England to the shrine of St. 
 Cuthbert; Canterbury crypt spacious as it was was too 
 strait for the pilgrims who came from all over Christendom 
 to worship the relics of its murdered archbishop ; both 
 Lincoln and St. Albans were crowded out, and later in 
 the century were to build eastward in honour of St. Hugh 
 and St. Alban. St. Wulfstan. while his repute was fresh, 
 was for a time exceedingly popular. 
 
 The new work is remarkable in plan. The Canterbury 
 precedent of removing the stalls into the eastern limb, where 
 they are now, was not followed : they remained in the 
 crossing and the easternmost bay of the nave till the reign 
 of Queen Mary. If the plinths of this eastern bay be
 
 414 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 examined, it will be seen that they are higher than those 
 to the west ; which argues that the pavement on which the 
 stalls stood was at a higher level than at present. (The 
 steps leading up to the present stalls are modern in arrange- 
 ment.) The High altar stood in the same bay as at present, 
 but further forward, occupying the same position as at 
 Salisbury, Southwell, Heverley, and Pershore, i.e., in a line 
 with the eastern transepts. That the altar platform was at 
 about the same height as at present is shewn by the level 
 of the sill of the doorway leading on to it from Prince 
 Arthur's chantry chapel. The presbytery consisted of no 
 less than five bays, not including the space between the 
 eastern tower piers. What did the monks want with so 
 long a presbytery as this, and why did they keep their stalls 
 out of it? The reason is that they had to provide space 
 in it (i) for the High altar ; (2) for the " medium " or matins 
 altar, employed for other services than that of High Mass : 
 (3) for the tomb of King John : and (4) for the shrines 
 of two great local saints, St. Oswald and St. Wulfstan. It 
 was no doubt the latter consideration which turned the 
 scale. They might indeed, like other people, have built 
 a Feretory for the local saints at the back of the High altar. 
 Hut for more than a century St. Oswald and St. Wulfstan 
 had been lying in front of the High altar, one on each side. 
 In just the same position at Canterbury lay the bodies of 
 two other local saints, the martyred Archbishop Alphege 
 and St. Dunstan. When Canterbury choir was rebuilt in 
 1 175, the bodies of the two archbishops were re-buried in the 
 same position : a Feretory indeed was built, but it was not 
 for them, but for St. Thomas of Canterbury. So it was at 
 Worcester. It was arranged to rebury its two bishops 
 in the same relative position as before. If we could see 
 Worcester presbytery again as it was finished c. 1260 we 
 should find King John's tomb moved to the position now 
 occupied by it : the effigy, however, painted, not gilt : on the 
 north, attached to the corner pier of the eastern transept, 
 we should see the shrine of St. Oswald, on the south, 
 similarly placed, that of St. Wulfstan : both would have small
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 415 
 
 altars at their west end, like that now attached to St. 
 Edward's shrine at Westminster. 
 
 The hay east of that containing the High altar would 
 he the procession patli ; and to the east of it was built a 
 Lady chapel * three hays deep; it was flanked by aisles only 
 two buys deep, each screened off from the Lady chapel and 
 containing an altar ; its own easternmost bay was not aisled, 
 in order to get side light on the altar. Moreover, to 
 obtain more altars still, eastern transepts were thrown out. 
 All these eastern parts, instead of being low as at Pershore, 
 Hereford, Salisbury, Wells, Winchester, rise to the same- 
 height as the presbytery, in this agreeing with Lincoln 
 and Beverley. The plan much resembles that worked out 
 a generation earlier at Rochester; but at Rochester the 
 easternmost compartment was to be used as presbyter}', and 
 therefore the Norman crypt had to be extended eastward 
 in order to keep it up to the level of the work to the west ; 
 otherwise the High altar would have been in a hole and 
 invisible. At Worcester, on the other hand, the new 
 presbytery was built on the top of the ancient crypt, which 
 therefore did not need to be extended eastward. The 
 result is that the Worcester Lady chapel and procession 
 path are at a low level, to which one descends by a flight 
 of six steps. Consequently the piers and arches here are 
 considerably loftier than those of the presbyter}-, and pro- 
 portionately more impressive. The arches are also ot 
 narrower span, because it was unnecessary to give the 
 procession path the breadth of the bays ot the presbytery. 
 Consequently again the eastern are more acutely pointed 
 than the western arches of the eastern limb, and propor- 
 tionately more graceful ; the latter tend to the proportions 
 which prevail in the pier arcade ot Lincoln nave; the 
 former to those of Westminster and Wells. Faking it as 
 
 There i.s no documentary evidence a.- to the dedication or u>e o| 
 this chapel; hut a chapel so >paciou-> and dignified can hardly ha\e 
 l.een provided except lor the services of Our Lady, \\hich \\oiild I.e 
 attended hv the \\hole liody of monks, and for which a lari;c amount 
 of accommodation would he required.
 
 416 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 a whole, the design of the eastern bays of Worcester is one 
 of the most successful in the Middle Ages. As at Beverley, 
 the triforium chamber is masked by a solid wall ornamented 
 by two arcades of unequal height ; at Worcester both 
 arcades are pointed ; the more beautiful design of Beverley 
 has a trefoiled arcade in front of a pointed one ; at 
 Worcester the solid wall of the choir triforium is that of 
 the choir dedicated in 1218, masked and ornamented with 
 a double arcade ; the Norman piers and arches were taken 
 out and replaced by new ones without taking down the 
 Norman walling above them ; a similar, but still more 
 remarkable transformation was going on, almost contem- 
 poraneously, in Lincoln choir. Moreover the high vault 
 at Worcester springs from the sill of the clerestory ; while 
 that of Beverley, springing at a higher level, greatly increases 
 the apparent height and lightness of the design. But if 
 the Worcester design must yield to that of Beverley, it 
 yields to nothing else of the period. 
 
 There is documentary evidence that the eastern part of 
 the work was begun in 1224. Moreover in that same year 
 Bishop Blois built a charnel house north of the western 
 bays of the nave ; evidently because the first part of the 
 work was built in the monks' cemetery, and it was necessary 
 to provide for the reburial of bodies which had been dis- 
 interred. The date of the new work has sometimes been 
 fixed at 1 20 1, the year when the miracles at St. Wulfstan's 
 shrine are recorded to have commenced ; but the high 
 vaults both of the Lady chapel and the eastern transepts 
 have well-managed longitudinal ridge ribs, which, even at 
 Lincoln, were not in use till c. 1230. It is not known when 
 the presbytery was finished ; but since there lie buried side 
 by side in front of the altar of the Lady chapel Bishop 
 Blois and his successor Bishop Cantelupe,* it is to be 
 
 * The authority for this is Noake in his Monastery of Worcester, p. 
 344, who merely says that these "two effigies on the floor of the Lady 
 chapel are supposed to be those of Blois and Cantelupe.'' On the other 
 hand Thomas, p. 134, says that Cantelupe was buried near the High 
 altar.
 
 VVOKCESTKK CATIIKDKAL 417 
 
 concluded that they were regarded as co-founders, and that 
 the presbytery was finished during the episcopate of the 
 latter, i.e., between 1237 and 1266. The fact also that sixty 
 marks came from Bishop Nicholas in 1280 for the rebuilding 
 of the tower looks as if at that date money were no longer 
 required for the presbytery. We may take 1260 as an 
 approximate date for the completion of the presbytery. 
 
 When the eastern portions were complete there would be 
 for some time a stoppage of the works while the masons 
 were taking down the upper portion of the presbytery of 
 1202-1218 to make room for the present one. That there 
 was such a stoppage is proved by several differences of 
 treatment; e.g., the eastern portion has a roll, the western 
 a hollow in the soffit of the transverse arches of the vaulting. 
 One of the most marked features in the new work, as in 
 Lincoln choir, Salisbury, and Beverley, is the great use of 
 detached shafts of Purbeck marble. These were not added 
 till the time of Bishop Giffard (1268-1301). If they had 
 been added at the time when the piers were built, then, 
 being monoliths, they would have settled much less than 
 their central cores, which are in courses of freestone with 
 mortar joints; and as more and more weight was superposed 
 on them with the growing height of the building, would 
 certainly have been shattered. As a rule marble annulets 
 were constructed at the same time as the piers ; and 
 when the time came, the shafts were fitted into these. 
 Where the Purbeck shafts consisted of more than one piece, 
 it was customary, as at Waverley abbey, to insert a sheet 
 of lead in the joints to give a certain amount of play ; then 
 the joints were encircled with copper rings; as at Salisbury. 
 To keep the shafts upright, they were cramped to the free 
 stone core by dowels with a tang. In the great use of 
 Purbeck marble Worcester acknowledges the influence of 
 the Canterbury school. But in its abutment system it is 
 wholly Romanesque ; lor it is without flying buttresses, 
 except those constructed between 1736 and i 789, and the 
 external buttresses are vertical, without stages, and of little 
 projection : the builders relied for abutment simply on the
 
 41 8 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 thickness of the earlier walls ; it is surprising that a building 
 of such unscientific construction should not have collapsed ; 
 old prints shew indeed that the east wall of the Lady chapel 
 did fail, and was long propped up by flying buttresses. 
 
 Externally the influence of the Western school of Gothic 
 is seen in the poverty-stricken ground course and windows, 
 as well as in the unstaged buttresses and the absence of 
 external fliers. 
 
 Internally the liberality of the pilgrims is shewn not only 
 in the largeness of scale of the new work, but in the wealth 
 of detail. Especially noteworthy is the lovely arcading 
 running round the eastern walls ; the sculpture in the 
 spandrels, where genuine, is of exceptional interest ; in 
 addition to scriptural subjects there are many creatures 
 from the Bestiaries, including the amphisbasna and the 
 crocodile. 
 
 Externally the design reminds one of Salisbury, begun in 
 1220, in the studied avoidance of external detail ; internally, 
 e.g., in the north aisle, the internal treatment of the windows 
 is interesting and diversified ; externally the windows are 
 (mite plain. 
 
 On the south side of the present choir is the Sacristy, and 
 south of it, in 1377, was built a Treasury, approached from 
 the Sacristy by a staircase. This sacristy has ignorantly 
 been restored as a chapel, and has been given the name of 
 St. John's chapel, simply because it contained an altar. 
 Hut most sacristies, even in parish churches, contained an 
 altar ; sometimes the novices were taught the services at it ; 
 at St. Paul's cathedral such of the canons as were sick or 
 desired to say their Hours privately were allowed to do so 
 in the sacrist}-. There was a similar building on the north 
 side of the present choir, the upper part of which was the 
 sacrist's lodging. There still remains a pretty oriel window 
 in the north aisle from which the sacrist commanded a view 
 of the presbytery ; his chamber therefore served as a 
 Watching loft. 
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. When the remodelling of the choir of 
 1202-1218 was complete, the next thing would be to rebuild
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 419 
 
 the lower portion of the central tower. For this, as we 
 have seen, money was left in i 280. 
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. The cost of the Novum Opus must 
 have been very great, and may well have left the convent in 
 debt. At any rate there is no record of any more building 
 
 till the fourteenth century, when Bishop Cobham (1317- 
 i ^27) commenced the reconstruction of the north side of 
 the nave. For himself he built a chantry chapel and was 
 buried therein. This chapel, afterwards styled the Jesus 
 chapel, and the adjoining bays of the aisle are vaulted in 
 28
 
 420 WORCKSTKR CATIIKDRAL 
 
 tufa, as are the whole of the eastern limb of the cathedral 
 and the two western hays of the nave. 
 
 After Cobham's death the polychromatic treatment of the 
 arches ceases : the ugly design of his bases is abandoned : 
 and the web of the aisle vault is built in ashlar, ]>erhaps 
 because the supply of tufa had come to an end. To the 
 period between 1327 and the Black Death of 1349 may be 
 assigned the whole of the ashlar vaulting of the north aisle 
 of the nave, the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh bays 
 of the ground story, counting from the east, and the third, 
 fourth, and fifth bays of the triforium and clerestory. 
 The sixth and seventh bays of the latter were left unfinished ; 
 it will be seen that in design these resemble the work on 
 the south side of the nave ; nor was the tracery inserted as 
 yet in the clerestory windows. A curious mixture of work 
 results. In the second pier from the west of the north nave 
 there remain the vaulting-shafts of the Xorman church ; the 
 two western bays are c. 1175 ; but in the adjoining two 
 bays to the east the ground story is 1317-1327, while the 
 triforium and clerestory are 1375-1394. Bishop Cobham's 
 design is hardly typical of the period. With that tenderness 
 for older design which one sees at this time at Ely, St. 
 Albans, Beverley, and Westminster, the architect has sup- 
 pressed his individual preferences, and designed his work 
 so as to be a nice transition from the twelfth-century bays 
 near the west front to the thirteenth-century bays of the 
 presbytery ; so his piers and clerestory are a version of the 
 work immediately to the west of him, while his triforium is 
 a repeat of that of the presbyter}-. 
 
 It is noteworthy that the fourteenth century was marked 
 by the adoption of a new building material, red sandstone. 
 The Norman builders up to c. 1150 had employed a grey 
 friable sandstone ; those of the last half of the twelfth and 
 the first half of the thirteenth century both employed a free- 
 stone of uncertain provenance. 
 
 In the ante-room of the library is preserved part of 
 a door of the cathedral (fourteenth century), under one 
 of the hinires of which were authentic fragments of the
 
 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 421 
 
 skin of sonic poor wretch flayed alive tor sacrilege ; these 
 are now in a glass ease in the north-east transept. The 
 great Cluest Hall, now in ruins, had been built in 
 1320. 
 
 EIGHTH I'KRIOD. Before the 1 new work on the north 
 side was joined up to the western bays of the nave money 
 seems to have become scarce at Worcester. Perhaps 
 pilgrims had begun to desert St. \\ ullstan for newer if not 
 holier saints. Hitherto St. Wulfstan had had a monopoly 
 in the West country. There was not another saint of equal 
 efficacy till you reached Win- 
 chester. Hut in 1287 Bishop 
 Cantilupe began to bring the 
 dead to life at Hereford; 
 and in 1327 Edward II. was 
 buried at Gloucester, and 
 miracles soon followed there 
 also. So Worcester now had 
 rival miracle - workers on 
 either side. More-over, in 
 i 349 came the Black 1 >eath, 
 and little can have been dour 
 for several years alter. At 
 length, however, the work 
 was resumed. First the 
 cl< lister was rebuilt and gla/cd 
 c. 1372; the bosses of the 
 
 vault are of singular interest ; those in the south walk con- 
 tain a Jesse Tree: the north walk is practically an open-air 
 I.ady chapel; for on the bosses are carved adoring angel* 
 turning towards the central boss, where sit the Mother and 
 Child. The upper part of the central tower was built c. 
 1^74: it is noteworthy that it is 1 1/> ft. from the east and 
 wist ends of the church, and 196 ft. to the top of it> 
 pinnacles. 
 
 NINTH I'KRIOD. Then came a vigorous bishop who 
 greatly accelerated the work, Henry Wakefield. 1375 CVM- 
 The gaps in the triforium and clerestory of the north nave 
 
 TIIK NORTH- WKVr < OKM-.K 
 < >!' Till. Cl.nlSTKK
 
 422 WORCESTER CATHEDRAL 
 
 were filled up, and the whole of the south side, up to the 
 two western bays of c. 1175, was rebuilt, and the west front 
 remodelled ; in the southern clerestory are curious straight- 
 sided arches, as in Boxgrove Priory church, the vestibule of 
 the Westminster Chapter house and Hereford north transept. 
 The south aisle has a rich lierne vault, pretty enough when 
 set out on plan, but a failure when seen in perspective. 
 The south aisle wall was now raised, and the present large 
 windows were inserted. The high vault of the nave was 
 also completed ; it is of the same type as that of West- 
 minster choir. Since the stall work in the two easternmost 
 bays of the nave was begun in 1375 and put up in 1379, it 
 follows that at any rate the eastern part of the high vault 
 was completed by the latter year ; this is borne out by the 
 fact that there are records of vaulting going on in 1376 
 and 1377. It was in this period no doubt that the high 
 vault of the two western bays of the nave was replaced by 
 the present one; partly perhaps because it was about 2\ ft. 
 lower than the vault to the east, partly to get headway for 
 the new west window, of which the date is 1380. The 
 north porch was added in 1386. To the same period 
 belongs the Watergate, built in 1378, leading down to the 
 ancient ferry over the Severn, still in use (from the opposite 
 bank is one of the finest views in England) ; also the Great 
 Gatehouse or Edgar Tower was probably now remodelled. 
 The Refectory, now the School Hall, is recorded to have 
 been built with the cloister in 1372 ; the flowing tracery 
 of its windows looks earlier, but much work at Wor- 
 cester of the last half of the fourteenth century belongs 
 in style to the first half. The east wall of the refectory, 
 on which is a Majestas of the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 centuries, is of Norman date. The refectory is built on the 
 cellarage of the old Norman refectory ; below is some 
 groined vaulting, with barrel vaults to the east, and two fine 
 Norman piers. 
 
 TENTH PERIOD. By the end of the fourteenth century 
 the great task of rebuilding the church had been completed, 
 and little was done or needed to be done up to the dis-
 
 WORCESTER CATHKDRAL 423 
 
 solution of the abbey in 1540. The circular Chapter house 
 was converted externally into a polygon in order to compen- 
 sate for tile weakening of the walls by the insertion of large 
 windows. The chief work was the erection in 1504 of the 
 magnificent chantry chapel of Prince Arthur, eldest son of 
 Henry VII., who died at Ludlow castle in 1502, and was 
 brought here for burial in what was regarded as one of 
 the holiest spots in England, because of the neighbourhood 
 of the shrines of St. Oswald and St. Wulfstan : the reredos 
 of the chapel, though mutilated, is of much interest; 
 indeed all the detail of this chapel is of fine design and 
 execution, and merits careful study. King John had 
 been reburied between the two patron saints, thereby ful- 
 filling an old prophecy, '''inter sanctos collocabititr" ; probably 
 his effigy was then flush with the pavement ; the pedestal 
 on which it now rests was erected between 1520 and 
 .522. 
 
 ELEVENTH PERIOD. The chief Jacobean addition is 
 the fine stone pulpit, formerly surmounted by a sound- 
 ing-board. As it bears the arms of Scotland, it cannot 
 be earlier than the Union of Scotland and England ; it 
 is probably c. 1640. It formerly stood in the nave, 
 and the Mayor and Corporation bitterly complained 
 when Archbishop Laud had it removed ; it was placed 
 in its present position between 1747 and 1/56. The 
 Worcester folk were at all times inordinately fond ot 
 preaching; and even in pre- Reformation days had open-air 
 sermons at a preaching cross, which formerly stood north 
 of the nave. 
 
 TWKI.FTH PERIOD. In modern days Worcester has been 
 embellished with various furniture by Sir (lilbert Scott - the 
 reredos, the nave pulpit, the choir screen ; to his credit it 
 deserves to be recorded that what he wished himself was 
 not tin 1 present flimsy screen, but a double screen carrying 
 an organ. The font and tout cover are by Mr llodlcy. 
 The lesus chapel has a noble screen and rood by Mr 1\. A. 
 P>riggs. P)Ul the great " restoration "-the most drastic to 
 which any of our cathedrals has been subjected was that
 
 424 WORCESTER CATIIKDRAI. 
 
 carried out by Mr Perkins from 1X57 onwards. Internally 
 many of the foliated capitals and much of the figure sculpture 
 are modern ; externally, as was inevitable from the decay 
 of the soft red sandstone, the whole surface has been 
 recased ; it was not necessary, however, to recase it with 
 horrible machine-dressed masonry. It is, however, when 
 one looks at Hritton's fine print of the exterior that one 
 realises that the greater pun of the external design, and 
 not merely the masonry, has been swept away ; all the four 
 fronts, west, east, north, and south, are entirely modern 
 compositions ; all the pretty tracery in the lancet windows 
 has, as in the west front of Ripon, been ruthlessly cut 
 out ; and though there was money galore for destruction 
 and forgery and for gaudy abominations of alabaster and 
 brass, there was not money enough to replace the cheap, 
 mean, and contemptible roof of slate put up c. ryeji, a 
 disgrace to the cathedral and the city. Hut though much 
 is lost, much remains ; artistically as well as archcCologically, 
 the cathedral is of the very greatest interest : and it 
 must in fairness be admitted that the eastern facade of 
 the Lady chapel, and the northern and southern facades 
 of the eastern transepts, all by Mr Perkins, are genuine 
 successes. 
 
 TOUR OF THE CLOISTER. Starting at the eastern pro- 
 cession door of the cloister we reach (i) the inner slype or 
 parlour: (beyond which is the ruined (luest Hall, in whose 
 windows beautiful tracer}- lingers; its fine roof has been put 
 up in Holy Trinity church near Shrub Hill railway station) : 
 (2) the Chapter house : (3) the late twelfth-century entry to 
 the cloister from the outer court, which contains to the east 
 the (ireat Catehouse or Edgar Tower, and to the west the 
 Watergate; (4) the refectory, now the King's cathedral 
 school, in the south walk; (5) the lavatory, in the west 
 walk ; (6) west of this walk, at right angles to it, and 
 extending down to the river, was the monks' dormitory and 
 rere-dorter on the first floor, with cellarage below : (/) at the 
 end of this walk is the fine vaulted slype or outer parlour, 
 with the night stairs in it from the dormitory : (<S) hard by
 
 WOKCKSTKR CAT! I KDRAL 425 
 
 is the western door by which proees.^ions re-entered the 
 nave. 
 
 UllM. H MiKAl'llY. Professor Willis' papers mi tin- cathedral and 
 m< mastery in vol. \\. of the Architectural Journal. 
 
 Littlelniry's (iiiiiic d> the Ci/y <>/ IViiircstci' contains a chapter on the 
 cathedral by ('anon Wilson. 
 
 Monograph by the Honourable Mis ( )'( Irady on ihe Sacristy; also 
 paper on Bishop Cobhani in the //'<?;< v.v/V;- Architologieal .S'/v/</i''\ 
 Transactions. 
 
 HloxainVs paper on the monuments in Gent Italians .l/ii^'ti:i>ii\ 
 October ISOJ.
 
 THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH 
 OF ST. PETER, YORK. 
 
 BUILT FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 I. "\7"()RK. Minster has had many predecessors Romano 
 J British, Saxon, Xorman,and Transitional cathedrals. 
 I-'roni the first period nothing survives, unless it 
 be two walls of herring-bone masonry in the crypt. Little 
 remains of Norman work except in the western portion of 
 the crypt. In the centre of the crypt are fine fragments 
 of the substructure of the choir of Archbishop Roger (i 154- 
 i i Si) whose work is seen at Ripon. The present cathedral 
 is mainly of three periods. The great transept was built^ 
 between 1230 and 1260: the nave, Chapter house, and 
 vestibule between 1291 and 1324; the retro-choir, choir, 
 and towers between 1361 and 1474. But though the work 
 is of three periods, it is practically of only two designs, the 
 choir and retro-choir being only a later version of the design 
 of the nave. 
 
 II. As at Lichfield and Wells, the canons of York in the 
 end left not a fragment of the earlier work visible above 
 ground. They must have had vast resources at their dis- 
 posal, in addition to what they received in offerings at the 
 shrine of the local saint, St. William of York. He died 
 in 1 1 5_|, after working thirty-six miracles, a list of which used 
 to hang up in the vestry : he was canonised in 1227. It 
 was soon after the latter date that the rebuilding of the 
 cathedral commenced : and it is not unreasonable to believe 
 that the offerings from his shrine had something to do with 
 the vastness of scale on which the new work was planned : 
 the new transept being not only exceptional both in height
 
 YORK CATHEDRAL 
 
 427 
 
 I AKCUP GRAY 
 EARCHf 5ELWAL DC BOVILL 
 3AKCHP GREErtFIELO 
 4ARCH'" VtRMON HAKCOUKT 
 5HAXEYS TOMB 
 
 CD TO ARCH 1 " ROGER. 
 " WM DE HATFIELD 
 3 ARC HP SAVAGL. 
 'JTOMB OF ARCH P 3CROPE-. 
 lOARCH' ROTHERMAM 
 
 II LFFIGY OF ARCH r MATTME.W 
 12 UNKMOVh 
 
 IJ ARCHf BOWET 
 K TOMB OF ARCH P MATTHE.W. 
 IS CENOTAPH OF ARCHf MARKHAM. 
 lt> ARCH' MUSGRAVL
 
 428 YORK CATHEDRAL 
 
 and breadth, but also in having aisles on the western as 
 well as on the eastern side an extravagance unknown in 
 our Gothic cathedrals, except at Wells and Old St. Paul's. 
 It is amusing to find the double-aisled transept in the sub- 
 cathedral of Beverley Minster. There seems to have been 
 an internecine rivalry between the canons of Beverley and 
 York. Both churches have double aisles to the central 
 transepts : both continue in full height to the east end ; 
 both have western towers ; and though Beverley has no 
 central tower, it has by compensation an aisled eastern 
 transept, where York has but transeptal aisle 3. Moreover, 
 the high vaults of Beverley are of stone. In beauty of 
 proportions and of detail in everything but scale Beverley 
 has much the best of it. 
 
 FIRST PKRIOD. The south transept was built c. 1230 
 1241, the north transept 1241-] 260. The facade of the 
 south transept is confused and commonplace, overloaded 
 with ornament, and cut up too much with wiiiduwji ; that o_f_ 
 ~the north transept with the Five Sisters--is of noble 
 simplicity. In the south transept is the beautiful monument 
 of Archbishop Gray (1216-1255), the builder also of Ripon 
 west front and Southwell choir. "The view which is pre-_ 
 sented to the visitor on entering this transept is without 
 doubt the finest in the cathedral. The magnificent spacious- 
 ness of the transept, the majesty of the lofty lancets which 
 nearly fill the north gable, the solemn light struggling through 
 their ancient diapered glass, the vastness of the central 
 tower with its unrivalled lantern vaulted at a height of i So ft. 
 above the pavement, combine to produce an impression 
 fully sustaining the great reputation of the minster." In 
 proportions, the design of the transept is not a success ; the 
 elevation dwindles away upward, the triforium being made- 
 far too large at the expense of the clerestory. In itself the 
 triforium is a very fine composition, only there is not room 
 for it, nor is it in harmony either with the pier arcade below 
 or the clerestory above. It is the largest and most complex 
 triforium in the country ; consisting of two pairs of acute 
 lancets below, set under two acute lancet arches, which
 
 YORK CATIIKDKAL 
 
 420 
 
 again are set undur an outer arch almost semicircular. A 
 similar design is seen in \Vhitby choir. This was the last 
 big triforium arcade built in England (save the exceptional 
 one in Ely choir). There had always been a feeling in 
 favour of the diminution of the triforium. Even in the 
 twelfth-century naves of Tewkesbury and Gloucester the 
 triforium had been cut down to very small proportions ; in 
 l.everley choir the triforium is greatly attenuated; and very 
 soon afterwards it 
 is to be seen near- 
 ing extinction in 
 Exeter choir and 
 in the nave of York 
 itself. 
 
 The proportions 
 of the transept are 
 ruined by the low- 
 ness of the clere- 
 story ; at Westmin- 
 ster the triforium 
 is only half the 
 height of the clere- 
 story : here; the tri- 
 forium is the loftier 
 of the two. Nor 
 was it meant to be 
 any higher than it 
 is at present : for 
 in the triforium 
 
 spandrels there are the springers of a stone vault, which, if it 
 had ever been put up, would have risen no higher than the 
 lop of the present clerestory wall. How the transept* were 
 roofed at first is not known: probably with some form ot 
 roof resting on the clerestory walls. Jn the fifteenth century 
 the present wooden ceiling was put up : its ribs are mainlv 
 decorative : it is in reality a pointed tunnel vault with lunette* 
 cut into it to give 1 passage to the light from the clerestory 
 windows. Externally one sees traces of the influence ot 
 
 THK NORTH THAN si: IT
 
 430 YORK CATHKDRAL 
 
 Lincoln Minster; in the clerestory the abacus is continued 
 so as to form a string-course, and each bay contains three 
 lancet lights ; while the bays of the aisle contain two lancets, 
 separated by small chamfered buttresses receiving the 
 thrust, as at Lincoln, of the intermediate rib of the quinque- 
 partite vault of the aisle. Here, as at Lincoln and in the 
 eastern transept of Durham, we see in the marble shafting 
 the incursion of the south-eastern style of Canterbury choir. 
 SECOND PERIOD. When the transept was completed, 
 York minster consisted of a spacious transept, a late twelfth 
 century choir of the character of that of Ripon, and a 
 Norman nave.. When the work of rebuilding was resumed, 
 the choir, which was spacious, was spared once more, and 
 the canons proceeded to take down and rebuild the Norman 
 nave, laying the foundation stone in 1291, and beginning at 
 the south-east. The new nave is so exceedingly broad and 
 lofty that it may well have been built round and over the 
 top of the old Norman nave. The money came from 
 ^^Indulgences, penances, briefs, bequests, and offerings at 
 the shrine of St. William," which was at that time in the 
 Norman nave, and which it would be very desirable not to 
 disturb. The nave, like the whole minster, is exceedingly 
 impressive in the vastness of its spaces : no building of such 
 dimensions could fail to be impressive. Its proportions, 
 however, are not good. The broadest cathedral nave in 
 England (its span is 45 ft.), and the loftiest (it is nearly 
 ioo ft. high), it ought to be one of the longest, which it is 
 not. Matters are made worse, as in Lincoln nave, by the 
 wide spacing of the piers, the result of which is to reduce 
 the apparent length of the nave. It contains only eight 
 bays. Had it been divided into ten or more bays, it would 
 have looked far longer. It was designed not so much on 
 architectural lines as a glass house. The canons wanted the 
 greatest possible breadths of stained glass in aisles and 
 clerestory. The error in the proportions was corrected in 
 the choir, which, though no longer than the nave, has nine- 
 bays instead of eight. The exceptional height and breadth 
 of the nave made it very costly ; and the funds plainly ran
 
 YORK CATHEDRAL 43 I 
 
 short, for, though begun in 1291, it was not ceiled till 
 c. 1354. To make matters worse, the canons were building 
 a new Chapter house and vestibule at the same time as the 
 
 nave: so that funds may well have tailed. Nevertheless, at 
 Kly equally large works were completed before 1360, though 
 they were not commenced till 1321. and were executed with 
 much greater richness of detail than at York.
 
 432 YORK CATHEDRAL 
 
 Another feature which shows that the York canons had 
 started their work without considering whether they would 
 be able to finish it, is the omission of a stone vault, which 
 was plainly contemplated at the outset ; the pThnacTes builF_ 
 for the purpose of weighTTng_ the buttresses against the 
 thrusts of a stone vault still exist on the south side. 
 When the north side was built, the canons had abandoned 
 hope of vaulting the nave in stone, and so did not put 
 up big pinnacles,) It is well to remember, however, that 
 the exterior of the nave was designed originally to have 
 flying buttresses and big pinnacles on both sides. Flying 
 buttresses have lately been built on both sides of the nave. 
 In the end, as in Selby choir, a sham vault of wood was 
 put up. One cannot help regretting these shams. It 
 would have been Gothic to recognise honestly that the 
 ceiling was wood, and to design it in wood and not in 
 lithic fashion. Then we might have seen an English 
 Gothic cathedral with such a hammerbeam roof as that 
 of Westminster Hall: very magnificent it would have 
 been. 
 
 The design of the nave is the very reverse of that of 
 the transept. The Purbeck marble use disappears ; and 
 the builders reverted to the freestone clustered columns 
 which no doubt were then standing in the choir of the 
 minster, and which still remain in that of Ripon. And 
 whereas in the transept the triforium had been im- 
 portant and the clerestory insignificant, in the nave the 
 clerestory nearly crushes the tnionum out of existence, 
 as in the contemporary work at Ivxcter. To reduce the 
 height of the triforium stage, the lean-to roof is much 
 flattened ; to minimise its importance, a blank wall is 
 built in front of it, and the jambs and clerestory mullions 
 of the windows are brought down to the sill of the 
 triforium. A similar device had been adopted in the 
 subcathedral at Southwell, c. 1233: and at St. I )avid's, 
 c. 1190. The result is, to the eye, to make the internal 
 elevation one of two stories, instead of the traditional three. 
 The nave was finished in 13-4: its west window was not
 
 YORK CATIIKDRAI. 
 
 433 
 
 gla/.ed till 1338; the wooden vault was not put up till 
 f- '354- 
 
 THIRD PKRIOD. Side by side with the nave went up 
 the Chapter house. It is rather later in character than its 
 sister at Southwell, and can be but little earlier than the 
 Chapter house of Wells. Kxternally, it is provided with 
 buttresses and pinnacles and flying buttresses and flying 
 bridges to resist the thrusts of a stone vault. Yet no stone 
 vault is there, but another sham vault of wood. The 
 detail of the 
 Chapter house, 
 inside' and out- 
 side, is of ex- 
 quisite beaut}-. 
 
 At first the 
 Chapter house' 
 was a detached 
 building, but 
 since some' of its 
 external mold- 
 ings are now in- 
 side' the vesti- 
 bule, the' latter 
 must have been 
 adeled later. 
 The- Chapter 
 house is dated 
 by Professor 
 Willis at ('. i 320 : 
 
 and Mr Charles Winston was of opinion that the 1 glass in the 
 Chapter house 1 and vestibule was of the time of Kdward II.. 
 and the 1 earl}' years of Kdxvard III.: some of the- glass, 
 however, is earlier than 1307. 
 
 FIH-RTII PI.RIOD. In 1361 the archbishop and chapter 
 put it on record that "it is right that the- choir" (i.e.. the 
 presbytery) "where the holv sacrifice of the mass took 
 place', should be 1 especially rich in ornament." Then 1 were 
 no doubt other reasons whv an eastern extension was
 
 434 
 
 YORK CATHEDRAL
 
 KDKAI, 435 
 
 desirable. Archbishop ROOT'S choir did not contain a 
 Lady chapel (there is some evidence that he built a 
 Lady chapel detached from the' church, as at \Vclls, on 
 the north side of the Norman nave ; and that this Lady 
 chapel had to be pulled down to make room for the north 
 aisle of the nave of 1291): also Archbishop William had 
 been canonised in 1227, and a separate feretory was 
 needed lor him ; moreover, procession path and eastern 
 altars were mixed up in the eastern aisle. 
 
 At hrst only the eastern part of Archbishop Roger's work 
 was pulled down, the services going on without interruption 
 in the western bays. The four new eastern bays have the 
 peculiarity of having an external instead of an internal 
 arcade to the clerestory ; this gives a fine play of light 
 and shadow; the date of this part of the work is 1361 to 
 c. 1370. 
 
 Then, between <\ 1380 and r. 1400 the five western bays 
 wen- built. Owing to the continuation of the high roofs to 
 the extreme east end of the cathedral, there is little of the 
 picturesqueiiess of the eastern terminations of \Vells and 
 Salisbury, but, as at Old St. Paul's, Ely, Lincoln, there is a 
 lolly spaciousness that is wonderfully impressive. The 
 design of the eastern limb is but a repeat ol that <>l the 
 nave 1 , with the substitution ol rectilinear lor flowing tracery. 
 
 Over the new eastern limb the canons had not the money 
 --or perhaps the courage to put up a high vault of stone. 
 Nave, eastern limb, and transept are all vaulted in wood. 
 The punishment was long in coming, but it came at last. 
 The wooden vault of the choir, the stalls, and the organ, 
 were burnt down by a lunatic in 1829: and th.it of the nave 
 by a plumber in 1840. The finest feature in the choir i> 
 the tall transeptal bays of the aisles, suggested by and built 
 on the foundations of Archbishop Roger's flanking towers. 
 Then came the central tower c. 1400-1423; the south-wot 
 tower, 1433-1447: the north-west tower, 1470-1474; the 
 organ-screen. <. 1475-1505. 
 
 In 1472 tin- completion of the great works commenced 
 c. i 2 }o was near at hand, and a solemn consecration ol the 
 29
 
 436 YORK CATIIKDRAL 
 
 rebuilt cathedral \v;is held. The cathedral of the eleventli 
 and twelfth centuries had disappeared ; its successor had 
 occupied two centuries and a half in building. 
 
 A very curious and bold specimen of mediaeval engineer- 
 ing may now be mentioned. If the western bays of the 
 great transept next to the central tower be examined, it will 
 be seen that in the clerestory and in the triforium these 
 bays are very narrow, but that in the ground story the 
 narrow arch corresponding to the narrow bays of the 
 triforium and clerestory lias been moved, and a wider arch 
 substituted. The fact is, when the transept was completed, 
 the Norman nave, which ras still standing, had a very 
 narrow aisle. ^Consequently the builders of the transept 
 JxiiiLil _p_ilir of narrow arches, on either side of the central 
 tower, leading from the transept into this narrow Norman 
 aisle. Later on, as we have seen, the Norman nave and 
 aisles were pulled down, and the present nave was built._ 
 Its aisles are exceptionally broad. The result was that the 
 piers of the two narrow arches found themselves in the very 
 middle of the new broad aisles of the nave a most awkward 
 obstruction to processions passing from aisle to transept, or 
 rice versa. So the triforium and clerestory were under- 
 pinned, the piers next to the tower were taken down and 
 rebuilt clear of the aisles, and the pair of arches also on 
 either side of the tower were taken down and rebuilt, a 
 narrow one where the broad arch had been, and a broad 
 one in place of the narrow one. The result is that, counting 
 from the end walls of the transepts, in the triforium and 
 clerestory there are three of the bays wide and one narrow, 
 while in the ground story there are two wide, one narrow, 
 and one wide. Similar changes took place on the eastern 
 side of the transept. It would appear that these alterations 
 were not made till the central tower was rebuilt, when its 
 great weight sank the piers on which it rests 8 in. into the 
 ground, dislocating the adjoining masonry, and necessitating 
 some amount of reconstruction in the adjoining bays. It 
 should be added that it was found necessary also to block 
 up the narrow bays of the ground story, triforium, and clere-
 
 YORK CATHEDRAL 437 
 
 story, and to rebuild the first pier from the north on the 
 west side of the north transept. 
 
 As rearranged, the plan of York minster was as follows : 
 (i) Lady chapel of two hays; (2) procession path of one 
 hay, walled off to the west by the stone screen (restored 
 after the fire of 1X29). (T,) The first hay west of this screen 
 was "a chapel behind the High altar, called the Sanctum 
 Sanctorum," i.e., the chapel of the local saint, St. William ; 
 this Feretory was closed to the west by the oak reredos of 
 the High altar. (4) The presbytery consisted of only two 
 bays, and the High altar was one bay further west than at 
 present, in a line with the eastern walls of the transeptal 
 bays of the aisles, which no doubt were carried up high in 
 order to give the altar abundance of light.* (5) Then came 
 a choir of three bays ; and (6) the crossing and a nave of 
 eight bays. 
 
 Lxtcrnally, York Minster, from its vast dimensions and 
 the fine grouping of the towers, is exceedingly impressive. 
 One realises its immensity best from the city walls, when.' 
 it is seen "reflecting every change in the sky, and rising 
 like a mountain above the parochial churches anil houses 
 of the city." The west front, in spite of overloaded and 
 confused ornament, is of its type the finest in the country, 
 with the one exception of that of Bevcrley minster; and 
 the great west window in the fine contrast of the pointed 
 arches and the tree flow of the great ogee arches and the 
 triple-heart centre-piece, surpasses its only rival, the east 
 window of Carlisle'. The central tower relies for effect on 
 mass more than height, and thus contrasts strongly with 
 the central towers of Canterbury and Lincoln. (Jloucester 
 tower is impressive equally from height and bulk. Shorn 
 of its pinnacles, however, York central tower has not lair 
 play. Very beautiful, too, is the play of light and ^hade 
 in the double plane of tracer}' of the eastern clerestory. 
 And verv characteristic is the east facade : it may be all 
 
 .1 the-
 
 438 
 
 YORK CATIIKDKAL 
 
 wrong, with its strong emphasis of horizontal lines and 
 concealment of the gable, but it has distinction : one never 
 confuses the east end of York with that of any other 
 cathedral one never forgets it. The weakest point in 
 
 York is what ought to be the source of the greatest beauty, 
 the window tracery. Much of it, especially in the choir, 
 is ugly in itself; even that of the great east window and 
 of the windows in the transeptal buys is meagre and thin.
 
 YORK CATUKDRAI. 439 
 
 But what is worse, this poor tracery is repeated with 
 wearisome iteration all over the flanks of the cathedral. 
 Window after window of the nave, window after window 
 of the choir, are monotonously alike. The imagination 
 of the York people was singularly limited. What a contrast 
 to the glorious series of windows of Exeter, contemporary 
 with those of York nave ! 
 
 P>ut it is not from its architecture that York holds its 
 paramount place as an exponent of mediaeval art, but because 
 its ancient glass is so largely intact. For a detailed account 
 ol it the reader should refer to I Van Furey-Cust's book. 
 I will conclude by describing it in Mrs Van Rensselaer's 
 words, which are as true as they are eloquent. " Most 
 English cathedrals have been entirely reduced to architec- 
 tural bone and sinew ; they lack decorative warmth and 
 glow, life and colour, and the charm that lies in those 
 myriad accessor}' things which the lingering faith of Rome 
 has preserved in other lands. All the varied tools and 
 trappings, altars, shrines, and symbolic trophies of the rich 
 Catholic ritual have been banished : much of the' furniture is 
 gone, the walls are bare of paint, scores of monuments and 
 chantries have been shattered to bits, thousands of sculptured 
 ornaments and figures have been swept away in dust : a 
 painful cleanliness has replaced the 1 time-stains which give 
 tone to many Continental churches even when no actual 
 colouring exists, and a glare of white light or hideous discord 
 of modern hues fills the enormous windows. Columns and 
 walls and floors are as barren at York as elsewhere ; and 
 although many tombs remain, without its glass it would seem 
 even colder and emptier than most of its sisters, lor it was 
 built at a time when walls of glass had nearly replaced walls 
 of stone. I kit it has its glass, and this means much more 
 than that it has a richness of decorative effect which no other 
 English church displays. It means that here alone we can 
 really apprehend the effect of a late ( lolhic church, even Irom 
 the architectural point of view. At York we can lollow the 
 development of the art of glass painting through a period ol 
 lour centuries. More delicate, clear, and exquisite fields
 
 440 YORK CATHEDRAL 
 
 of simple colour can never have been wrought than those 
 which fill the Five Sisters with their sea-green purity. The 
 west window, glazed a century later (1338), is a gorgeous 
 mosaic of ruddy and purple hues, shining in the intricate stone 
 pattern which shews black against the light, like a million 
 amethysts and rubies set in ebony lace. The multicoloured 
 eastern window, and its two mates in the minor transept, seem 
 vast and fair enough for the walls of the New Jerusalem. 
 And wherever we look in the lightly constructed eastern 
 limb, it seems, not as though walls had been pierced for 
 windows, but as though radiant translucent screens 
 fragile, yet vital and well equal to their task had been 
 used to build a church, and merely bound together with 
 a network of solid stone. For the moment we feel that 
 nothing is so beautiful as glass. After we have seen the 
 glass of York, we never think again that stained glass 
 was merely an adornment of Gothic architecture. The 
 early Gothic architect demanded for his enlarged windows 
 some filling which, as decoration, would take the place 
 of the wide frescoes of former times, and which, from 
 the constructional point of view, would justify to the eye 
 that partial suppression of walls which he knew to be 
 scientifically right. This filling the early glass-painter gave 
 him : and it was so satisfying from the architectural stand- 
 point, and so beautiful from the decorative, that he was ready 
 and eager to carry on his architectural evolution to the 
 farthest possible extreme. He felt that he could attenuate his 
 constructional framework as far as the laws of gravity would 
 permit, since the gla/ier stood ready to replace really solid 
 wall-spaces by those which looked solid enough, and were 
 more beautiful than any expanses of stone had ever been. 
 Xo architect could have built as late Gothic architects did, 
 if only white glass had been at his command. None would 
 have made walls which are literally windows, unless strength 
 of colour had come forward to simulate strength of substance. 
 A late Gothic church was actually meant to look as the 
 choir of York does look like a great translucent tabernacle 
 merely ribbed and braced with stone." The very best glass.
 
 YORK CATHF.DKAI. 44! 
 
 however, is of later date than that of tin- cathedral, and the 
 visitor should round off his education in mediaeval glass by 
 inspecting the late glass in which the- parish churches of 
 York abound. Perhaps the finest is that of All Saints', 
 North Street, and St. Martin's church. Coney Street, near 
 the interesting old (luildhall. Nowhere in Kngland can 
 stained glass be studied to such advantage as at York. 
 
 Hiiu.ioc.KAriiY. Thomas Gent, History of York ami York Minster. 
 
 I73- 
 
 Francis Drake.', Eboraeinn, vol. ii., 1756. 
 
 Joseph 1 lalfpenny, tiothie Ornaments in III:' Cathedral Chnreh oj 
 York, 105 plates, iSoo. 
 
 Charles Wild. riatex and Perspeeti-'es. iSofj. 
 
 Jnlin Bn>\\ne, York Minster, 1840. 2 vols. 
 
 I'mfcssor Willis on " \'ork MinsU'r" in .-I irlitfo/oifiral Journal, 1^45. 
 
 I'Dolcancl Ilugall. York Cathedral. iS 4 s. 
 
 Charles Winston on the "Stained (llass in \'orl< Minuter" in Art 
 <>/ d'/tits Painting, iS6v p. 72. 
 
 Canon Raines, Fabrie l\olh of York Minster. Surtees Society. 1851). 
 
 Dean I'urey-CuM, The Heraldry of York Minstei\ 2 vnls., iS()f). 
 
 Dean l'urey-( 'ust, Walks Round York Minster. I<;o7. 
 
 l-'.xcellent hililio^raphie-. hotli of the Minster and the City ('hurdles 
 are contained in the hand hook prepared in K)O(> for the meeting of the 
 liriiisli Association. 
 
 There are tjood handhooks to the cathedral l>v Mr d. I'.en-on 
 and Mr A. Cluttnn-lWk.
 
 THE WELSH CATHEDRALS 
 
 T 
 
 BANGOR 
 
 Bril.T FOR SKCULAR CANONS 
 
 HE work at Bangor falls into four periods. I. Origin- 
 ally the cathedral was a small Norman church, 
 possibly without aisles, with nave, short transepts, 
 of one bay, and apse. This was probably begun 
 c. 1093. In recent restorations it was 
 found that the bases remain of the piers 
 of the central tower, and walling on 
 both sides of the south transept ; also 
 portions of the ground courses of the 
 latter, 12 ft. more to the north than the 
 present end wall. Outside, there may 
 still be seen a Norman buttress and a 
 blocked window on the south side of 
 the presbytery, 
 
 IT. In one of the many wars with 
 the Welsh the Norman cathedral was 
 burnt, possibly at the same time as 
 that of St. Asaph ; and in the time of 
 Bishop Aman (1267-1305) was rebuilt. 
 In 1284 the bishop received some 
 ,3,500 for damages done in the see 
 during the war, and work is recorded 
 as going on in 1291 and 1305. It is
 
 HANGOR CATHEDRAL 
 
 443 
 
 remains, though it was on a very extensive scale. Hut 
 such large quantities of worked stones, used up as building 
 material temp. Henry VII., were found in the walls by 
 Sir (iilbcrt Scott that he demolished much of the work 
 of the latter period, and rebuilt the central tower and 
 transepts and to some extent the presbytery according to 
 Anian's design, as far as it could be made out. The 
 elevation of the south transept, with its triplet of windows 
 and shafted buttresses crowned by gablets, is certainly a 
 
 -nil-: NOKTH-KAST 
 
 noble' design : equally line also is that of the north transept : 
 the excellent corbel tables should be- noticed. The buttresses 
 are identical in design with those of the Lady chapel <>l 
 Chester cathedral. It must be remembered, however, that 
 up to 1 866 the transepts in no respect resembled what we 
 see now ; in the end walls were huge windows with rectilinear 
 tracerv. and there were similar windows in the side walls. 
 The transepts as rebuilt by Anian were 12 ft. longer than 
 before. Hast of the south transept are foundations ol an 
 aisle, or a sacristv. of unecrtain date. I'Yom llrowne Willis's
 
 444 IJANGOR CATHEDRAL 
 
 account, the piers and arches of the central tower seem to 
 have been Anian's, and have been so rebuilt by Scott. On 
 the north Anian built a chapel or sacristy of the length of 
 the presbytery ; this has been rebuilt by Scott as a library 
 with Chapter house over. 
 
 It is not likely that the work would stop at the death 
 
 THE NAVK. 1.0'iRINV, WKST 
 
 cf Anian, leaving a ruined Norman nave. There is no 
 documentary evidence available ; but we may attribute to 
 the first half of the fourteenth century the present aisle- 
 walls and the pier-arcades : of the latter there remain but 
 fragments of the eastern and western responds in the south 
 aisle, Xo doubt Anian commenced, and his successors
 
 BANGOK CATIIKDRAL 445 
 
 completed, both the existing aisles. In the south aisle 
 the window tracery is of early fourteenth-century type ; 
 and in the north aisle the jambs of the windows are of the 
 same period, though the tracery is later. 
 
 In 1404 the cathedral was once more utterly ruined by 
 lire, this time at the hands of Owen Glendower : and is 
 said to have remained in ruins till 1496. This is a mistake. 
 In 1445 tnc <'hoir at any rate had been restored in some 
 measure, for services were then resumed in it. And in 1474 
 John Stanbery left in his will some ^400 to be spent on 
 the building of Bangor cathedral, where he had been bishop. 
 The main work of restoration, however, seems to have been 
 done by Bishop I )eanc ( 1494 i 500) and Bishop Skivington 
 (1509-1533). The western tower was certainly built by the 
 latter, for in his will he left money to complete and roof it : 
 this was in 1533. On the west wall of the tower is an 
 inscription recording that he built this bell tower and the 
 church ; we may therefore conclude that Skivington rebuilt 
 the nave and probably the transepts also. The reconstruc- 
 tion of the choir then may be assigned to I )eane. 
 
 Internally, the restorers have done their utmost to make 
 the cathedral look parochial. The altar is jammed against 
 the east wall ; the stalls arc 1 in the presbytery instead of 
 in their proper position under the central tower : the return 
 stalls are set diagonally after the foolish fashion of Worcester: 
 and there is no screen between nave and presbytery. 
 
 Hi HI. IOC. K A I'll v. r>ro\viH' Willis's SiiiTiy i>f Jlan^o- Cufht'tlrfi/. 1721. 
 Si mvr's Cat/i<;{m/s. iSiS. 
 
 .-l/r/i, d'/i^'i'ti CdiHl'irnsi-;. NY\\ Scrir-*. i. M.S. ami Sixih SrnY^. ii. 
 and iv. 
 
 Sir ( '.illuTl Snitt's two /\',/<>;vV.
 
 446 
 
 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 BUII.T FOR SECULAR CANONS 
 
 TIIK cathedral of Llandaff, i.e., the church on the Tuff, 
 \vhicli winds around it, is one of the most venerable in 
 the British Isles, as is seen from its dedication in 1120 
 to Peter the Apostle and the Holy Confessors Dubricius, 
 Teilo, and Oudoceus. The original dedication would be to 
 
 Dubricius, the first bishop, 
 Teilo, the second bishop, 
 and Oudoceus, the third : 
 the addition of St. Peter no 
 doubt is due to Norman in- 
 fluence. Dubricius died c. 
 612, and seems to have so- 
 journed at Llandaff with his 
 little band of missioners be- 
 fore the end of the sixth 
 century. Like St. David's 
 and Bangor, and unlike the 
 English sees, the bishops of 
 Llandaff never removed to 
 the refuge of a fortified town 
 though the mighty castle 
 of Cardiff was hard by - 
 from the site where Dubri- 
 cius had built his little- 
 oratory near wood and 
 water. After many mission 
 journeys, he died in Bard- 
 
 sey island. His successor, Teilo, was the real founder of 
 the set;, and probably the first to erect a permanent 
 church. On his death there was a dispute for his body, 
 three places laying claim to it : but next morning three 
 identical bodies presented themselves to view. The one
 
 I.LANDAKF CATII KDRAL 447 
 
 which was carried to Llandaff was believed in later days to 
 be the genuine body of St. Teilo, owing to the number 
 ol miracles which were wrought at the saint's tomb there. 
 St. Tcilo's remains were the: one great treasure of IJandaff 
 till between 1107 and 1120, when Bishop Urban brought 
 the relics of St. Dubricius from Bardsey island. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. -In 1120 the archbishop of Canterbury 
 granted an indulgence to all who should aid in the rebuilding 
 of Llandaff cathedral, and in 1125 the Papal Legate wrote 
 that Bishop Urban had commenced work. What I'rban's 
 cathedral was like it is difficult to ascertain ; the accepted 
 view is that which was set forth by Professor Freeman. 
 The only Norman work in the church which can be of 
 L'rban's time is to be seen in the presbytery, where there 
 remain a noble eastern arch, and in the south wall portions 
 of two Xorman ungla/ed windows. This presbytery of two 
 bays, with the addition of the' next to the west, Freeman 
 imagined to be the nave of Urban's cathedral. There is a 
 solid wall on the south side of the presbytery : and a string 
 course' found at a restoration on the opposite wall at the 
 level of the present piers shews that the north side was also 
 solid ; it follows that the imaginary nave was without aisles. 
 A nave of only three' unaisled bays is quite inconceivable 
 for a Xorman cathedral, however humble, begun so late as 
 i~. i 120: but even from these the westernmost bay must be 
 lopped off. For where' now stands the' tall modern arch 
 between the present choir and presbyter}' there we're- found 
 at a restoration the' bases of Norman shafts, which could 
 only be the shafts of a Xorman arch enclosing the; present 
 presbytery on the west, just as it is enclosed to the- east by 
 the existing Xorman arch. Freeman's nave therefore is 
 reduced to two bays. And what of its eastern arch? His 
 ihe'ory was that it led into the eastern part of I'rban's church. 
 /.('., his choir and presbvterv. Not a scrap, however, of 
 Norman work has been found to the' east of the' arch. The- 
 arch itself, moreover, is too narrow to have led into a 
 cathedral choir. 
 
 The following explanation is suggested as an alternati\e.
 
 448 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 It is based on a passage in the Liber Landavensis, written 
 about 1133, which describes the Llandaff cathedral which 
 was still standing between 1114 and 1122. It speaks of 
 the " loci parvitatem, in longitudine xxviii pedum, in 
 latitudine xv, altitudine xx, et cum duobus alis ex utraque 
 parte admodum parvse quantitatis et altitudinis, et cum 
 porticu xii pedum longitudinis et latitudinis rotundas molis " ; 
 i.e., it was a little aisled church with a nave only 28 ft. 
 long and 20 ft. high, and with an apse to the east. The 
 width of the nave was 1 5 ft., and it had low and narrow 
 aisles. If we assume each aisle to have been 6 ft. wide, 
 the total width of nave and aisles will be 27 ft. The apse, 
 we are told, was 1 2 ft. dee}) and 1 2 ft. broad. This then 
 was the Llandaff cathedral which Urban set to work to 
 replace in 1120. How would he begin? By demolishing 
 the little church ? That is unlikely ; for then the congrega- 
 tion would have nowhere to worship in while the new 
 church was being built. Moreover this old church and its 
 predecessors for five long centuries had held the venerated 
 bones of St. Teilo ; the site was a most sacred one. At 
 Glastonbury a similar case had occurred : in that far 
 Somerset marsh there was a little church of wattles and 
 mud which was believed to have been built by Joseph of 
 Arimathea ; in later days a church of masonry was built 
 around and over the little osier church. Very much the 
 same thing seems to have been done at Llandaff. For if 
 measurements be taken, it will be found that the present 
 presbytery is just wide enough to include the whole breadth 
 of the nave and aisles of the early church, and is long 
 enough to include its length with a few feet to spare. 
 Moreover the present eastern arch is just of the span to 
 provide an entrance into a new apse enclosing the little 
 ancient one. Thus Urban's new presbytery and apse 
 would include every inch of the ancient hallowed site. In 
 that case the old nave would now become a presbytery, 
 and the ancient apsidal presbytery would now become an 
 eastern chapel. This was precisely the arrangement of the 
 Norman cathedral at Hereford, where the presbytery, as
 
 LLANDAKF CATHEDRAL 449 
 
 al Llandaff, is square ended and led eastwards by a 
 Norman arch, still standing, into a little apsidal chapel. 
 The Hereford plan was set out between 1079 and 1095, 
 and its presbytery and little eastern apse must have been 
 completed long before Urban began to build. Xor can 
 Urban have been ignorant of its existence; for Hereford 
 and Llandaff are contiguous dioceses, and there were 
 intimate relations between them. Indeed Urban and 
 Revnelm, bishop of Hereford, were consecrated on the 
 same day. The Hereford plan was not only one of the 
 most advanced and most convenient of its day, but it had 
 the special recommendation that it enabled the most sacred 
 portion of the new Llandaff church to coincide with the 
 site hallowed by the associations of Dubricius and Teilo, 
 the latter of whom was buried within it. Only one 
 important change would be necessary. That would be to 
 transfer the High altar from the ancient apse to the eastern 
 bay of the Norman presbytery. Where would it be placed? 
 Not under the eastern arch as it is now ; for then there 
 would be no road into the eastern chapel. It must have 
 been placed in the middle of the eastern bay, where it was 
 still standing in 1718. For at that date a grand reredos, 
 winch had been put up behind the High altar in the 
 fourteenth century, was still in existence, standing 5 ft. 3 in. 
 in front of the eastern arch of the presbytery. Moreover, 
 the modern sedilia are known to occupy the same site as 
 the ancient ones, and they stand on the south side of the 
 eastern bay of the presbytery. 
 
 Having settled the position of the altar and sedilia, Urban 
 had then to settle the position of the tombs of Teilo, who 
 had been buried in the old church for some live hundred 
 years, and of Dubricius, whose body he had brought from 
 liardsey a lew years before 1120. Il he had had to lind 
 accommodation for one saint only. In- might very well have 
 converted the ancient apsidal presbytery into a Feretory. 
 Hut there were two saints-- of equal rank and importance. 
 The same difficulty had arisen at Canterbury with tin- relics 
 of Archbishops Alphege and I hmstan, and at Worcester
 
 450 LLAXDAKF CATHEDRAL 
 
 with those of St. Wulfstiin and St. Oswald. In both the 
 difficulty was solved by burying both saints in the presbytery 
 in the second bay from the east, one under the northern, 
 the other under the southern arch. A similar course seems 
 to have been adopted at Llandaff. Browne Willis, writing 
 in 1718, says that in his time there was a tradition that 
 1 Hibricius was buried on the north side of the presbyter}', 
 and Teilo on the south. Now in this western bay of the 
 presbyter}-, on the south side, there actually is a sepulchral 
 recess in which Wood, the Bath architect, in 1736 found a 
 tomb. When he opened the tomb, the person buried in 
 it from his pastoral staff and cro/.ier appeared to be a 
 bishop. The pastoral staff, when touched, dropped to 
 pieces : the crozier was of pewter, almost perished, but 
 would hold together ; there was also a pewter chalice. The 
 bishop was wrapped in leather (i.e., in a hide for a coffin), 
 and " the upper part was very sound." There can be little 
 doubt that this recess marks the tomb of Teilo, and that his 
 bones rest below. Now turn to the north side of the 
 presbytery, exactly opposite. In 1496 Bishop Marshall 
 died, and was buried opposite the tomb of St. Teilo. But 
 curiously, Marshall's tomb, which still stands, is not im- 
 mediately underneath the western arch on the north side 
 of the presbytery, but most of it is in the aisle : yet in 
 front of it, i.e.. on the presbytery side, is an unoccupied 
 space large enough to hold it. Why then was it not placed 
 in the space now unoccupied? Kvulently, because when 
 Bishop Marshall died, the space was then occupied. In all 
 probability it was occupied in 1496 with the tomb of 
 Dubricius. There was another point for Urban to consider. 
 Kvcry presbytery required two doorways, one to the north, 
 one to the south, ostia preshyterii. It is very unlikely that 
 the}' can ever have been placed in the third or fourth bays 
 from the east of the presbytery; for ever since c. 1200 those 
 bays have been separated from the aisles by solid walls. 
 But in the present presbytery, west of the site of Tcilo's 
 tomb, there is a small doorway; this is modern, but Wood 
 of Bath, writing in 1736, mentions a doorway in the same
 
 LLANDAFF CATHKDKAL 451 
 
 position, and UK; bases of the jambs of a Normun doorway 
 were found there in 1857. Moreover, on the north side, 
 Marshall's tomb is not placed centrally to the western arch, 
 but to the east, leaving a passage to the west of it ; this can 
 only lie because on the north side also there- was a small 
 doorway. In every respect then these- two bays are built 
 as a presbytery, and Free-man's theory that they represent 
 L'rban's nave may be finally dismissed. 
 
 Now we come to the great pux/le of Llandaff. In the 
 south wall of the presbytery are the heads of two Norman 
 windows. These, however, have no grooves for glass, and 
 so are not windows ; but openings into an enclosed space 
 (</. the ungla/ed openings in the central walls of Hereford 
 retro-choir). What this enclosed space was is a mystery. 
 It has been suggested that it was a porch ; but it is in the 
 wrong position. It is possible that it was a tower, which 
 may have been completed ; but of which it is more probable 
 that only the lowest story was carried up. The other side 
 of the presbytery has been so much altered that it is 
 impossible to tell what was the plan of Urban's presbytery 
 on the north. But assuming that the presbytery had a 
 tower to the north and another to the south, we get two 
 eastern towers. We know also that c. 1200 two western 
 towers were erected. Thus Elandaff would possess no less 
 than four towers c. 1200 and would be totally different from 
 any church in England and Wales. It is a remarkable fact 
 that a seal of i 234 actually does distinctly shew the church 
 as having four towers. 
 
 Now how is the abnormal position of this pair of towers 
 to be explained? Probably we must consider its relation 
 to the general plan of the church. The salient feature of 
 the plan is that alone of all the cathedral churches of 
 England and Wales Elandaff has no transepts. And win- 
 not? The natural position for a transept would be in a 
 line with the 1 choir, with a central tower over the choir. 
 But Urban had already built two towers in the adjoining 
 bavs to the east, and did not need any central tower. So 
 he omitted central tower and transept also. Really, how- 
 3
 
 45- LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 ever, tlie ground story of the two eastern towers formed 
 transepts. It is true that they do not project beyond the 
 aisles ; but precisely the same thing is seen in York minster, 
 where the eastern transepts are nothing but single bays of 
 the aisles carried up higher than the other bays. At York 
 the object of this arrangement probably was, partly to give- 
 external prominence to the position of the High altar, 
 partly to pour down on it a flood of light from the tall 
 transeptal windows. At Llandaff it would rather be to 
 mark externally the position of the two most cherished 
 possessions of the church: the graves of Dubricius and 
 Teilo. In later days the northern tower, if it existed, as 
 was probably the case, was removed ; but the ground story 
 of the southern tower was retained, because its southern wall 
 could be made to serve as the northern wall of a Chapter 
 house. It is evident that this bay was regarded as some- 
 thing of exceptional character, because it is the only bay 
 in the aisles that is vaulted. 
 
 J5ut Urban would surely be able to build more than the 
 short presbytery and eastern towers. It is not likely that 
 he would stop till he had built a choir as well. The usual 
 length for a choir was three bays. If this was so at Llandaff, 
 Urban's choir would extend as far as the present small 
 doorways on the north and south sides of the nave. It will 
 be noticed on plan that these bays, which we will call the 
 choir, are broader than those of the presbytery. The 
 explanation probably is that the breadth of the former was 
 regulated by the number of stalls it was to accommodate, 
 while the presbytery was designed to enclose the precise 
 site of the little old church. 
 
 The next question that arises is. Had Urban's choir aisles ? 
 All who have written on Llandaff seem to be unanimous 
 in accepting Freeman's opinion that Urban's church had 
 no aisles. If so, it was different from every cathedral 
 church in the kingdom : even the little pre-Urban church 
 had aisles. Hut assuming that Urban followed the normal 
 practice, and built his choir with aisles, it does not follow 
 that the}' opened into the choir by a pier-arcade. At
 
 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 453 
 
 St. Athans and elsewhere: there were no arches, hut a solid 
 wall between the choir and its aisles. That this was so 
 at Uandaff also is probable ; at any rate the supports in 
 the centre of the northern ami southern stalls look much 
 more like fragments of a wall than like independent 
 piers. 
 
 Then we come to the Norman nave. One would be 
 commenced, though not perhaps till after Urhan's time, 
 lor he died thirteen years after commencing his presbytery. 
 Following the precedent of other cathedrals, the nave would 
 have aisles, and therefore pier-arcades. Of the latter there 
 is no trace whatever : it does not see-in that the pier-arcades 
 were even begun. It is probable, however, that the aisle-- 
 walls were begun: and to them we turn. Here again we 
 have everybody's opinion against us: it seems not to have 
 struck anyone that all the present aisle-walls west of the 
 presbytery may be those of the Norman choir and nave, 
 heightened indeed to admit the present windows in the 
 fourteenth century, but in their lower part those which 
 were begun by Urban and continued by his immediate 
 successors. For they must be either the work of Bishop 
 Uchtryd ( i 140-1 147) and Bishop Nicholas ( i i 49 or 1153- 
 11X3) --more probably of the latter, for he was a great 
 builder or they are- conte-mporary with the pier-arcade- and 
 we-st front i.e., of the- time of Bishop Saltmarsh ( 1 185-1 191) 
 and Bishop Henry (1193 or 1195-121^) more- probably 
 of the latte-r or. lastly, tlu-y are- of the- same- date as tin- 
 windows in them in the- fourteenth ce-ntury. 
 
 They are- not fourteenth-century walls : tor in e-ach aisle- is 
 a small fourteenth-century doorway. Now it the- wall and 
 the doorway in it had be-eii built together, the doorway 
 would, as usual, have- been splayed : as it is, the- opening is 
 at right angle's to the- wall. Moreover, if the- wall were 
 fourteenth-century work, the- doorway would have- been 
 place-d so as to le-ad up to the ce-ntre of an arch, and not on 
 to a pier. Se-condly, the aisle-walls ot the- nave are 5 tt. 
 thick: the- existing fourteenth-century walls ol the north 
 aisle of the- presbytery are considerably thinne-r than this.
 
 454 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 Again, windows in an aisle-wall arc intended to light not 
 only the aisle hut the nave as well. To accomplish the 
 latter purpose 1 adequately, each window ought to he placed 
 exactly opposite the corresponding arch of the pier-arcade. 
 Xow if Mr James' longitudinal section of the south side of 
 the nave be examined, it will be found that in only one case 
 do window and arch centre accurately ; this is in the fifth 
 bay counting from the west end of the nave. Putting these 
 considerations together, it may be taken as certain that 
 the original aisle-walls were not built in the fourteenth 
 century.* 
 
 It remains that they were built at the same time as the 
 pier-arcades or earlier : in other words that they are the 
 work of either Bishop Henry or liishop Nicholas. Let us 
 take the former case. The argument from the non-corre- 
 spondence of arch and window again applies : for the 
 position of the fourteenth-century windows was settled no 
 doubt by the position of the earlier windows which they 
 superseded. Moreover, if pier-arcade and aisle-walls were 
 built together, each doorway into the aisles would have 
 been so placed as to lead into the centre of an arch. Hut 
 the large north doorway is not central : still less so is the 
 corresponding doorway on the south. We have proved that 
 the aisle wall is not contemporary with the pier arcade : we 
 had previously proved that it was not posterior to it : it 
 follows that it is of earlier date. 
 
 (."an that date be fixed? The answer can be got out 
 of the detail of the north and south doorways. They look 
 far earlier than they actually are, and have usually been 
 supposed to be. Ot the two the northern is slightly later. 
 Both of them contain a remarkable pattern ; a double 
 chevron or lo/enge enclosing a roll. Xow this is common 
 on the pier-arches oi the nave of St. Oavids. the choir of 
 which was not commenced till i 180 : also in the Ghistonbury
 
 LLANDAFK CATHEDRAL 455 
 
 Lady chapel, begun in i 184 and finished in i 186; the north 
 porch of U'ells cathedral, c. 1200; in the doorway leading 
 from the transept into the north aisle of Lichficld choir, 
 t'. i 200 : and the doorway of the' western slype of Worcester 
 cloister, r. 1180. From these parallels it follows that we 
 can hardly date the two doorways earlier than c. \ i 80. And 
 this late date is confirmed by the fact that the hood-mold 
 ol the north doorway is actually composed of a band of 
 tooth ornament. The character of the capitals also is 
 important : both those of the north and those of the south 
 doorway are the scalloped or subdivided cushion familiar 
 in late Norman work. Tin- northern base is worn and 
 indistinct, but the southern is of a familiar Norman type.. 
 
 Putting these considerations together we come to tin- 
 conclusion that the north doorway is not earlier than c. \ 180, 
 and that the south doorway may be c. \ 170. This difference 
 ol date furnishes a clue to the order of work : the south aisle 
 must have been built before the north one. If we try to 
 picture to ourselves what the aisles of the nave looked like 
 when finished, we must imagine them lower than at present, 
 and with a single light in each bay : which in the eastern 
 bays those of Bishop Urban would have semicircular 
 heads, but in tin- western bays might be lancets : the north 
 and south doorways would be precisely as they are at present. 
 Probably the work went on intermittently from the death 
 
 to the north doorway is correct, it would si-em that tin- 
 work was not completed till the last years of Hishop Nicholas. 
 who died in i 183: and as he was bishop lor no less than 
 thirty-five years, and is recorded to have been a great builder. 
 it is probable that the building of the aisles was commenced 
 by him, and that his predecessor. Uchlryd. who was only 
 bishop for seven years, had no part in the work. This is 
 rendered the more probable by the fact thai Nicholas was 
 the son of Bishop Urban, and would naturally desire to help 
 forward the great work set on foot by his lather. It may 
 be thought remarkable, as indeed it is. that no part ol the 
 walls of the central aisle or nave ol the \\cstern bays was
 
 456 
 
 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 put up. Hut if any had been built, it would hardly have 
 been pulled down ; and if it had been demolished, it would 
 have left some traces. So far from that, the pier-arcade of 
 the four western bays is set out with symmetrical regularity, 
 except so far as it disregarded the spacing of the bays of 
 the aisle-wall and the position of the aisle doorways. 
 
 SKCOND PERIOD. Then came another long continued 
 effort to complete Urban's church. It is easy to recognise, 
 
 having the marked peculiarities of the early Gothic of the 
 West of England. It occurs, with certain breaks, up the 
 whole length of the church, from the west front as far as 
 the entrance to the Lady chapel. Now where- would the 
 builders be likely to commence work, when once the aisles 
 were finished? Obviously the first thing to do would be to 
 complete the central aisle of the nave from the point where 
 Urban had left off: vi/.. at the end of the third bay from 
 the presbytery : in other words the first block of work would
 
 I.LANDAFF CATIIKDRAL 457 
 
 he the building of the western buys of the nuve. Now these 
 tour buys are a homogeneous piece of work, and there are 
 certain important differences between them and the similar 
 work in the bays adjacent to the east ; one is that the piers 
 are much larger: another is that the renting shafts are in 
 triplets and are disposed on the face of the clerestory wall : 
 whereas in the eastern buys they are single shafts in the 
 clerestory, and are recessed in the wall, which is set back 
 4 in. The next point is, did the builders begin the western 
 bays of the nave from the west or from the east? Not from 
 the west, for the west front is not the earliest, but the latest 
 in design of all this work. Moreover, of these western piers, 
 the eastern centre more accurately than the western with the 
 wall piers of the aisles. 
 
 This piece of work being completed, the question would 
 arise --Should they or not remodel Urban's choir? Now if 
 his choir had opened on its aisles by piers and arches, these 
 would be likely to be retained. I!ut we have suggested that 
 his choir was separated from the' aisles by solid walls. 
 This unsightly arrangement it seems to have been decided 
 to remove. Not all of it however. between each pair of 
 eastern bays, instead of building a new pier, they retained a 
 piece ot the old choir wall as a support tor their new arches ; 
 partly because, then as now, it would be masked by stalls, 
 and therefore escape notice. The rest of the choir walls 
 would be pulled down, and in the place of each wall two 
 piers built on either side. L'rban's choir, however, was wider 
 than the four new western bays of the nave : this was set 
 right by gradually bringing in the two new piers on the 
 north side of the choir. The fact that both the piers and 
 the roofing shafts of the choir are of less bulk than those of 
 the nave probably means that when the latter were begun, 
 it was contemplated to put up a high vault : and that when 
 the remodelling of the choir was taken in hand, the intention 
 had been abandoned. The whole ot nave and choir was 
 provided with an identical clerestory: the design ot which, 
 with live arches, non graduated, in each bay. points to the 
 fact that when the cleivstorv was reached, the intention to
 
 458 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 vault had been abandoned ; as also does the fact that the 
 vaulting-shafts rise to the wall plate. 
 
 At present the nave has a high-pitched roof, and looks 
 all the better for it ; but the ledge above the great triplet 
 of the west end looks as if originally it had a tie-beam 
 roof. 
 
 Nave and choir completed, the next piece of work seems 
 to have been to remedy a great defect in Urban's church, 
 the absence of a procession path round the presbytery. 
 The work seems to have commenced on the south side ; 
 the south aisle of the nave being carried through the 
 southern choir-tower and round the presbytery. To this 
 period belongs the vault of the so-called vestibule ; the 
 only example of West of England vaulting in the church, 
 and of great interest. Its diagonal arches are semicircular ; 
 both the ridges are horizontal ; there are no wall arches ; 
 the diagonal ribs are supported by shafts of coursed freestone; 
 the web of the vault is plastered over. Of the capitals one 
 has the incurved scallop or "pollarded willow"; the remain- 
 ing three have rudimentary conventional foliage of rather 
 lumpy character, such as is seen in the north aisle of 
 Lichfield choir; two of the shafts are supported by corbels ; 
 the other two descend to the ground and have bases with 
 a well-marked water-holding hollow. From the vestibule 
 aisle-walls were carried on eastwards towards the modern 
 doorway. Opposite the modern doorway the procession 
 aisle turned northward. ( )f the eastern arm of the procession 
 path only the supports of the southern and northern arches 
 were built ; the shafts are of the normal West of England 
 type with the ogee keel ; one of the capitals has no necking, 
 and another is of the pollarded willow type. At the northern 
 entrance the builders seem to have stopped ; at any rate 
 if they continued the procession aisle on the north side of 
 the presbytery, there are no traces of it left ; it seems not 
 to have been completed till the end of the thirteenth century. 
 It is not unnatural that funds should at last have failed : for 
 in addition to all the other work which has been enumerated, 
 two western towers were commenced, if not completed. Of
 
 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 459 
 
 the northern one there remain both the arches and the lower 
 part of the walls except on the north side ; this tower was 
 vaulted: a fragment of one of the springers survives. The 
 west front both externally and internally is a very fine 
 composition ; the doorway in it has no central shaft ; and 
 from tin' disposition of the masonry of the tympanum was 
 evidently not intended to have one. 
 
 The whole of the West Country design as seen at Llandaff 
 is of great interest. The curious little foliated bosses on 
 the west front connect it definitely with the triforium of the 
 west bays of Worcester nave, and with the exterior of the 
 (lalilee of (ilastonbury. Shafts of coursed freestone surround 
 the piers, and have the ogee keel. Two or three of the 
 capitals, as at St. David's and Lichfield, have no necking. 
 The characteristic capital is one which is very elongated 
 and is nearly all stalk ; this appears in Wells nave, Lichfield 
 choir, and Dore retro-choir; in all cases c. 1200. The 
 "pollard willow" cap occurs in the vestibule. The bases 
 are of the water-holding type; those of the west end are of 
 very advanced and late character. The ground course is 
 very simple : consisting merely of a straight slope upon a 
 vertical course, as at IVrshore and the western bays of 
 Worcester nave. The external corbels of the clerestory 
 are designed as if in wood : corbels of similar design appear 
 in Glastonbury Lady chapel and Pershore choir. 
 
 On the other hand there are marked divergencies. The 
 designer, both in pier and arch, preferred chamfers to 
 molds ; in the arch there an- none of those repeats of 
 identical rolls which an- common in West ( 'ountry work 
 elsewhere: and instead of the sixteen or twenty-four shafts 
 of the Wells piers, there an 1 at Llandaff only twelve. The 
 most marked difference is that the clerestory has in each 
 bay two windows widely spaced, shewing that no vault was 
 intended when the clerestory was built. (At the time ot 
 the restoration only one bay of the clerestory survived on 
 the south side the present clerestory is a reproduction of 
 it ; it is of identical design throughout, except in the 
 presbytery, which was remodelled in the fourteenth century.
 
 460 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 The east windows of the presbytery are wholly of modern 
 design.) 
 
 THIRD PKRIOD. About the middle of the century a 
 campanile was erected on the high ground to the south- 
 west. In this campanile later was placed "Great Tom/' 
 which is now in Exeter cathedral, having been exchanged 
 by Jasper Tudor for a ring of smaller bells. For detached 
 campaniles compare Chichester, Salisbury, Westminster, 
 Worcester, East Dereham. It is rather remarkable that 
 Llandaff, having already two, if not four towers, should 
 build yet another. But the cathedral is hidden away in a 
 hole, and no doubt the sound of bells in its towers would 
 travel but a little distance. 
 
 About the same time was built the Chapter house : it 
 is of a rare type, being square with a vault resting on a 
 central pillar, the object of which is to get a lower vault : 
 of similar design was the large vaulted chapel built early 
 in the fourteenth century at Pershore to the east of the 
 south transept. The capitals and corbels of the Chapter 
 house are molded, which points to a later date than the 
 \Vcst Country work described above. The corners arc 
 filled up with large internal squinches, shewing that it was 
 intended that the upper story should be octagonal, as it 
 is now; a print of 1718, however, shews the upper story 
 square. It was probably built as a Treasury : it has been 
 restored as a library, and contains manuscripts of great 
 interest. 
 
 FOURTH PKRIOD. The next work was to build an eastern 
 Lady chapel of tour bays. Here at last Purbcck marble- 
 is used for the shafting. On the north side of the altar 
 is buried Bishop Bruse, its founder ; he was bishop from 
 1266-1287. The whole east end is occupied by a most 
 interesting stone rcredos ; the two end niches and part of 
 the rest are fifteenth-century work : the central niche is a 
 reproduction of the ancient one. The east window and 
 sedilia are wholly modern. The chapel has a quadripartite 
 vault with longitudinal ridge ribs, as in Worcester choir. 
 To complete the westernmost bay of the vault, it was
 
 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 461 
 
 necessary to build the northern and southern arches of the 
 procession path, thus completing the eastern walk. Before 
 this \vas done, the eastern apsidal chapel of Urban 's 
 presbytery would have to be demolished. 
 
 At the same time the presbytery aisles were prolonged 
 to the east, so as to form chapels flanking the Lady chapel. 
 
 FIFTH I'KRIOD. The next thing was to continue the 
 procession path on the north side of the presbytery till 
 it met tin- choir aisle. Here the windows have flowing 
 tracery of early fourteenth-century type, diversified in 
 pattern and unusually good : it is such as we might expect 
 to find c. i 340. 
 
 Then came an important set of changes, almost wholly 
 directed, as at Hereford, the cathedral of the contiguous 
 diocese, to improving the lighting of the cathedral. The 
 darkest part of the church was the Norman presbytery, 
 because il had no side windows: but merely openings 
 looking into the presbytery towers, through which it obtained 
 only borrowed light. The northern of these towers was 
 pulled down, and the north wall of the presbytery with it. 
 and tor the latter a pillar and two arches were substituted : 
 through these arches a considerable amount of light could 
 be obtained from the large windows of the new north aisle. 
 ( )n the south side of the presbytery things were more difficult 
 to arrange. However, one arch the eastern one --was 
 inserted, and in it no doubt were placed new sedilia. Hut 
 in the western bay, above the tomb of St. Teilo, there was 
 a large space of blank wall, which it was desired to preserve, 
 and which has been preserved to this day : perhaps on it 
 was some venerated wall painting depicting the miracles 
 wrought by the saint buried below. Anyhow, the south 
 side of the presbytery was left unfinished, with one new 
 arch and part of another, and the heads of two ungla/ed 
 windows, which from their sculptured ornament are of 
 precisely the same date as Urban's eastern arch. In the 
 upper walls of the presbytery, no doubt, to north, south, 
 and east, large windows were inserted : these have perished, 
 and the present ones are modern. This work may well
 
 462 LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL 
 
 have occupied the last years of the thirteenth and the early 
 years of the fourteenth century. 
 
 SIXTH PKRIOD. The next business was to substitute 
 for the small lights of Urban and Nicholas in the aisles 
 large windows of flowing tracery with ogee dripstones : to 
 get headway for these tall windows the aisle-walls had to be 
 raised. Moreover, at some period, a square building had 
 been erected in front of the south doorway of the nave. 
 perhaps as a sacristy ; (afterwards it became the Consistory 
 Court; it has now disappeared altogether). A new south 
 doorway was now built : and as it had to be cut between 
 two neighbouring windows, it had to be narrow. A similar 
 doorway was inserted in the same position in the north aisle ; 
 this was called St. Teilo's doorway, and, as at Peterborough, 
 led to the cemetery. From the character of the window 
 tracer}', we may assign all this work to the second quarter 
 of the fourteenth century. 
 
 To the same period probably belongs the reredos once 
 magnificent now placed in the north-east chapel of the 
 retro-choir. It formerly stood nearly in the centre of the 
 east bay of the presbytery, with of course the High altar 
 in front of it. Like the great reredoses of Christchurch, 
 Winchester, St. Albans, and Westminster, it contained two 
 doorways giving direct access from the presbytery to the 
 procession path and Lady chapel. At a later period it was 
 painted and gilded : among the patterns are white roses, 
 which led Browne Willis to believe it to be of the time of 
 I 'A! ward IV. or Richard III. 
 
 SKVKXTH PERIOD. By the end of the fifteenth century 
 the north-western tower seems to have become unsafe, and to 
 have been taken down, except some portions to the south- 
 east. It was rebuilt by Jasper Tudor, son of Owen Tudor 
 and Queen Catherine of France, widow of Henry V., and 
 uncle to Henry VII. Originally it closely resembled the 
 tower of St. John's, Cardiff: Mr Prichard has given it a still 
 richer coronal of Somerset type. 
 
 A large window of five lights was inserted to give more 
 light to the High altar in the presbytery, which on the south
 
 LLAXDAFK CATHEDRAL 
 
 463 
 
 side has but one arch, and that partly blocked by the 
 scdilia. 
 
 On the north side of the presbytery is the tomb of Bishop 
 Marshall (1478-1496) 
 in pontifical vestments. 
 Opposite he built his 
 throne ; an interesting 
 picture, probably for- 
 merly attached to it. 
 depicts the Blessed 
 Virgin in flight through 
 the starry firmament, 
 and the bishop be- 
 seeching her to open 
 to him the gates of 
 heaven. It is now in 
 the bishop's palace : 
 and might well be 
 placed on the blank 
 wall, facing the 
 bishop's tomb, veiled 
 so as to save it from 
 undue exposure to the 
 light. 
 
 KIC.HTH 1'Kkion. 
 In post - Re-formation 
 
 days the cathedral fell into the most dreadful state of 
 disrepair and ruin ; the south-west tower fell ; the aisles 
 and the western bays of the nave were long rootless : and 
 in the eastern bays Wood of Bath (.'reeled a Roman temple 
 of stucco. The whole restoration, including a fine south- 
 western steeple of the type usual in the early (iothic of 
 Normandy, was directed by Mr I'nchard : restorations seem 
 to have been much more careful and successful, when, 
 as at IJandaff. ( iloucester, and Winchester, they have been 
 entrusted to local men. 
 
 Behind the High altar is a picture of the \ati\ity by 
 Rossetti ; the altar frontal is bv Messrs Morris i\; Marshall;
 
 464 
 
 ST. ASAPH TATHKDRAL 
 
 the candelabra in the presbytery and the font were designed 
 by Mr Scddon ; the statuettes on the nave pulpit are by 
 Woollier; in the recess east of the north doorway is a 
 sculptured memorial by Armstead of Henry Thomas, 
 ob. i 863. 
 
 Hir.uoGRAi'HY. Browne Willis's Survey of Llandaff, 1718. 
 1 hiijdale's Monastuon An^licanuin, vol. vi., 1217. 
 Professor Freeman's Llandaff Cathedra/, 1850. 
 Bishop Ollivant's Llandaff Cathedral, 1860. 
 Rev. K. Newell, Diocesan History of Llandaff. 
 
 John II. fames, Measured Drawings and Architectural Description 
 of Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff. 1898. 
 
 ST. ASAPH 
 
 BUILT FOR SKCULAR CANONS 
 
 THIS is the smallest of the Welsh cathedrals, and consists 
 of an aisled nave of five bays, an aisleless transept, a central 
 tower, and a chancel. The cathedral is finely situated on 
 a ridge between the valleys of the 
 Clwyd and Elwy ; the massive cen- 
 tral tower, 40 ft. square, is par- 
 ticularly impressive. The earliest 
 I part is the presbytery, of which, 
 
 |" ;^^- r r 1j "^"T" however, only the westernmost 
 groups of lancets follow the original 
 design : the work appears to belong 
 to the second quarter of the 
 
 12. .2 I thirteenth century. In one of the 
 
 " i Welsh wars the cathedral was burnt 
 
 * z * * y 
 ^ I- bv the English in 1282: and the 
 
 J f ^ . ' 
 
 1 f " r --~ i rebuilding is said to have been 
 
 JfD ^m^ ^i^.tm 
 
 begun by Hishoj) Anian in 1284: 
 ^" t '-.ii he ^'L'll in 1293: in the present 
 PLAN church there seems to be nothing 
 
 J
 
 ST. ASAI'II CATHEDRAL 
 
 465 
 
 ol Mich early date ; probably all that Anian accom- 
 plished was to restore the new presbytery. The ogee 
 tracery of the windows of the central tower shews that it 
 was not built before the first half of the fourteenth century. 
 It is supported by arches whose chamfered orders, relieved 
 by wave moldings, descend to the ground without capitals or 
 bases. As all the arches of the nave and that of the west 
 doorway repeat the' design of the tower arches, they must all 
 have been built together; probably in the time of liishop 
 I )avid (1315-1352). It is possible that the aisle-walls 
 
 were commenced by Anian or Leoline (1293-1314). In 
 1402 the cathedral is said to have been ''burnt and 
 utterly destroyed ": this, however, is an exaggeration: what 
 perished was the roofs, stalls, etc. These were not replaced 
 till the time of IJishop Redland (1471-1496), whose coat 
 of arms may be seen on the stalls. The upper part of the 
 tower was blown down in 1714, and was carefully restored. 
 Internally, the most striking features are the square windows 
 of the clerestory, which originally seem to have been taller, 
 and the continuous moldings ol the pier-arcade, which occur
 
 466 ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 
 
 again at Tenby. There is an interesting incised slab, and 
 an admirable effigy of a bishop, which would seem to be 
 that of Bishop Leoline. The south transept originally 
 contained two altars and was the Lady chapel. North of the 
 presbytery, as at Bangor, was a chapel, sacristy, or Chapter 
 house. 
 
 KiKi.ioGKAriiY. Browne Willis's Survey of St. Asaph Cathedral, 
 1729. 2nd edition bv Rev. Edward Edwards in 1801. 
 
 Storer's Cathedrals, 1818. 
 
 Professor Freeman in Arehtcolo^ia Cambrensis, 1854. 
 
 Archdeacon Thomas's History of the Diocese of St. Asnfh, 1870. 
 
 II. Hughes in Archaologia Cambrensis, Sixth Series, i. 204, ii. 261. 
 iv. 17. 
 
 See also the bibliography in Murray's Welsh Cathedrals, p. 251. 
 
 ST. DAVID'S 
 
 BUILT FOR Sl-XL'LAR CANONS 
 
 FAR away in the extreme west of Pembrokeshire, sixteen 
 miles from Haverfordwest, is one of the most interest- 
 ing cathedrals in the British Isles. Dedicated to the 
 great patron saint of Wales, it is as complex in plan as 
 Winchester or St. Albans, and abounds in lovely detail 
 of the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. 
 
 FIRST PERIOD. The present church is stated in the 
 Anglia Sacra to have been begun in the episcopate of 
 Peter de Leia (1176-1198), and comprises parts of the 
 presbytery, the western walls of the transept, the western 
 piers and arch of the tower, and the whole of the nave 
 except the outer portion of the west tront 'Sir (). (i. Scott) 
 and the south porch and the exterior of the south aisle 
 (1328-1347). Though built quite late in the twelfth 
 century, when (iothic architecture had got good hold in 
 Ripon, Canterbury, and Wells, St. David's partly perhaps 
 from its remote situation is still sternly Romanesque: for
 
 ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 
 
 467 
 
 ;i parallel to such retrogressive design we must turn to 
 Oxford cathedral or St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, or to 
 the western hays of the naves of Kly and Peterborough. 
 The pier-arcade is low, the piers massive and squat ; their 
 arches are semicircular, as also tin- windows of the clere- 
 story ; there is a profusion of Norman xig/ai 
 On the' other hand, 
 pointed arches ap- 
 pear in the triforium 
 and the wall arches 
 of the clerestory, the , 
 bases have the water- ! 
 holding hollow, and ' 
 there are all sorts of " 
 beautiful varieties of 
 Transitional capitals 
 from the incurved 
 scalloped or '' pol- 
 larded wi 1 low " 
 capital, which is the 
 normal capital of tin; 
 church and which 
 nere abounds, to the 
 minor capitals of 
 rudimentary foliated 
 character, of great 
 diversity and charm, 
 which testify to the 
 late date of the work. 
 Many resemblances 
 in detail shew that 
 
 the builders, though engaged on an old-fashioned Roman- 
 esque design, yet were in touch with the early (lothic which 
 was going up in the West of Kngland. It could hardly be 
 otherwise' : for the masons could not possibly have been got 
 together from Pembrokeshire : most likely they would be 
 Somersetshire men, shipped from linstol, as were those who 
 were engaged on ( 'hrist Church, Ihihlin. The " ollarded
 
 468 ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 
 
 willow" caps, bursting into foliage and sometimes into tiny 
 figure-subjects, are repeated in the nave of Wells and the 
 choir of Pershore ; the caps without necking are characteristic 
 of Llandaff, as also is the ogee keel of the filleted shafts ; 
 very frequent is the roll enclosed in the xig/ag or diamond 
 ornament, for which parallels are to be found at Wells and 
 Lichfield : in fact for this complex ornament and for the 
 "pollarded willow'' cap St. David's must have been, with 
 Worcester, one of the earliest centres. 
 
 The aisles of both presbytery and nave have vaulting- 
 shafts, and some portions of them seem to have been 
 actually vaulted. In the nave the vaulting-shafts rise from 
 the string-course of the ground story, and are alternately 
 triple and single, shewing that it was planned for a 
 sexpartite vault. This type of vault was no doubt 
 selected because of the exceptionally wide span of the 
 pier-arches. If this vault had been built, its eastern 
 bay would have been considerably lower than the western 
 arch of the tower, and great complications would have 
 arisen ; that is perhaps one reason why it never was carried 
 out. But an earthquake in 1 248 did much damage, and 
 may have deterred the builders. The triforium and clere- 
 story, formed into a single member by a containing arch 
 of /ig/ag, are a charming anticipation of the designs of 
 Pershore and Southwell choirs. As in Rochester nave- 
 there is a passage in the thickness of the wall above the 
 pier arcade ; which looks as if when they reached this 
 point, they had abandoned their intention of vaulting the 
 aisles, though they went so far as to prepare for a vault over 
 the nave. In plan the presbytery is one of the most 
 advanced of its day, consisting, as rather earlier at St. 
 Cross, Winchester, of the square-ended aisled parallelogram 
 which later on was to be the normal plan in our greater 
 Gothic churches. The architectural was also the ritualistic 
 nave : the stalls were in the crossing : the presbytery 
 contained four bays. 
 
 SECOND PERIOD. In 1220 the central tower fell, appar- 
 ently in an eastern direction ; and the presbytery and
 
 ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 
 
 469 
 
 the transepts appear now to have been rebuilt or re- 
 modelled ; as much as possible of the older work being 
 retained and the new work assimilated to it. The old tower
 
 4/o ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 
 
 semicircular. So also in the presbytery the new arches 
 of the pier-amide and the clerestory are pointed, and some 
 of tlie abaci are circular. It was not intended to vault the 
 aisles, and so the design of the nave, of which a trifonum 
 arcade forms part, was abandoned for one with pier-arches 
 and clerestory only. The presbyter}- previously had a vault; 
 the wall arches of which are cut through by the clerestory 
 windows. 
 
 THIRD PERIOD. The plan of De Leia's church was 
 simplicity itself; it was indeed a good deal too simple, for 
 it had neither procession path nor Lady chapel. It was 
 resolved to add both. Hut the presbytery then was lighted 
 by two tiers of lancets ; an upper row, which has been 
 restored by Scott ; a lower row, now blocked, which was 
 originally glazed. The upper windows were retained, which 
 made it necessary that the eastern extensions should be 
 low. as at \Yells, Salisbury, 1'ershore, and elsewhere. J>ut 
 the canons contrived to keep the lower windows also so 
 valuable for light on the High altar and the celebrant in a 
 way which seems to have occurred absolutely to not a single 
 soul elsewhere. Their plan was simply to build a sort of 
 three-sided cloister, east of the church, with north and south 
 walks forming prolongations of the presbyter}' aisles, and 
 connected by an eastern walk. A similar design was carried 
 out later at Wells : except that there the three-sided cloister 
 abuts on the south side of the nave, and not on the east end 
 ot the presbytery. This left a narrow unroofed courtyard 
 adjoining the east end of the church, and so there was no 
 interference with "ancient lights." This open court or 
 backyard was walled in all round, and no doubt became a 
 receptacle tor all sorts ot rubbish. In fact in 1492 it cost 
 some 4S. 6d. to clean it : and a little later it is described as 
 the most filthy place in all the church, " vilissimus sive sor- 
 didissimus locus in tota ecclesia.'' Of three procession 
 walks ot the procession the northern and eastern still remain. 
 From each angle of the eastern walk a little chapel was 
 projected eastward the central Lady chapel had to wait 
 a little longer fo completion. The double arches leading
 
 ST. DAVID'S CATIIKDKAI. 4? 1 
 
 into the eastern walk an- of typical thirteenth-century 
 design : the work generally may be attributed to the middle 
 of the century. 
 
 FOURTH PKRIOD. In 1220 was the famous translation 
 of the relics of St. Thomas of Canterbury; and at some 
 period in tile century later than this date the canons erected 
 a chapel to St. Thomas the Martyr east of the north tran- 
 sept ; its doorway and a beautiful double piscina remain. 
 
 To this period belongs the very remarkable pedestal of 
 the shrine of St. I )avul, canonised in 1131 : a very plain 
 structure, designed for use for very strange uses. I )own 
 be-low in each side are three openings, allowing three sick 
 people at a time to lie beneath. (Perhaps they lay then- 
 all night, waiting for the Saint to come and touch them, as 
 wa.s the case in some shrines of Pagan (Jrcecc. ) ( )n tin- 
 side next to the aisle are two large and shallow upright 
 openings, and three small circular openings the latter, 
 perhaps, as in St. Albans shrine, to allow the patient to 
 insert a diseased arm. A parallel to the lower openings 
 may be found in the remains of the shrine now inserted 
 under the effigy of Lord Stourton at Salisbury. One would 
 have expected a Feretory to have been built in the back- 
 yard east of the presbytery; but here, as at Worcester and 
 Llandaff. there was evidently a disinclination to remove 
 the relics from a site long consecrated by their presence-. 
 
 On the south side of the north transept is a smaller 
 and ruder shrine-pedestal, probably that of St. Caradoc. 
 who died in 1124 and was canonised by Pope Inno- 
 cent III. 
 
 FIFTH PKRIOH. --- In 1302 lii.shop Martyn founded an 
 important chantry, and before his death in 1.528 In- 
 completed tin- Lady chapel as his chantry chapel, and 
 is entombed next to tin- scdilia in it as founder. It \vas 
 probably at tin- same time that the northern Hanking chapel 
 of St. Xichola> was completed by Sir John Wogan as his 
 chantry chapel. 
 
 Six'in PKRIOD. -Then came the great building prelate 
 of St. 1 )avid s, Ilishop (lower (1328-1347). He seems to
 
 472 ST. DAVID'S CATIIKDRAL 
 
 have.- remodelled the procession paths, to have built the 
 chapel of King Edward the Confessor, south of the Lady 
 chapel, and to have built the sedilia and tombs in the 
 Lady chapel. (2) Like Abbot Thokey, at Gloucester, he 
 transformed the Norman south aisle of the nave into the 
 style of his day. and built a south porch. (3) He rebuilt the 
 chapel of St. Thomas Martyr, c. 1329, except its south 
 wall, considerably enlarging it, so as to support a Chapter 
 house above it, and a Treasury above the Chapter house : 
 this was done with the aid of a chantry endowment founded 
 by Sir R. Symonds in 1329. (4) He raised the tower one- 
 stage, so that it now became two stories high. (5) He 
 improved the lighting of the church by raising the aisle walls 
 and inserting larger windows with flowing tracery. (6) To him 
 probably is to be ascribed the existing oak screen between 
 the presbytery and the choir : it is the only instance in 
 England of a presbytery screen, except in three or four 
 small parish churches. (7) He put up the bishop's throne, 
 which, however, was reconstructed between 1496 and 1505. 
 (8) He built for himself a magnificent palace across the 
 Alan, and another at Lamphey, besides Swansea castle and 
 church. (9) His most beautiful work is the choir screen, 
 one of the grandest examples of mediaeval art. It consists 
 of three compartments of stone, surmounted by a modern 
 cornice of wood. The southern compartment has two 
 pointed arches, with compound cusping and rich crockets ; 
 and within, the tomb and effigy of the bishop, formerly 
 surrounded by palisades of brass. The central compart- 
 ment is occupied by the doorway and vaulted vestibule 
 leading from the nave to the choir : on either side of the 
 vestibule are effigies of priests. The northern compartment 
 seems to consist of earlier arcading, which has been worked 
 up to serve as a reredos to the altar dedicated to the Holy 
 Cross. Above the tomb is the same skeleton vaulting as 
 in the Bristol Sacrist}', built by Abbot Knowle (ol>. 1332). 
 The bishop and he were friends, and the stone for Gowcr's 
 work at St. David's came from the same quarries at Dundry, 
 Somerset, as that for Bristol choir, and was worked by the
 
 ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 473 
 
 same- men, for the same masons' marks occur in both 
 churches. 
 
 SKVKNTH FKKIOD. The chief expenditure in the fifteenth 
 century was on carpenters' work. The stalls, which have 
 excellent bench ends and interesting misericords, are of the 
 date 1460-1480. To about the same period belong the 
 sedilia, of good design : like those in Bcverley minster, 
 they are of oak. The nave roof is ascribed to the years 
 1472-1509; the other high roofs may be of similar date. 
 The nave roof consists simply of tie-beams resting on the 
 walls, and carrying transverse beams. At their intersection 
 pendant posts extend down for some distance, and arches 
 are thrown across from the end of one post to the end of 
 the next ; the principle is the same as in the 1 construction 
 of the stone pendants of the fan-vault in Henry the Seventh's 
 chapel at Westminster. About the end of the century the 
 north wall of the nave, built too near the marshy bank of 
 the Alan, was propped up by huge detached buttresses. 
 
 HIC.HTH PERIOD. The last great building prelate was 
 Bishop Yaughan (1509-1523). He gave the tower the 
 present third stage, and built a parvis over the south porch. 
 His main work was to complete the eastern chapels and 
 procession path, lie vaulted the Lady chapel, previously 
 recasing and rebuttressing it externally. He also vaulted 
 the eastern walk of the procession path ; his arms occur on 
 a boss in the vault. Finally, he blocked the lower three 
 lights of the east wall of the presbytery and covered the 
 backyard with an unusually fine fan-vault : his altar platform 
 remains ; also squints looking on to the altars of the north- 
 east and south-east chapels. The altar was dedicated to tin- 
 Holy Trinity. A fine screen and doorways re-main. 
 
 On tin- west side of tin- chapel, in the east wall ol tin- 
 presbytery, is a curious recess of 1 >e Leia's time: tin- sill 
 of it is about 3 ft. above the floor of the chapel, and i A ft. 
 above- that of the presbytery. It contains a cross encircled 
 by other crosses, the spandivls of the- ce-ntral cross being 
 pierce-d right through the- wall to the High altar on the- other 
 side. In the lower part of the recess human bones were
 
 474 
 
 ST. DAVIDS CATHEDRAL 
 
 found, which had been run into ;i solid mass with mortar ; 
 probably to preserve and conceal them when the order came 
 down for the destruction of relics at the Reformation. 
 
 In the centre of the presbytery, as at Worcester and 
 ( Gloucester, is a table tomb: it is that of Edmond Tudor, 
 son of Owen Tudor and Queen Katharine, widow of 
 Henry V., and father of Henry the Seventh ; he died in 
 1456 and was buried at Caermarthen, but at the Dissolution 
 his remains and tomb were removed to St. David's. 
 
 Externally, the cathedral is simple and plain, in harmony 
 with its bleak and wild surroundings. The interior is very 
 striking, as well from the unusual character of the design 
 as from the complexity of the planning : it is rich also in 
 admirable minor work and monuments : it yields in interest 
 to no English cathedral and surpasses most. Entering the 
 nave, the first thing that strikes one is the sharp slope of 
 the floor; following the upward slope of the wooded dell 
 through which the little stream runs, it rises 2 ft. as one
 
 ST. DAVID'S CATHEDRAL 475 
 
 advances from west to east. Next one notices that neither 
 of the pier-arcades is vertical ; both slope outwardly, perhaps 
 as a result of the earthquake of 1248. The colouring too 
 is quite unique : the local stone is of tones of purple 
 absolutely unknown elsewhere ; while the fourteenth-century 
 work is in red stone from I hmdry. In one respect it is far 
 away the oldest cathedral in (Ireat Britain, for the purple 
 stone conies from local Cambrian beds, the most ancient 
 sedimentary formation in (Ireat Britain. Its situation too 
 is extraordinary ; it is approached from a high tableland to 
 the west, and is invisible till one sees it close at hand sunk 
 so low that it seems but a step from the high road on to 
 tin- top of the central tower. Remote and inaccessible as 
 it is. the little city was once crowded with life : it was on 
 the main road to Ireland, and its famous shrine was the 
 resort of pilgrims from all over Kurope : it was visited among 
 others by William the Conqueror, Henry the Second, Kdward 
 the' First and Uticcn Kleanor. To St. David's, as to Wells, 
 ever\' architectural pilgrim will resort. 
 
 Bim.nu.KM'iiY. Browne NYillis's Sui-'n 1 of St. Darid's Cathntra/. 
 1717. 
 
 I >i:-.liop Basil Junes ;in<l I'rofe>sor Freeman's History and Antiquities 
 of St. Duriifs, 1856. 
 
 \V. I.. \te\n.ri* His(oiypf(he DioceseofSl. A?i'/,/V, iSSS. 
 
 Archil,-ctiiral A\i'i,'^', \i. 27. 28. 29. 
 
 There is a i;ood handbook by Mr 1'. A. Robson. 1st edition, HJOI. 
 
 See also the bibliographies in the prefaces of the books ol Jones and 
 Freeman and Mr Robson.
 
 MODERN CATHEDRALS 
 
 THL following new dioceses were formed during the 
 last two reigns : Birmingham, Liverpool. Man- 
 chester, Newcastle, Ripon, St. Albans, Southwark, 
 Southwell, Truro, Wakefield. Of the cathedrals of these 
 Manchester, Newcastle, Ripon, St. Albans, Southwark, 
 Southwell, and Wakefield, have been described already. 
 In only two dioceses, Truro and Liverpool, have new 
 cathedrals been commenced. The bishops of Birmingham. 
 Newcastle, and Wakefield are housed in parish churches : 
 Manchester was a collegiate church.
 
 BIRMINGHAM CATHEDRAL 
 
 477 
 
 BIRMINGHAM CATHEDRAL 
 
 THK episcopal cliair, cathedra, of the bishop of Birmingham, 
 
 is temporarily located in the parish church of St. Philip, 
 built by Thomas Archer, a pupil of Yanhrugh, between 
 1711 and 1719, and a solid, stately example of the later 
 Knglish Renaissance. Tin- chancel is a recent addition,
 
 478 
 
 llfRMIXGIlAM CATHEDRAL 
 
 separated from the nave by a fine iron screen by Jean 
 Tijou, from whose hand came the similar screens in St. 
 Paul's cathedral, London. The galleried interior, with its 
 fluted piers and classical entablature, is impressive and 
 satisfactory ; the steeple one of the most successful 
 Renaissance examples in England. The great glory of the 
 
 THE INTKRIOR, LOOK INC. KAST 
 
 church, however, is the stained glass, three great windows 
 at the east, and one at the west end : they should be seen 
 both by morning and afternoon light. They were designed 
 by Hurne Jones, a native of Birmingham, a magnificent 
 collection of whose works is housed in the City .Museum : 
 and executed by William Morris. It may be doubted if
 
 LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL 4/9 
 
 nobler glass was ever executed, in modern or in mediaeval 
 days. The three eastern windows represent the Ascension, 
 Nativity, and Crucifixion: the western window, the Last 
 Judgment. "Standing before these great solemn angels," 
 said a well-known architect to the writer, "my knees 
 trembled under me.''' 
 
 LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL 
 
 THIS cathedral was begun in 1904 from the designs of 
 Mr (i. Gilbert Scott. In 1910 the Lady chapel was opened. 
 and at the present rate of progress the completion of the 
 whole cathedral may be expected about 1932 : (St. Paul's, 
 London, occupied thirty-five years). Owing to exigencies 
 of site, it is orientated, like Rievaulx abbey, from north 
 to south. Its planning is remarkable. In the centre is 
 an enormous expanse of unbroken space, such as exists in 
 no cathedral in Kurope : this in the centre is So ft. wide, 
 while from east to west (speaking ritualistically) it is 200 ft. 
 long. There are two transepts, but these are not arranged 
 as at Salisbury or at Durham, but are of identical dimensions 
 and ilank the crossing to east and west : these steady the 
 piers and arc-lies of the crossing, which is to be covered with 
 a vaulted lantern, somewhat after the manner of Kly, except 
 that it is to be of stone, and not of wood. To the north 
 and south of the crossing are great cavernous porches, 
 forming the main entrances to the cathedral. To the west 
 is an aisled nave : to the east an aisled choir and presbytery 
 with ambulatory behind. Last of the main wall of the 
 church arc vestries : to the north-east an octagonal Chapter 
 house: to the south-east a Lady chapel. The length from 
 east to west is, internally, 4^0 ft. ; externally, including 
 the Lady chapel. 600 ft. The choir is 47 tt. wide, /.('., 
 wider than our widest churches, Lin coin and York minsters. 
 It will be vaulted throughout in stone : our highest 
 cathedral vault, that of Salisbury, rises at the- apex to ^4 ft.:
 
 LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL 
 
 481 
 
 I.AHV cuAi-Ki., LOOKIM; \\ K> i
 
 482 
 
 LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL 
 
 LADY CHAI'K!., LOOKING
 
 LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL 483 
 
 ;U Liverpool the spring of the vault is 84 ft. above the 
 pavement, and the vault itself being 31 ft. high, the total 
 height of the interior will be i 15 ft. ; so that both in breadth 
 and height it surpasses any mediaeval cathedral in England. 
 The high vaults are to have roofs of copper carried by 
 fireproof material. Speaking generally, the plan serves three 
 purposes ; first it includes a comparatively small Lady 
 chapel for services for which the choir would be too large ; 
 secondly, it provides a choir and presbytery for the daily 
 choral services, surrounded by aisles, and in direct com- 
 munication with vestries and Chapter house. The organ 
 is placed on each side of the choir in the westernmost bay, 
 with cases towards the choir and the central space. Finally, 
 lor great congregational occasions, such as a national 
 festival, a meeting of diocesan choirs, t!vc., as well as for 
 preaching, there is the vast central space, and in addition 
 the transepts and nave. In design, as well as in plan, the 
 cathedral is a revulsion from the " Imitative Gothic" which 
 has been in vogue for more than half a century, and which 
 found final expression in Truro cathedral : Liverpool 
 cathedral cannot be labelled as " Larly English " or 
 " Decorated" or " Perpendicular" : it is none of them. It 
 is too early to speak of the details of the design, which will 
 be open to change and amendment as the building progresses : 
 it can hardly be doubted, however, that its vastness of scale, 
 the free handling of the masses, the depths of its shadow 
 effects, the stern sobriety of the exterior, and the general 
 absence of minute frippery, will make' it one of the most 
 grave, solemn, and monumental buildings in Christendom. 
 
 TRl'RO CATHEDRAL 
 
 Tki'kO cathedral, consecrated in 1X87. is the first entirely 
 new cathedral built in Lngland since St. Paul's. In dimen- 
 sions it nmk> with Norwich and \\Vlls; in plan it is as 
 complex as any of the greater of our cathedrals. It was 
 3- 1
 
 484 TRURO CATHEDRAL 
 
 designed for a central and two western towers, crowned by 
 spires, a south porch and a western narthex, an aisled nave 
 of nine bays, a central transept with eastern and western 
 aisles and baptistery, a choir, sanctuary, and eastern proces- 
 sional aisle, a square east end, and an unaisled eastern 
 transept, projecting slightly beyond the aisles ; and below 
 the choir a crypt to be appropriated to vestries. Internally 
 it is picturesque, and admirably adapted for the ritual of the 
 
 OKNKRAI. VIICW FROM TIIK NORTH-KAST 
 
 Church of England as it was in the thirteenth century. In 
 design it is as conservative as in planning : for everything 
 there is a precedent, if not in England, then in the North of 
 Erance ; of freshness and originality there is little ; that was 
 not desired or attempted. It is probably the last thing on 
 a large scale which we are likely to have in England in 
 imitative Gothic : and forms an enduring memorial to the 
 scholarship and cleverness of one of the many able architects
 
 TRURO CATHEDRAL 
 
 485 
 
 of the Gothic Revival. Because it is hut a reproduction of 
 the planning, construction, and detail of a bygone age, it 
 does not follow that the design is unjustifiable or uninterest- 
 ing. Mr Pearson was just as much at liberty to reproduce 
 at Truro a thirteenth-century type of ecclesiastical architec- 
 ture, as Albert! and Brunelleschi to resuscitate the art of 
 Imperial Rome 
 at Mantua and 
 Florence for the I 
 
 edification, in- 
 struction, and de- 
 light of mankind. 
 At Truro there 
 is real interest in 
 tracing the me- 
 anders of Mr Pear- 
 son's scholarship. 
 The crypt is in the 
 
 massive style of || ^ /> ^.;, |f[ 
 
 the latter years of 
 the twelfth cen- 
 tury : the choir is 
 supposed to have 
 been commenced 
 in the early years 
 of the thirteenth 
 century ; but since, 
 as in the transepts 
 of Salisbury, the 
 aisle windows are 
 lancets, while 
 
 those of the clerestory have early plate-tracery, we are to 
 imagine that the upper part of the choir was not finished 
 before the middle of the century. So again, in the half- 
 century or so which might have elapsed between the com- 
 mencement and the completion of the cathedral, the design 
 is supposed to have been altered here and then' as it passed 
 throuuh different hands; hence the rose windows, which are 
 
 FROM TIIK SOUTH-EAST, SHOWINC TIIK 
 SOt'TH AISI.E OK OLD ST. MARY'S
 
 486 TRURO CATHEDRAL 
 
 unusually plentiful, are all different ; the transept ends are 
 differently treated ; the arches of the choir are narrow, those 
 of the nave are wide ; the latter has coupled bays, the choir 
 has not ; the quadripartite vault of the choir becomes more 
 complex in the nave, just as it does at Lincoln. And just as 
 the Lincoln architect dropped down fortuitous chapels at the 
 west end of the nave, so Mr Pearson purposely forgot to leave 
 room for a baptistery, and tacked it on, in a carefully casual 
 manner, to the south transept. A cloister, too, was designed 
 three-sided and lop-sided, as at Chichester. The south side 
 of the choir has the remarkable peculiarity of having three 
 aisles ; so has that of Oxford cathedral. But it got its three 
 aisles in a different way from Oxford. Mr Pearson was 
 instructed to leave standing a piece of genuine mediaeval 
 work, late and good viz., the south aisle of the old church 
 of St. Mary's. The cathedral was placed to the north of it, 
 just so far off as to barely admit the buttresses supporting 
 the flying buttresses of the choir vault. The intervening 
 space Mr Pearson roofed over, thus obtaining a narrow in- 
 termediate aisle between the choir aisle to the north and 
 St. Mary's aisle to the south. Thus on the south side of 
 the choir there are three ranges of piers and three ranges 
 of arches, and the changing vistas and perspectives are 
 delightful. In this instance the architect was mediaeval in 
 spirit as well as in the letter.
 
 INDEX 
 
 AKBRKVI. 
 
 NS A. -Al>!>ot\ \\\.---Ar<i'ii>is/io/>\ B. - /Us/top ; I'. _ /'; 
 
 Acharius, A. of Peterborough, 26^ 
 Adrian IV., Pope, -98 
 Aid, in, H. of Durham, 82 
 Alan, I', of Kly, 106 
 Alban (St. I, 297, 308 
 Alcock, 15. of Kly, no 
 Aldred, 15. of ( iloucester, 136 
 Amphibalus (St. I, 297 
 Andrew, A. of Peterborough, 26; 
 Andrewes, H. of Southwark, 337 
 Anian, 15. of Bangor, 442 
 Ansclm, AI5. ol Canterbury, 24 
 \<|uablanca, M. of Hereford, 164 
 Arthur, son of Henry \'ll., 423 
 Arundel, 15. of Chichester, 79 
 Audley. 15. of Hereford. 169 
 Audrey (St.), Abbess of Kly, 98 
 Augustine (St. I, 82, 283 
 Angustinian Kstablishments : 
 
 Bristol, 9 ; ( 'arli.sle, 43 ; Oxfoid, 
 245 ; Southwark, 331 
 
 B 
 
 lAM.iiK ( 'athedral, 442-445 
 
 iarnett, 15. of Kly, 106, i i i 
 
 5aiiehun Chapel, Norwich, 236 
 
 leaufort, ( 'ardinal, 396 
 
 5eeket'.s " ( "orona," 30 
 
 5eekc-t's Martyrdom, site of, 24 
 
 5ede, Venerable, 90 
 
 lek, I!, of Durham, 85 
 
 lenedict, A. ot Peterborough 201, 204, 
 
 ienedictine Kstablislnnents : 
 
 ( ante! biir\ , 22 ; ( 'iiester. ;j ; 
 Durham, 84 ; Kly, 9') ; ( ilouee.ster, 
 i V; \or\\iih, 227 ; Peterborough, 
 257 ; KoelK-ster, 284 ; St. Albans, 
 2iy<S ; \\'iiu-liester. 384 ; \\'oreester, 
 
 4"! 
 Berkeley ( 'hapel, Bristol, 17 
 
 Btrnardi's Paintings, Chichester, 81 
 
 15ethnne, B. of Hen-ford, ini 
 
 BIKMIN<;IIAM Cathedral, 477-479 
 
 Birinus (St. ), 400 
 
 Bitton. B. of Kxeter, 124 
 
 Black Prince'; Chantry, Canterbury, 
 
 34 
 
 Booth's Porch, Hereford, 170 
 Boothby, Sir Brooke, 180 
 Hoteler's (A.I Chantry, (iloucester, 
 
 '54 
 
 Brandiston, A. of Bristol, 13 
 Brantingham, B. of Kxeter, 133 
 BRISTOL The Cathedral Church of 
 
 the Holy Trinity, 9-21 
 Augustinian Kstablishmenl. 9 ; 
 
 KiksT Bu ILIUM; Pi: k inn I Norman 
 
 Church), 10; Norman remains, 11; 
 
 Sl-.( (iMi PKKIMII, 12 ; Klder I. 
 
 rebuilding. 13; lighting proble 
 13 ; Vaulting, 14 ; I.ady < ha 
 17 ; Choir, 17 ; Berkeley I 'ha 
 17; Chancel, 18; decorative 
 tail, 18 ; Newton chapel. 
 Fork l II 1'LKliiH, K) ; Transept- 
 remodelled, 19 ; KM I II PI.RK i|> 
 20; modern executions. 20 
 
 P.ionescombe, B. of Kxeter, IK/ 
 
 Bruere, 15. of l-'.xeter, I 18 
 
 Burton, A. of Bristol, 20 
 
 Butler, B. of Bristol, K, 
 
 By/, inline Font, Chester, (13 
 
 ( 'aesai . Dean of l-'.lv. i 12 
 CANTKKIM'KY The Cathedral . >1 
 Clni-l ( 'luirch. 22- |2 
 
 KlK-'l Pl.KH >l i. 22 ; Pre-< 'c,nc|Uest 
 remains, 22; I .anlranc's ( 'athedral 
 aiul Benedictine Monastery. 22; 
 site i 'I Ueckel's martyrdom, 24 ; 
 Si:roM> Pi.Kii il>, 24 ; Anselm's
 
 488 
 
 INDEX 
 
 CANTERBURY 6Vw////w/. 
 
 work, 24; Chapels, 26; Presbytery, 
 27; the Choir, 27, 30; TlliKl) 
 PKKIOD, 28; Destruction and Re- 
 storation of Choir, 28; Hecket's 
 Corona, 30; I'Yench Influences, 
 32 ; Stained Glass, 33 ; Kot.'RTH 
 PKKIOD, 34; Crypt, 35; FIFTH 
 PKKIOD, 35; Norman Work 
 Removed, 35 ; Clerestory, 36 ; 
 SIXTH PKRIOD, 37; Cloisters, 37 ; 
 SKVKNTII PKKIOD, 37 ; Central 
 '1'ower, 37; Chapter House, 38; 
 West Front, 40 
 
 ( 'antilupe (St.), 157 
 
 CAKI.ISI.K The Cathedral Church 
 
 of the Holy Trinity, 43-51 
 Augustinian Establishment, 43 ; 
 FIKST PKKIOD, 43; the Norman 
 Church, 43; SKCOND PKKIOD, 44; 
 Gothic Chancel built, 45; THIRD 
 PKKIOD, 46; destruction by fire, 
 46; the Hast Front, 47; FOURTH 
 PKKIOD, 49; Central Tower and 
 Nave, 49; FIFTH PKKIOD, 50; 
 ( jondebour's illuminations, 50; 
 SIXTH PKKIOD, 51 
 
 Cathedrals, Ritualistic divisions of, 
 6 
 
 Chad (St.), 173 
 
 CHESTKR The Cathedral Church 
 of Christ and the Blessed 
 Virgin, 52-64 
 
 Benedictine Monastery, 52 ; 
 FIRST PKKIOD, 52; Norman Work 
 extant, 52; Cloisters, 55; SKCOND 
 PKKIOD, 55; THIRD PKKIOD, 55; 
 Lady Chapel, 57; the Choir, 57; 
 FOURTH PKKIOD, 58; extensive 
 rebuilding, 58 ; St. Oswald's 
 Church, 59; Central Tower and 
 Nave, 60; I-' II-TH PKKIOD, 62; 
 Nave, High Altar, and Cloisters, 
 f>2 ; Minor Works, 63 ; Stalls, 63 
 
 Chichester, H. of Kxeter, 117 
 
 ClllCHKSTKR -- The Cathedral 
 Church of the Holy Trinity, 
 65-81 
 
 Foundation of the See, 66; the 
 Norman Church, 68 ; the Lady 
 Chapel, 70; destruction by lire 
 and restoration, 71 ; the Towers, 
 76; Chapels, 76; Window Tracery, 
 78; detached Campanile, 79 ; 15er 
 nardi's paintings, 80; rebuilding 
 of the Towers and Spire, 81 
 
 Cobliam, H. of Worcester, 420 
 Conrad, P. of Canterbury, 24 
 
 Cousin, H. of Durham, 94 
 Crauden's (P.) Chapel, Ely, no 
 Cuthbert (St.), H. of Durham, 82 
 
 D 
 
 Dalderby, B. of Lincoln, 206 
 
 " Dark Entry," Canterbury, 42 
 
 David, A. of Bristol, 13 
 
 David (St.), 471 
 
 DURHAM The Cathedral Church 
 of Christ and the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary, 82-95 
 Foundation of the See, 82 ; Bene- 
 dictine Establishment, 84 ; Episco- 
 pal Jurisdiction, 84; FIRST PKKIOD, 
 86; the Norman Cathedral, 86; 
 Vaulting, 88; Internal Elevation, 
 89; SKCOND PKKIOD, 89; Gothic 
 spirit, 90; THIRD PKKIOD, 90; 
 "Chapel of the Nine Altars,' 91 ; 
 FOURTH PKKIOD, 93; Window 
 Tracery, 93; Altar Reredos, 93; 
 FIFTH PKKIOD, 93 ; the Central 
 Tower, 93; SIXTH PKKIOD, 94; 
 the Sanctuary Knocker, 94 
 
 Eastry, P. of Canterbury, 34 
 Fdington, B. of Winchester, 395 
 Edward I., 166 
 
 II.'s Tomb, Gloucester, 144 
 Eleanor, Henry II.'s Queen, 17 
 Elliott, Dean of Bristol, 20 
 Elsinus, A. of Peterborough, 2^7 
 Ei.Y The Cathedral Church of the 
 I loly and UndivisibleTrinity, 
 96 ' 
 
 Benedictine Establishment, 98 ; 
 FIRST PKKIOD, 98; Plan and Con- 
 struction of Norman Cathedral, 98; 
 SKCOND PKKIOD, 102; the Galilee 
 Porch, 102; Reconstruction of East 
 End, 102 ; THIRD PKKIOD, 104 ; the 
 Lady Chapel, 105; Collapse of Cen- 
 tral Tower, 106 ; Construction of 
 the Octagon, 106 ; the rebuilt 
 Choir, 1 08 ; Stalls, 110; FOURTH 
 PKKIOD, no ; Lighting Improve- 
 ments, i to ; Chantry Chapels, 110; 
 FIFTH PKKIOD, in; Wren's Classi- 
 cal Doorway, m; Minor Works, 
 1 1 1 
 
 Ely Porta, no 
 
 Ernulph, P. of Canterbury, 24 
 Ethelbert (St. I, King of East Anglia, 
 
 1.57 
 
 ,, King of Kent, 284
 
 IN'DH.K 
 
 4*9 
 
 Ftheldreda (St.), Abbess of Ely, 98, 
 
 IOO 
 
 KXETKK The Cathedra! ('huivh 
 
 of St. IVter, I 14 
 l-'ouiulation of tin- See, i 14 ; 
 FIKST I'F.Kloi), 116; construction 
 of the Norman Cathedral, 111; 
 SFCHNII I'F.KIOD, 118; the Chap- 
 ter House, 118; TIIIKD 1'KKIon, 
 i ic) ; the ( 'hapels, 1 19 ; ForKTll 
 PFKKHI, I2i ; various completions, 
 121; the Arcades, 122; FIFTH 
 I'F.KIOD, 123; the Choir re- 
 modelled, 123; SIXTH PF.KIOII, 
 124; completion of the Choir, 124; 
 the Bishop's Throne, 125; the 
 High Altar, 126; SKVKNTH I'KKIOD, 
 127; the design of the Cathedral, 
 130; Interior problems, 130; Win- 
 dow Tracery, 131 ; symmetry of 
 the design, 131 ; F.KillTH I'F.KK il), 
 133 ; the Chantries, 134 
 
 ( ii,< >[ VF.STKK -- The Cathedral 
 
 Clunvli of St. 1'eler. 136-155 
 
 Benedictine Kstablishmellt, 13*1 ; 
 
 !' IK.-T Pi :K ion. i 5(1 ; the ( Vypt, 
 
 '3(1 ; Si.c OMI I'F.KK in, 138 ; the 
 
 rebuilding, 138 ; the ( 'hoir and 
 
 Nave, 140; THIRD I'I-.KKHI, 142; 
 
 Towers, 142; destruction by 
 
 tires, 143; ForKTll Pl.Kloli, 
 143 ; Strengthening by Buttresses, 
 143; Windows, 144; FIFTH 
 I T:KIC H i, 144 ; Tomb ot Fdward 
 II., 144 ; SIXTH I'F.KKHI, 14(1 ; 
 Lighting Improvements, 146; 
 South Transept, 140 ; Vaulting, 
 141, ; the Fast l-'.nd, 150; SKVKNIII 
 PI-.KKHI, i ;i ; rebuilding of ( 'lois- 
 ters, 151 ; F.KiHTII 1'KKlon, 151 ; 
 West Front, 151 ; N IN i n I'F.KKHI. 
 i ;2 : < 'entral Tower. 152 ; TF.NTII 
 IM-'-KKH), i ;2 ; p-building ol I.ady 
 ('hapel, 1^2; the ( 'loister, ( 'hapter 
 House, etc., 153; Minor \Vorks 
 and Monument-. 15 ( 
 ( iodfrey, I!, of < 'hichcster, 07 
 ( iold.slone, 1'. of ( 'anterbury, 40 
 
 (Joldwdl, H. of Norwich, 2^8 
 (iondebour, I', of Carlisle, 50 
 (loodrii-h, H. of Fly, 111 
 (iraiidisson, H. of F.xcter, 127 
 (iriiuthorpe, I,ord, 304, 309 
 (irostete, li. of Lincoln, 201 
 
 H 
 
 Hacket, H. of Liehtield, 177 
 I laithuaile, I', of ( 'arlisle, ^ t 
 Hatlield, li. of I )urham, 93 
 1 lenry I. , 43 
 
 I V.'s Chantry, ('anterbury, ^7 
 ,, VIII. ,254 
 
 UERKFORD- -The ( 'athedral ( 'liurch 
 of St. Mary and St. Fthelbcrt, 
 156-171 
 I-'lKs,T I'KKloi), 150 ; the Nor- 
 
 m,m( 'hurch, 158; SKCOND I'I;KKIH. 
 i do; Nave and renovation of Choir, 
 
 i(>i ; TIIIKD I'F.KKHI, iCii ; the 
 Chapels, 102; FOIKTII I'I-.KKIH, 
 162; completion of Lady Chapel, 
 103; Fn rii I'KKIOII, 1*14 ; Lighting 
 Problems. 104; SIXTH PI.KKHI, 
 ifi4 ; North Transejit rebuilt, 1(14 ; 
 SKVKNTH PI-.KKHI, 10^; St. C.ni- 
 telupe's Shrine, i(rf>; various 
 improvements, iO<> : FK;HTH 
 I'KKIoli, i(>7 ; ( 'entral To\\er re- 
 built, i<'7 ; S.F. Ti-.insept rebuilt. 
 1(18; NINTH I'FKKIH. 168; South 
 Transept \\'indo\\s, 108; Chantry 
 < 'hapels, I'M/ ; TKVMI I'FKKH i, 
 170; Modern Restorations, 170 
 
 " I loly 1 lole '' lin ( Yypt), \\'inche.ster, 
 
 395 
 
 Hotham, I',, of Fly, i i i 
 Hugh iSt.i, P.. of Lincoln, n/''. 201 
 Humphrey, 1 Hike of (Jloucester, 308 
 
 J 
 
 K 
 
 n, B. of Bath and Wells. 31,2 
 
 silkenny, P. of Fly. i i 2 
 ing h ihn's Tomb I* ilouce-ter i. 
 irton, A. of Peterborough, 271 
 nou le, A. of Bri-tol, 13, 17, i>
 
 490 
 
 INDHX 
 
 Lanfranc, AH. of Canterbury, 22 
 Langlev, Cardinal, Tombat Durham, 
 
 1*0 
 
 Langton, H. of Lichfield, 176 
 
 15. of Winchester, 401 
 
 Lien FIELD The Cathedral Church 
 
 of St. Mary, 172-190 
 Foundation of the See, 172 ; 
 Story of St. Chad, 173; History of 
 the See, 175 ; the Cathedral during 
 the Civil War, 176; Puritanical 
 Devastations, 177; Ke-ereetion of 
 Central Tower, 178; FIRST 1'KRIon, 
 178; the Norman Cathedral, 178; 
 SECOND PERIOD, 179; the Nor- 
 man Cathedral rebuilt, 179 ; 
 THIRD I'KKIOD, 182; the Tran- 
 septs and Chapter House, 182; 
 FOURTH I'KRIOD, 183 ; the Nave, 
 183; Fii-TH PKRIOD, 185; tin- 
 West Front, 185; the" Lady 
 Chapel, 185; SIXTH PKKIOD, 186 ; 
 St. Chad's Shrine, 186-187; Light- 
 ing improvements, 186 ; SKVKNTII 
 PKKIOD, 187; Altar Screen, 187; 
 Completion of St. Chad's Shrine, 
 188 ; Minor Works, 189 
 
 LINCOLN The Cathedral Church 
 
 of St. Mary, 191 
 FIRST PKKIOD, 191 ; Norman 
 remains, 191; SKCOND PKKIOD, 
 193; the Towers, 193: THIRD 
 PKKIOD, 194 ; the rebuilding, 
 194; St. Hugh's Work, 196, etc. ; 
 FOTK rii PKKIOD, 198 ; FIFTH 
 I'KKIOD, 198; the Nave, 198; 
 the West Front, 201; SIXTH 
 PKKIOD, 201 ; collapse and re- 
 erection of Central Tower, 201 ; 
 Choir and Transepts, 202; 
 SKVKNTH PKKIOD, 204; the 
 Angel Choir, 205; the Central 
 Tower and Spire, 20^; F.K.Hlll 
 PKKIOD, 206; Bishop Dalderby's 
 Shrine, 20(1 ; NlNTIl PKKIOD, 207 ; 
 Choir Stalls, 207 ; Ti'.NTH PKKIOD, 
 207; West Windows, 207; Chan- 
 tries, 208; F.I.KYKNTH PKKIOD, 
 209 
 
 LlVKKI'ooL Cathedral, 479-483 
 
 Li. AN DAM' CATIIKDRAI., 446-464 
 
 FiR.vr PKKIOD, 447 ; Urban's 
 Norman ('athedral, 447-456; 
 SKCOND PKRIOD, 456; completion 
 of Crban's Cathedral, 456; THIRD 
 I'KKIOD, 460; Campanile and 
 Chapter House, 460; FOURTH 
 
 Li. AND A FF Continued. 
 
 PKRIOD, 460; Lady Chapel, 460; 
 FIFTH PKRIOD, 461; Improvements 
 to Lighting, 461 ; SIXTH PKRIOD, 
 462; New Doorways, 462; SKVKNTH 
 PKRIOD, 462; North-West Tower, 
 462; F.ICIITH PKRIOD, 463; Re- 
 storations, 463 
 
 LONDON The Cathedral Church 
 
 of St. Paul, 210-223 
 Sir Christopher Wren, 210; the 
 original design, 212 ; the Dome, 
 214-221 ; the Interior, 217; the 
 Fxterior, 217 
 
 Longland's (B.) Chantry, Lincoln, 
 209 
 
 Losinga, B. of Hereford, 158 
 ,, B. of Norwich, 227 
 
 Luxemburg, Cardinal, ill 
 
 Lyhart, B. of Norwich, 237 
 
 M 
 
 MANCHESTER, The Cathedral 
 Church of St. Mary, 224-5 
 Mare, A. of St. Albans, 308' 
 Marshall, B. of Kxeter, 119 
 
 B. of Llandaff, 463 
 Meopham, AB. of Canterbury, 128 
 " Minstrels' Gallery," F.xcter, 133 
 Modern Cathedrals, 476 
 Monks' Infirmary, Canterbury, 41 
 
 N 
 
 Nailheart, A. of Bristol, 19 
 
 Napier, John Moore, Fpitaph at 
 ( 'hester, 64 
 
 NEWCASTLE, the Cathedral Church 
 of St. Nicholas. 226 
 
 Newland, A. of Bristol, 19 
 
 Nix, B. of Norwich, 236 
 
 Northwold, B. of Fly, 102, 112 
 
 NORWICH The ('athedral Church 
 
 of the Holy Trinity, 227 
 The See, 227 ; commencement 
 of present Cathedral, 227 ; the Plan, 
 229 ; damage by fire and storm, 
 234; improvements to Lighting, 
 235; making the Cathedral fire- 
 proof, 237 ; Vaulting, 238 ; the In- 
 terior, 240 
 
 o
 
 INDEX 
 
 491 
 
 Ovin's < 'ros.s, Kly, 1 1 3 
 
 OXKOKD The Cathedral Church 
 
 ' if < 'lirisl, 243-2,6 
 St. Frideswide, 243 ; FIKST 
 PKKIOD, 245; Saxon Remains, 
 245 ; SKCDND PKKIOD, 24=; ; Augus- 
 linian l i ',stabli.shineiit, 245; the 
 T\vrlfth-( Vntiiry Cathedral, 246; 
 the Kast F.nd,247; TIIIKD I'KKKID, 
 250; Tower and Chapter House, 
 250; ForKTH PKKIOD, 251 ; Light- 
 ing, 251; St. Catherine's Chapel, 
 252; FIFTH I'KKIOD, 252; Vault- 
 ing the ( 'hoir, 253 ; SIXTH I'KKIOD, 
 254 ; Foundation of Bishopric, 254; 
 Chronological Notes, 2^, 
 
 1 'anl ol ( 'acn, 302 
 
 1'aulinu.s (St. ), 82, 283, 343 
 
 Pi-arson, H. of ( 'hester, (13 
 
 1'KTKKlioKour.II The Cathedral 
 Clunvh of St. 1'eler, 257-271 
 F.stablishment of the Monastery, 
 257; Legendary History, 257; 
 FIRST PIT; ion, 259; destruction of 
 Saxon Church hv Fire, 2^9: SK< OND 
 PI-'.KIOD, 2(10 ; eoniniencenient of 
 present ( 'atheilral, 260; TlllKD 
 I'KKIol), 201 ; Transepts and Nave, 
 2'i2 ; Foi'K 111 I'KKIOD, 264; e.Xlcn- 
 >ion of Nave, 264; New \\'esl 
 Transept, 2(15; FlKTH Pl.KIoD, 205; 
 
 Six IT i PKKIOD, 205; the West 
 Front, 2nb; SKVKNTII I'KKIOD, 268; 
 l.a<ly ( 'hap'-l,2()8; i''. K.I ITU I'KKIOD, 
 2n8 ; Norman 'I'ower, 268; Light- 
 ing. 2b8 ; NINTH PKKIOD, 2(19 ; 
 \Vmdo\\s, 269; Ti.vni I'KKIOD, 
 270; Procession Path and Chapels, 
 
 270 ; 1-".I,K\ KN IT! Pl.KIoD, 271 ; 
 Parliamentarian inal - treatment, 
 
 27 1 
 
 Plant, igenet School, i<> 
 
 I 'oore. P.. of Salisbury, 312 
 
 Prince Arthur's Ch mtry, \Vcjrcester, 
 
 (Juivil. I!, nl F.xeter, 121 
 R 
 
 KlI'o.N -The Cathedral Church of 
 St. Peter and St. Wilfrid, 
 272-282 
 
 FlKM I'KKIOD, 272; the 
 
 Seventh - Century Church, 272; 
 Si.< OND I'KKIOD, 273; the Nor- 
 man ( 'hurch, 273 ; Til IKD I'KKIOD, 
 274; the Cathedral rebuilt, 274; 
 St. Wilfrid's Shrine, 275; the 
 Nave, 275 ; Central Tower and 
 ( 'hoir, 27(1 ; l-'ot'K I II PKKIOD, 279 ; 
 the West Front, 279; I-'l) 'III 
 PKKIOD, 279; the F.aa l-.nd, 279; 
 SIXTH I'KKIOD, 280 ; Sedilia and 
 Lady Chapel, 280; Sl.\ I-.N I H 
 PKK'IOD, 280; collapse of Central 
 Tower, 281 ; Woodwork, 282 ; 
 F.KJMTM I'KKIOD, 282 ; addition of 
 Aisles, 282; NINTH I'KKIOD, re- 
 moval of Spires, 282 
 Ritualistic Divisions of Cathedrals, ' 
 Robert, Duke of Normandy, 154 
 K Or 1 1KSTKK The Cathedral Church 
 
 of Si. Andrew, 2X5 
 St. Augustine's Mission, 283 ; 
 FIKST I'KKIOD. 284; the F.arly 
 Church, 284; SI-.IOND I'KKIOD. 
 284; the Norman Cathedral, 284; 
 TIIIKD PKKIOD, 286; the Na\e. 
 287; the West Front, 287; 
 l-'ol'K I H I'KKH H). 288 ; Fasten! 
 Limb rebuilt. 288; FlKTIl Pl.KIoD. 
 290; extension of ('hoir. 290; 
 SIXTH I'KKIOD, 290; Si.\ KNTH 
 1'KKloD, 290; Central Tower. 2i>o : 
 
 \'A<':\\ I II I'KKIOD, 2iyO ; NlN I II 
 
 I'l-.KIoD, 2iyo; reino\al of Southern 
 Tower, 290 ; St. William, 2<>i ; 
 TKNTH I'KKIOD, 292 ; various 
 Works, 292; F.I.KVKNTH PKKIOD, 
 2i)2; Lighting improved, 2<,2 ; 
 T\\I-;KIITI PKKIOD, 21,3; F.nl.uge- 
 ment of Ladv Ch.ijiel and Sniith 
 TlMllsept, 203 ; TlllKTKKN III 
 PKKIOD, 293; Timer and Spire 
 replaced. 21/3 
 
 Roger, AH., 274 
 
 Russell's ( U.) Chantrv, Lincoln, 2ou 
 
 MNI> . \llian, 21,7, ;oo ; Amphiha- 
 lu--, 21/7, 308; .\ugu--niie, 203; llrde. 
 oo; Minims, 40-); Cantilupc, M>; , 
 ( '.ir.nl. ie, 471 ; ( 'had, 173; ( 'uthbeii. 
 02 ; 1 >a\id, 171 ; I'.llielbi it. 157 ; 
 |-'ride-\\ idi-. 2. | ^ ; I high of Lincoln, 
 ii/n ; Ju-tu-. 283 ; ( >s\\ald, ^04 ;
 
 492 
 
 INDKX 
 
 SAINTS Con tin m\l. 
 
 Paulinus, 82, 283, 343; S\\itluin, 
 400; Thomas of Canterbury, 30, 
 471 ; Werburgh, 63 ; "Wilfrid, 66, 
 272 ; \\ T illiain of Rochester, 289, 
 291 ; Wulfstan, 402, 413 
 
 ST. AUIAXS The Cathedral 
 
 Church of St. Alban, 294 
 General Survey, 294 ; Benedictine 
 Foundation, 298 ; the Ritualistic 
 Divisions, 299; FIRST PKKIOD, 301; 
 Norman Work, 301 ; Norman 
 Nave, 302; Aisles and Transepts, 
 303; SKCOXD PKKIOD, 304; Ar- 
 cade and Doorway, 304; THIRD 
 PKKIOD, 305; the West Front, 
 
 305 ; FOURTH PKKIOD, 305 ; West- 
 ernmost Hays, 305 ; FIFTH PKKIOD, 
 
 306 ; Sanctuary, 306 ; Chapels, 307; 
 SIXTH PKKIOD, 307; the Lady 
 Chapel, 307; SKVKXTH PKKIOD, 
 
 307 ; collapse of Nave and restora- 
 tion, 307; FK,HTH PKKIOD, 307; 
 Minor Works, 308 
 
 ST. ASAPH'S Cathedral, 464 
 ST. DAVID'S Cathedral, 466 
 
 FIRST PKKIOD, 466 ; ( 'onnnence- 
 nient of the present Church, 466; 
 the Aisles, 468; SKCOXD PKKIOD, 
 468; Presbytery and Transepts re- 
 modelled, 469; THIRD PKKIOD, 
 470; De Leia's Church, 470; 
 FOURTH PKKIOD, 471 ; Chapel of 
 St. Thomas the Martyr, 471 : 
 Shrines, 471 ; FIFTH PKKIOD, 471 ; 
 the ( 'hantry, 471; SIXTH PKKIOD, 
 471 ; the Chapels, 472; SKVKXTII 
 PKKIOD, 473; Woodwork, 473; 
 FK;HTH PKHIOD, 473; completion 
 of Fasteni Chapels, 473 ; F.xterior, 
 474 
 
 St. Oswald's Church, Chester, 59 
 Sais (See/I, A. of Peterborough, 260 
 SALISBURY The Cathedral Church 
 
 of Si. Mary. 310 
 The Norman Cathedral, 310; 
 ( 'onimenccnient of the present 
 Cathedral, 312; comparative Sur- 
 vey nf the Cathedra], 312-316; the 
 Plan, 316; the Tower and Spire, 
 317 ; the F.xternal Aspect, 320 ; 
 the Lighting, 325 ; the Interior, 
 326 ; the Fast Fnd, 328 
 Salkeld, P. of Carlisle. 51 
 Secular Canons. Foundations of :- 
 
 Bangor, 442; ("hichester, 6;; F.xc- 
 ter, 114; Hereford, 150; Lichfiehl, 
 172; Lincoln, 191 ; Llandaff, 446; 
 
 London, 210; St. Asapli, 464; St. 
 
 David, 466; Salisbury, 310 ; Wells, 
 
 360 ; York, 426 
 Serlo, A. of Gloucester, 138 
 Sherborne, B. of Chichestcr, 80 
 Simeon, A. of F.lv, 98 
 Snow, A. of Bristol, 13, 17, 19 
 
 SGUTHWARK - - The Cathedral 
 Church of St. Saviour. 331- 
 
 . 341 
 
 Foundation of St. Mary Overie, 
 331 ; Establishment as Augustinian 
 
 Priory, 331 ; FIRST PKKIOD, 332 ; 
 Norman remains, 332 ; SKCOXD 
 PKKIOD, 333; rebuilding Fastern 
 and Western Limbs, 333 ; the 
 Presbytery, 334 ; The Nave, 335 ; 
 THIRD PKKIOD, 335; FOURTH 
 PKKIOD, 336; the Lady Chapel, 
 336; FIFTH PKKIOD, 337; Tracery, 
 337; SIXTH PERIOD, 338; Reredos 
 and Western Fafade, 338 ; Minor 
 Details, 338 
 
 SOUTH WKLI. The Cathedral 
 Church of St. Mary, 342-356 
 Foundation of the See, 342 ; 
 FIRST PKKIOD, 343; SKCOXD 
 PKKIOD, 343 ; THIRD PKKIOD, 344 ; 
 tlie Norman Church, 344; FOURTH 
 PKKIOD, 348; the F.xterior of the 
 Fastern Limb, 348 ; the Choir, 
 349; FIFTH PKKIOD, 353; SIXTH 
 PKKIOD, 353; Cloister, 353; 
 SKVKXTH PKKIOD, 353; Chapter 
 
 House, 353; F.ICHTH PKKIOD, 354; 
 
 Choir Screen, 354; NiXTH PKKIOD, 
 355; Tracerv, 355; TKXTH 
 PKKIOD, 355 ; 'Minor Works, 355 
 Stafford. B. of Fxetcr, 134 
 Stanbury, B. of Hereford, 169 
 Stapledon, B. of Fxcter, 124 
 Stephen Langton's Tomb, 41 
 Stretton, B. of Lichtield, 188 
 Strickland, B. of Carlisle, 49 
 Structural changes, causes of. 3-6 
 Sudbury, AB. of ( 'anterbury, 35 
 Swinfield, B. of Hereford, 169 
 Swithun (St. ), 400 
 
 Thokey, A. of Gloucester, 144 
 Thomas (St,), of ( 'anterbury, 30, 471 
 Travenant, B. of Hereford, 169 
 'I'KfKo Cathedral, 483-486; the De- 
 sign. 483 ; the Interior, 484 
 Tvndall, Dean of I-'.lv, 111
 
 INDEX 
 
 493 
 
 u 
 
 I'rlian, li. of Llandaff, 447 
 
 Vcre, IS. of Hereford, 101 
 Yictoiian ( 'athedrals, 476 
 
 W 
 
 Wakelield, H. of Worcester, 421 
 WAKKHKI.II, the Cathedral Church 
 
 of All Saints. .557-9 
 Wakelin, 15. of Winchester, 387 
 
 \Vaking, 15. of Norwich, 237 
 WalpoU-Cate, Kly, i 10 
 Warelhurst, IV of Lxeter, 115.11*) 
 Warrior's ( 'hapel, Canterbury, 41 
 Watcrville, A. of Peterborough, 261 
 WKl.l.s The Cathedral Chureh of 
 
 St. Andrew, 360-383 
 Its charming aspect, 3'K>; LIKST 
 1'KKion, 364; Norman remains, 
 3^4; Sl.< o\n I'KKion, 364; eoni 
 meiu-emeiil of present < 'athcdnil, 
 304; the Design. 360; Vaulting, 
 $17 ; the Lighting System, 309; 
 order ol execution, 372; Ti!II<!> 
 I'KKlon, 373; the \\Vsteru Facade, 
 374; Western Chapels, 376; 
 Lor k in I'KKK HI, 376 ; the 
 ( 'liapler 1 louse, 377 ; FIFTH 
 I'KKion, }/7 ; extension of ( 'lioir, 
 478 ; Lady ( 'hapel, 371; ; Central 
 Tcnver heightened, 381 ; SIXTH 
 Pl.Kion, 302 ; the \\'estern Towers 
 heightened, 382 ; the present 
 ( 'loisters, 382 
 \Vi;i.sii CATHKHKALS : 
 
 P.angor, 442; I.landaff, 446; 
 St. Asaph, 464 ; St. David, 464 
 Werburgh (St.), 03 
 West, I'., of Fly, Tio 
 Whispering Gallery, Gloucester, 155 
 \\'ilfriil (St.) of Kipon. (><>, 272 
 William (le l.uda, 15. of l-'.ly, i i i 
 \\'illi.im iSt. i of Rochester, 291 
 William kufus, 3111 
 \\'illiam of Sens, 30 
 William of Wavnllete, 3<X> 
 \\'illiam of Wy'keluim, 31/1 
 WlNCIIl-'.sTF.K The Cathedral 
 
 Church of the Holy and 
 Indivisible Trinity, ^4-403 
 Proportion^ ol the ( 'at'liedral, 384 ; 
 |-'lKs i I'I-.KIOD, 387 ; Remains of 
 
 WlN( I IKS I l.k Cunliniu'd. 
 
 the 1-larly < 'Imreh, 387 ; the < 'ryjit. 
 390 ; South Transept, 31/0 ; tin- 
 Central Tower, 391 ; Sw OND 
 1'KKKU), 391; Norman Doorway 
 and Font, 391 ; Tmun I'KUlol >, 
 392; Retro-Choir, 392; Chapel of 
 Holy Sepulchre, 393; Stalls, 393; 
 KufKTii I'l-.Kioi), 393; restoration 
 of Presbytery, 394 ; FlI-TH I'KKIol), 
 
 3<^5 ; Re-erection of Nave, 3<>s ; 
 SIXTH I'KKion, 401 ; the l-'.ast 
 f'.nd, 401; [^angton's Chantry, 402 ; 
 
 the Ritualistic Divisions, 403 
 Wolsey, ( 'ardinal, 254 
 WOKCKSTKK The C'athedral 
 Church of Christ and the 
 15'essed Mary the Virgin of 
 \\'orcester, 404-425 
 ('.stablishment of Henedictme 
 Order, 404; KIKST I'KKKHI, 4'V> ; 
 Anglo - Norm, in Church, 40'); 
 SKCONII I'l.kion, 408; Chapter 
 
 I louse, 408 ; TillKli I'K.Ulol >, 
 j<x) ; completion of Nave, 401 > ; 
 KorKTII I'KKltH), 412 ; repairs to 
 damage by tire, 412 ; l-'li-TH 
 I'KKlol), 4i~3 ; St. Wultstan, 413; 
 the- 1'resbytery, 414; Lady Chapel, 
 41 ; ; ( 'oni])letion of Last l-'.nd, 417 ; 
 SIXTH I'KKKiH, 418 ; loucr part 
 of Tower rebuilt, 419 ; Si.\ I.N 1 11 
 l'l.Kl(il), 411); liishop ( 'obham's 
 Minor Works, 428 ; l-'.Hill I II 
 I'KKlol), 421 ; ( 'loisters and upp<-r 
 part of Tower rebuilt. 421 ; NIN i ll 
 I'KKIOD, 421 ; N'aulting-. 422 ; 
 Tl-.NIIl Pl.lvliin, 422; remodelling 
 of ( 'liapter I louse, 423 ; I'riner 
 Arthur's ( 'hantry, 423 ; Kl.l.VKN ill 
 I'l.KUiD, 423 ; Jacobean I'ulpit, 
 423 ; TWKU-TII I'KKion, 423 
 Modern furniture, etc., 423; tour 
 of the Cloister, 424 
 
 Worcester, Larl ol, Tomb at l-'.ly, i i i 
 
 Wren, Sir ('., 11 i , 200, 210 
 
 Wulfstan (St. |, 402, 413 
 
 Wvgmore. A. of Gloucester, 14" 
 
 YoKK The Cathedral Church i I 
 St. I'cier, 426-4}! 
 
 I-'IKST I'KKion. 428 ; South Tr.m- 
 -ept. 428 ; Si i MND I'l-.KIoli. 430; 
 the Nave, 430; TniKn I'KKion, 
 4 ^ ; ( 'hapter 1 louse, 433 ; 
 Li )IKI II I'l Klon, 433 ; extellsion> 
 
 to the l-'.ast, 433 ; the exterior 
 aspect, 437
 
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