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The English Cathedrals

“Not only is there built into a mediæval cathedral the accumulated thought of all the men who had occupied themselves with building during the preceding centuries, but you have the dream and aspiration of the bishop, abbot, or clergy for whom it was designed; the master mason’s skilled construction; the work of the carver, the painter, the glazier, the host of men who, each in his own craft, knew all that had been done before them, and had spent their lives in struggling to surpass the works of their forefathers. It is more than this: there is not one shaft, one moulding, one carving, not one chisel-mark in such a building, that was not designed specially for the place where it is found, and which was not the best that the experience of the age could invent for the purpose to which it is applied; nothing was borrowed; and nothing that was designed for one purpose was used for another. A thought or a motive peeps out through every joint; you may wander in such a building for weeks or for months together, and never know it all.”—(Fergusson.)

“In Italy the bones of a saint or martyr were almost invariably deposited either beneath or immediately in front of the altar. But in the Gothic nations this original notion of the burial-place of the Saints became obscured, in the increasing desire to give them a more honourable place. According to the precise system of orientation adopted by the German and Celtic nations, the eastern portion of the church was in those countries regarded as pre-eminently sacred. Thither the high altar was generally moved, and to it the eyes of the congregation were specially directed. And in the eagerness to give a higher and holier even than the highest and holiest place to any great saint, on whom popular devotion was fastened, there sprang up in most of the larger churches during the Thirteenth Century a fashion of throwing out a still further eastern end, in which the shrine or altar of the saint might be erected,—and to which, therefore, not merely the gaze of the whole congregation, but of the officiating priest himself, even as he stood before the high altar, might be constantly turned. Thus, according to{x} Fuller’s quaint remark, the superstitious reverence for the dead reached its highest pitch, ‘the porch saying to the churchyard, the church to the porch, the chancel to the church, the east end to all—“Stand further off, I am holier than thou.”’ This notion happened to coincide in point of time with the burst of devotion towards the Virgin Mary, which took place under the Pontificate of Innocent III., during the first years of the Thirteenth Century; and, therefore, in all cases where there was no special local saint, this eastern end was dedicated to Our Lady and the chapel thus formed was called The Lady-Chapel. Such was the case in the Cathedrals of Salisbury, Norwich, Hereford, Wells, Gloucester and Chester. But when the popular feeling of any city or neighbourhood had been directed to some indigenous object of devotion, this at once took the highest place, and the Lady-Chapel, if any there were, was thrust down to a less honourable position. Of this arrangement, the most notable instances in England are, or were (for in many cases the very sites have perished), the shrines of St. Alban in Hertfordshire, St. Edmund at Bury, St. Edward in Westminster Abbey, St. Cuthbert at Durham, and St. Etheldreda at Ely.”—(A. P. S.)

“We may be tempted to ask, what is the purpose of a crypt? Some have said that it was merely meant to give dignity to the church, or to avoid the damp. It appears, however, to be a custom taken from the very early Christian churches at Rome, which were in many cases built over the tomb of a martyr, and had therefore a lower and an upper church. Indeed if we imagine the central portion of the choir steps removed so that the nave floor might extend without interruption to the crypt, and a clear view of the crypt be open to the nave, we should have an arrangement precisely similar to that of several Italian churches, notably that of San Zenone, at Verona.”—(F. and R.)

“As we see our cathedrals now, the view that meets us differs much from that which would have greeted us in mediæval times. Then all was ablaze with colours. Through the beautiful ancient glass the light gleamed on tints of gorgeous hues, and rich tapestries and hangings, on walls bedight with paintings, and every monument, pier and capital were aglow with coloured decorations. We have lost much, but still much remains. At the Reformation the avaricious courtiers of Henry VIII. plundered our sacred shrines, and carried off under the plea of banishing superstition vast stores of costly plate and jewels, tapestry and hangings. In the Civil War time riotous, fanatical soldiers wrought havoc everywhere, hacking beautifully-carved tombs and canopies, destroying brasses, and mutilating all that they could find. Ages of neglect have also left their marks upon our churches; and above all the hand of the ignorant and injudicious ‘restorer’ has fallen heavily on these legacies of Gothic art, destroying much that was of singular beauty, and replacing it by the miserable productions of early Nineteenth Century fabrication.”—(P. H. D.)

“The pointed arch was a graft on the Romanesque, Lombard and Byzantine architecture of Europe, just as the circular arch of the Romans had been on the columnar ordinances of the Greeks; but with a widely different result. The amalgamation in the latter case destroyed the beauty of both the stock and the scion; while in the former the stock lent itself to the modifying influence of its parasitical nursling, gradually gave up its heavy, dull and cheerless forms, and was eventually lost in its beautiful offspring, as the unlovely caterpillar is in the gay and graceful butterfly.”

“Gothic architecture seems to have attained its ultimate perfection in the Fourteenth Century, at which period everything belonging to it was conceived and executed in a free and bold spirit, all the forms were graceful and natural, and all the details of foliage and other sculptures were copied from living types, with a skill and truth of drawing which has never been surpassed. Conventional forms were in a great measure abandoned, and it seems to have been rightly and truly considered that the fittest{xiv} monuments for the House of God were faithful copies of His works; and so long as this principle continued to be acted on, so long did Gothic architecture remain pure. But in the succeeding century, under the later Henrys and Edwards, a gradual decline took place: everything was moulded to suit a preconceived idea, the foliage lost its freshness, and was moulded into something of a rectangular form; the arches were depressed, the windows lowered, the flowing curves of the tracery converted into straight lines, panelling profusely used, and the square form everywhere introduced; until at length the prevalence of the horizontal line led easily and naturally to the Renaissance of the classic styles, though in an impure and much degraded form. The mixture of the two styles first appears in the time of Henry VII.,—a period in which (though remarkable for the beauty and delicacy of its details) the grand conceptions of form and proportion of the previous century seem to have been lost. Heaviness or clumsiness of form, combined with exquisite beauty of detail, are the characteristics of this era.”—(J. H. P.)

“Soon after the Norman Conquest a great change took place in the art of building in England. On consulting the history of our cathedral churches, we find that in almost every instance the church was rebuilt from its foundations by the first Norman bishop, either on the same site or on a new one; sometimes, as at Norwich and Peterborough, the cathedral was removed to a new town altogether, and built on a spot where there was no church before; in other cases, as at Winchester, the new church was built near the old one, which was not pulled down until after the relics had been translated with great pomp from the old church to the new. In other instances, as in York and Canterbury, the new church was erected on the site of the old one, which was pulled down piecemeal as the new work progressed. These new churches were in all cases on a much larger and more magnificent scale than the old.{xv}

“Strictly speaking, the Norman is one of the Romanesque styles, which succeeded to the old Roman; but the Gothic was so completely developed from the Norman that it is impossible to draw a line of distinction between them; it is also convenient to begin with the Norman, because the earliest complete buildings that we have in this country are of the Norman period, and the designs of the Norman architects, at the end of the Eleventh Century and the beginning of the Twelfth, were on so grand a scale that many of our finest cathedrals are built on the foundations of the churches of that period, and a great part of the walls are frequently found to be really Norman in construction, although their appearance is so entirely altered that it is difficult at first to realise this; for instance, in the grand cathedral of Winchester, William of Wykeham did not rebuild it, but so entirely altered the appearance that it is now properly considered as one of the earliest examples of the English Perpendicular style, of which he was the inventor; this style is entirely confined to England; it is readily distinguished from any of the Continental styles by the perpendicular lines in the tracery of the windows, and in the panelling on the walls; in all the foreign styles these lines are flowing or flame-like, and for that reason they are called Flamboyant; a few windows with tracery of that style are met with in England, but they are quite exceptions.”—(J. H. P.)

“The piers in the earlier period are either square solid masses of masonry, or recessed in the angles in the same manner as the arches, or they are plain, round massive pillars, with frequently only an impost of very simple character, but often with capitals.

“The capitals in early work are either plain, cubical masses with the lower angles rounded off, forming a sort of rude cushion shape, as at Winchester, or they have a sort of rude volute, apparently in imitation of the Ionic, cut upon the angles; and in the centre of each face a plain square block in the form of the Tau cross is left projecting, as if to be afterwards carved. The scalloped capital belongs to rather a later period than the plain cushion or the rude Ionic, and does not occur before the time of Henry I. This form of capital was perhaps the most common of all in the first half of the Twelfth Century, and continued in use to the end of the Norman style. The capitals were frequently carved at a period subsequent to their erection, as in the crypt at Canterbury, where some of the capitals are finished, others half-finished, with two sides blank and others not carved at all. In later Norman work the capitals are frequently ornamented with foliage, animals, groups of figures, etc., in endless variety. The abacus throughout the style is the most characteristic member, and will frequently distinguish a Norman capital when other parts are doubtful.

“Norman ornaments are of endless variety; the most common is the chevron, or zigzag, and this is used more and more abundantly as the work gets later; it is found at all periods even in Roman work of the Third Century and probably earlier, but in all early work it is used sparingly, and the profusion with which it is used in late work is one of the most ready marks by which to distinguish that the work is late. The sunk star is a very favourite ornament throughout the style; it occurs on the abacus of the capitals in the chapel of the White Tower, London, and it seems to have been the forerunner of the tooth-ornament. The billet is used in the early part of Peterborough, but discontinued in the later work, and{xvii} does not often occur in late work. It is sometimes square, more frequently rounded. The beak-head, the cat’s-head, the small medallions with figures and the signs of the zodiac, all belong to the later Norman period. In the later Norman mouldings a mixture of Byzantine character is seen on the ornaments as at Durham. It has also been observed that in the sculpture of the period of the late Norman style there is frequently a certain mixture of the Byzantine Greek character brought home from the East by the Crusaders, who had returned. This is also one of the characteristics of the period of the Transition.”—(J. H. P.)

“New ideas and a new life seem to have been given to architecture, and the builders appear to have revelled in it even to exuberance and excess, and it was necessary afterwards in some degree to soften down and subdue it. At no period has ‘the principle of verticality’ been so completely carried out as in the Early English style, and even in some of the earliest examples of it.”—(J. H. P.)

“The characteristic elegance of the general architectural design was carried out in all the details. The mouldings were delicately rounded and alternated with hollows so drawn as to give here delicate and there most forcible effects of light and shade. Thus the dark line produced by marble in a pier was continued by means of a dark shadow in the arch; and without considerable knowledge of the science of moulding, it is impossible to do justice to this part of the English Early Pointed work, which has never been surpassed, if, indeed, it has ever been equalled at any period elsewhere. The groined roofs were still simple in design, but a ridge rib was often added to the necessary transverse and diagonal ribs of the previous period. This gave a certain hardness of line to the vault; it was the first step to the more elaborate and later systems of vaulting, and was soon followed by the introduction of other ribs on the surface of the vaulting cells. Few works are more admirable than some of the towers and spires of this period.”—(G. S. S.)

“The windows in the earlier examples are plain, lancet-shaped and generally narrow; sometimes they are richly moulded within and without, but frequently have nothing but a plain chamfer outside and a wide splay within. In the Early English style we have, in the later examples, tracery in the heads of the windows, but it is almost invariably in the form of circles, either plain or foliated, and is constructed in a different manner from genuine Decorated tracery.

“At first the windows have merely openings pierced through the solid masonry of the head, the solid portions thus left gradually becoming smaller and the openings larger, until the solid parts are reduced to nearly the same thickness as the mullions; but they are not moulded, and do not form continuations of the mullions until we arrive at real Decorated tracery. This kind of tracery was called by Professor Willis plate tracery; being in fact, a plate of stone pierced with holes: it is extensively used in early French work. The more usual kind of tracery is called bar tracery, to distinguish it from the earlier kind.”—(J. H. P.)

“Throughout the Early English period there is an ornament used in the hollow mouldings which is as characteristic of this style as the zigzag is of the Norman; this consists of a small pyramid, more or less acute, cut into four leaves or petals meeting in the point, but separate below as in Chester Cathedral. When very acute, and seen in profile, it may be imagined to have somewhat the appearance of a row of dog’s-teeth, and from this it has been called the ‘dog-tooth[1] ornament,’ or, by some, the{xxii} shark’s tooth ornament, more commonly the tooth-ornament. It is used with the greatest profusion on arches, between clustered shafts, on the architraves and jambs of doors, windows, piscinas and indeed in every place where such ornament can be introduced. It is very characteristic of this style, and begins quite at the commencement of the style, as in St. Hugh’s work at Lincoln; for though in the Norman we find an approach to it, in the Decorated various modifications of it occur; still the genuine tooth-ornament may be considered to belong exclusively to the Early English.

“Another peculiarity consists of the foliage, which differs considerably from the Norman: in the latter it has more or less the appearance of being imitated from that of the Classic orders, while in this it is entirely original. Its essential form seems to be that of a trefoil leaf, but this is varied in such a number of ways that the greatest variety is produced. It is used in cornices, the bosses of groining, the mouldings of windows and doorways, and various other places, but particularly in capitals to which it gives a peculiar and distinctive character. The foliage of these capitals is technically called ‘stiff-leaf foliage,’ but this alludes only to the stiff stem or stalk of the leaf, which rises from the ring of the capital; the foliage itself is frequently as far removed from stiffness as any can be, as for instance in the capitals of Lincoln. The stiff stalk is, however, a ready mark to distinguish the Early English capital from that of the succeeding style. We must bear in mind, however, that foliage is by no means an essential feature of the Early English style; many of our finest buildings, such as Westminster Abbey, have their capitals formed of a plain bell reversed, with mouldings round the abacus like rings put upon it, and round the neck.

“The ornaments so well known by the name of crockets were first introduced in this style. The name is taken from the shepherd’s crook, adopted by the bishops as emblematical of their office. They occur at Lincoln, in St. Hugh’s work, the earliest example of this style, and are there used in the unusual position of being in a vertical line between the detached shafts. They are found in the same position also in the beautiful work of the{xxiii} west front of Wells. Afterwards they were used entirely on the outside of pediments, or in similar situations, projecting from the face of the work, or the outer surface of the moulding, as in the very beautiful tomb of Archbishop Walter Grey in York Cathedral; and they continued in use in the subsequent styles, although their form and character gradually change with the style.”—(J. H. P.)

“The general appearance of Decorated buildings is at once simple and magnificent; simple from the small number of parts, and magnificent from the size of the windows, and the easy flow of the lines of tracery. In the interior of large buildings we find great breadth, and an enlargement of the clerestory windows, with a corresponding diminution of the triforium, which is now rather a part of the clerestory opening than a distinct member of{xxiv} the division. The roofing, from the increased richness of the groining, becomes an object of more attention. On the whole the nave of York, from the uncommon grandeur and simplicity of the design, is certainly the finest example; ornament is nowhere spared, yet there is a simplicity which is peculiarly pleasing.”—(Rickman.)

“The Decorated style is distinguished by its large windows divided by mullions, and the tracery either in flowing lines, or forming circles, trefoils and other geometrical figures, and not running perpendicularly; its ornaments are numerous and very delicately carved, more strictly faithful to nature and more essentially parts of the structure than in any other style. There is a very fine window with reticulated tracery and richly moulded in the south walk of the cloisters at Westminster. No rule whatever is followed in the form of the arch over windows in this style; some are very obtuse, others very acute and the ogee arch is not uncommon. Decorated tracery is usually divided into three general classes—geometrical, flowing and flamboyant; the variety is so great that many sub-divisions may be made, but they were all used simultaneously for a considerable period. The earliest Decorated windows have geometrical tracery; Exeter Cathedral is, perhaps, on the whole, the best typical example of the early part of this style. The fabric rolls are preserved, and it is now evident that the existing windows are, for the most part, of the time of Bishop Quivil, from 1279 to 1291. In some instances windows with geometrical tracery have the mouldings and the mullions covered with the ball-flower ornament in great profusion, even to excess; these examples occur chiefly in Herefordshire, as at Leominster; and in Gloucestershire, as in the south aisle of the nave of the Cathedral at Gloucester: they are for the most part, if not entirely, of the time of Edward II. What is called the netlike character of tracery, from its general resemblance to a fisherman’s net, is very characteristic of this style at its best period, about the middle of the Fourteenth Century. Square-headed windows are very common. Windows in towers are usually different from those in other parts of the church. In the upper story, where the bells are, there is no glass; in some parts of the country there is pierced{xxv} stonework for keeping out the birds, but more usually they are of wood only. These are called sound-holes. Clerestory windows of this style are often small, and either circular with quatrefoil cusps, or trefoils or quatrefoils; or the spherical triangle with cusps, which forms an elegant window. The clever manner in which these windows are splayed within and especially below, to throw down the light, should be noticed.”—(J. H. P.)

“This change began to show itself in the choir and transepts of Gloucester Cathedral before the middle of the Fourteenth Century. The panelling and the window-tracery have so much the appearance of the Perpendicular Style, that they have been commonly supposed to have been rebuilt or altered at a late period; but the vaultings and the mouldings are pure Decorated, and the painted glass of the Fourteenth Century is evidently made for the places which it now occupies in the heads of the windows with Perpendicular tracery; it must therefore be considered as the earliest known example of this great change of style. In this work of alteration the walls and arches of the Norman church were not rebuilt but cased with panelling over the inner surface, so as to give the effect of the latter style to the interior. This was just the same process as was afterwards followed at Winchester by William of Wykeham, in changing the Norman to the Perpendicular style without any actual rebuilding.”—(J. H. P.)

“Before the death of Bishop Edington the great principles of the Perpendicular style were fully established. These chiefly consist of the Perpendicular lines through the head of the window, and in covering the surface of{xxviii} the wall with panelling of the same kind. These features are as distinctly marked at Winchester as in any subsequent building, or as they well could be.”—(J. H. P.)

“This style is exclusively English, it is never found on the Continent, and it has the advantage of being more economical in execution than the earlier styles. It remains to describe its characteristic features. The broad distinction of the Perpendicular style lies in the form of the tracery in the head of the windows; and in fully developed examples the distinction is sufficiently obvious. We have no longer the head of the window filled with the gracefully flowing lines of the Decorated tracery, but their place is supplied by the rigid lines of the mullions, which are carried through to the architrave mouldings, the spaces between being frequently divided and subdivided by similar Perpendicular lines; so that Perpendicularity is so clearly the characteristic of these windows that no other word could have been found which would at once so well express the predominating feature. The same character prevails throughout the buildings of this period: the whole surface of a building, including its buttresses, parapets, basements, and every part of the flat surface, is frequently covered with panelling in which the Perpendicular line clearly predominates; and to such an excess is this carried that the windows frequently appear to be only openings in the panel-work. Panelling, indeed, now forms an important feature of the style; for though it was used in the earlier styles, it was not to the same extent, and was of very different character, the plain surfaces in those styles being relieved chiefly by diaper-work.”—(J. H. P.)

“The light and elegant style of vaulting known as fan-tracery, which is peculiar to this style, with its delicate pendants and lace-like ornaments, harmonises finely with the elaborate ornament of the tabernacle-work ornament. Fan-tracery vaulting is peculiarly English. The principle of it began with the earliest English Gothic style, as in the cloisters of Lincoln Cathedral, each stone of the vaulting being cut to fit its place. In France this is never done, each block of stone is oblong, as in those for the walls, and is only made to curve over in a vault by the mortar between the joints.

“Arches are not so acute as in the earlier periods; capitals and bases of columns are distinguished by the shallowness of the mouldings; mullions are carried straight through the arch of the windows; doorways consist of a depressed arch within a square frame with a label above; the label moulding is frequently filled with foliage and the space round the arch parallel; towers are often extremely rich and elaborately ornamented with four or five stories of windows, canopies, pinnacles and tabernacles; porches are also fine, highly enriched with panel-work, buttresses and pinnacles, and often with a richly-groined vault in the interior; and mouldings are generally more shallow than the earlier ones.

“There is an ornament which was introduced in this style and which is very characteristic. This is called the ‘Tudor-flower,’ not because it was introduced in the time of the Tudors, but because it was so much used at that period.{xxx} It generally consists of some modification of the fleur-de-lis alternately with a small trefoil or ball, and is much used as a crest for screens on fonts, niches, capitals and in almost all places where such ornament can be used. The foliage of this style is frequently very beautifully executed, almost as faithful to nature as in the Decorated style, in which the fidelity to nature is one of the characteristic features. There is comparatively a squareness about the Perpendicular foliage, which takes from the freshness and beauty which distinguished that of the Decorated style. Indeed, the use of square and angular forms is one of the characteristics of the style; we have square panels, square foliage, square crockets and finials, square forms in the windows—caused by the introduction of so many transoms—and an approach to squareness in the depressed and low pitch of the roofs in late examples.”—(J. H. P.)

“The frequent use of figures, simply as corbels between the windows of the clerestory to carry the roof, is a good characteristic of the late Perpendicular style; they are generally of the time of Henry the Seventh or Eighth. The figure used is generally that of an angel, and each angel is sometimes represented as carrying a different musical instrument so as to make up a heavenly choir.”—(J. H. P.)

“It is mostly of that Perpendicular Gothic which I suppose more mystically lifts the soul than any other form{xxxi} of architecture, and it is in a gracious harmony with itself through its lovely proportions; from the stems of its clustered column, the tracery of their fans spreads and delicately feels its way over the vaulted roof as if it were a living growth of something rooted in the earth beneath.”

“Let any one sit on the hill of the little church of St. Martin, and look on the view which is there spread before his eyes. Immediately below are the towers of the great Abbey of St. Augustine, where Christian learning and civilisation first struck root in the Anglo-Saxon race; and within which now, after a lapse of many centuries, a new institution has arisen, intended to carry far and wide to countries of which Gregory and Augustine never heard, the blessings which they gave to us. Carry your view on,—and there rises high above all the magnificent pile of our Cathedral equal in splendour and state to any, the noblest temple or church, that Augustine could have seen in ancient Rome, rising on the very ground which derives its consecration from him. And still more than the grandeur of the outward buildings that rose from the little church of St. Augustine, and the little palace of Ethelbert, have been the institutions of all kinds, of which these are the earliest cradle. From Canterbury, the first English Christian city—from Kent, the first English Christian kingdom—has, by degrees, arisen the whole constitution of Church and State{2} in England, which now binds together the whole British Empire.”—(A. P. S.)

“Most men were persuaded that a new burst of miraculous powers, such as had been suspended for many generations, had broken out at the tomb; and the contemporary monk, Benedict, fills a volume with extraordinary cures, wrought within a very few years after the ‘Martyrdom.’ Far and wide the fame of ‘St. Thomas of Canterbury’ spread. The very name of Christ Church, or of the Holy Trinity, by which the Cathedral was properly designated, was in popular usage merged in that of The Church of St. Thomas. For the few years immediately succeeding his death there was no regular shrine. The popular enthusiasm still clung to the two spots immediately connected with the murder. The Transept in which he died, within five years from that time acquired the name by which it has ever since been known, ‘The Martyrdom.’ The flagstone on which his skull was fractured and the solid corner of the masonry in front of which he fell, are probably the only parts which remain unchanged. But against that corner may still be seen the marks of the space occupied by a wooden altar, which continued in its original simplicity through all the subsequent magnificence of the church till the time of the Reformation. It was probably the identical memorial erected in the first haste of enthusiasm after the reopening of the Cathedral for worship in 1172. It was called the Altar of the Martyrdom or more commonly the Altar of the Sword’s Point (Altare ad Punctum Ensis) from the circumstance that in a wooden shed placed upon it was preserved the fragment of Le Bret’s sword, which had been left on the pavement after accomplishing its bloody work. Under a piece of rock crystal surmounting the chest, was kept a portion of the brains. To this altar a regular keeper was appointed from among the monks, under the name of ‘Custos Martyrii.’ In the first frenzy of desire for relics of St. Thomas, even this guarantee was inadequate.

“Next to the actual scene of the murder, the object which this event invested with especial sanctity was the tomb{4} in which his remains were deposited in the Crypt behind the Altar of the Virgin. It was to this spot that the first great rush of pilgrims was made when the church was reopened in 1172, and it was here that Henry performed his penance. Hither on the 21st of August, 1179, came the first King of France who ever set foot on the shores of England, Louis VII., warned by St. Thomas in dreams, and, afterwards, as he believed, receiving his son back from a dangerous illness through the Saint’s intercession. He knelt by the tomb and offered upon it the celebrated jewel,[2] as also his own rich cup of gold.”—(A. P. S.)

“The outer aspect of the Cathedral can be imagined without much difficulty. A wide cemetery, which, with its numerous gravestones, such as that on the south side of Petersborough Cathedral, occupied the vacant space still called the Churchyard, divided from the garden beyond by the old Norman arch since removed to a more convenient spot. In the cemetery were interred such pilgrims as died during their stay in Canterbury. The external aspect of the Cathedral itself, with the exception of the numerous statues which then filled its now vacant niches, must have been much what it is now. Not so its interior. Bright colours on the roof, on the windows, on the monuments; hangings suspended from the rods which may still be seen running from pillar to pillar; chapels and altars, and chantries intercepting the view, where now all is clear, must have rendered it so different, that at first we should hardly recognise it to be the same building.”—(A. P. S.)

“The Shrine occupied the central part of the upper platform, and the extent of the railed space round it may be readily perceived by examining the floor on which the depression made by the feet of the pilgrims is plainly visible. The pavement inside this limit is composed of the original steps and platform of the Shrine, and consists in part of rich African marbles, as do also two whole pillars to north and south, and two half pillars to the east. These are said to have been the gift of a Pope to the Shrine, and, indeed, to have once formed part of a Roman Temple. The Shrine itself was simply the coffin of the Saint, richly adorned and cased with gold and precious stones. It rested on a structure of stone arches some five or six feet high, and was, as a rule, concealed under a wooden cover, working on pulleys, like many covers of fonts in our churches now. When raised the cover would reveal to the venerating gaze of the pilgrims, plates of precious metal studded with jewels of fabulous value, the most remarkable of which would be pointed out by the attendant with a white wand. When the Shrine was destroyed, by order of Henry VIII., these treasures filled two great chests ‘such as six or seven strong men could{7} no more than convey one of them out of the church.’ West of the Shrine stood an altar, and west of the altar a gate in the railings, in fact just between the altar and the beautiful fragment of Italian marble pavement.”—(F. and R.)

“At a given signal this canopy was drawn up by ropes, and the Shrine then appeared blazing with gold and jewels; the wooden sides were plated with gold and damasked with gold wire; cramped together on this gold ground were innumerable jewels, pearls, sapphires, blassas, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, and ‘in the midst of the gold’ rings or cameos of sculptured agates, cornelians and onyx stones.

“As soon as this magnificent sight was disclosed, every one dropped on his knees, and probably the tinkling of the silver bells attached to the canopy would indicate the moment to all the hundreds of pilgrims in whatever part of the Cathedral they might be. The body of the Saint in the inner iron chest was not to be seen except by mounting a ladder, which would be but rarely allowed. But whilst the votaries knelt around, the Prior, or some other great officer of the monastery, came forward, and with a white wand touched the several jewels, naming the giver of each, and for the benefit of foreigners, adding the French name of each, with a description of its value and marvellous qualities. A complete list of them has been preserved to us, curious, but devoid of general interest. There was one, however, which far outshone the rest, and indeed was supposed to be the finest in Europe. It was the great carbuncle, ruby, or diamond, said to be as large as a hen’s egg or a thumb-nail, and commonly called ‘The Regale of France.’ The attention of the spectators was riveted by the figure of an angel pointing to it. It had been given to the original tomb in the{8} Crypt by Louis VII. of France, when here on his pilgrimage.[3]

“The lid once more descended on the golden ark; the pilgrims

and then withdrew, down the opposite flight of steps from which they had ascended.”—(A. P. S.)

“The existing cathedral, although of such various dates, covers, as nearly as can be ascertained, the same ground as the original building of Lanfranc, with the exception of the Nave, which is of greater length westward, and of the Retro-Choir, or extreme eastern portion, which is also longer.”—(R. J. K.)

“In the immediate Precincts, a delightful picture is presented from the Green Court, which was once the main outer court of the monastery. Here are noble trees and beautifully kept turf, at once in perfect harmony and agreeable contrast with the rugged walls of the weather-beaten Cathedral: the quiet, soft colouring of the ancient buildings and that look of cloistered seclusion only to be found in the peaceful nooks of cathedral cities are seen here at their very best.

“The chief glory of the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral is the central Angel, or Bell, Tower. This is one of the most perfect structures that Gothic architecture inspired by the loftiest purpose that ever stimulated the work of any art, has produced. It was completed by{11} Prior Selling, who held office in 1472, and has been variously called the Bell Harry Tower from the mighty Dunstan bell, weighing three tons and three hundredweight, and the Angel Tower from the gilded figure of an angel poised on one of the pinnacles, which has long ago disappeared. The tower itself is of two stages, with two-light windows in each stage; the windows are transomed in each face, and the lower tier is canopied; each angle is rounded off with an octagonal turret; and the whole structure is a marvellous example of architectural harmony and in every way a work of transcendent beauty.”—(H. W.)

“The western towers are built each of six stages: each of the two upper tiers contains two two-light windows, while below there is a large four-light window uniform with the windows of the aisles. The base tier is ornamented with rich panelling. The parapet is battlemented and the angles are finished with fine double pinnacles. At the west end there is a large window of seven-light transoms. The gable contains a window of very curious shape, filled with intricate tracery. The space above the aisle windows is ornamented with quatrefoiled squares, and the clerestory is pierced by windows of three lights.”—(H. W.)

“On the south side is seen the porch; the nave (a beautiful design); and the charming pinnacle of the south-west transept. East of the Warrior’s Chapel is the projecting end of Stephen Langton’s tomb. East of this, the two lower rows of windows are those of Conrad’s Choir; the upper row that of William of Sens. The middle windows in the south-east transept were the clerestory windows of Conrad; the windows above them are those of William of Sens. The three upper stages of the tower on the south of this transept are late Norman work; one of the prettiest bits in Canterbury. Farther east we have French design, pure and simple; here, for the first time in English architecture, the flying-buttresses are openly displayed; notice how flat and plain they are; it had not yet occurred to architects to make them decorative. The grand sweep of apse and ambulatory seems to send one straight back to France. Then comes the broken rocky outline of the corona—the great puzzle of Canterbury. North-east of the corona are two groups of ruined Norman pillars and arches discoloured by fire; once they were continuous, forming one very long building, the Monk’s Infirmary, of which the west end was originally an open dormitory, open to the roof, and the east end, separated off by a screen, the Chapel; which has a late Geometrical window. On the north side of Trinity Chapel is seen the Chantry of Henry IV.; then St. Andrew’s Tower and the barred Treasury; the lower part of the latter is late Norman work, largely rebuilt.”—(F. B.)

“The nave, of eight bays, has no triforium. Each bay consists of a huge arch resting on filleted pillars, and is subdivided into the pier-arch, with the clerestory and panelling reaching to the string-course above. It is paved with Portland stone. The vaulting and vaulting-shafts are the prominent features of the nave, and the pier-arches are quite subordinate; these shafts are banded, as at Bath, like Early English. The main transept has no aisles.”—(W. J. L.)

“The piers which support the central tower are probably the original piers of Lanfranc’s erection, cased with Perpendicular work by Prior Chillenden at the same time with the building of the nave. To this Prior Goldstone II. (1495-1517) added the vaulting of the tower, and all the portion above the roof, together with the remarkable buttressing-arches supporting the piers below, which had perhaps shown some signs of weakness. These{14} arches have on them the Prior’s rebus, a shield with three golden bars, or stones. The central arch occupies the place of the ancient roodloft, and probably the great rood was placed on it until the Reformation.”—(R. J. K.)

“About four years after the murder on the 5th of September, 1174, a fire broke out in the Cathedral which reduced the Choir—hitherto its chief architectural glory—to ashes. The grief of the people is described in terms which show how closely the expression of Mediæval feeling resembled what can now only be seen in Italy or the East—‘They tore their hair; they beat the walls and pavements of the church with their shoulders and the palms of their hands; they uttered tremendous curses against God and his saints—even to the patron saint of the church; they wished they had rather have died than seen such a day.’ How far more like the description of a Neapolitan mob in disappointment at the slow liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius than of the citizens of a quiet cathedral town in the county of Kent! The{15} monks, though appalled by the calamity for a time, soon recovered themselves; workmen and architects, French and English, were procured; and among the former, William, from the city of Sens, so familiar to all Canterbury at that period as the scene of Becket’s exile. No observant traveller can have seen the two Cathedrals without remarking how closely the details of William’s workmanship at Canterbury were suggested by his recollections of his own church at Sens, built a short time before. The forms of the pillars, the vaulting of the roof, even the very bars and patterns of the windows are almost identical.... The French architect unfortunately met with an accident which disabled him from continuing his operations. After a vain struggle to superintend the works by being carried round the church in a litter, he was compelled to surrender the task to a namesake, an Englishman, and it is to him that we owe the design of that part of the Cathedral which was destined to receive the sacred Shrine.”—(A. P. S.)

“On entering the choir, the visitor is immediately struck by the singular bend with which the walls approach each other at the eastern end. By this remarkable feature, together with the great length of the Choir (180 feet; it is the longest in England) and the lowness of the vaulting; the antique character of the architecture enforced by the strongly contrasted Purbeck and Caen stone, and the consequent fine effects of light and shadow. The style is throughout Transition, having Norman and Early English characteristics, curiously intermixed. The pillars with their pier-arches, the clerestory wall above and the great vault up to the Transepts, were entirely finished by William of Sens. The whole work differed greatly from that of the former choir. The richly foliated and varied capitals of the pillars, the great vault with its ribs of stone, and the numerous slender shafts of marble in the triforia, were all novelties exciting the great admiration of the monks.”—(R. J. K.)

“They should not be overlooked by the visitor, as they are full of curious symbolism. The birth of Christ and His early life are depicted in the central panels and the types from the Old Testament with them. Observe the Magi all asleep in one bed; Shem, Ham and Japhet, dividing the earth, which one of them holds in his hands, like a gorgeously painted map; and in the sixth panel of the first window a very curious scene, in which we see depicted a bronze idol or statue, similar, no doubt, to some the artist had seen as of Roman work. Whoever he was who designed the work, he knew what was classical art. The exaggerated muscular development which came in again under Michael Angelo and his contemporaries in Italy, is seen here quite plainly.”—(W. J. L.)

“In earlier times the easternmost chapel had contained an altar of the Holy Trinity, where Becket had been accustomed to say mass. Partly for the sake of preserving the two old Norman towers of St. Anselm and St. Andrew, which stood on the north and south side of this part of the church—but chiefly for the sake of fitly uniting to the church this eastern chapel on an enlarged scale, the pillars of the choir were contracted with that singular curve which attracts the eye of every spectator, as Gervase foretold that it would, when, in order to explain this peculiarity, he stated the two aforesaid reasons. The eastern end of the Cathedral, thus enlarged, formed, as at Ely, a more spacious receptacle for the honoured remains; the new Trinity Chapel, reaching considerably beyond the extreme limit of its predecessor, and opening beyond into a yet further chapel, popularly called Becket’s Crown. The windows were duly filled with the richest painted glass of the period, and amongst those on the northern side may still be traced elaborate representations of the miracles wrought at the subterranean tomb, or by visions and intercessions of the mighty Saint. High in the tower of St. Anselm, on the south side of the destined site of so great a treasure, was prepared—a usual accompaniment of costly shrines—the Watching Chamber. It is a rude apartment with a fireplace where the watcher could warm himself during the long winter nights, and a narrow gallery between the pillars, whence he could overlook the whole platform of the shrine, and at once detect any sacrilegious robber who was attracted by the immense treasures there collected. On the occasion of fires the Shrine was additionally guarded by a troop of fierce ban-dogs.

“When the Cathedral was thus duly prepared, the time came for what, in the language of those days, was termed the ‘Translation’ of the relics.”—(A. P. S.)

“In this sacred spot—believed at that time to be the most sacred spot in England—the tomb stood in which ‘alone in his glory,’ the Prince was to be deposited, to be seen and admired by all the countless pilgrims who crawled up the stone steps beneath it on their way to the shrine of the saint.

“Let us turn to that tomb, and see how it sums up his whole life. Its bright colours have long since faded, but enough still remains to show us what it was as it stood after the sacred remains of him had been placed within it. There he lies; no other memorial of him exists in the world so authentic. There he lies, as he had directed, in full armour, his head resting on his helmet, his feet with the likeness of ‘the spurs he won’ at Cressy, his hands joined as in that last prayer which he had offered up on his deathbed. There you can see his fine face with the Plantagenet features, the flat cheeks and the well-chiselled nose, to be traced perhaps in the effigy of his father in Westminster Abbey, and his grandfather in Gloucester Cathedral. On his armour you can still see the marks of the bright gilding with which the figure was covered from head to foot, so as to make it look like an image of pure gold. High above are suspended the brazen gauntlets, the helmet, with what was once its gilded leopard-crest, and the wooden shield, the velvet coat also, embroidered with the arms of France and England, now tattered and colourless, but then blazing with blue and scarlet. There, too, still hangs the empty scabbard of the sword, wielded perhaps at his three great battles, and{21} which Oliver Cromwell, it is said, carried away. On the canopy, over the tomb, there is the faded representation—painted after the strange fashion of those times—of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, according to the peculiar devotion which he had entertained. In the pillars you can see the hooks to which was fastened the black tapestry, with its crimson border and curious embroidery, which he directed in his will should be hung round his tomb and the shrine of Becket. Round about the tomb, too, you will see the ostrich feathers, which, according to the old, but doubtful tradition, we are told he won at Cressy from the blind King of Bohemia, who perished in the thick of the fight; and interwoven with them the famous motto, with which he used to sign his name, ‘Houmout,’ ‘Ich diene.’ If, as seems most likely, they are German words, they exactly express what we have seen so often in his life, the union of Hoch muth that is high spirit, with Ich dien, I serve. They bring before us the very scene itself after the battle of Poitiers, where, after having vanquished the whole French nation, he stood behind the captive king, and served him like an attendant.

“And, lastly, carved about the tomb, is the long inscription, selected by himself before his death, in Norman French, and still the language of the court, written, as he begged, clearly and plainly, that all might read it. Its purport is to contrast his former splendour and vigour and beauty with the wasted body which is now all that is left.”—(A. P. S.)

“In spite of some damage they remain the most interesting representations, not only of the costume of the time, but also, we cannot doubt, of the actual features of the persons. When the tomb was opened some time ago the features of the king were seen for a moment and corresponded closely with the representation on the tomb. The figures at the foot of the Queen, known in heraldry as genets, and to the ordinary person perhaps as weasels, appear also in the canopy combined with eagles and the motto ‘Soverayne and Atemperance.’ The defaced painting on wood at the foot of the tomb represented the Martyrdom of St. Thomas.”—(F. and R.)

“They are of the Thirteenth Century, and among the finest of this date in Europe, excelling in many respects those of Bourges, Troyes and Chartres; ‘for excellence of drawing, harmony of colouring and purity of design they are justly considered unequalled. The skill with which the minute figures are represented, cannot even at this day be surpassed’ (Stanley). Remark especially the great value given to the brilliant colours by the profusion of white and neutral tints. The scrolls and borders surrounding the medallions are also of beauty.

“The three windows remaining in the aisles surrounding the Trinity Chapel are entirely devoted, as were all the rest, to the miracles of Becket, which commenced immediately on the death of the great martyr. The miracles represented in the medallions are of various characters. The Lucerna Angliæ, a true St. Thomas of Kandelberg, as the Germans called him, restores sight to the blind. Loss of smell is recovered at the shrine of this Arbor Aro{23}matica. Frequently he assists sailors, the rude crews of the Cinque Ports in his own immediate neighbourhood. At the Norway fishing his figure came gliding over the seas in the dusk, and descended, burning like fire, to the imperilled ships of the Crusaders. In the window toward the east, on the north of the Shrine, is represented a remarkable series of miracles, occurring in the household of a knight named Jordan, son of Eisulf, whose son is restored to life by the water from St. Thomas’s well, which, mixed with his blood, was always carried off by the pilgrims. The father vows an offering to the martyr before Mid-Lent. This is neglected; the whole household again suffer, and the son dies once more. The knight and his wife, both sick, drag themselves to Canterbury, perform their vow and the son is finally restored. On a medallion in one of the windows on the north side is a representation of Becket’s Shrine, with the martyr issuing from it in full pontificals to say Mass at the altar.”—(R. J. K.)

“The great lightness and beauty of the Corona, the extreme east end of the Cathedral, are remarkable. It is English William’s work. When Archbishop Anselm was at Rome in the early part of his episcopate and attending a council in the Lateran, a question arose as to his proper place, since no Archbishop of Canterbury had as yet been present at a Roman council. Pope Pascal II. decided it by assigning to the ‘alterius orbis papa,’ a seat in the ‘corona,’ the most honourable position. It is possible that this fact may have led the architects, on the rebuilding of the choir, to make the addition of an eastern apse, or corona, which did not exist in the earlier church. In it were the shrines of Archbishop Odo and Wilfrid of York, and a golden reliquary in the form of a head, containing some relic of Becket, perhaps the severed scalp. By a confusion of its proper name with this relic the eastern apse came to be generally known as Becket’s Crown. On{24} the north side is the tomb of Cardinal Pole, Queen Mary’s Archbishop (1556-1558) and the last Archbishop buried at Canterbury. His royal blood gave him a title to so distinguished a place of sepulture.”—(R. J. K.)

“It is very complete and an admirable example of the intricate symbolism of the time. The subjects are arranged in three quatrefoils and two lozenges: the Crucifixion occupying a square panel at the foot, surrounded by representations of the spies carrying the great bunch of grapes; of Moses striking the rock; of the sacrifice of a lamb in the Temple, and of Abraham offering up Isaac on Mount Moriah. Next above is a lozenge-shaped panel, painted with the Entombment, adjoining which we have Joseph’s brethren putting him in the pit; Samson shorn in his sleep by Delilah; Daniel in a walled city, labelled Babilonia, and Jonah let down into the jaws of the whale by two men in a ship. Above these scenes is a quatrefoil, in the centre of which we see the Resurrection, surrounded by representations of Moses and the burning bush; Noah in the Ark; Rahab letting the spies down by the wall, and Jonah landing near Nineveh from the mouth of a great whale. Then another lozenge represents the Ascension and the scenes surrounding it are the Ark of the Mercy-Seat; Elijah ascending in a chariot of fire; the burial of Moses, and Hezekiah sick, while an angel gives him the sign of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz. The last of the series is at the top. In a square panel we see the great event of the Day of Pentecost. Above it Christ sits enthroned in glory. Moses receiving the Two Tables of the Law is below. On one side is the first ordination of deacons, and on the other the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. The whole style of this window is later than that of the Becket series.”—(W. J. L.)

“figures still remain in it, together with those of his daughters and of the two Princes murdered in the Tower. The ‘remarkably soft and silvery appearance’ of this window has been noticed by Mr. Winston. In its original state the Virgin was pictured in it ‘in seven several glorious appearances’ and in the centre was Becket himself at full length, robed and mitred. This part was demolished in 1642 by Richard Culmer, called Blue Dick, the great iconoclast of Canterbury, who ‘rattled down proud Becket’s glassie bones’ with a pike, and who, when thus engaged, narrowly escaped martyrdom himself at the hands of a malignant fellow-townsman.”—(R. J. K.)

“The figures of Dean Neville and his brother, against the eastern wall, were transferred to this place on the destruction of the chapel which formerly projected from the south side of the nave, and of which the marks in the wall are clearly visible. In the east window some points may be noted. We see the Neville arms, and a red shield with white saltire, and also the elaborate Bouchier arms, the most distinguishable features of which are the water ‘budgets,’ two curious red skins joined together at the top, sometimes given as an honourable blazon to those who supplied an army with water. We also see the Bouchier knot alternating in most of the panes with the oak leaf and acorn. This is the mark of Woodstock.”—(F. and R.)

“This chair, which is sometimes called the chair of St. Augustine, but which belongs to the Thirteenth Century, is composed of Purbeck marble. In it each successive archbishop for the last six hundred years has sat when he has been admitted to his metropolitan functions.”—(W. H. F.)

“Further beyond the Duchess of Atholl’s tomb the crypt is much loftier and becomes almost a church in itself. This is the part beyond the apse of the original Cathedral, the place of Becket’s first burial, where Henry II. did penance, passing the night in fasting and in the morning baring his back and receiving three lashes from each of the monks. Here the miracles began to be wrought and the Tumba, even after its contents were removed, was still reckoned a holy place. The present lofty crypt was built over and round the Tumba after the great fire of 1174; and, some forty years after its completion and that of the Trinity Chapel above it, the remains of Becket were translated by Stephen Langton, with great pomp, to the shrine prepared for them in the sanctuary above.”—(W. H. F.)

“The cloister occupies the same space as the Norman cloister built by Lanfranc, but of the Norman work only a doorway remains at the north-east corner; there is some Early English arcading on the north side, but the present tracery and fan-worked roof belong to the end of the Fourteenth Century, when Archbishops Sudbury, Arundell and Courtenay, and Prior Chillenden (1390-1411) rebuilt the nave, the cloister and the chapter-house. The latter work cuts across the older in the most unceremonious way, as is seen especially in the square doorway by which we shall presently enter the Martyrdom, which cuts into a far more beautiful portal of the Decorated period. If we take our stand at the north-west corner of the cloister, from which a very fine view is gained of the Cathedral, especially about sunset, we may picture to ourselves the life of the monks. Above the north-eastern side of the cloister are the old Norman arches of their dormitory, now taken in to the new library; on the eastern side is the chapter-house, with its fine geometrical ceiling, where they transacted their business; on the south the great church, the services of which occupied so many hours of the day.”—(W. H. F.)

“All this work of Gundulf’s is now gone except portions of the crypt, the keep and the nave. Of Gundulf’s nave there remain on the south side five arches, together{34} with the lower parts of the walls of both aisles. It is very doubtful whether he built any part of the triforium or clerestory. At present his work can only be seen in its original condition from the side of the aisles. The pierarches had originally two square orders, which remain unaltered on the side of the aisle (cf. Winchester transept). Gundulf’s masonry was in rough tufa.”—(F. B.)

“Subsequently the choir was re-arranged and the nave partly rebuilt, partly re-faced, added to, and finished with the west front, which, to a great extent, still remains. This later Norman work was carried out from east to west during the episcopate of Ernulf (1115-24) and John of Canterbury (1125-37). The upper part of the west front and some of the carving may not have been completed within even that period. What seems certain is, that we are indebted to later Norman builders for the re-casing of the piers of the nave arcade, the greater richness of their capitals, the outer decorated order of the arches, the triforium with its richly diapered tympana, and the west front. Assigning most of these works to the time of Bishop John, as seems best, we can point to others that testify to Ernulf’s architectural skill. He is recorded to have built the refectory, dormitory and chapter-house. Portions of these still remain, and one feature, in the ornamentation of the chapter-house, especially, marks it as his work. This is a peculiar lattice-like diaper, which occurs elsewhere at Rochester—in fragments that belonged probably to a beginning by him of the renovation of the choir—but has only been noticed at one other place: by the entrance to the crypt at Canterbury, where also it is due to him.”—(G. H. P.)

“As usual they arranged their building operations so as to avoid interfering with the services in the choir as long as possible. First they rebuilt the north aisle of the choir, but not so high as it is at present. The aisle remained narrow because Gundulf’s tower was in the way. But the south aisle of the choir they doubled in width. Next they set to work at the east end, planning it, as at Hereford, as an eastern transept with an eastern aisle and projecting eastward an oblong sanctuary (cf. Southwell). The new transept was lofty and broad; and it is quite possible that it was built over the top of Gundulf’s east end without disturbing daily services within it. Then when all was finished Gundulf’s east end was pulled down. Unlike the Worcester monks they preserved the level of the Eleventh Century choir, and consequently had to continue Gundulf’s crypt eastward. In the new presbytery is seen the same curious mixture of quadripartite and sexpartite vaulting as in St. Hugh’s eastern transept at Lincoln. All this work was finished in 1227.”—(G. H. P.)

“The choir and transepts of Rochester Cathedral are a very beautiful and remarkable example of Early English. The architect was William de Hoo, first sacristan, then prior, and there is some reason to believe that he is the same person as William the young Englishman, who assisted William of Sens after his fall from the scaffold at Canterbury, and completed the work there. A young man at Canterbury in 1185, able to carry on and complete such a work, may very well have become the architect on his own account of the daughter church of Rochester in 1201-1227, and there is great resemblance in style between Rochester and the later work at Canterbury.”—(J. H. P.)

“They entered the church of St. Andrew on the day on which the Lord hung on the cross for sinners. Armed knights on their horses, coursing around the altars, dragged away with impious hands some who fled for refuge thither, the gold and silver and other precious things being with violence carried off thence. The buildings were turned into horses’ stables, and everywhere filled with the dung of animals and the defilement of dead bodies.”

“the funeral pompe which trulie was great and answerable both to his birth and calling, with store of burning torches and mourning weedes. At what time his coffin, being brought into the church, was covered with a cloth of black velvet, with a great cross of white satten over all the length and bredth of the same, in the midst of which cross his Cardinal’s hat was placed.”

“It is formed by five receding arches and every stone of each of these is carved with varying ornamental designs. Between the second and third of them runs a line{39} of cable moulding, an ornament which occurs also inside the door. Each arch has its own shaft and the groups of five on each side are elaborately banded. The shafts have richly sculptured capitals, and in those on the south side, as well as in the tympanum, the signs of the Evangelists appear. The shafts second from the door on either side are carved with statues, two of the oldest in England. These are much mutilated, but they were thought worthy of great praise by Flaxman. That on the spectator’s left is said to represent King Henry I. and the other his wife, the ‘good Queen Maud.’ This attribution is probably correct, as these sovereigns were both great benefactors to the Cathedral and were living when the front was being built. The figure of the Queen has suffered the more; it is recorded to have been especially ill-used by the Parliamentarians in the days of the great Civil War. The tympanum contains a figure of Our Lord, seated in Glory, within an aureole supported by two angels. His right hand is raised in benediction and his left hand holds a book. Outside the aureole are the symbols of the four Evangelists: the Angel of St. Matthew and the Eagle of St. John, one on each side above the Winged Lion of St. Mark and the Ox of St. Luke similarly placed below. A straight band of masonry crosses beneath the lunette, and has carved on it twelve figures, now much mutilated, but supposed to have represented the twelve Apostles. All the sculptured work of the portal has suffered greatly from age and exposure and from the hand of man. In the recent restoration the coping has been renewed, the shafts have been given separate bases once more and many of the most worn stones have been replaced by new ones carved in facsimile.”—(G. H. P.)

“The nave, 150 feet long to the cross of the lantern, is Norman, as far as the last two bays eastward. If, as is most probable, it is a part of Gundulf’s work, it was, no doubt, a copy of the Norman nave at Canterbury; and we are thus enabled to judge fairly what the appearance of the metropolitan cathedral was in this part of it. Its architecture is plainer than that of the contemporary examples in France, though owing to its having been always destined for a wooden roof, the piers and the design generally are lighter than where preparation was made for a stone vault. The triforium is richly ornamented; and the arches open to the space above the side-aisles as well as to the nave, a peculiarity which both Rochester and Canterbury may have received from the church of St. Stephen’s at Caen, where the same arrangement may still be seen. Lanfranc, the builder of the Norman church at Canterbury, had been Abbot of St. Stephen’s. The clerestory windows above, like those of the aisles, are Perpendicular; and the roof seems to have been raised at the time of their insertion. This is of timber and quite plain.

“In passing beyond the Norman portion of the nave to the Early English, of which nearly all the rest of the Cathedral consists, the strong influence of Canterbury is at once apparent. The double transepts, the numberless shafts of Petworth marble, and perhaps the flights of stairs ascending from either side of the crypt, recall immediately the works of the two Williams in the metropolitan church, which always maintained the closest connection with Rochester, her earliest daughter.”—(R. J. K.)

“is entered by a flight of steps rendered necessary, as at Canterbury, by the height of the crypt below. It was completed sufficiently for use in 1127. It is thoroughly developed Early English, although much has evidently been borrowed, even in detail, from the Canterbury transition work. It is narrow and somewhat heavy; defects not lightened by the woodwork of the stalls, which is indifferent, or by the use of colour,—a single line of which, however, is carried along the ribs of the vaulting with very good effect.

“The brackets of Early English foliage, from which the blind wall-arches spring, should be noticed. Two large ones especially, at the angles of the eastern transept, are excellent specimens of this period, before the naturalism of the Decorated had begun to develop itself. A fragment of mural painting, apparently of the same date as the choir itself, remains on the wall, close above the pulpit. The painting, when entire, is said to have represented a subject not uncommon in early churches—the Wheel of Fortune with various figures—king, priest, husbandman and others—climbing it.”—(R. J. K.)

“probably the most perfect specimen of ancient colour-work now existing in England. It had been bricked up{44} within the arch where it still remains, and was discovered during the repairs in 1825. The colours and monuments deserve the most careful attention, as well for their own beauty as for their great value as authorities. In the maniple held over the left arm, some of the crystals with which it was studded still remain. Remark the couchant dogs at the feet. About their necks are scarlet collars, hung with bells. An inscription with the Bishop’s name surrounds the effigy.”—(R. J. K.)

“The full-length figures, one on each side of the door, symbolising the Church and the Synagogue, were both headless when Mr. Cottingham restored the doorway, between 1825 and 1830. Much fault has been found with him for turning the first, which is thought to have been like the other, a female figure, into a mitred, bearded bishop holding a cross in his right hand and the model of a church in his left. The blindfolded ‘Synagogue,’ by her broken staff and the tables of the law held reversed in her right hand, typifies the overthrow of the Mosaic dispensation. Above are figures, two on each side, seated at book-desks under canopies. These are supposed to be the four great Doctors of the Church: Saints Augustine, Gregory, Jerome and Ambrose. Quite at the head of the arch, under a lofty pyramidal canopy, we see a tiny nude figure which represents, probably, a pure soul just released from Purgatory. If this is so, it would account for the flames from which the angels, on each side, bearing scrolls, seem to be rising. It has been suggested likewise that the{45} distorted heads, which alternate with squares of foliage in the wider inside moulding of the doorway, typify the sufferings of the soul in its passage. The outside moulding is also interesting, being a wide hollow in the bottom of which circular holes are cut at intervals. Through these can be seen the broad stem from which spring the leaves that ornament the intervening spaces. The arch-head is ogee-shaped outside, with large external and smaller, but not less rich, internal crockets. The square back to it, and the spaces beneath the corbels, on which the Church and Synagogue figures stand, are filled with noteworthy diapers. The first is divided diagonally into sunken squares, each containing a flower; and the others have lion masks in quatrefoils, with five-petalled roses in the alternate spaces.”—(G. H. P.)

“which extends under the whole of the choir and is one of the best specimens of its class to be found in England. The west and east parts are evidently of a much earlier date than the central, which is Early English, and of the same period as the choir above. In building this, the ancient crypt was probably broken through, and in part reconstructed. The earlier portions are distinguished by very massive piers and circular arches. Between the piers are small pillars, with plain broad capitals. It is not impossible that this part of the crypt may date from before the Conquest. At all events, it is the earliest portion of the existing cathedral, and cannot be later than the work of Bishop Gundulf.”—(R. J. K.)

“It was Bishop Edington who commenced the alteration of Winchester Cathedral into the Perpendicular style; he died in 1366, and the work was continued by William of Wykeham, who mentions in his will that Edington had finished the west end, with two windows on the north side and one on the south: the change in the character of the work is very distinctly marked. Bishop Edington’s work at Winchester was executed at a later period than that at Edington, and, as might be expected, the new idea is more fully developed; but on a comparison between the west window of Winchester and the east window of Edington, it will at once be seen that the principle of construction is the same; there is a central division carried up to the head of the window, and sub-arches springing from each side: it may be observed that whenever this arrangement of the sub-arches occurs in Decorated work, it is a sign that the work is late in the style. Before the death of Bishop Edington the great principles of the Perpendicular Style were fully established. These chiefly consist of the Perpendicular lines through the head of the window, and in covering the surface of the wall with panelling of the same kind. These features are as distinctly marked at Winchester as in any subsequent building, or as they well could be.”—(J. H. P.)

“In this great church many stirring scenes of English history have been enacted. The early kings made Winchester their home and the Cathedral their chapel. Here it was that Egbert, after being crowned in regem totius Britanniæ, with assent of all parties, issued an edict in 828, ordering that the island should thereafter be always styled England and its people Englishmen. Here King Alfred was crowned and lived and died. Here, in 1035, Cnut’s body lay in state before the high altar, over which was hung henceforth for many a year, a most precious relic, the great Norseman’s crown. Here William the Conqueror often came, and wore his crown at the Easter Gemôt; here, too, clustered many of the national legends: St. Swithun here did his mighty works, and here were the forty dismal days of rain; hard by is the scene of the great fight between Colbrand the Dane and Guy of Warwick; in the nave of the church Queen Emma trod triumphant on the red-hot plough-shares as on a bed of roses; hither came Earl Godwin’s body after his marvellous and terrible death, one of the well-known group of malignant Norman tales. It was in Winchester Cathedral that Henry Beauclerk took to wife his queen, Matilda, to the great joy of all English-speaking folk. Here Stephen of Blois was crowned King; and here, on the other hand, the Empress Maud was welcomed by city and people with high rejoicings; here, too, was drawn up and issued the final compact, in 1153, which closed the civil war of that weary reign and secured the crown to the young Prince Henry. He in his turn often sojourned in Winchester, and befriended in his strong way the growing city. The Cathedral witnessed another compact in the dark days of King John: the King was here reconciled to the English Church in the person of Stephen Langton; Henry III. and{50} his Queen Eleanor, were here in 1242; and on May-day of that year ‘came the Queen into the Chapter-house to receive society.’ In 1275 Edward I., with his Queen, was welcomed with great honour by the prior and brethren of St. Swithun, and attended service in the church. The christening of Arthur, Prince of Wales, elder brother of Henry VIII., was here; and here Henry VIII. met his astute rival, the Emperor Charles V. It was in Winchester Cathedral that the marriage of Philip and Mary took place, and the chair in which she sat is still to be seen in the church. The Stuart Kings loved the place. Here in the great rebellion was enacted that strange scene when, after the capture of the city, the mob rushed into the Cathedral, wild for booty and mischief, and finding in the chests nothing but bones, amused themselves by throwing them at the stained windows of the choir. It was at this time that Colonel Nathaniel Fiennes, a Parliamentary officer and an old Wykehamist, stood with drawn sword at the door of Wykeham’s chantry to protect it from violence. Since the days of the Merry Monarch, who was often at Winchester, and loved it so well that he built his palace here, no striking historical events have been enacted within its walls. The church by degrees recovered from the ruin of the Commonwealth time, and has had a quiet, happy life from that time onward, a tranquil grey building sleeping amidst its trees, in the heart of the most charming of all south English cities.”—(G. W. K.)

“Before entering, the visitor should remark the grand view of the interior obtained through the open central door. The length of Winchester (520 feet from this entrance to the extreme eastern buttresses) exceeds that of any other cathedral on this side of the Alps, with the exception of Ely (560 feet) and of Canterbury, which is about five feet longer than Winchester. A certain coldness, arising from want of colour, is perhaps felt at first; but the eye soon learns to dwell contentedly on the magnificent forest of piers, and on all the graceful details above and around them. The string-course of corbel-heads and the light balustrade of the triforium in the nave should here be noticed as remarkably aiding the general effect.”—(R. J. K.)

“The nave gains a special grandeur by the vaulting shafts rising from the very floor so that the eye follows them upwards tardily, as if they were more lofty than they actually are, to the capitals whence the groined roof springs. The aisle windows have a beauty worthy of careful notice.

“A striking yet beautiful peculiarity is that Winchester nave, setting an example followed generally in Perpendicular churches, has no proper triforium—a balcony close above the nave arches taking its place. Owing to the thickness of the Norman masonry this arrangement was unavoidable.

“The seven westerly piers on the south side retain the Norman stone-work faced with new mouldings. Norman arches remain behind the triforium wall; Norman shafts may be seen above the vaulting; and Norman flat buttresses are traceable outside between the southerly clerestory windows.”—(G. W. K.)

“Within the walls the most striking object of interest is undoubtedly the famous Norman font of black basaltic stone, which was probably placed in the church in the days of Walkelyn; it portrays in bold if rude relief the life and miracles of St. Nicholas of Myra. Next after the{54} font may perhaps be noted the fine carved spandrels, Fourteenth Century work, of the choir-stalls, with the quaint misereres of the seats; then Prior Silkstede’s richly carved pulpit of the Fifteenth Century, and the very interesting and valuable Renaissance panels of the pews, put in by William Kingsmill, last prior and first dean, in 1540. The chantries and tombs in this church are of unusual beauty and interest.”—(G. W. K.)

“The design of William’s chantry is very beautiful; and it is one of the best remaining specimens of a Fourteenth Century monumental chapel. The foundation of the{55} altar is still visible. The Bishop’s effigy, the comeliness of which, it has been suggested, may have induced Anthony Wood to describe him as having been of ‘a courtly presence,’ reposes on an altar-tomb in the centre, arrayed in cope and mitre. The pillow at the head is supported by two angels. At the feet three monks are represented offering up prayers for the repose of the departed soul. They are said, but questionably, to represent Wykeham’s three assistants in the cathedral works—William Wynford, his architect; Simon de Membury, his surveyor of the works; and John Wayte, controller.”—(R. J. K.)

“Early in the Twelfth Century occurred the fall of the tower of this Cathedral, celebrated from the peculiar circumstances with which it was accompanied, which are thus{56} described by William of Malmsbury, who was living at the time:—‘A few country men conveyed the body [of the King, William Rufus], placed on a cart, to the cathedral of Winchester, the blood dripping all the way. Here it was committed to the ground within the tower, attended by many of the nobility, but lamented by few. The next year (1097) the tower fell; though I forbear to mention the different opinions on this subject, lest I should seem to assent too readily to unsupported trifles; most especially that the building might have fallen through imperfect construction, even though he had never been buried there.’ That this was really the case, the building itself affords us abundant evidence, and proves that even the Normans at this period were still bad masons and very imperfectly acquainted with the principles of construction. The tower which was rebuilt soon after the fall is still standing, and the enormous masses of masonry which were piled together to support it, and prevent it from falling again, show such an amazing waste of labour and material as clearly to prove that it was the work of very unskilful builders.”—(J. H. P.)

“The stalls which extend from the eastern tower-piers to the first pier of the nave, are of oak, as black as ebony, and probably exhibit the very finest woodwork of their date and style (which is the best) in the Kingdom. They are early Decorated (Geometrical) work and their canopies and gables bear considerable resemblance to those of the tomb of Edmund Crouchback in Westminster Abbey. This would place their date about 1296. The beauty and variety of the carvings are wonderful. There is no repetition; and the grace and elegance, as well as{57} the fidelity, with which the foliage is represented, are nowhere to be surpassed. The human heads are full of expression; and the monkeys and other animals sporting among the branches have all the same exquisite finish. The mode in which the cusps of the circles in the canopies are terminated, is worthy of attention; and in short, at this period of the revival of wood-carving, no better examples could be found for study and imitation. The misereres below are of early character and interesting. Their date is rather later than those (Early English) in Exeter Cathedral—the most ancient in the Kingdom. The desks and stools in front of the upper range bear the initials of Henry VIII., Bishop Stephen Gardiner, and Dean Kingsmill and the date 1540. The rich pulpit on the north side bears the name of its donor ‘Thomas Silkstede, prior’ on different parts of it.”—(R. J. K.)

“The vaulting of the presbytery (of wood) is the work of Bishop Fox (1500-1520), and displays on its bosses, a mass of heraldry besides (at the east end) the various emblems of the Passion together with a number of faces representing Pilate and his wife, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas, Judas, Malchus with the sword of Peter dividing his ear, Peter himself and many others. All are curious and are best seen from the gallery below the east window.{58}

“The east window of the choir is filled with Perpendicular glass, a little earlier than 1525, the work of Bishop Fox, whose arms impaled with those of the sees he held (Exeter, Bath and Wells, Durham and Winchester) and his motto Est Deo Gratia are introduced in it.”—(R. J. K.)

“The top central light is filled principally with some glass of Wykeham’s time and all the rest of the window with glass of Fox’s time, removed from other windows. In point of execution it is as nearly as perfect as painted glass can be. In it the shadows have attained their proper limit. It was at this period that glass painting attained its highest perfection as an art.”—(C. W.)

“The Reredos is said to have been commenced by Cardinal Beaufort and completed by Bishop Fox and Prior Silkstede. It is an excellent specimen of Perpendicular work, executed in a fine, white soft stone; its elaborately canopied niches, pierced and crocketted pinnacles, pilaster buttresses, and centre projecting canopy, are surmounted at a height reaching nearly to the corbels, with a triple frieze of running leaves, Tudor flowers and quatrefoils. This Reredos is of the same type as those at Christ Church Priory and St. Alban’s, but its dimensions are greater and better proportioned. Its restoration is carried out with remarkable fidelity to the original work. The back is closely panelled in the upper part, and the lower part is richly decorated. No description could do justice to the beauty and effect of the whole work. Milner describes its exquisite workmanship as being as magnificent as this or any other nation can exhibit. The central part was restored as a memorial to the late Archdeacon Jacob.”—(G. W. K.)

“The Feretory, or Capitular Chapel, is immediately behind the altar and communicates with the sanctuary. Here the magnificent shrine of St. Swithun, of solid silver gilt and garnished with precious stones, the gift of King Edgar, used to be kept except on the festivals of the{60} saint, when it was exposed to view on the Altar, or before it.

“Many portions of statuary formerly belonging to the Great Screen and other parts of the building are here carefully preserved. From the platform behind the reredos may be observed the admirable connection of Fox’s new with De Lucy’s earlier work.”—(G. W. K.)

“The north and south walls, as far as the east walls of the two side chapels, are De Lucy’s work, and retain his rich Early English arcade. The eastern compartment on each side, as well as the east wall, have respectively a large Perpendicular window of seven lights with transom and tracery of a peculiar kind of subordination, or rather interpretation of patterns well worth a careful study. The vault is a complex and beautiful specimen of lierne-work. The capitals and bases of the vaulting-shafts are unusual and very beautiful. The carved panelling of the western half of this chapel, the seats, desk and screen of separation, are all excellent, and should be noticed. All this Perpendicular work is due to Prior Hunton (1470-1498) and his successor, Prior Silkstede (1498-1524). On the vault round the two central keys—one representing the Almighty, the other the Blessed Virgin—are the rebuses of the two priors: the letter T, the syllable Hun, the figure of a ton for Thomas Hunton; the figure 1 and the letters Por for Prior: the letter T, the syllable silk, the word sted with a horse below it, the figure 1 with letters as before, for Thomas Silkstede, prior. The walls of this chapel are covered with the remains of some{62} very curious paintings illustrating the legendary history of the Virgin.

“These are all the work of Prior Silkstede, whose portrait, with an inscription, is still faintly visible over the piscina.”—(R. J. K.)

“In no English church except Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s, lie so many men of name. For just as the features of the Cathedral represent all the successive phases and changes of the art of building, until it has been styled a ‘School of English Architecture,’ so it may be said to be the home and centre of our early history. Long is the roll of kings and statesmen who came hither and whose bones here lie at rest. Cynegils and Cenwalh, West Saxon Kings, founders of the church, are here; Egbert was buried here in 838; Ethelwulf also and Edward the Elder and Edred. The body of Alfred the Great lay a while in the church, then was transferred to the new minster he had built, and finally rested at Hyde Abbey. And, most splendid name of all, the great Cnut was buried here, as was also his son, Harthacnut, as bad and mean as his father was great. The roll of kings was closed when Red William’s blood-dripping corpse came jolting hither in the country cart from New Forest.”—(G. W. K.)

“In the roof of the nave may be seen the original Norman shafts running up above Wykeham’s vault, and in those of the aisles the Norman arches of the triforium, best developed at the east end of the nave aisle-roof. The transept roofs show to this day what Bishop Walkelyn did with Hempage-wood. From the leads of the tower there is a very striking view over the city and its environs.”—(R. J. K.)

“Chichester Cathedral, though one of the smallest, is to the student of Mediæval architecture one of the most interesting and important of our cathedrals. At Salisbury one or two styles of architecture are represented; at Canterbury two or three; at Chichester every single style is to be seen without a break from the Eleventh to the Sixteenth Century. It is an epitome of English architectural history for five hundred years. Early Norman, late Norman, late Transitional, early Lancet, late Lancet, early Geometrical, late Geometrical, Curvilinear, Perpendicular and Tudor work all appear in the structure side by side. We have many other heterogeneous and composite cathedrals, but nowhere, except perhaps at Hereford, can the whole sequence of Mediæval styles be read so well as at Chichester.”—(F. B.)

“The fire of 1186 was not as serious as that of Canterbury in 1182, so that there was no need of rebuilding. Bishop Seffrid, however, covered the Cathedral with a stone vault and added the necessary buttresses and flying-buttresses. He also built the Choir, making great use of Purbeck marble. He removed the Norman apse and built the aisled retro-choir of two bays.

“This is the architectural gem of the Cathedral. The idea of it probably came from Hereford, where the retro-choir is a few years earlier. At Hereford, however, the retro-choir projects picturesquely and forms an eastern transept. The central piers of the Chichester retro-choir are remarkably beautiful. They consist of a central column surrounded by four shafts very widely detached; columns and shafts are of Purbeck marble. The capitals are Corinthianesque; their height is proportioned to the diameters of the column and shafts. This beautiful capital was reproduced a few years later by St. Hugh at Lincoln. The triforium is of quite exceptional beauty, as indeed is the whole design. Semicircular arches occur in the pier arcade and triforium, and some of the abaci are square; otherwise the design is pure Gothic. Here, as at Abbey Dore, St. Thomas’s, Portsmouth, Boxgrove and Wells, we see the transition to the ‘pure and undefiled Gothic’ of St. Hugh’s choir at Lincoln. In these beautiful churches the ancient Romanesque style breathed its last.

“The aisles of the new retro-choir were continued on either side of the first bay of the Norman Lady-Chapel whose three bays had probably been remodelled before the fire in Transitional fashion. The capitals of the Lady-Chapel are of exceptional interest and importance, as showing experimental foliation which had not yet settled down into the conventional leafage of early Gothic. The apse also of the south transept was replaced by a square chapel, now used as a Library, in the vaulting of which the Norman zigzag occurs.

“A little later in the Lancet period was built (1199-1245) the lovely south porch, with small exquisite mouldings, and the charming foliated capitals and corbels. The difference between early Transitional, late Transitional and Lancet foliation may be well seen by examining successively the capitals of the Lady-Chapel, the triforium of the retro{68}-choir and the south porch. The north porch is almost equally fine. The vaulting ribs, square in section, show that the two porches both belong to the very first years of the Thirteenth Century. Rather later, the sacristy was built on to the south porch, with a massive vault supported by foliated corbels.”—(F. B.)

“The Cathedral stands on the south of West Street, where a fine view may be had of the whole of the north side of the building and of the detached Campanile. The Close occupies entirely the south-west quadrant of the city, being bounded by South and West Streets and the City Wall. The central tower and spire, rising to a height of 277 feet, are conspicuous for many miles around, but the west front is much shut in. Perhaps the most pleasing view is that seen from the meadows on the south of the city, from which point the Campanile fits in admirably with the general mass of the building.”—(J. C.-B.)

“The central tower, which is battlemented, with octagonal turrets at the angles, also battlemented, has in its principal or second story, two couplets in each face, with a quatrefoil in the head, each under a pointed arch. The spire is of beautiful design, octagonal; in each face is a window of two lights, flanked by pinnacled turrets, crocketed and canopied. Its elegance has constantly led to its being compared with that of Salisbury, which, however, differs from it in age and many other particulars, as well as size. It forms not only the central but the principal feature of the church, all whose lines are designed to work in with it, a very perfect effect of unity, as at Salisbury, being attained. It is locally said that the master built Salisbury and the man, Chichester.”—(W. J. L.)

“On entering the nave the eye is at once caught by the five aisles, a peculiarity shared by no other English cathedral but that of Manchester, although some parish churches have it on a smaller scale, as Taunton and Coventry. On the Continent the increased number of aisles is common, witness Beauvais, Cologne, Milan, Seville, and seven-aisled Antwerp. Grand effects of light and shade are produced by these five aisles: remark especially the view from the extreme north-east corner of the north aisle, looking across the cathedral. The great depth of the triforium shadows is owing to the unusual width of this wall passage. The breadth of the nave (91 feet) is greater than that of any English cathedral except York (103 feet).

“The first two stories of the south-west tower at the end of the nave deserve examination. The rude, long capitals, and plain circular arches, probably indicate that it formed a part of the first church completed by Bishop Ralph in 1108. The nave itself, as far as the top of the triforium, and the two aisles immediately adjoining, are the work of the same Bishop (died 1123),—or should perhaps be described as having formed part of the Norman cathedral completed in 1148. The clerestory above, and the shafts of Purbeck marble which lighten the piers, are Seffrid’s additions (died 1204). The vaulting is perhaps somewhat later; and it was because it was determined, after the burning of 1187, to replace with a stone vault the{72} wooden roofs to which the frequent fires had been owing that Seffrid carried up his vaulting-shafts along the face of the Norman piers, some of which he re-cased. The two exterior aisles, north and south, were probably added by Bishop Neville (died 1244), when it became necessary to provide additional room for chantries and relic shrines. The positions of the various altars are marked by piscinas and aumbries in the walls. The two, however, occur together in the south aisle alone; in the north are aumbries only, an arrangement possibly resulting from the feeling with which that quarter was always anciently regarded. A certainly triplicity pervades all this part of the cathedral, which was dedicated by Bishop Seffrid to the Holy Trinity. The side shafts are triple throughout. The bearing-shafts of the vaulting are clustered in threes, and branch out with three triple vaulting-ribs above. The transitional character of Bishop Seffrid’s work is especially marked in the clerestory, the inner arcade of which is pointed, whilst the windows themselves are round-headed.”—(R. J. K.)

“The most beautiful monument now remaining in the church is that which is said to represent Maud, Countess of Arundel (1270). The modelling of the whole figure and the long flowing lines of her robes are worthy of careful study. The hands are clasped over the breast with the forearms bent upwards slightly towards the face. On each of the long sides of the base supporting the figure are six elongated quatrefoil panels, containing in all six female figures and six shields. Between the quatrefoils are winged heads of ten angelic figures. The blazoning of the shields is entirely gone, and the brilliant colouring that once covered the entire monument is only to be traced in a few places. The outer robe still shows

some signs of the rich blue with which it used to be covered. The face of the figure appears to be badly mutilated, but the damage to the features has been done principally by an endeavour to preserve them.”—(H. C. C.)

“At Chichester there were built, one after another, four sets of chapels—of St. George and St. Clement on the south of the south aisle, and of St. Thomas, St. Anne and St. Edmund on the north of the north aisle. The WINDOWS{74} should be studied in the above order; they form quite an excellent object-lesson of the evolution of bar-tracery from plate-tracery, itself a derivative from such designs as that of the east window of the south transept chapel. When the chapels were completed, the Norman aisle-walls were pierced, and arches were inserted where Norman windows had been; and the Lancet buttresses, which had been added when the nave vault was erected, now found themselves inside the church, buttressing piers instead of walls. The new windows on the south side were built so high that the vaulting of the chapels had to be tilted up to allow room for their heads; externally they were originally crowned with gables, the weatherings of which may be seen outside. In St. Thomas’s chapel is a charming example of a simple Thirteenth Century reredos.”—(F. B.)

“The design in detail of these two bays is very different in character from the three in the choir, which are like those in the nave. The two piers of Purbeck marble are circular, and about them are grouped four detached shafts of the same material. They are united only at the base and by the abacus above the capitals, which are beautifully carved. The main arches in the two bays are not pointed, but round, like those in the nave and choir; but, unlike the latter, they have deeply cut mouldings in three orders. The triforium arcade above, on the north and south sides, has moulded and carved details of a similar character. Some of the beautifully carved figure-work still remains in the spandrels between the subsidiary pointed arches. But the most beautiful piece of design in all this work is in the arches of the triforium passage across the east wall, above the entrance to the Lady-Chapel.”—(F. B.)

“The cloister which was added in the Fifteenth Century is of a peculiarly irregular shape, and encloses the south transept within the paradise. It has been much restored at different times. The present roof is of tiles and is carried on common rafters. Each has a cross tie, and the struts are shaped so as to give a pointed arch form to each one. The old Fifteenth Century wooden cornice still remains in some sections. The tracery is divided into four compartments by mullions, and each head is filled with cusped work. Round the cloister are placed the old houses of the Treasurer, the Royal Chaplains, and Wiccamical Prebendaries. Above the door leading to the house of the Royal Chaplains is an interesting monument of the Tudor Period. It is a panel divided into two compartments by a moulded stone fragment. Leading out of the south walk is a doorway, through which the deanery may be seen beyond the end of a long walled passage known as St. Richard’s Walk. Looking back northwards, there is fine view of the spire and transept from the end of this walk.”—(H. C. C.)

“The visitor who sees it first on a bright day can never forget the impression it has made on his mind. Unlike the architects of the so-called ‘Great Gothic Revival,’ the builders of Salisbury put their trust in proportion. Incidentally they made their details as elaborate and as perfect as possible; but they were subordinated to the general effect, and when, during the frightful ravages of the ‘restorers,’ let loose upon the church in the past and present centuries, many of the best and most precious of these details and ornaments perished or were renewed, the main building survives, raising its exquisitely graceful spire into the blue sky, its thousand pinnacles all pointing upward and gleaming white against the deep green of the old trees and the emerald turf of the surrounding close. England can show no fairer sight. ‘How long,’ asked an American visitor, ‘does it take to grow such turf?’ ‘Oh! not long,’ was the reply; ‘only a couple of centuries.’ One feels at Salisbury that whether the answer was given there or at Oxford, of no place could it be more true. Though, when we look near enough, we can see that fresh and white as is the general effect, the masonry of Salisbury is of great antiquity, except of course where it has been restored; and antiquity adds another charm, for Salisbury was the first complete cathedral built after the Romanesque tradition had died out, as St. Paul’s is the first built after it had been revived. In other cathedrals there are fragments of the same style, and they are always the most

beautiful features of the whole building. We can recall the western porch at Ely, and the Angel Choir at Lincoln, and the chapter-house at Southwell; but, here, at Salisbury, we have the whole vast cathedral, all in the same supreme style, every part fitting into its place, and adding its contribution to the general effect, never in contrast but always in harmony until the effect is attained. What that is may be read in countless books of travel or criticism. Salisbury Cathedral, like the Parthenon and all other—there are not many—buildings which tempt one to call them poems in stone—produces a different feeling in the minds of all who see it.”—(W. J. L.)

“The history of no English cathedral is so clear and so readily traceable as that of Salisbury. It was the first great church built in England in what was then the new or pointed style (Early English); of which it still remains, as a whole, one of the finest and most complete examples. The Abbey Church of Westminster, commenced in 1245, and completed to the east end of the choir in 1269, is the only great building of this age in England which can be considered finer than Salisbury; and it is probable that Henry III. was induced to undertake the rebuilding of Westminster from admiration of the rising glories of the new Wiltshire cathedral, which he had several times visited. On the Continent, the great rival of Salisbury is Amiens; commenced in the same year (1220) and completed, nearly as at present, in 1272.

“The usual alterations took place in Salisbury Cathedral at the Reformation, when much of the painted glass is said to have been removed by Bishop Jewell. Although desolate and abandoned, it escaped material profanation during the Civil War, and workmen were even employed to keep it in repair. On the Restoration, a report of the general condition of the cathedral was supplied by Sir Christopher Wren, and certain additions for the strengthening of the spire were made at his recommendation. The great work of destruction was reserved for a later period and more competent hands. Under Bishop Barrington (1782-1791) the architect Wyatt was, unhappily, let loose upon Salisbury; and his untiring use of axe and hammer will stand a very fair comparison with the labours of an iconoclast emperor, or with the burning zeal of an early Mohammedan caliph. He swept away screens, chapels and porches; desecrated and destroyed the tombs of warriors and prelates; obliterated ancient paintings; flung{79} stained glass by cartloads into the city ditch; and levelled with the ground the Campanile—of the same date as the Cathedral itself—which stood on the north side of the churchyard. His operations at the time were pronounced ‘tasteful, effective and judicious.’ The best point of view is from the north-east, which Rickman has pronounced ‘the best general view of a cathedral to be had in England, displaying the various portions of this interesting building to the greatest advantage.’ The Cathedral is built (and roofed) throughout with freestone obtained from the Chilmark quarries, situated about twelve miles from Salisbury towards Hendon, and still worked. The stone belongs to the Portland beds of the oölite. The pillars and pilasters of the interior are of Purbeck marble. The local rhyme in which the cathedral is celebrated may here be quoted; it is attributed by Godwin, who gives a Latin version of it, to a certain Daniel Rogers:

The great point to which the attention of the stranger is at once drawn is, of course, the grand peculiarity of Salisbury, the ‘silent finger’ of its spire. This is the loftiest in England, rising 400 feet above the pavement (Chichester said, but very doubtfully, to have been built in imitation of it, is 271 feet in height; Norwich 313 feet) and its summit is 30 feet above the top of St. Paul’s.”—(R. J. K.)

“Much has been written on the beauty of the Cathedral church of Salisbury, the chastity of its style and the purity of its detail. The east end may be said to display the utmost refinement of the Early English era. Every subordinate feature is so perfectly disposed, so admirably carried out and adapted to its purpose, so necessary to the{80} full effect of the whole, so simple and yet so rich, that nothing, even by the most critical, can be found wanting there or considered de trop. The northern side is scarcely less perfect; the simple lancet openings of its eastern transept, the more fully developed quatrefoils of the central gable and the still more advanced northern porch beyond these, all mark the progress of construction. At the intersection rises the still later tower and spire, the final limb of the whole, on an embattled lower stage of earlier date. It is rich to the utmost limit. Every ballflower, every projecting shaft and moulding sparkles for itself and casts its own diminutive shadow upon its fellow, entirely relieving the wall-surface of that flatness which is and must be the fault in every view purporting to suggest its elegance. The church stands alone; like a model of itself; in its entirety perhaps the most stately of which we can boast.”—(A. A.)

“The first thing to be noticed in Salisbury is the ample breadth of the space in which its cathedral stands, the beauty of which space is enhanced by rows and avenues of magnificent trees; so that it is difficult to conceive a more appropriate enclosure in which to find ‘the most chaste of English’ churches. Salisbury covers no less than eight acres of ground.

“Entering from the High Street, the visitor finds himself almost in another township. A street lined with houses conducts to the Cathedral lawn, where from the north-eastern extremity the full proportions of the church may be comprehended. The whole north side of the close is thus open. On the east we find another gateway and the entrance to the Palace; on the other side the Choristers’ Green, in itself another little close. The west is occupied by a group of interesting and extremely handsome houses of various dates. Here are the Deanery, standing in its own grounds opposite the Cathedral façade; the King’s House, a long, many-gabled mansion of the early Fif{81}teenth Century, with mullioned windows and a vaulted porch, the occasional resting-place of the English monarchs on their passage through Salisbury; and the Wardrobe, distinguished by its heavy roof, its projecting double gables, and the immense square windows, back and front, through which the evening sun penetrates with a curious half-ghostly gleam. These form the most effective line of buildings of the enclosure, which at this least trim but not the less picturesque side, terminates at the Harnham Gate.”—(A. A.)

“The Early English portion, however, terminates with the first story, about eight feet above the roof; the two additional stories and the spire above them date from the reign of Edward III. The walls of the upper stories of the tower are covered with a blind arcade, richly canopied, and pierced for light with double windows on all four sides. Above each story is a parapet with lozenge-shaped traceries, which are repeated in the three bands encircling the spire. At each angle of the tower is an octagonal stair-turret, crowned with a small crocketed spire. The great spire, itself octagonal, rises from between four small richly-decorated pinnacles. Its walls are two feet in thickness from the bottom to a height of twenty feet; from thence to the summit their thickness is only nine inches. The spire is filled with a remarkable frame of timber-work, which served as a scaffold during its erection. While making some repairs in 1762, the workmen found a cavity on the south side of the capstone in which was a leaden box, enclosing a second of wood which contained a piece of much decayed silk or fine linen, no doubt a relic (possibly of the Virgin, to whom the cathedral is dedicated) placed there in order to avert lightning and tempest.”—(R. J. K.)

“The interior is indeed very fine. It could hardly help being fine; a nave so spacious and so proportioned could under no circumstances be a failure. It is immensely{82} high and as long in proportion. The proportion of height to span (2⅛ to 1) is better than in most English churches. The harmony of the design—practically the same from east to west and from north to south—is unique in England, and is most impressive. The charming way, too, in which the architect has contrived that we should have a vista of another miniature church in the Lady-Chapel—a cathedral within a cathedral—is worthy of all commendation. But, as in Lincoln nave, to the eye every support is alarmingly insufficient for the work it has to do; the piers are too tall and slender, the walls too thin and pierced with too many openings. The triforium is a most unfortunate design: in harmony neither with the arcade below, nor with the clerestory above; its outer arches ugly in themselves and discordant with every other arch in the church; nor could it be expected that its dark marble shafts would tell against a dark background—black on black. Add to this the dreadfully new look of everything—partly due to the very perfection of the masonry, partly because Scott has been here—and the overpowering glare: one almost feels as if one were in the Crystal Palace.”—(F. B.)

“The effigy is entirely in chain-mail, covering the mouth as well as the chin in an unusual manner. Over the mail is the short cyclas, or surcoat. On the earl’s shield are the six golden lioncels also borne by his grandfather Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. Longespée acquired the earldom of Salisbury through marriage with its heiress, the Countess Ela. He took an active part in public affairs throughout the reign of John; joined the Earl of Chester in an expedition to the Holy Land, and was present at the battle of Damietta in 1221, where the Christians were defeated. He fought much in Flanders and in France; was present on the King’s side at Runnymede; and was one of the witnesses to the Great Charter.”—(R. J. K.)

“passing under the wide Perpendicular arch, which (as at Canterbury and Wells) was inserted early in the Fifteenth Century by way of counter-thrust against the weight of the central tower, under which the central piers had already given away to some extent, as will be at once perceived. It is owing to this settlement of the piers that the spire is out of the perpendicular. The triforium and clerestory of the nave are carried round the transept; the triforium on the north side, being replaced by two-light window of very elegant character. The clerestory window above, with its slender pilasters, and graceful flow of lines, deserves especial notice. Each transept has an eastern aisle divided by clustered piers into three bays. The screens which formerly enclosed the chapel in each of these bays were swept away by Wyatt. A staircase in the angle of the transept leads upward to the tower, which may be ascended by staircases in each of its flanking turrets. The top of the tower is called the Eight Doors, from the double doors on each side, through which the visitor will obtain magnificent views over the town and surrounding country. The first story of the tower is of Early English date, and originally formed a lantern, open to the nave. It is surrounded by an arcade of slender pilasters. The ascent of the spire—which is a formidable undertaking—is made internally by a series of slender ladders as far as a little door about forty feet below the vane, and from that point{84} the adventurous climber has to scale the outside by means of hooks attached to the walls. The interior is filled with a timber frame consisting of a central piece with arms and braces.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Choir and Presbytery are very similar to the nave in the main features of their design. The piers show a different plan, which provides for eight shafts of Purbeck marble to each. The inner mouldings of the arches exhibit the dog-tooth ornamentation of their period. The triforium and clerestory differ slightly from the corresponding parts of the nave. In each of the last two bays of the presbytery the triforium has five small cinquefoil arches. At the east wall of the choir above the reredos is an arcade of five simply-pointed arches, below a triplet window in the gable, which is filled with stained glass, given by the Earl of Radnor in 1781, and representing The Brazen Serpent, after a design by Mortimer.

“The choir still bears traces of Wyatt’s destruction. He removed the original reredos behind the high altar and the screen before the Lady-Chapel, so that both, with the low eastern aisle, were thrown into the choir. He shifted the high altar from the choir to the extreme east end of the Lady-Chapel, sacrificing several chantries and tombs to do so. Views of the cathedral after his reign of terror fail to show any gain to compensate for so much loss; the extreme length is not apparently an advantage, while the bare look of the interior seems decidedly intensified by the increased vista that he was so delighted to obtain, and for which, with a light heart, he effaced the silent records of dead centuries. The decorations of the roof of the choir and presbytery are reproductions of the original series of{85} paintings, dating, it is thought, from the Thirteenth Century. The subjects are the prophets and saints, Christ and the four Evangelists and the twelve months.”—(G. W.)

“All the details of this remarkable monument deserve the most careful examination. The effigy, at the head of which are small figures of censing angels, lies beneath a canopy, supported north and south by two open arches with quatrefoils in the heads. Each arch is subdivided by a central pilaster, and springs from clustered shafts, detached. A triangular hood-moulding, with crockets and finials of leafage, projects above each arch; and between and beyond the arches pilasters rise to the top of the canopy, supporting finials of very excellent design. The whole character of the tomb is most graceful, but an especial interest is given to it by the reliefs with which the spandrels of the arches are filled, and by the small sculptured figures on various parts of the monument. The subjects, beginning on the south side, have been thus interpreted. The first, a female figure with an infant and attendants, represents the birth of the future bishop: in the three next spandrels are his confirmation; either his own education or his instruction of others; and, possibly, his first preferment. The shield hung from a tree in this compartment, bears Az., a cross, or, between 4 bezants, no doubt his own arms. On the north side of the monument are the bishop doing homage for his see—a proces{87}sion with a cross-bearer, perhaps referring to the dedication of Salisbury Cathedral—the bishop’s death and the presentation of his soul for judgment. Little or nothing is known of the life of Bishop Bridport.”—(R. J. K.)

“The fragments that survived were collected some fifty years since, and placed in the nave windows, and in parts of some of the others. The most important are in the great west triple lancet, wherein the glass ranges in date from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century. Mr. Winston, in his Paper read in 1849 before the Archæological Institute and printed in the Salisbury volume for that year, considered that the earliest fragments are from a Stem of Jesse about 1240 and some medallions about 1270. He describes two of the ovals that are on each side of the throned bishop, a prominent figure in the lower half of the central light, one of the Christ enthroned, the other of the Virgin. The two medallions below them he believes represent Zacharias in the Temple and the Adoration of the Magi. The later glass now in the same window may be either Flemish work brought hither from Dijon, or possibly partly from Rouen, and partly from a church near Exeter. It has been conjectured that in the south lancet the figures represent SS. Peter and Francis, in the central one the Crucifixion, the Coronation of the Virgin and the Invention of the Cross, and in the north light the Be{88}trayal of Christ and St. Catherine. In two of the side windows of the nave are the arms of John Aprice (1555-1558) and Bishop Jewell (1562).”—(G. W.)

“The architecture is somewhat later in style than that of the cloisters, and if it be not, as its admirers claim, the most beautiful in England, it has few rivals. Like Westminster, Wells and other English examples, except York and Southwell, it has a central pillar, from which the groining of the roof springs gracefully in harmonious lines. A raised bench of stone runs round the interior. At its back forty-nine niches of a canopied arcade borne on slight Purbeck marble shafts marked out as many seats. They are apportioned as follows: those at each side of the entrance to the Chancellor and Treasurer respectively, the rest to the Bishop, Dean, Archdeacons and other members of the chapter.

“The plan of the building is octagonal, about fifty-eight feet in diameter and fifty-two feet in height. Each side has a large fan-light window with traceried head. Below these windows and above the canopies of the seats is a very remarkable series of bas-reliefs. The bosses of the roof are somewhat elaborately carved: one north of the west doorway has groups of figures on it, apparently intended to represent armourers, musicians, and apothecaries, possibly commemorating guilds who were benefactors to the building; the others have foliage chiefly with grotesque monsters. On the base of the central

pillar is a series of carvings taken probably from one of the many books of fables so popular in the Middle Ages. These were reproduced from the originals, which are preserved in the cloisters.”—(G. W.)

“As the last cathedral church we visited, namely Salisbury, may be taken as the most complete example of Early English work, so Exeter in its present state is the best specimen of the Decorated style that is to be met with in England. For though, unlike Salisbury, it was not built afresh from the ground, yet under Bishops Quivil, Bitton, Stapledon and Grandisson, between the years 1280 and 1369, the fabric was so entirely remodelled that it may be regarded as practically a new building; and since the work of remodelling began about the time that the Early English style was passing into the Decorated, and was completed before the time when the Perpendicular had superseded the Decorated, it naturally is characterised by the features of that style which flourished during the first half of the Fourteenth Century. Much indeed of the work found at Exeter is the very finest that the Fourteenth Century produced.”—(T. P.)

“The visitor should especially remark the Norman towers, the cresting of the roof, the flying-buttresses and the north porch. The Norman towers, in connection with the long unbroken roof, should perhaps be regarded as constituting the specialty of Exeter. At all events, the{92} peculiarity of their present position is so great and so striking as at once to attract attention; and the question of their place in the original Norman church is one of very considerable interest. Each tower consists of six stages, the two lowest of which are plain: the other four have blind arcades and circular window openings, the details and arrangements of which vary in the two towers. At the angles are square buttresses, which rise above the uppermost story. The south tower is Norman throughout; that on the north was altered by Bishop Courtenay for the reception of the great bell from Llandaff, and its final stage is Perpendicular. The fleur-de-lis cresting of the roof is of lead (with which the whole of the roof is covered), and its form is very graceful and effective. The flying-buttresses derive a very grand effect from the fact that the aisle-roofs slope outwards, and not, as usual, inwards. Resulting also from this peculiarity are, the great height of the aisles on the exterior, and an unusual development of the clerestory, without any intervening space between it and the aisle-roofs; and within the nave, the absence of the triforium; the place of which is, however, indicated by the blind arcade above the piers. The north porch with its triple canopy is part of Grandisson’s work, and very beautiful.”—(R. J. K.)

“To the first glance it is all a soft gray blur of age-worn carving, in which no point or angle seems to have failed of the touch which has blent all archaic sanctities and royalties of the glorious screen in a dim sumptuous harmony of figures and faces.”

“The west front, usually regarded as the latest work of Bishop Grandisson, who died in 1369, is of very high{93} interest; and although it cannot compete with those of Wells or Lincoln (both of earlier date), may justly claim great beauty as an architectural composition. It recedes in three stories, the lowest of which is formed by the sculptured screen; the second contains the great west window, on each side of which is a graduated arcade; and in the third, or gable, is a triangular window surmounted by a niche, containing a figure of St. Peter, the patron saint of the cathedral. The SCREEN deserves the most careful examination. It is pierced by three doorways, and surrounded by a series of niches, in which are the statues of kings, warriors, saints and apostles, guardians, as it were, of the entrance to the sanctuary. These figures are arranged in three rows. From pedestals crowned with battlements spring angels, each of whom supports a triple pilaster, with capitals. The statues on these capitals, forming the second row, are for the most part those of kings and knights; above the canopies which surmount them appears the third row, chiefly saints and apostles. The positions of the angels are admirably varied.

“The two statues with shields of arms in niches above the upper row are certainly those of Athelstan and Edward the Confessor, the Saxon king who expelled the Britons from Exeter, and the founder of the existing bishopric. In all these figures the general arrangement of the hair as well as the fashion of the crowns and of the armour, are those of the reign of Edward III., in which the work was probably completed.

“The platform above the screen no doubt served, as in many foreign cathedrals, as a station from which the church minstrels and choristers might duly welcome distinguished persons on their arrival; and from which the bishop might bestow his benediction on the people. The three doorways are much enriched. Round that in the centre, within the porch, is a moulding of carved foliage which deserves notice. On the central boss of the groining is a representation of the Crucifixion. The recess within the south doorway contains two sculptures, The Appearance of the Angel to Joseph in a Dream and The Adoration of the Shepherds. Both, like the figures on the screen, have suffered not a little from time, and the assaults of Cromwell’s Puritans.”—(R. J. K.)

“Everything should be broad and low, outside as well as inside. Look at the east end of the choir—its two arches broad and low; above it the great window—broad and low. Nowhere but at Exeter do you find these squat windows with their truncated jambs; here they are everywhere—in the aisles, in the clerestory, in choir, chapels, transepts and nave; even in the great window of the western front: broad and low windows everywhere. Still more original is the external realisation of the design; central tower and spire, western towers and spires, alike are absent. Long and low, massive and stable stretches out uninterruptedly the long horizontal line of nave and choir. Breadth gives in itself the satisfactory feeling of massiveness, steadfastness and solidity; and this is just what is wanting in the all-too aërial work of Salisbury and Beauvais; vaulted roofs at a dizzy height resting on unsubstantial supports and sheets of glass. But the Exeter architect has emphasised this satisfactory feeling of stability still further. The window tracery is heavy and strong; the vault is barred all over with massive ribs; in the piers there are no pretty, fragile, detached shafts; the massive clustered columns look as if they were designed, as they were, to carry the weight of a Norman wall.”—(F. B.)

“Another distinctive feature in Exeter as in Salisbury, is that the architect produces his effect mainly by architectural means—is not driven to rely on sculpture. All the principal capitals have mouldings not foliage. Only in the great corbels of the vaulting shafts and in the bosses of the vault does he permit himself foliage and sculpture. Wonderful carving it is; the finest work of the best period, when the naturalistic treatment of foliage was fresh and young. Very remarkable these corbels are, with their life-like treatment of vine and grape, oak and acorn, hazel leaf and nut. Unfortunately the corbels, and still more the bosses, are so high up that their lovely detail is thrown away; and they are out of scale.

“And the patterns of the window tracery are wonderfully diverse. It is not, as in Lichfield nave or King’s College Chapel, where every window is like its neighbour; when you have seen one, you have seen all. Here, all down each side of the church every window differs. In dimensions, in general character, they agree; in details they differ; each window is a fresh delight; we have, what even in Gothic architecture we rarely get—diversity within simplicity.”—(F. B.)

“The first view of the NAVE is rich and striking. Its present length is 140 feet. The view looking east is intercepted by the organ, which is placed above the screen at the entrance to the choir; but the general impression, notwithstanding a want of height, is that of great richness and beauty. The roof especially, springing from slender vaulting shafts, studded with delicately carved and varied bosses, and extending unbroken to the east end of the choir, is exceeded in grace and lightness by no other of the same date in the kingdom and by few on the Continent. The carved bosses, all of which retain traces of colour, represent foliage, animals (near the centre of the nave is a sow with a litter of pigs), grotesque figures, heraldic shields, subjects from early ‘bestiaries’ and{96} romances, such as the centaur with a sword, and the knight riding on a lion toward the eastern end, heads of the Virgin and Saviour, the Passion and Crucifixion, and in the centre of the second bay, the murder of Becket. Grandisson wrote a life of the great Archbishop, which remains in MS., but was very popular in its day. The episcopal figure on the adjoining boss may either represent Becket or Grandisson himself. Clustered pillars of Purbeck marble (contrasting well with the lighter stone from Silverton and Bere) of which the walls and roof are constructed, separate the nave from the aisles and divide it into seven compartments or ‘bays.’

“The corbels between the arches, which support the vaulting shafts of the roof, are, perhaps, peculiar to this cathedral, and should be especially noticed. They are wrought into figures, twisted branches and long sprays of foliage, and afford excellent examples of the very best period of naturalism. Every leaf is varied and the character of the different kinds (here for the most part oak and vine) is admirably retained. The second corbel on the south side of the nave exhibits the Virgin treading on an evil spirit, and carrying the Divine Infant. Above is her coronation. The easternmost nave-corbels display on the north side Moses with his hands supported by Aaron and Hur; and on the south the risen Saviour, with cross and banner. The brackets at the foot of these corbels are crowned heads; and possibly represent Edward I. and Edward II., the first beardless as usual, the other more defaced. The second corbel on the north side represents St. Cecilia, with a somewhat grotesque angel listening to her music.

“A blind arcade, taking the place of the triforium, deeply recessed and arranged in groups of four arches under each bay, runs above the nave arches; and in the central bay on the north side projects the Minstrels’ Gallery, an arrangement for the accommodation of musicians on high festivals, which occur in this perfection nowhere else in England. There are, indeed, other examples at Wells and at Winchester, but of far less interest and importance. Each of the twelve niches into which its front is divided contains the figure of a winged angel playing on a musical instrument and surmounted by a rich{97} canopy. The instruments beginning from the west are, a cittern, bagpipes, flageolet, crowth or violin, harp, an unknown or unseen instrument (the fingers are put close to the mouth), trumpet, organ, guitar, wind instrument, tambour and cymbals. The two corbelled heads below, supporting niches, are possibly those of Edward III. and Philippa. The manner in which the hands and arms are raised above the heads is unusual. Above the arcade and minstrels’ gallery is the clerestory, along which a gallery is pierced in the thickness of the wall.

“The windows of the nave, all of the best and purest (geometrical) Decorated, are said to exhibit a greater variety of tracery than can be found in any other building in the kingdom. They are arranged in pairs, on opposite sides of the cathedral; so that no two side by side will be found to resemble each other. The varied and graceful patterns of the lead-work should also be noticed. The stained glass in the great west window is, for the most part, modern and worthless (it dates from 1766) injuring the beauty of the window itself by its entire want of harmony and meaning. The ruby glass in this window is said to be some of the latest that was manufactured in England before M. Bontemps revived the art.”—(R. J. K.)

“constructed in the thickness of the screen by Bishop Grandisson for the place of his own sepulture. His tomb formerly existed here, but it was destroyed by Elizabeth’s visitors and the high-born prelate’s ashes scattered ‘no man knoweth where.’”—(R. J. K.)

“The Peter bell was crazed on Nov. 5, 1611, most probably from a too violent ringing in commemoration of the Gunpower Plot, and was recast in 1676. Its diameter at the mouth is 6 feet 3 inches; its height nearly 4 feet 8 inches. It is, of course, never rung, but the hours are struck on it by an enormous hammer. The visitor who happens to be in the tower at the time of striking will experience a new sensation,—the humming of the great mass of metal lingers for many minutes among the huge beams and rafters. A superb view of the city surrounded by trees and gardens, of the river and of its junction with the sea at Exmouth, is obtained from the top of the tower, the upper part of which (of Perpendicular character) was raised and adapted by Bishop Courtenay for the reception of Great Peter, which he brought from Llandaff.”—(R. J. K.)

“High as this praise was, the beauty of the vaulted roof and the extreme grace of the details are proofs that it was scarcely exaggerated. The roof bosses and corbels are of the same character as those in the nave; but the latter are even more admirable in design, and far more varied in foliage. Maple, oak, ash, the filbert with its clusters of nuts, and the vine with fruit and tendrils, could hardly be reproduced more faithfully. On the corbel above the organ-screen, on the north side, is a Coronation of the Virgin and on that beyond it a Virgin and Child with censing angels.”—(R. J. K.)

“We approach the choir, entered by a door in the beautiful screen supporting the organ. This was the old rood-screen, on which formerly stood the rood, or figure of our Lord on the Cross. It was erected in the Fourteenth Century.

“The bosses of the vaulted roof are worthy of especial examination, so remarkable are they for the delicacy of the carved foliage. The choir has been carefully restored in recent years, and the stalls, pulpit and reredos are modern and were designed by Sir Gilbert Scott. Notice the old misereres, which are very remarkable and{100} probably the oldest and most curious in England. The foliage denotes the Early English period and they were probably designed by Bishop Bruere (1224-1244). Notice the mermaid and merman on the south side, the elephant, knight slaying a leopard, a minstrel, etc. The lofty bishop’s throne was erected by Stapledon, and is said to have been taken down and hidden away during the Civil War period. The painted figures represent the four great bishops—Warelwast, Quivil, Stapledon and Grandisson. The sedilia by Stapledon are very fine. Notice the carved lions’ heads and the heads of Leofric, Edward the Confessor and his wife Editha. The east window is Early Perpendicular, inserted by Bishop Brantingham in 1390, and contains much old glass.”—(P. H. D.)

“They are fifty in number and their subjects are of the usual character,—foliage, grotesques, animals (among which is an elephant) and knights in combat, whose heater shields, flat helmets and early armour are especially noticeable. Remark, on the south side of the choir a mermaid and a merman holding some circular instrument between them, the elephant mentioned above and a knight sitting in a boat drawn by a swan, an illustration of the romance of the Chevalier au Cygne. On the north side a knight attacking a leopard, a monster on whose back is a saddle with stirrups, a minstrel with tabor and pipe, a knight thrusting his sword into a grotesque bird and a mermaid holding a fish. The Early English character of the foliage, as well as its graceful arrangement, should be noticed throughout.”

“On the south side, the superb Bishop’s Throne towering almost to the roof. This was the gift of Bishop Bothe (1465-1478). It is said to have been taken down and hidden during Monmouth’s Rebellion.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Bishop’s Throne (A.D. 1316), intended for his Lordship with a chaplain on either side; ‘a magnificent sheaf of carved oak, put together without a single nail, and rising to a height of 57 feet. The lightness of its ascend{101}ing stages almost rival the famous sheaf of fountains of the Nuremberg tabernacle. The cost of this vast and exquisitely carved canopy (about twelve guineas) is surprisingly small, even for those days. The carved work consists chiefly of foliage, with finials of great beauty, surmounting tabernacled niches, with a sadly untenanted look, however, for lack of their statuettes. The pinnacle corners are enriched with heads of oxen, sheep, dogs, pigs and monkeys.’ Next came what is perhaps the most exquisite work in stone in England, as the throne is unparalleled in woodwork—the SEDILIA; the seats of the priest to the east and to the west of him, those of the Gospeller and Epistoler. The sedilia have been preferred even to the shrine of Beverley and the Lady-Chapel of Ely. ‘The canopy of the seat nearest the altar,’ says Mr. Garland, ‘deserves particular attention. It is adorned with a wreath of vine leaves on each side, which meet at the point and there form a finial; and never did Greek sculptor of the best age trace a more exact portrait of the leaf of the vine, nor design a more graceful wreath, nor execute his design with a more masterly finish.’ It is regrettable that the carving of the sedilia is attributed to a Frenchman.”—(F. B.)

“Quivil first transformed the Lady-Chapel; to him are due the shafts, sedilia, double piscina, and the vaulting, the rib-mouldings of which are of earlier character than those of the choir; and the windows, which closely resemble those of Merton College, Oxford, which we know was commenced in 1277. In the centre of the Lady-Chapel Bishop Quivil is buried; he died in 1291. The chapels on either side may have been remodelled or partly remodelled by Bronescombe; but the east windows are later in style, and are Quivil’s. The piers hereabout are very interesting. Those of the Lady-Chapel looking into the side chapels are composed of four columns. The north-east and south-east piers of the choir have clusters of eight shafts instead of four; while in the pier between them the cluster of eight is developed into a cluster of sixteen columns. Finally notice that these piers are set diamond-wise, with four flat faces, and the angles to the north, west, south and east.”—(F. B.)

“The east window is early Perpendicular and was inserted by Bishop Brantingham about 1390. The stained glass with which it is filled is for the most part ancient and very fine. Much of it dates apparently from the first half of the Fourteenth Century (temp. Edward I. and II.) and was removed from the earlier window; the shields below are those of early bishops and benefactors; the figures of saints above, most of which are to be recognised by their emblems, deserve careful notice. Beginning with the lowest row, and at the left hand, are St. Margaret, St. Catherine, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Barbara, the Virgin and Child, St. Martin, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Andrew. All these figures are under very rich and varied canopies. The first three and the last three are of the first period; the others of Brantingham’s time. In the middle row are St. Sidwell, or Sativola, believed to have been a British lady of noble birth, and contemporary with St. Winifred of Crediton (first half of the Eighth Century). Her legend asserts that she was beheaded by a mower at the instigation of her stepmother, who coveted her possessions, near a well outside the walls of Exeter. In the window St. Sativola appears{104} with a scythe in her left hand, whilst at her right is a well with a stream of water flowing from it. These emblems may either form a rebus of her name (scythe-well) or refer to her martyrdom. Beyond St. Sidwell are St. Helena, St. Michael, St. Margaret, St. Catherine, Edward the Confessor and St. Edmund. All the figures in this row are of Brantingham’s period. The three figures in the uppermost row are Abraham, Moses and Isaiah. These are of the first period. The tone of colour throughout this window is very fine and solemn. The heraldry in the upper part of the window is modern. In the north clerestory windows of the central bay are four headless figures of early Decorated character. The beautiful running pattern forming the ground on which they are placed should be noticed.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Tudor work (1485-1519) is exceptional in importance. It includes the north entrance and other late portions of the western screen, two exquisite chapels both built by Bishop Oldham—his own chantry (St. Saviour’s) on the south side of the retro-choir, the Speke chantry (St. George’s) on the north—and in addition, Prior Sylke’s chantry on the north transept. All this{105} work is admirable in design and execution. In Oldham’s chantry is a charming series of owls with the scroll Dam, a rebus on his name, proceeding from the beak of each little owl. To Bishop Oldham also (1504-1519) is due the grand set of stone screens—one of the glories of the cathedral—no less than ten, which veil all the nine chapels and Prior Sylke’s chantry, and add fresh beauty to the beautiful choir.”—(F. B.)

“Whatever else the student and lover of Gothic architecture omits, he must not omit to visit Exeter. He will find it fresh and different from anything he has seen before. Its unique plan, without central or western towers,{106} the absence of obstructive piers at the crossing, the consequently uninterrupted vista, the singleness and unity of the whole design, the remarkable system of proportions, based on breadth rather than height, the satisfying massiveness and solidity of the building, inside and outside, and at the same time the airiness and lightness of the interior, the magnificence of its piers of marble, the delightful colour-contrast of marble column and sandstone arch, the amazing diversity of the window tracery, the exquisite carving of the corbels and bosses, the abundant and admirable Tudor work, the wealth of chantries and monuments, the superb sedilia, screen and throne, the misereres, the vaults, the extraordinary engineering feats from which its present form results, the originality of the west front and of the whole interior and exterior, place Exeter in the very forefront of the triumphs of the Mediæval architecture of our country.”—(F. B.)

“Seen from a distance, the picturesque group of towers and pinnacles derives increased effect from the beauty and variety of the surrounding landscape. On one side rises the long ridge of the Mendips, with its rocky outliers; whilst in the southern distance the lofty peak of Glastonbury Tor lifts itself above the marches, marking the site of what was generally believed, throughout the Middle Ages, to have been the earliest Christian church in Britain, if not the first in Christendom. The Cathedral itself seems to nestle under its protecting hills; and the waters of the Bishop’s moat, sparkling in the sunshine, indicate the spring or great well which led King Ina to establish his church here, and which had perhaps rendered the site a sacred one as well in the days of the Druids as in those of that primitive British Christianity which disappeared before the heathendom of the advancing Saxons.{108}

“From whatever direction the visitor enters the Close, he must pass under one of the three gatehouses built by Bishop Beckington (1443-1464), all of which display his shield of arms and his rebus,—a beacon inflamed issuing from a tun or barrel. Over the Chain-Gate passes the gallery which connects the Vicars’ College with the Cathedral. The gate, called the Penniless Porch, opens to the Market-place; but the Cathedral will be best approached for the first time through Browne’s gate, at the end of Sadler-street. From this point an excellent view of the west front is obtained, rising at the end of a broad lawn of greensward, bordered with trees. The Cathedral close of Wells is scarcely so picturesque as those of Salisbury or of Winchester. It is more open, however, and its short, bright turf contrasts very effectively with the grey stone of the buildings which encircle it and with the grand old church itself. This, with the exception of its pilasters of Purbeck, is built throughout with stone from the Doulting quarries, about nine miles from Wells.”—(R. J. K.)

“The part which he built, there can be little doubt, included the three western bays of the choir (which then formed the presbytery), the transepts, north porch and the eastern bays of the nave. That is to say, on entering the church, one is looking upon Reginald’s work, and not Jocelin’s; for, although the rest of the nave was completed by Jocelin, it was done in accordance with Reginald’s original plan. It is of great importance to remember this fact, since until recently the nave, with the other parts just mentioned, was attributed by Professor Willis, Professor Freeman, and most authorities to Jocelin.”—(P. D.)

“Late researches have shown that Bishop Reginald began the present church and that the Early English work should be divided into four periods: (1) The three western arches of the choir, with the four western bays of its aisles, the transepts and the four eastern bays of the nave, which are Reginald’s work (1174-1191), and so early as to be still in a state of transition from the Norman. It is a unique example of transitional building, and Willis calls it ‘an improved Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, but distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness and severity.’ The{111} characteristics of this late Twelfth Century work are bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some with traces of the classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful imagery that reminds us of the Norman work of Glastonbury; while in the north porch, which must be the earliest of all, we even find the zigzag Norman moulding. (2) The rest of the nave, which was finished in Jocelin’s time—that is to say, in the first half of the Thirteenth Century—preserves the main characteristics of the earlier work, though the flowing sculptured foliage becomes more naturalistic, and lacks the quaint intermingling of figure subjects. (3) The west front, which is Jocelin’s work, and alone can claim to be of pure Early English style. (4) The chapter-house crypt, which is so late as to be almost Transitional, though, curiously enough, it contains the characteristic Early English dog-tooth moulding which is found nowhere else except in the west window. From this, we reach the Early Decorated of the staircase, the full Decorated of the chapter-house itself, the later Decorated of the Lady-Chapel, the transitional Decorated of the presbytery, and the full Perpendicular of the western towers. Much of the masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and even in the eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines which are the marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of course, prove that any part of Bishop Robert’s church is standing, for mediæval builders were notoriously economical in using up old masonry, but it does show that there are more remains of his work in the building than was generally supposed.”—(P. D.)

“The Chain-Gate, in its association with the Chapter-House and the Vicars’ Close, is unique. The incline of the steps, easily to be distinguished from without, gives the corner a character quite its own. And the entrance to the Green by this gate, with the Cathedral on one side, balanced by the varied gables and roofs of the houses opposite, is particularly striking. The exterior of the Chapter-House comes into full view; the great central tower stands boldly up against the sky; the eastern gable presents its curious apex, and the Lady-Chapel below stands like a thing separate from the rest. Beyond, and under the Chain-Gateway, an arch admits to the Vicars’ Close—a charming street, lined on either side with diminutive dwelling-houses, once the separate residences of the vicars choral. At the top of the close is a small Per{113}pendicular chapel with a library above. The interior is profusely—almost grotesquely—decorated in a manner to remind one to some extent of those strange little oratories so frequently met with in other parts of Europe. But to many it will possess a certain charm, despite its florid adornments, not often realised in this country. The Vicars’ Hall, a considerable portion of which is of the Fourteenth Century, with additions of a tower and other features, probably by Bishop Beckington, stands at the bottom of the street and communicates through the gallery of the Chain-Gate with the Chapter-House staircase, and thus with the cathedral. By this gallery the choristers passed into the church.”—(A. A.)

“consists of a centre, in which are the three lancets of the western window and above them a gable receding in stages, with small pinnacles at the angles; and of two wings or western towers, projecting beyond the nave, as at Salisbury. The upper part of these towers is of Perpendicular character. That to the north-west was completed by Bishop Bubwith (1407-1424), whose statue remains in one of the niches: that to the south-west was the work of Bishop Harewell (1366-1386). Both these towers, fine as are their details, have a somewhat truncated appearance; and it is probable that the original Early English design terminated at the uppermost band of sculpture. The three western doors are of unusually small dimensions, perhaps in order to leave ample room for the tiers of figures which rise above them. Six narrow buttresses at the angles of which are slender shafts of Purbeck marble, supporting canopies, divide the entire front into five portions. The whole of the statues which fill the niches are of Doulting stone.”—(R. J. K.)

“The entrance is doubly recessed and has the zigzag ornament among its mouldings, an indication, if not of its early construction, at least of lingering Norman traditions among its builders. These mouldings deserve the most careful attention. The outer or dripstone, is formed of a very beautiful combination of Early English foliage. Square panels on either side of the arch contain figures of mystic animals, one of which is a cockatrice. The gable above has a blind arcade, in the centre of which a small triplet gives light to a parvise chamber. From the buttress at the angles rise slender spire-capped pinnacles. The buttresses themselves are flat and narrow.

“The interior of the porch is divided into two bays, and its walls are lined with a double arcade, the upper row of arches being more deeply recessed than the tower. The vault springs from a central group of triple shafts. The sculptures of the capitals on the east side possibly represent the death of King Edmund the Martyr (A.D. 870),—bound to a tree as a mark for the Danish arrows and afterwards beheaded. The figures are well designed, and full of life and character. The double doorway leading into the nave displays, like the exterior arch, the Norman zigzag.”—(R. J. K.)

“Undoubtedly the first thing that the stranger notices in Wells Cathedral, and the last that he is likely to forget,{116} is the curious contrivance by which the central tower is supported. Of the three pairs of arches (the upper arch resting inverted upon the lower) which stretch across the nave and each of the transepts, that in the nave is seen at once, and lends a unique character to the whole church. At first these arches give one something of a shock, so unnecessarily frank are they, so excessively sturdy, so very English, we may think. They carry their burden as a great-limbed labourer will carry a child in a crowd, to the great advantage of the burden and the natural dissatisfaction of the crowd. In fact, they seem to block up the view, and to deform what they do not hide.

“That is the first impression, but it does not last for long. Familiarity breeds respect for this simple, strong device, which arrested the fall of the tower in the Fourteenth Century, and has kept its walls ever since in perfect security, so that the great structure has stood like a rock upon the watery soil of Wells for nearly seven centuries, with its rents and breaks just as they were when the damage was first repaired. The ingenuity, too, of these strange flying-buttresses becomes more and more evident; the ‘ungainly props’ are seen to be so worked into the tower they support, that they almost seem like part of the original design of the first builders. One discovers that it is the organ, and not the arches, that really blocks the view, and one marvels that so huge a mass of masonry can look so light as to present, with the great circles in the spandrels where the arches meet, a kind of pattern of gigantic geometrical tracery. Indeed I think no one who has been in Wells a week could wish to see the inverted arches removed.

“To appreciate the work fully, it should be looked at from some spot, such as the north-east corner of the north transept, whence the three great pairs of arches can be seen together. The effect from here is very fine, especially when the nave is lighted up and strong shadows are cast. The extreme boldness of the mouldings, the absence of shafts and capitals and of all ornament, give them a primitive vigour, and their great intermingling curves, which contrast so magnificently with the little shafts of the piers beyond, seem more like a part of some{117} great mountain cavern than a mere device of architectural utility.”—(P. D.)

“Certainly it is an unusual instance of an architect deliberately setting himself to complete the works of an earlier period in faithful accordance with the original plan; and we may well be grateful to him for his modesty.

“All the carving is most interesting and beautiful: the caps and corbels of the vaulting shafts; the little heads at the angles of the arches, which are vivid sketches of every type of contemporary character; and the carvings in the tympana, which are best in the seventh, eighth and ninth bays (counting from the west end), those on the{118} north excelling in design and execution, while those on the south are more grotesque. But the capitals of the piers are the best of all, and the most hurried visitor should spare some time for the study of these remarkable specimens of sculpture, vigorous and lifelike, yet always subordinated to their architectural purpose. Those in the transepts[4] are perhaps the best, but the following in the nave should not be missed:—

North side, Sixth Pier (by north porch): Birds pluming their wings: Beast licking himself: Ram: Bird with human head, holding knife (?).

“Eighth Pier. Fox stealing goose, peasant following with stick: Birds pruning their feathers. (Within Bubwith’s Chapel) Human monster with fish’s tail, holding a fish: Bird holding frog in his beak, which is extremely long and delicate.

“Ninth Pier. Pedlar carrying his pack on his shoulders, a string of large beads in one hand. Toothless monster with hands on knees.

“South side, Seventh Pier. Birds with human heads, one wearing a mitre.

“Eighth Pier. Peasant with club, seized by lion: Bird with curious foliated tail (within St. Edmund’s chapel). Owl: Peasant with mallet (?).”

“The nave, as far as the piers of the central tower, consists of ten bays, divided by octangular piers, with clustered shafts in groups of three. The capitals are enriched with Early English foliage, much of which is of unusually classical character,—one of the many indications of a lingering local school, with its Norman traditions. Birds, animals and monsters of various forms—among which is the bird with a man’s face, said to feed on human flesh—twine and perch among the foliage. Above the pier arches runs the triforium, very deeply set, and extending backward over the whole of the side aisles. The roof retains its original position. (The whole arrangement should be compared with the Norman triforia of Norwich and Ely, both of which extend over the side-aisles; but their exterior walls have been raised and Perpendicular windows inserted). The narrow lancet openings toward the nave are arranged in groups of three, with thick wall-plates between them. The head with each lancet is filled with a solid tympanum, displaying foliage and grotesques, of which those toward the upper end of the south side are especially curious. At the angles of the lancets are bosses of foliage and human heads, full of character. In the upper spaces between each arch are medallions with leafage. Triple shafts, with enriched capitals, form the vaulting-shafts, the corbels supporting which deserve examination. A clerestory window (the tracery is Perpendicular, and was inserted by Bishop Beckington (1443-1464)) opens between each bay of the vaulting, which is groined, with moulded ribs and bosses of foliage at the intersections.”—(R. J. K.)

“The transepts seem to have been built before the nave, but some of the carved work of the capitals and corbels is of later date than the nave. The capitals on the west side of both transepts are among the finest in England. Many refer to the toothache.

“North Transept: first Pier.—(Inside the Priest Vicars’ vestry) A prophet(?) with scroll on which there is no name: Man carrying goose. (Outside) Head with tongue on teeth.

“Second Pier.—Aaron writing his name on a scroll: Moses with the tables of stone.

“Third Pier.—Woman with a bandage across her face. Above this cap the corbel consists of a seated figure, naked, with distorted mouth and an agonised expression.

“South Transept, second pier (from the south end). Two men are stealing grapes, one holds the basket full, the other plucks grapes, holding a knife in his other hand: The farmers in pursuit, one carries a spade and

“(5) On the western range of transept piers, with which must be classed those later caps already referred to in the nave under group 2. Their date is settled by the fact that they abound in unmistakable representations of the toothache. Now Saint William Bytton died in 1274, and his tomb became immediately famous for cures of this malady. In 1286, the chapter decided to repair the old work, no doubt because the offerings at his tomb had brought money to the church.”—(P. D.)

“There are few things in English architecture that can be compared with it for strange impressive beauty; the staircase goes upward for eighteen steps and then part of it sweeps off to the Chapter-house on the right, while the other part goes on and up till it reaches the chain-bridge; thus the steps lie, worn here and there by the tread of many feet, like fallen leaves, the last of them lost in the brighter light of the bridge. Here one is still almost within the cathedral, and yet the carts are passing underneath, and their rattle mixes with the sound of the organ within.

“The main gallery of the Chain-Gate is shut off by a door, which, if it were kept open, would make the prospect even more beautiful than it is. Two corbels which support the vaulting-shafts of the lower staircase should be noticed; they both represent figures thrusting their staves into the mouth of a dragon, but that on the east (wearing a hood and a leathern girdle round his surcoat) is as vigorous in action as the figure on the west side is feeble. A small barred opening in the top of the east wall lights a curious little chamber, which is reached from the staircase that leads to the roof.”—(P. D.)

“Of octagonal plan, its vaulting ribs branch out from sixteen Purbeck shafts which cluster round the central pillar, typifying the diocesan church with all its members gathered round its common father, the bishop. Each of the eight sides of the room is occupied by a window of four lights, with graceful tracery of an advanced geometrical type. These windows, which are among the finest examples of the period, have no shafts, but their arch mouldings are enriched with a continuous series of the ball-flower ornament. Most of the old glass in which ruby and white are the predominant colours, remains in the upper lights. Under the windows runs an arcade which forms fifty-one stalls, separated into groups of seven by the blue lias vaulting-shafts at the angles, but in the side which is occupied by the doorway there are only two stalls, one on either side of the entrance. Two rows of stone benches are under the stalls, and there is a bench of Purbeck round the base of the central pier.”—(P. D.)

“At the springs of the arches are sculptured heads full of expression, kings, bishops, monks, ladies, jesters; and at the angles, grotesques of various kinds. A line of the ball-flower ornament is carried round above the canopies.

“The double arches at the entrance show traces of a door on the exterior. Remark the curious boss in the vaulting, composed of four bearded faces. The diameter of the chapter-house is fifty feet, its height forty-one feet. Its unusual, and indeed unique, features are—its separation from the cloisters from which the chapter-house generally opens; and its crypt, or lower story,{126} which rendered necessary the staircase by which it is approached.

“A most striking view of the chapter-house is obtained from the fourth angle of the staircase, close to the doorway of the Vicars’ College. The effect of the double-door arches with their tracery, of the central pier, the branched ribs of the vaulting, and the fine windows is magnificent; and when the latter were filled with stained glass, must have been quite unrivalled. The chapter-house is by no means the least important of the many architectural masterpieces which combine to place Wells so high in the ranks of English cathedrals.”—(R. J. K.)

“The first impression on entering the choir will not readily be forgotten. Owing to the peculiar and most beautiful arrangement of the Lady-chapel and the retro-choir, to the manner in which the varied groups of arches and pilasters are seen beyond the low altar screen, to the rich splendours of the stained glass, to the beautiful architectural details of the choir itself, and to the grace and{127} finish of the late restorations, it may safely be said that the choir of no English cathedral affords a view more impressive or more picturesque. It is difficult to determine whether the effect is more striking at early morning, when the blaze of many-coloured light from all the eastern windows is reflected upon the slender shafts of Purbeck and upon the vaulted roof, or at the late winter services, when the darkened figures of saints and prophets in the clerestory combine with the few lights burning at the choristers’ stalls to add something of mystery and solemn gloom to the maze of half-seen aisles and chapels.

“The first three piers and arches of the choir are Early English, of the same character as those of the nave and transepts, and are probably the work of Bishop Jocelin. The remaining portion, including the whole of the vaulting as well as the clerestory above the first three bays, is very rich early Decorated (geometrical) and deserves the most careful study.

“The tabernacle work and the window tracery of the first three bays, although of the same date, are less rich than those of the eastern half of the choir. In this latter portion remark the triple banded shafts of Purbeck, carried quite to the roof as vaulting-shafts, and the tabernacle-work occupying the place of the triforium, deeper and wider than in the lower bays. Under each arch is a short triple shaft, supporting a bracket richly carved in foliage. The sculpture of the capitals and of these brackets is very good and should be noticed. The foliage has become unconventional, and has evidently been studied from nature. Its diminutive character, as compared with the Early English work in the nave, is very striking.

“The east end of the choir is formed of three arches divided by slender piers above which is some very rich tabernacle-work, surmounted by an east window of unusual design. At the back of the altar, and between the piers, is a low diapered screen, beyond which are seen the arches and stained windows of the retro-choir and Lady-chapel.”—(R. J. K.)

“The clerestory windows contain flowing tracery of an advanced and not very good type. In some the plain mullions are carried on through the head of the window and intersect each other. Above the tabernacle-work of the east end is the EAST WINDOW of seven lights, the last bit of the Fourteenth Century reconstruction, the last flicker of Decorated freedom. Its curious tracery is still beautiful, doubly so for the glass it enshrines, but the rule and square of Perpendicular domination have already set their mark upon it; the two principal mullions run straight up to the window head, and part of the tracery between them is rectangular.”—(P. D.)

“The beauty of the retro-choir, or ‘procession aisles,’ the arrangement of its piers and clustered columns, and{130} the admirable manner in which it unites the Lady-chapel with the choir should be here remarked. It is throughout Early Decorated. The foliage of the capitals and the bosses of the vaulting will repay careful examination. Many of the vaulting ribs appear to spring from two grotesque heads—one on either side of the low choir-screen—which hold them between their teeth. The four supporting pillars and shafts are placed within the line of the choir-piers, thus producing the unusual intricacy and variety of the eastward view from the choir. At Salisbury, and in all other English cathedrals, the piers of the procession-aisles are placed in a line with those of the choir.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Lady-chapel is an early work of the Curvilinear period; for it seems to have been complete in 1324. The windows have beautiful reticulated tracery of early type. There is lovely carving in the capitals, bosses, reredos, sedilia and piscina. The Curvilinear foliated capitals here and in the choir should be compared with the somewhat earlier capitals of the chapter-house, with the early Geometrical capitals of the staircase, the Lancet capitals of the west front and the late Transitional ones of porch, nave and transepts. The ancient glass here and in the Jesse window of the choir is superb in colour.

“As every one knows, it is the most beautiful east end we have in England. It may be worth while to see how this design was arrived at—a design as exceptional as it is effective. The simplest form of an east end in English Gothic is seen at York and Lincoln: it consists merely of a low wall with a big window above it. The next improvement is to build an aisle or processional path behind the east end; at the same time piercing the east wall with one, two or three arches. This was done at Hereford about 1180; and on a magnificent scale in the Chapels of Nine Altars at Durham and at Fountains early in the Thirteenth Century. But the French apsidal cathedrals—of which{131} we have an example in Westminster—have not only an encircling processional aisle, but also a chevet of chapels radiating out from it; thus providing ever-changing vistas of entrancing beauty. The next step in England also was to provide our rectangular choirs with a chevet as well as with a processional aisle. An early example of this plan is to be seen at Abbey Dore, in Herefordshire, about 1190. It occurs early in the Thirteenth Century on a still grander scale at Salisbury, where one finds not one but two processional aisles, as well as chapels to the east of them; and, in addition, a Lady-chapel projecting still farther to the east, thus producing a design of great complexity and beauty. Nevertheless, at Salisbury, since the chief supporting piers of the retro-choir and the chevet are in a line with those of the choir, there is by no means the same changeful intricacy of vista that affords one ever fresh delight in an apsidal church. At Wells, however, the architect attained all the success of the Continental builder simply because he built his Lady-chapel not rectangular but octagonal. For to get this octagon, of which only five sides were supported by walls, he had to plant in the retro-choir two piers to support the remaining three sides; and these piers are necessarily out of line with the piers of the choir. He had got the Continental vista. He saw it; but he saw also that it could be improved upon. And he did improve it, by putting up an outer ring of four more piers round the western part of the octagon of the Lady-chapel. It was an intuition of genius: it makes the vistas into the retro-choir and the Lady-chapel a veritable glimpse into fairyland; and provides here alone in England a rival to the glorious eastern terminations of Amiens and Le Mans. And that is not all. We saw in the chapter-house the grand effect of the central stalk branching upward and outward in all directions, like some palm tree transmuted into stone. This beautiful effect he transfers to the retro-choir, but multiplied—four palm trees in place of one; for each of the four external piers of the octagon emulates the chapter-house’s central stalk.”—(F. B.)

“From the south-west transept we pass into the CLOISTERS, which occupy an unusual amount of space, but have only three walks instead of the usual four.

“The difference between a true monastic cloister and this of Wells should be remarked. The canons of Wells were not monks and did not require a cloister in the ordinary sense. This is merely an ornamental walk around the cemetery. It did not lead to either dormitory, refectory or chapter-house. It served as a passage to the Bishop’s Palace; and the wall of the east walk is Early English of the same date as the palace itself. The lavatory in the east walk should be remarked, as well as the grotesque bosses of the roof in the portion built by Bishop Beckington. Over the western cloister is the Chapter Grammar School. The central space is known as the ‘Palm Churchyard,’ from the yew-tree in its centre, the branches of which were formerly carried in procession as palms. From the south-east angle of the cloisters we descend into the open ground within the gateway adjoining the marketplace, and opposite the episcopal palace. This is surrounded by a moat, as well as by strong external walls and bastions, and would have been capable of sustaining a long siege according to the mediæval system of warfare. The moat is fed by springs from St. Andrew’s, or the ‘bottomless well’—the original ‘great well’ of King Ina,—which rise close to the palace and fall into the moat in a cascade at the north-east corner. Both walls and moat were the work of Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury (1329-1365).”—(R. J. K.)

“The great west window is one of seven lights, divided horizontally into four parts. Below it is a battlemented parapet with a niche in the centre, in which, no doubt, a statue formerly stood, and in which a new statue has recently been placed. At the base of it are the arms and supporters of Henry VII. Below it is the west door, beneath a rectangular label. The spandrels contain emblems of the Passion. On either side stand statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, to whom the church was jointly dedicated; these seem to be of Elizabethan date. The doors themselves were the gift to the church of the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Henry Montague, brother of the bishop who completed the church. On them may be seen shields bearing the arms of the Montagues and of the Bishop of Bath and Wells.”—(T. P.)

“The nave consists of five bays. The clerestory windows are unusually lofty, and are divided by transoms; they are of five lights. Along the top of the clerestory wall is a battlemented, pierced parapet; but the pattern of the pierced openings differs from that of the parapet which runs along the top of the aisle walls. The aisles have five light windows without transoms; their heads are four centred arches; between each bay are projecting buttresses of three stages with gabled offsets, finished with crocketed pinnacles; against them rest flying-buttresses formed of a lower semi-arch, with a straight rectilinear truss. From the points where the arched flying-buttresses abut against the clerestory walls, vertical, slightly projecting buttresses are built upwards against the wall and rising above the parapet, are finished by crocketed pinnacles. The same design is carried right round the church. The clerestory of the transepts resembles those of the nave and the choir.”—(T. P.)

“There is little variety in the arches and shafts throughout the church. This repetition is a well-known feature in Perpendicular work. The piers have no general capital. The shaft which carries the inner order of the arch has a capital, and so, at the same level, have the vaulting-shafts of the high vault and that of the aisles. These shafts spring from the bases of the main pillars. The capitals at this level are plain, and so are the capitals of the vaulting-shafts of the nave from which the vaulting-ribs spring. But in the choir the place of these plain bands is taken by carved angels. Carved angels also form the termination of the hood-moulding of the lower windows of the south transept, and probably those of the north transept also, though these windows are hidden by the wooden pipes of the organ.

“Over the heads of the clerestory windows of the nave are small shields, and shields may also be seen in the centre of the fan-tracery in the nave, choir and transept. In the aisles the fan-tracery is somewhat different, as in the centre of each bay there is a pendant. The vaulting of the nave and its aisles and that of the south transept are modern, put up, under the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, to match the roof of the choir and its aisles and north transept respectively. The reredos was designed by the same architect. The oak screen across the eastern part of the south choir aisle is due to his son. The font is also modern. In fact, beyond the walls and the roofing of the eastern part of the church, there is little old about{139} it. In the clerestory windows are a few fragments of Seventeenth-Century glass—heraldic shields.”—(T. P.)

“Early in the Fifteenth Century a central tower was added. Here again one is struck by the originality of the British people: it is as beautiful as it is original. The designer had noticed how beautiful is the effect of a close-packed range of tall clerestory windows, such as those of Leighton Buzzard Church. So instead of restricting himself on each side of the tower to one or two windows, he inserts no less than five. The range of clerestory win{141}dows, which the Fourteenth Century builder refused to the choir, becomes the special ornament and glory of the tower.”—(F. B.)

“The piers of the choir carry triple shafts which support the vaulting of the choir, and others for the aisles, which are here of the same height as the choir. Capitals of great delicacy and beauty, modelled from real foliage, serve to break the line of the mouldings and accentuate the springing of the vault. Graceful though the span of the roof is admitted to be, the lines of the arcade of the choir are finer, and the effect of the contrast of their soft mouldings carried up and around without a break is excellent. The iron screen-work that separates the choir from its aisles is uninteresting and too small in scale.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“The transoms, features which were repeated in the windows of the aisles of the choir, and in a much heavier form in the windows of the nave, are additionally strengthened by the graceful arches below which spring from capitals almost similar to those on the choir side of the piers. From the centre of each transom rises a cluster of groining ribs. It has been customary to speak rather disparagingly of this clever piece of work of Abbot Knowle and to term it carpentry work in stone. It may be so, but the student of to-day may thank the Fourteenth Century Abbot for a most instructive lesson. The transoms have crowned heads at either end and in the centre, and they, unlike the transoms in the aisles of the nave, are ornamented with little flowers. Beneath the windows, which are Decorated in character, is a string-course, with ball-flower ornament, a feature which is found all round this eastern part. In the south aisle the vaulting was intended to be the same as in the north aisle, having been planned by the same architect, but a difference in the westernmost bay shows it was superintended by a different mind. In all probability it was Knowle’s successor, Abbot Snow, who, from 1332-1341, went on with his predecessor’s work, adding that part called the Newton Chapel.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“The east windows of the choir aisles are filled with glass coloured with enamels in accordance with the practice of the Seventeenth Century instead of glass coloured in its manufacture. They date from the reign of Charles II.; and although it is traditionally said that they were presented by Nell Gwynne, it is more probable that they were the offerings of Henry Glenham, Dean of Bristol from 1661 to 1667, and afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph. The arms of Glemham (Or, a chevron gules between three torteaux) are repeated three times in the window{144} of the south aisle and once in that of the north. The subjects (arranged as type and antitype) in the north aisle are—in the centre, the Resurrection; below Jonah delivered from the whale. On the right, above, the Ascension; below, Elijah taken up to heaven. On the left, above, the Agony in the garden; below, Abraham about to offer up his son.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Lady-Chapel (generally called the Elder Lady-Chapel because the altar of the Virgin was removed to the east end of the church after Abbot Knowle had rebuilt the choir) is entered from the north-east corner of the transept. The chapel is Early English, and dates, according to Mr. Godwin, from the time of Abbot John (1196-1215). The chapel is of four bays, the windows in which are triplets with inner arches, of which those at the side are gracefully foliated. The detached vaulting-shafts are of Purbeck marble. The sculpture of the capitals and string-courses is unusually good; and the spandrels of the wall-arcade are filled with grotesque designs which are full of spirit and character, greatly resembling the sculpture in Wells Cathedral, much of which is of the same date. Remember especially—a goat blowing a horn and carrying a hare slung over his back; a ram and an ape playing on musical instruments; and St. Michael with the dragon(?); below is a fox carrying off a foliage. The vaulting of the roof would seem to stamp the English character.”—(R. J. K.)

“Opposite the entrance door on the south side are three ogee arches with niches between. In one of these, the third from the west, was a hearth upon which the sacramental bread was baked. The ornamentation in the spandrels and the finials is curiously interesting work in foliage. The vaulting of the roof would seem to stamp the work as that of Abbot Knowle. It consists of curved ribs, quite detached, large in section, springing from small capitals. The bosses are particularly fine, the foliage being very flowing and free. It is difficult to realise that the mason has here done in stone what many wood-carvers would fail to do in their softer material. The door into the Berkeley Chapel is enriched with a niche overhead, and a moulding below consisting of medlers.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“There are two windows toward the east, the soffetes of which are ornamented with a gigantic ball-flower; and the peculiar foliage on some of the capitals should be remarked. Under each of the windows was an altar, the steps and piscinæ of which remain. The altars were separated by a screen, the marks of which were visible in the old pavement. Between the chapel and the aisle the wall is pierced by the peculiar arch of Abbot Knowle; and under it, in the thickness of the wall, is an altar-tomb much ornamented and containing five shields charged with the coats of the Berkeley, Ferrers and De Quincey families. The tomb in its present state is no doubt that of Thomas, Lord Berkeley (died 1321), whose wives were of those families; but the lower part, with its very fine foliage, is of Early English date, and may possibly have been removed from another part of the church.”—(R. J. K.)

“The lower lights are separated by vine tendrils into oval panels, twenty-one in all. In the lowest tier in the centre is Jesse with David on the right and Solomon on the left hand. To the left of the latter are the prophets Micah, Haggai, Malachi; to the right of David{148} are Jeremiah, Daniel and Amos. In the next tier the central figure is the Virgin and Child with Hezekiah on the left and Ahaz on the right, the four kings, David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Ahaz, representing the descent of the promise. To the left of Hezekiah are the prophets Jonah, Habakkuk, Zechariah; and to the right of Ahaz are Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. Above these two rows of regular panels are three panels, containing four subjects—the central one giving us the Crucifixion, with our Lord in glory in the upper part of the light. In the right hand light is the Virgin Mary, in that on the left is St. John.

“In the head of this window there are now seventeen blazons of arms. In the quatrefoil at the top—the arms of England as used before the time of Edward III., viz., the three lions; in the two trefoils immediately below are Berkeley of Stoke Gifford (L), Berkeley of Berkeley Castle (R).

“Most of the glass in this upper part is original and is supposed by Mr. Winston to date between 1312-1322, as the arms of Gaveston, who was murdered in 1312, are not in the window, while the arms of De Bohun, who was slain in open rebellion in 1322, are clearly here. The glass, then, is of Knowle’s time, and being contemporary with the masonry, affords a rich example of the harmony of form and colour about which one hears so much but which one so seldom sees. It is probable that the tracery of the window may have been designed for Abbot Knowle by the builder of the window at Carlisle, also an Augustinian house. There is a strong resemblance in the two windows, both of which are excellent work.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“The chapter-house is one of the oldest parts of the earlier fabric of the cathedral, and as Britton truly says, ‘in its original state must have been one of the most interesting of the kind in the kingdom and perhaps in Europe.’ In spite of what it has undergone at the hands of architects, restorers and rioters, it is most interesting still, a regular parallelogram in shape, measuring 42 feet in length by 25 in breadth and 25 feet in height, divided into two bays.

“The eastern wall, which dates from 1831, has three windows, and the west wall has also three round-headed arches, the central one being the main door, while the side ones serve as windows, each being subdivided by a small pier. Each of these main openings has a label of cable-moulding. Above this cable-moulding is an arcade of interlacing arches, borne by thirteen tall piers, alternately{150} plain and twisted; and above this is a semicircular space, also filled with rounded-headed intersecting arches, so arranged as to fill the semicircular space. The north and south walls have a plain round-headed arcading below, with a bold round moulding, while above is an elaborate arcading, similar to the lower tier on the west wall, but with much richer capitals. Above this is interlaced lattice-work, and above this in one bay a space covered with zigzag mouldings. The shafts of the arcading on the walls are alternately richly carved or almost plain. The clustered shafts, from which the main arch of the vaulting springs, are peculiarly rich in ornamentation.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“As a rule, visitors see it first from the south side, and the south-west general view is one of the best, equalled, but not surpassed, by that from the north-west. The north view from the Great Western Railway, with the school playing-fields in the foreground, makes a striking picture, but it is more sombre than the picture formed by the south front. Viewed from the north-west corner of the cloister-garth, the pile is seen perhaps at its best. From this point it is easy to study so much the varied architecture of the whole, and with little effort to transport the mind back for a space of four hundred years. The eye first rests upon the turf of the garth now tastefully laid out after many years of comparative neglect. Flanking the garth on every side are the exquisite windows of the Cloister—a cloister which no other can surpass. Above the Cloister will be seen on the eastern side the sober, impressive Norman work of the Chapter-house in which so much of our English history has been made. To the south of this is the Library, built close against the walls of the north transept, which tower above, and lead the eye upward to the great tower which, ‘in the middest of the church,’ crowns the whole.

“Placed where it is, almost in the centre of the long line of the nave, continued in the choir and Lady-chapel, at the point where the transept line intersects it, it is the chief feature of the massive pile. All else seems to be grouped with a view to the enhancing of the effect of the central position of the tower. The other members of{152} the building seem merely to be steps, by means of which approach can be made to it. It is the grandest and most impressive feature of the outside. No matter from whence one looks at it, the charm is there. Seen from the gardens in the side streets close by when the pear-trees are in bloom, or in the full blaze of a hot summer day, or again later in the autumn when the leaves are beginning to turn, or, better still, in snow time, it is always full of beauty. On a bright hot day the pinnacles seem so far off in the haze as to suggest a dream fairyland. On a wet day, after a shower, the tower has the appearance of being so close at hand that it almost seems to speak. Viewed by moonlight, the tower has an unearthly look, which cannot well be described. The tower is 225 feet high to the top of the pinnacles, and the effect of it is extremely fine. From the main cornice upwards, the whole of the stone-work is open, and composed of what at a distance appears to be delicate tracery, and mullions and crocketed pinnacles.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“Instead of going on with Abbot Morwent’s rebuilding of the nave, the monks now turned their attention to the central tower. The tower was of no use as a lantern, for the lierne vault of the choir had been carried beneath it. So it long remained unaltered. But in the days of Abbot{154} Seabroke (1460-1482), it was rebuilt under the superintendence of a monk named Tully, to be in character with the new exterior of choir and transepts. A very imposing tower it is; fully able, from its massiveness as well as from its height, to gather together the masses of the building—all the more so because the transepts are so short. It succeeds where the central towers of Worcester and Hereford fail; in fact, it is as effective in its way as Salisbury spire. The pinnacles, again, bear witness to the love of these later artists for harmony and unity; each pinnacle, with its two ranges of windows, is a repeat of the two stages of the tower below.

“Then—after the tower had been erected—it was decided to rebuild the Lady-chapel. So an immense detached building was constructed to the east of the great window of the presbytery; without aisles, but with little transepts; almost one continuous sheet of glass, and with a superb vault. This Lady-chapel had to be joined up to the presbytery, but the great east window was in the way. However, the difficulty was got over by a series of ingenious shifts and dodges, which must be seen to be appreciated (1457-1499).

“And so ended this great building-period at Gloucester (1330-1499), which turned the course of English architecture; so that the Curvilinear style of 1315 to 1360 did not find its natural development in Flamboyant, as on the Continent, but was switched off to Perpendicular and Tudor design.”—(F. B.)

“The method of joining the Lady-chapel to the choir is best noticed from the outside. It is a piece of exceedingly clever and graceful construction, and there is the minimum of obstruction to the light passing through to the east window, and the maximum of support to the elliptical east window. Viewing the Lady-chapel from the north side, the play of light through the windows on the south side has a very grand effect. Under the east end of the Lady-chapel is a passage which has given rise to much speculation in bygone times. The Lady-chapel, at

the time of its erection, was carried out to the farthest limit of the land possessed by the Abbey. As the east wall of the chapel was actually on the western boundary wall the passage was made to give access from the north to the south of the grounds, without the need of going right round the precincts by the west front.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“existed for more than eight centuries under different forms, in poverty and in wealth, in meanness and in magnificence, in misfortune and success, finally succumbed to the royal will. The day came, and that a drear winter day, when its last Mass was sung, its last censer waved, its last congregation bent in rapt and lowly adoration before the altar there; and, doubtless, as the last tones of that day’s evensong died away in the vaulted roof, there were not wanting those who lingered in the solemn stillness of the old massive pile, and who, as the lights disappeared one by one, felt that there was a void which could never be filled, because their old abbey, with its beautiful services, its frequent means of grace, its hospitality to strangers, and its loving care for God’s poor, had passed away like a morning dream, and was gone for ever.”—(W. H. H.)

“The first impression of the nave changes all earlier thoughts of the age of the building. It is unmistakably Norman, grand beyond expression, but cold, severe and deathly white. The stained glass (mostly modern) of the Norman and Decorated windows fails to supply the evident lack of colour.

“There was a time when lines of blue and scarlet and gold relieved the white vaulted roof, when altars agleam with colour and pale flickering lights gave light and brightness to the chill whiteness of this vast and mighty colonnade. On Sunday evenings, when the nave is filled with worshippers and the bright searching daylight is replaced by the yellow gleam of the little tongues of fire above the great and massive arches, the want of colour is little felt, and the noble and severe beauty of the matchless Norman work in the great nave strikes the beholder. The nave of Gloucester, to be loved and admired as it deserves, and as it appeared to men in the days of the Plantagenet Kings, must be seen in one of the many crowded evening services.

“Save that the altars with their wealth of colour and light are gone, and the lines of colouring and the glint of{157} gold of the Norman wooden ceiling no longer are visible on the stone-vaulted roof above and the south aisle Norman windows are replaced with exquisite Decorated work of the time of the second Edward, there is no great structural change since the day at the close of the Eleventh Century when Abbot Fulda from Shrewsbury preached his famous sermon to the Gloucester folk, the sermon in which he foretold the death of the imperious and cruel Rufus in words so plain, so unmistakable, that Abbot Serlo of Gloucester, who loved the great wicked King, in spite of his many sins, was alarmed and at once sent to warn his master, but in vain. Rufus disregarded the Gloucester note of alarm, and a few hours later the news of the King of England’s bloody death, in the leafy glades of the New Forest, rang through Normandy and England.

“Yes, it is the same nave, only colder and whiter, on which Anselm, the saintly archbishop, and Rufus gazed; the same avenue of massy pillars—then scarcely finished—through which Maud the Empress often went to her prayers with her chivalrous half-brother, Earl Robert. Beauclerc, her father, too, and some grey-haired survivors of Hastings must have looked on these huge columns crowned with their round arches which excite our wonder to-day. They were a curious fancy of the architect of Serlo; or was it not probably a design of a yet older artist of Edward the Confessor? These enormous round shafts, which are the peculiar feature of the nave of our storied abbey, have only once been repeated, probably by the same architect, in the neighbouring abbey of Tewkesbury, a few years later. There is nothing like them on either side of the silver streak of sea. The Tewkesbury copies are slightly smaller; otherwise they are exact reproductions of Gloucester.”—(S.)

“The unique features here are the great height of the massive circular columns, fourteen in number, and the consequently dwarfed triforium or gallery running over the main arches. There are traces to be seen of the original Norman clerestory under the Perpendicular win{158}dows, and, judging from this, the height of the clerestory, as originally constructed, must have been but little less than that of the piers in the nave.

“This Norman clerestory was altered at the same time that the roof of the nave was vaulted—viz. in 1242, in the time of Henry Foliot. This work was done by the monks themselves, who thought, as Professor Willis suggests, that they could do it better than common workmen. Their work is made of a light and porous kind of stone, treated with plaster on the under-side, and it was rendered necessary by the previous roof, which was of wood, having been destroyed by fire in 1190. Of this fire the piers certainly show the traces to this day, all having become reddened and slightly calcined. To make the new clerestory the whole of the original Norman work over the arcade of the triforium was removed, with the exception of the jambs of the side-lights (which extended beyond the arches of the triforium) and the wall between them.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“The painting may be thus generally described. The hollow of the abacus of the capitals was red, the lower member of the same, green; the whole of the bell red, the leaves alternately green and yellow, with the stalks, running down, of the same colours, into the red bell of the capital. The vertical mouldings between the marble shafts were red and blue alternately; the lower shafts green and blue, with red in the hollows, and the foliage on these also is green and yellow. Some of the horizontal mouldings are partly coloured also. The bosses in the groining are yellow and green, as in the capitals. All the colouring, which was very rich, was effected with water colours; in one instance only has any gold been discerned, and that was upon one of the bosses in the roof.”—(F. S. W.)

“Looking upwards, the visitor will note the beauty of the vaulting and the bosses placed at the intersection of the ribs. These bosses at the east end of the choir chiefly represent a choir of angels playing on various kinds of musical instruments, and a figure of Our Lord in the attitude of blessing. All the roof was originally probably painted and decorated, but the existing colour and gilding is recent work, having been done by Clayton & Bell. At first sight the groining of the roof looks most complicated, but, if analysed and dotted down on paper, it will be seen to be in reality a simple geometrical pattern. The bosses will repay careful examination with a glass.

“Viewed from the door in the screen, the choir looks in very truth a piece of Perpendicular work, as the Norman substructure is then for the most part concealed. A closer examination, however, will prove that the Norman work is all there—that it has been veiled over with tracery from the floor level to the vaulting with open screen-work, fixed on to the Norman masonry, which was pared down to receive it.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“The choir on which you are now looking is very long—not too long, however, for its great height—for the fretted roof, a delicate mosaic of tender colours set in pale gold, soars high above the vaulting of the nave. The proportions are simply admirable. From the lofty traceried roof down to the elaborately tiled floor, the walls are covered with richly carved panelled work, broken here and there with delicate screens of stone. The eastern end, hard by the high altar, is the home of several shrines. There is happily no lack of colour in this part of our cathedral. The western end is furnished with sixty richly-carved canopied stalls of dark oak, mostly the handiwork of the Fourteenth Century. The curiously and elaborately fretted work of the roof we have already spoken of as a{161} rich mosaic of gold and colours. The floor, if one dare breathe a criticism in this charmed building, is too bright and glistening, but it is in its way varied and beautiful. The carving of the reredos, a work of our own day, is, to the writer’s mind, open to criticism, but is still very fair, telling in every detail of loving work and true reverence.”—(S.)

“Though it awakens our recollection of a feeble-minded king, and his barbarously brutal murder, it also compels our admiration at the beauty of the work. It has been restored, renovated or re-edified, but in spite of that, appeals to us from the wealth of very highly ornate tabernacle work, the richness, and at the same time the{162} lightness and elegance of the whole. The details too are well worth careful examination. It may be, judging from the expression of the face, that there has been some attempt at portraiture, but repair and restoration have practically made it impossible to settle what would otherwise be an interesting question. The superb canopy has suffered much at the hands of restorers—e.g. in 1737, 1789, 1798 and in 1876.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“It occupies the space over the ground floors of the aisles or ambulatory of the choir, and originally extended of a like width round the east end of the Norman Church, but at the time when the Fourteenth-Century work of the present choir was executed, the whole of the east end of the old Norman choir, with the corresponding part of the triforium, was removed in order to make room for the existing large window, the small east chapel being allowed to remain.”—(F. S. W.)

“The first chapel in the triforium contains two brackets with rich canopies, and there is a very well preserved double piscina. Ball-flowers in two rows will be found in the mouldings of the east window. Remains of two canopies in the jambs of the windows are also to be traced.

“The massive Norman piers should be carefully studied, as the way in which the later casing work has been applied can be more easily seen in the triforium than elsewhere.

“The picture on the west side of this part of the triforium was discovered in 1718, against the then eastern end of the nave, underneath the panelled wainscot at the back of the seats occupied by the clergy when the nave was used for service.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“It is worthy of remark that the tracery, heads and cusps, as seen from the inside of this window, are not repeated on the outside, a plain transom only crossing the lights. This peculiarity is repeated in the great west

window and in many other windows in the cathedral.”—(F. S. W.)

“The whole of this, the loveliest choir in England, is lit by a mighty wall of jewelled glass behind the great golden reredos.

“This vast east window which floods the choir of Gloucester, beautiful as a dream with its soft, silvery light faintly coloured with jewelled shafts of the richest blue and red, and here and there a vein of pale gold—this vast window could not have been seen out of England, or, at least, one of the grey and misty northern countries, where gleams of light or shafts of sunshine are exceedingly precious. In south or central Europe the effect of such a mighty window would be simply dazzling to the eye, would be painful from its excess of light.

“This great east window is the largest painted window in England—the largest, the writer believes, in Europe. Its stonework exceeds in size the magnificent east window of York, which stands next to it. The respective measurements are Gloucester, seventy-two feet high by thirty-eight wide; York, seventy-eight by thirty-three feet. The lower parts of the centre compartments at Gloucester are not completely glazed, owing to the opening into the Lady-chapel. The glass of Gloucester is, on the whole, light-coloured, the designers being evidently anxious that the beautiful stone panels and screen-work should be seen in all their exquisite details. The glass has suffered mar{166}vellously little from the ravages of weather and the fanaticism of revolutionary times; the busy restorer, too, has dealt gently with it. There are forty-nine figures, and of these thirty-seven are pronounced by our lynx-eyed experts to be absolutely genuine. Of the eighteen armorial shields in the lower lights thirteen are certainly the identical shields inserted by the survivors of Cressy. The whole of the gorgeous canopy-work has been untouched. The subject of the paintings is the Coronation of the Virgin and the figures consist of winged angels, apostles, saints, kings and abbots. The coats-of-arms are those borne by King Edward III., the Black Prince, and their knightly companions, such as the Lords of Berkeley, Arundel, Pembroke, Warwick, Northampton, Talbot and others who took part in the famous campaign in which occurred the battle of Cressy, and who in some degree were connected with Gloucestershire. The window was, in fact, a memorial of the great English victory, and may fairly be termed the Cressy window.”—(S.)

“All the wall below the windows is arcaded with foiled arches, with quatrefoils above them. The wall between{167} the windows is panelled with delicate tracery like that in the windows, and in its three chief tiers contains brackets for figures, with richly carved canopies overhead. Many of these canopies (like the walls) show traces of colour.

“Vaulting shafts of great beauty support one of the grandest Perpendicular roofs that has ever been made. Each boss in the roof is worth minute inspection, and since the restoration (1896) it is possible to see the bosses in practically the same condition as they were when they left the masons’ hands in the Fifteenth Century. With three exceptions they are all representations of foliage.

“It has been said above that the chapel is cruciform. The arms of the cross are represented by the two side chapels, like diminutive transepts on the north and south sides, with oratories above them, to which access is given by small staircases in the angles of the wall. Both these side chapels contain some exquisite fan-tracery vaulting, which is supported upon flying arches, fashioned in imitation of the graceful flying arches in the choir.

“On the north side the chapel contains a full-length effigy of Bishop Goldsborough (who died in 1604) robed in his white rochet, black chimere, with lawn sleeves, scarf, ruff and skull-cap.

“The east window in this chapel is in memory of Lieut. Arthur John Lawford (1885), and is dedicated to St. Martin.

“The chapel above has a vaulted roof with bosses of foliage, and there are small portions of ancient glass.

“The Lady-chapel is one of the largest in the kingdom, and is said, at the time of the Dissolution, to have been one of the richest. A great part of it is said to have been gilded and gloriously ornamented. Traces of the colour can be seen in the mouldings of the panellings and in the carving upon the walls.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“The alabaster effigy represents the Abbot in his alb, stole, tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, amice and mitre, with his pastoral staff on his right side. The chapel has been partially restored. Traces of colour are to be seen in the reredos and the roof over it.

“Almost opposite to this, but nearer to the iron gate, is a recessed tomb to a knight in mixed armour of mail and plate, and by his side his lady, with kirtle, mantle and flowing hair. Both wear SS. collars, and this helps to give the age of the monument, by narrowing the date down to a year not earlier than 1399.”—(H. J. L. J. M.)

“Great alterations have from time to time been made in the crypt. The large semicircular columns against the walls, though of great antiquity, are not parts of the original structure, but are casings built round, and enclosing the former smaller piers, and the ribs springing from their capitals are built under, with a view to support the vaulting.”—(F. S. W.)

“The view looking down either of the walks is very fine, mainly owing to the richness of the groined roof, which is the earliest example of the fan-vault. This style of vaulting is entirely peculiar to England; and Professor Willis has suggested that the school of masons who were employed in this cathedral may have originated it. The wall sides of the cloisters are panelled; and the windows, divided by a transom, have rich Perpendicular tracery. The lights above the transom were glazed. Each walk is divided into ten compartments. In the south walk are the Carrels—places for writing or study, twenty in number, formed by a series of arches, running below the main windows. In each carrel is a small and graceful window of two lights.[6] The very fine view at the angle of the south and west walks should especially be noticed. In the north walk are the lavatories, projecting into the cloister garth; these are very perfect. Under the win{171}dows is a long trough or basin into which the water flowed. The roof is groined. Opposite in the wall of the cloister, is the recess for towels, or manutergia. The windows of the east walk are filled with memorial glass by Hardman (the eighth is by Ballantyne, as is one window in the west walk).”—(R. J. K.)

“one of the most perfect of its date. It projects 8 feet into the garth, and is entered from the cloister alley by eight tall arches with glazed traceried openings above. Internally it is 47 feet long and 6⅛ feet wide, and is lighted by eight two-light windows towards the garth and by a similar window at each end. One light of the east window has a small square opening below, perhaps for the admission of the supply pipes, for which there seems to be no other entrance either in the fan vault or the side walls. Half the width of the lavatory is taken up by a broad, flat ledge or platform against the wall, on which stood a lead cistern or laver, with a row of taps, and in front a hollow trough, originally lined with lead, at which the monks washed their hands and faces. From this the waste water ran away into a recently discovered (1889) tank in the garth.”—(H.)

“The west end is arranged in the usual Benedictine fashion, with a central door, flanked originally by two large unglazed window openings, with three large windows above. Only one of the windows flanking the doorway can now be seen, the other having been partly de{173}stroyed and covered by Perpendicular panelling when the new library stair was built in the south-west corner of the room.”—(H.)

“Almost in the midst of the city the sturdy mass of the cathedral building reposes in a secluded close, from which the best general view is obtained. The close is entered either from Broad Street, near the west window, or from Castle Street; the whole of the building lying on the south side of the close between the path and the river. The space between the Wye and the Cathedral is filled by the Bishop’s Palace and the college of the Vicars’ Choral. On the east are the foundations of the castle, which was formerly one of the strongest on the Welsh marshes.”—(A. H. F.)

“The nave, which is separated from the aisles by eight massive Norman piers (part of the original church), of which the capitals are worthy of notice, has somewhat suffered by restorations at the hands of Wyatt. The triforium, the clerestory, the vaulting of the roof and the western wall and doorway are all his work; and it must not be forgotten that he shortened the original nave by one entire bay. Walking to the west end, from which{176} the best general view is to be obtained, one is impressed by the striking effect of the great Norman piers and arches and the gloom of the choir beyond. Through the noble circular arches, which support the central tower and the modern screen on the eastern side of it, we see the eastern wall of the choir, pierced above by three lancet windows and below by a wide circular arch receding in many orders. A central pillar divides this lower arch, two pointed arches springing from its capital, and leaving a spandrel between them, which is covered with modern sculpture. In the far distance may be distinguished the east wall of the Lady-chapel and its brilliant lancet lights. Throughout the Cathedral the Norman work is remarkable for the richness of its ornament as compared with other buildings of the same date, such as Peterborough or Ely.

“The main arches of the nave are ornamented with the billet and other beautiful mouldings and the capitals of both piers and shafts are also elaborately decorated. The double half shafts set against the north and south fronts of the huge circular piers are in the greater part restorations.

“Over each pier-arch there are two triforium arches imitated from the Early English of Salisbury. They are divided by slender pillars, but there is no triforium passage. During the Late Decorated period the nave-aisles were practically rebuilt, the existing walls and windows being erected upon the bases of the Norman walls, which were retained for a few feet above the foundations. The vaulting of the roofs of the nave-aisles and the roof of the nave itself were coloured under the direction of Mr. Cottingham.”—(A. H. F.)

“on a design which is perhaps the most original, as it certainly is one of the most beautiful in the history of English Gothic architecture. To the north and west were built enormous windows, with tracery of cusped circles, quite exceptional in their elongation, more like late German than English work. On the east side was built an aisle of exquisite beauty. Its arches, almost straight-sided—its triforium windows, a ring of cusped circles set under a semicircular arch—its clerestory windows, spherical triangles, enclosing a cusped circular window—the composition of the triforium—the north and west windows—are quite unique, except so far as they were copied in later work in the city and neighbourhood. At the south end of the aisle is the exquisite TOMB of Bishop Peter Aquablanca (died 1268); no doubt built in his lifetime. The tomb is as unique as the transept, and chiefly resembles it in design. The inference is that Bishop Aquablanca built the transept. The credit of it, however, is constantly given to his successors, apparently on account of his private vices. But saints as well as sinners have liked to leave memorials behind them in stone; and, moreover, Aquablanca had his good points. To this day four thou{178}sand loaves are distributed every year out of funds which he bequeathed. It is recorded, too, that of a fine which was imposed on the citizens for encroachments on his episcopal rights, he remitted one half and handed over the other for works on the cathedral.”—(F. B.)

“The Norman arches opening to the aisles of the nave and choir resemble those which correspond to them on the south side of the church. The transept beyond them was, as we have seen, entirely rebuilt, and is one of the most remarkable examples of the period remaining in England. The unusual form of its arches, and its pure, lofty windows, are sufficiently impressive now; but their effect must have been wonderfully increased when the windows were filled with glass displaying the history and miracles of the sainted Bishop, and when the shrine itself was standing on its pedestal within the eastern aisle, rich with the gold and jewels offered by the numerous pilgrims who knelt daily before it.

“The west side of the transept (which is of two bays beyond the aisle passage) is entirely filled by two very lofty windows of three lights each. The heads of the narrow lights are sharply pointed; and the tracery above is formed by three circles enclosing trefoils. These windows are set back within triangular-headed arches. On the north side is a double window of the same character divided by a group of banded shafts. The triple lights on either side of these shafts, and the foiled circles above{179} them, precisely resemble the windows on the west side of the transept.

“The vaulting springs from clustered shafts, the corbels supporting which, on the east side, are beautiful and singular, and resemble bunches of reeds, terminating in a small open flower. The small heads below these corbels, at the intersection of the main arches, should also be noticed.

“The eastern aisles, lighted by three very beautiful windows, each of three lights, with three quatrefoils in the tracery, are set back within wider arches, as is the case with the windows in the main transept. In this aisle, in a line with the central pier, is the pedestal of the Cantilupe Shrine. This is a long parallelogram, narrowing toward the lower end, and is entirely of Purbeck marble. It has two divisions; the lower closed, like an altar-tomb, the upper a flat canopy, supported on small open arches. Upon this rested the actual shrine, containing the relics of the saint. Cantilupe was Provincial Grand Master of the Knights Templars in England; and round the lower division of the pedestal are fifteen figures of Templars in various attitudes, placed in the recesses of a foliated arcade. All are fully armed, in chain-mail, with surcoat, shield and sword. All are seated, and tread on various monsters, among which are dragons and swine, muzzled. The spandrels in this arcade, and the spandrels between the arches in the upper division, are filled with leafage of the first Decorated period, retaining some of the stiff arrangement of the Early English, but directly copied from nature. In the lower spandrels it is arranged in sprays; in the upper it is often laid in rows of leaves, among which occur oak, maple and trefoil. The whole of this work will repay the most careful examination. (It should be compared with the foliage of the capitals of the shafts surrounding the central pier of the aisle, which is far more stiff and conventional). On the top of the lower division of the pedestal was a brass of the Bishop, of which the matrix alone remains.

“The position of the shrine in this transept may be compared with that of St. Frideswide at Oxford, and with that of St. Richard de la Wych at Chichester. All{180} had an altar immediately adjoining the shrine, which was dedicated to the saint, and at which the offerings of pilgrims were made. In these cases, however, the usual position of a great shrine—at the back of the high altar—was, for some special reason, departed from. At Hereford, this position of highest honour was probably occupied by the shrine of St. Ethelbert.”—(R. J. K.)

“The main arches of the choir are of three orders, and spring from massive composite piers, with broad, square bases. The capitals of the semi-detached shafts are enriched with leafage and grotesque heads. The triforium in each bay consists of one wide Norman arch circumscribing two smaller, divided by a central shaft, and springing on either side from two massive semicircular piers, with small capitals. Both outer and inner arches spring from these piers. The capitals of the central shafts have square abaci, and are enriched. The tympana of the{183} outer arches are covered with scallop, leaf and billet ornament. At the base of the triforium runs a square string-course, enriched with minute carving. The lozenge ornament prevails round the main arches of the choir, as does the zigzag round those of the nave.

“Broad square pilasters, with semi-detached shafts at their angels, fill the spaces between the piers. They terminate at the spring of the triforium arches in double triangular headings, with crocketed sides and finials of leafage. These headings are Early English, of the same date as the clerestory and vaulting; and between each pair rises a group of so-called vaulting-shafts, with capitals of leafage, terminating at the base of the clerestory; and connected (under the actual base of the clerestory) by a band of open flowers. The clerestory consists of one lofty pointed arch in each bay, divided by a central; on either side is a smaller trefoiled arch. The windows, of two lights, with a quatrefoil in the heading, are placed at the back of the wall-passage, and form in effect a double plane with the large inner arches. They are filled on each side with indifferent stained glass. The choir vaulting is plain quadripartite, with bosses of leafage at the intersections.”—(R. J. K.)

“The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are Early English leafage; and there are small heads at the intersections and crowns of the arches. A circle enclosing a quatrefoil pierces the wall above these windows. The vaulting is plain quadripartite, and springs from shafts which descend upon a base raised slightly above the pavement. The modern pavement of the Lady-chapel is laid with red and green tiles in large square panels. The whole design is broad and good in outline; and is somewhat richer at the altar end, which is raised on one step.”

“Nowhere on the Continent are such combinations to be found as the Five Sisters at York, the east end of Ely, or such a group as that which terminates the east end of Hereford.”

“The glorious EAST-WINDOW consists of five narrow lancets recessed within arches supported by clustered shafts, the wall above being perforated with five quatrefoil openings, of which the outside ones are circular and the centre three are oval. It was as a memorial to Dean Merewether, to whom the cathedral owes so much, that the stained glass designed by Cottingham was placed in the{185} east windows in the narrow lancets that he loved so dearly. It represents scenes in the early life of the Virgin and the life of Christ, the last being the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. In the side windows the visitor should especially notice the rich clustered shafts and arches, the Early English capitals and the ornamentation of the arches. The double PISCINA and AUMBRY south of the altar are restorations necessitated by the dilapidated state of the originals.”—(A. H. F.)

“The lower chamber is shut off from the Lady-chapel by a screen of painted stone with open-work panelling in two stages. The chapel is pentagonal in plan, and has two windows, while a third opens into the Lady-chapel through{186} the screen. The ceiling is vaulted, and bears evidence of having in former times been elaborately painted.

“There are five windows in the upper chamber and the groined roof is distinctly good. The boss in the centre represents the Virgin crowned in glory. On other parts of the ceiling are the arms of Bishop Audley and those of the Deanery, as well as a shield bearing the letters R. I. The upper part of the chantry, which is divided from the Lady-chapel by the top of the screen which serves as a kind of rail, may have been used as an oratory; but no remains of an altar have been found. On the door opening on the staircase is some good iron-work, and Bishop Audley’s initials may be noticed on the lock. Standing by the door of this chapel, the visitor has a lovely view westward: two pillars rising in the roof and across the top of the reredos; to the right, the Norman arches of the north transept and further on still the nave.”—(A. H. F.)

“The beautiful proportions of the great tower harmonise so well with the general plan and mass of the rest of the fabric that although it has no pride of place like Durham or Lincoln, it still dominates the whole city and vicinity in a great and unmistakable manner. The flat meadow-land of the Severn valley in this part of the county, unbroken westward up to the very foot of the Malvern hills, gives the Cathedral on this side the importance of the chief feature in many miles of landscape. And as one approaches from the eastward, over the slight eminences on which the battle of Worcester was chiefly fought, a glimpse of the tower is the earliest evidence of the existence of the city.”—(E. F. S.)

“the north end of the nave transept was rebuilt, the stone pulpit removed from the nave to the choir, and the latter re-paved with blue and white stone. The old right-of-way through the cathedral was replaced by a more proper and convenient passage round the west end; and many gravestones were removed from the floors of the side aisles of the choir, and from the nave, which were re-paved with white stone. The Jesus Chapel was opened to the nave and the font therein erected.

“The great flying buttresses at the east end were erected between 1736 and 1789. The great west window was rebuilt in 1789, and that of the east end in 1792. In 1812 a new altar-screen and choir-screen were built, and the tall pinnacles taken down after 1832.

“In 1857 began the great restoration of the cathedral under the auspices of Mr. Perkins, the architect to the{190} dean and chapter, whose work was continued and amplified by Sir Gilbert Scott, who was employed after 1864.

“The results of this restoration, probably the most complete and far-reaching undergone by any British cathedral, include the exterior and interior of the tower, the pavements throughout the building; the decoration of the choir and Lady-chapel; all the windows, and almost the whole of the furniture and fittings, including a new reredos, choir-screen, organ and pulpit. The restored cathedral was reopened, with a magnificent choral service on the 8th of April, 1874. Since that date many additions have been made, splendid evidences of the survival of the old local patriotism; for almost everything is due to the munificence of local donors.”—(E. F. S.)

“It is of two stages. The first has two lancets on each side, within an arcade of seven bays. Each of the upper stages has two louvred windows surmounted by crocketed canopies, and ornamented by three large sculptured figures in niches, of the whole twelve of which, six are modern. The whole is crowned by an open rail, or parapet, with six spirelets on either side and a crocketed pinnacle at each corner.”—(E. F. S.)

“consists of nine bays, of which the two westernmost are of widely different character and date from the remaining seven. Its breadth, including the aisles, is 78 feet, its length 170 feet, and its height 68 feet; which dimensions may be compared with those of Salisbury, 82 feet, 229 feet 6 inches, and 81 feet; and of Wells, 82 feet, 161 feet, and 67 feet, respectively. The two western severies are of great interest. The pier arches are pointed, but rise from Late Norman capitals; the triforium stages have each two three-light round-headed windows, of which the centre one is considerably the highest, surmounted with zigzag ornament and decorated with characteristic lozenges, the whole enclosed within a pointed moulding. The clerestory has, in each bay, a central round-headed light, with Norman ornament above it, flanked by blank pointed windows, considerably smaller.

“On the north side, the whole of the walls of the five eastern bays, and the pier arches of the next two towards the west belong to the Decorated period, and may be dated between 1317 and 1327. The remainder of the two latter bays and the whole of the seven eastern bays of the south side are very early Perpendicular. Willis considers that this work was probably begun in the middle of the four{192}teenth century, and completed by the date of the vaulting of the nave, 1377, which would establish it as one of the earliest specimens of Perpendicular work in the country. The triforium arcade consists of two pointed arches, each subdivided again into two; and the clerestory has a large central light, with a smaller light on either side in each bay. On the north side these are the ordinary pointed arches of the Decorated period; on the south the lateral arches are straight sided, and the central arch only has a small curve on joining the vertical piers. Similar arches, but a century earlier in date, occur in the north transepts of Hereford and of Rochester Cathedrals.”—(E. F. S.)

“The beauty of the pier-arches and those of the triforium, relieved so handsomely by the black shafts of Purbeck marble bearing Bishop Giffard’s brass rings, and by the finely proportioned spandrels of each bay, is by no means to be under-estimated.

“The choir is of five bays, including the eastern crossing, which is of greater width than the others. The pier-arch mouldings are of two patterns, one very similar to those of the choir and presbytery at Salisbury, having one of the ribs flanked by a double range of dog-tooth. The piers themselves, as well as those in the Lady-chapel, are octagonal, and have detached Purbeck shafts, eleven of which are fixed with a narrow course of marble embracing the shaft in the manner of a ring; and the remaining eight with brass rings; the two processes being used symmetrically, so that shafts similarly fixed stand opposite to each other.

“The triforium consists of two large arches in each bay, subdivided again into two. During the restoration the pillars, which had been whitewashed, were restored to their original rich black colour, and the rings which bind them made visible. The sculptures in the spandrels are restorations by Boulton. The inner wall of the triforium walk is decorated with a finely-proportioned arcade, which adds greatly to the general effect. The clerestory has a triplet of pointed lights in each bay, the centre one being{194} considerably higher than those at the side, although they rise from pillars of equal height. The vault of the roof springs, in each severy, from a single shaft terminated with a foliated capital; it is simple in character, and was probably completed before the end of the first half of the thirteenth century. The elaborate pavement of Devonshire marble and encaustic tiles is modern.”—(E. F. S.)

“The effigy was originally the cover of the stone coffin in which the remains of that monarch were deposited in the Chapel of the Virgin, at the east end of the cathedral. The altar tomb is of a much later period, probably constructed early in the sixteenth century, when the tomb of Prince Arthur was erected.... The sides of this tomb are divided into three square compartments by panelled buttresses; each compartment contains a shield bearing the royal arms within a quatrefoil richly cusped; the spandrels are also foliated and cusped.... It is, how{195}ever, the effigy of the king, sculptured in the early part of the Thirteenth Century, and probably the earliest sepulchral effigy in the cathedral, to which our chief attention should be drawn. This effigy represents him in the royal habiliments; first, the tunic, yellow, or of cloth of gold, reaching nearly to the ankles, with close-fitting sleeves, of which little is apparent. Over the tunic is seen the dalmatic, of a crimson colour, with wide sleeves edged with a gold and jewelled border, and girt about the waist by a girdle buckled in front, the pendant end of the girdle, which is jewelled, falling down as low as the skirt of the dalmatic. Of the yellow mantle lined with green little is visible. On the feet are black shoes, to the heels of which are affixed spurs. On the hands are gloves, jewelled at the back; the right hand held a sceptre, the lower portion of which only is left; the left grasps the hilt of the sword. On the head is the crown; there are moustaches and beard, and the light-brown hair is long. On either side of the head is the figure of a bishop holding a censer, perhaps intended to represent St. Oswald and St. Wulstan, between whose tombs the king was interred in the Chapel of the Virgin.”

“consists of six bays of open tracery divided by panels of canopied niches containing figures and heraldic bearings surmounted by a battlemented rail and pinnacles. Within is a richly groined roof, with unusual flying supports, east and west. At the east end are the mutilated remains of a rich stone reredos, containing a figure of our Lord, and others hardly recognisable, which was above the altar formerly placed here. At the west end is a small figure of Henry VII. seated.

“The tomb itself of the Prince stands in the centre of the chantry. It is singularly plain, in contrast to the richness of its surroundings, almost the only ornament being{196} the arms of England and France within panels on the sides. Around the top runs a painted inscription, obviously a late substitute for a brass which has been removed, to this effect: ‘Here lyeth buried prince Arthur, the first begotten sonne of the righte renowned Kinge henry the Seventhe, whiche noble Prince departed oute of this transitory life ate the Castle of Ludlowe, in the seventeenth yeere of hys father’s reign, and in the yeere of our Lorde god on thousande fyve hundred and two.’”—(E. F. S.)

“The design of the walls ... is extremely beautiful. Two lofty triplets of lancet lights are placed the one above the other. The lower triplet has a gallery in front of it immediately above the arcaded wall, and at the same level as the sill of the adjacent side aisle windows. The upper triplet has a similar gallery at the level of the triforium. Rich clustered shafts rise from the lower gallery in two orders; the inner order carries molded arches to correspond with the heads of the lower triplet; the shafts of the outer order rise from the lower gallery up to the impost of the upper triplet, grouping themselves with the shafts that stand in front of the upper triplet, and uniting in one group of capitals at the impost, where they carry a range of three arches with deep rich mouldings. Thus the entire composition represents a gigantic window of six lights.”—(W.)

“This is a series of trefoil headed arcades of three mouldings, resting on slender Early English shafts, each spandrel having been filled with carvings which take high{197} rank among the best of the English school of the Thirteenth Century. They have now been, to a great extent, restored (by Boulton), and many, including all at the east end, are entirely new. The best of the old ones are figured by Aldis; and the most interesting, whether entirely ancient or partly restored, are as follows, starting from the west wall of the south-eastern transept:

“Two crusaders fighting a lion. A centaur. An angel weighing a soul, and the devil pulling down the scale. Devils roasting a soul in hell. The Jaws of Death. A body borne to burial. Expulsion of Adam and Eve. An angel leading a righteous soul to heaven. The dead rising from coffins. Christ enthroned. The archangel blowing the last trump. An angel holding a cross.

“South Aisle.—Two monks building. A queen instructing an architect. Two monks discussing plans. A devil with bird’s claws, riding on a man’s shoulders. The Crucifixion.

“Lady-Chapel.—Centaur and crusader. Prophets and Bible subjects (modern), grotesque.

“North Aisle.—Bishop offering a model of the cathedral at an altar (perhaps Bishop Henry de Blois, d. 1236). The Annunciation. The Visitation. The Nativity.

“North Transept.—Old Testament subjects. A bishop. A monk chastising a novice.”—(E. F. S.)

“The height of all these crypts is nearly the same; so that at Winchester and Gloucester the arches are flattened into ellipses, the pillars are low and squat, and the crypts appear as sepulchral vaults; while at Worcester, where the arches are semicircular and the pillars more slender, the crypt is a complex and beautiful temple.”

“consists of ten bays, with a Perpendicular vaulted roof rising from a central Norman Column. Each bay contains a light traceried window, of which two are entirely, and two half, blocked up. Below these is a series of slightly hollowed niches in grey, blue and yellow stone in alternate courses, resting on three courses of rough red masonry. These niches have slight traces of ancient fresco painting; they are surmounted by an arcade of intersecting circular arches containing smaller arches. Similar ornamentation is to be found in the chapter-houses at Bristol and Rochester, and in the external wall of Ernulf’s crypt at Canterbury.”—(E. F. S.)

“Of all the cathedral churches of England, Lichfield may be said to be the most lovely. Other cathedrals are larger—indeed, this is one of the smallest;—many are grander, or more magnificent; but for simple beauty, for charm, for delicacy of construction and appearance, Lichfield may rightly claim to take the foremost place. Peterborough, when we stand inside the west door and look down its line of enormous piers, fills us with awe at its immensity and

strength; a feeling which is perhaps a little impaired by the present position of its stalls. Salisbury appeals to us with its perfect simplicity and symmetry, and York with its unequalled grandeur and splendour; but after viewing all the cathedrals of England, it is Lichfield which is most likely to be remembered among them for something which may be most aptly called charm. What can be more delightful than the view which confronts the traveller who, approaching from the town, pauses to look across the sparkling water of the pool at the three graceful spires standing out amid a wealth of green trees and shrubs? Truly a picture to be long remembered.

“The cathedral stands in a close which was once surrounded by strong walls with bastions and a moat. Nature had supplied the moat on the south side, and the Cathedral Pool, as it is now called, is still there. The artificial moat has been drained, but its course can be easily traced running round the bishop’s palace, and its water has been replaced by lovely gardens and gravel walks. Some bits of the old wall remain, the north-east bastion in the palace gardens and a turret on a house at the south corner: the ‘beautiful gates’ of Bishop Langton are gone; but in the Vicars’ Close at the west of the cathedral are two small irregular courtyards with houses so old that we feel sure that their wooden beams and plaster were there when the Royalists of the neighbourhood housed themselves within the fortified close.

“The close is not large, and of course, as Lichfield is a cathedral of the old establishment, there are no monastical buildings, no ruined cloisters. On the north side the ground rises rapidly in a grassy slope to a terrace, behind which are some of the canons’ houses. Opposite the north transept is the deanery, a substantial red brick house in the style of the middle of the last century; next to it, and farther east, is the bishop’s palace.”—(A. B. C.)

“The Norman Cathedral of York was built in 1080, and that of Lichfield at an uncertain date. Between 1154-1181, Archbishop Roger substituted for the original chancel at York a long, square-ended choir, with the aisle carried behind the end. At Lichfield, during the same period, the large chapel was built at the end of the Norman apse; and about the beginning of the Thirteenth Century the whole Norman eastern termination was, as at York, replaced by a long, square-ended choir with the low aisles behind. Next, at York the Norman transepts were rebuilt in Early English: the south transept, 1230-1241; followed by the north transept, 1241-1260. Also at Lichfield the Norman transepts were rebuilt in Early English, beginning with the south and ending with the north. The Early English work of this cathedral is shown by the licenses to dig stone to have been in progress in 1235 and 1238. York nave and Lichfield were next rebuilt in Early Decorated—the first in 1291-1324. Lastly, at Lichfield, the elongation of the eastern part was begun at the extreme east, beyond the existing choir by the Lady-chapel, in late Decorated under Bishop Langton, 1296-1321, and followed by taking down the choir, and continuing the same work on its site westward. The works at York followed in the same order, but forty or fifty years later, by first erecting the presbytery outside the existing choir, and then taking down the latter and continuing the work of the presbytery to form the new choir. The plans of the two cathedrals rival each other in the simplicity of their proportions.”—(W.)

“We have had the honour in these parts to bring my Lord Brooke to a quiet condition. That enemy of our Church (March 2) was slain in his quarrel against our Church, by the God of our Church, with a shot out of the Cathedral, by a bullet made of Church lead, through the mouth which reviled our Church; and (if this be worth your reading) this Cathedral was dedicated to the memory of an old Saxon holy man (called Ceadda, commonly Chad); the blow of death came from St. Chad’s Church upon St. Chad’s Day.”

“The two rows on the northern tower to the north of the great west window: higher row, St. Editha, David, St. Helena, Solomon, St. Gabriel, Zechariah, Nahum, Amos, Jeremiah; lower row, Dean Bickersteth, St. Mark, Queen Victoria, St. Luke, St. Uriel, Malachi, Habakkuk, Obadiah, Daniel (Jeremiah just above Daniel by the window).

“The two rows on the southern tower to the south of the great west window: higher row, Isaiah, Hosea, Jonah, Zephaniah, St. Michael, Bishop Hacket, Bishop Lonsdale, Bishop Selwyn; lower row, Ezekiel, Joel, Micah, Haggai, St. Raphael, Bishop Clinton, Bishop Patteshall, Bishop Langton.

“Next is the long row of kings with St. Chad in the centre, stretching right across the cathedral: William the Conqueror, William Rufus, Henry I., Stephen, Henry II., Richard I., John, Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., St. Chad, Penda, Wilphere, Ethelred, Offa, Egbert, Ethelwolf, Ethelbert, Ethelred, Alfred, Edgar, Canute, Edward the Confessor.

“Lowest row, broken three times by the doors: St. Cyprian, St. Bartholomew, St. Simon, St. James the Less, St. Thomas (northern door), St. Philip, St. Andrew (central door), St. Paul, St. Matthew (southern door), St. James the Greater, St. Jude, St. Stephen, St. Clement, St. Werburga.”

“At the south end was probably a large five-light Early English window, surmounted by a rose window. The rose window still remains, but, being above the present groining, cannot be seen from inside the cathedral; the five lights are replaced by a nine-light obtuse-headed window, which seems much too large for the transept; and this effect is increased by the extreme whiteness and transparency of its glass. At the north end, the five-light window is surmounted with three small lights, but these last again are hidden in the roof.”—(A. B. C.)

“The vaulting is very much the same as in the nave, but the vaulting-shafts divide into seven instead of five ribs; the bosses, as everywhere else in the cathedral, are very deeply and richly carved.

“On the four eastern sets of piers long slender shafts run up from the base of the piers in the same way as in the nave, and similarly the spandrels are ornamented with foliated circles, of which nearly all trace had disappeared before the recent restoration. This, however, is not the arrangement on the three western pairs. It was found{210} here that these shafts did not reach the ground; and so Sir Gilbert Scott, having discovered a portion of the sculptured wing of an angel just above the dean’s present stall, decided upon finishing the shafts with corbels in the form of angels occupied in minstrelsy. Above each of these angels—which were innovations—he placed, under richly crocketed canopies and standing on very finely-carved brackets, the figures of six saints.”—(A. B. C.)

“In the first three western bays in both aisles the large arcading, with its plain trefoiled arches, is clearly Early English. The arcading in the other bays is equally clearly of the Decorated period, and is considerably smaller. In the four eastern bays in each aisle the arches go right up to the course which forms the top of the arcading, and the triangular spandrels thus formed are ornamented each with a curious little head, having queer headgear; the rest of the spandrel is carved with foliage, and in the plates of the foliated arches are quaint animals. The arcading in the remaining bay is similar, but angels’ heads with wings take up the whole spandrel. Some of the arcading, notably that in the three easterly bays of the south aisle, is unrestored. The inferiority of the modern work in the next bay is only too patent.”—(A. B. C.)

“In shape it forms a symmetrical extension, both in height and width, to the choir, but without aisles; and it has an octagonal apse—the only example, it is said, of such a termination in the country. It is lighted by nine high windows, with Decorated tracery. This tracery has recently been restored in the style of that in the three end windows; until this was done most of the windows contained Perpendicular tracery.

“The windows rest on an arcade of very beautiful design. The arcade may be said to consist of a series of small decorated canopies, supported by shafts with carved capitals, and separated by ornamented buttresses. The canopies, which bow forward, have trefoil ogee arches, surmounted with crockets and finials. Above the arcade is a similar embattled parapet to that in the choir, with a similar passage round the chapel behind it.

“The vaulting of the roof is like that in the choir; the same number of ribs diverging from the slender shafts which run right down to the bends of the arcade. Halfway up these shafts are niches, the brackets and canopies to which are beautifully carved. These are old, but until recently were empty, and no authentic record remained as to what were the characters represented.”—(A. B. C.)

“The Chapel of St. Chad, first Bishop of Lichfield, and, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of our Cathedral Church, was destroyed in all probability when the rest of the Cathedral was laid in ruins in 1643, the siege beginning on St. Chad’s Day, March 2nd of that year. Little was left: the four walls remained in a broken condition, with the vaulting-shafts and caps for the springers of the stone groining, and the wall-ribs, to mark its original lines; also the very beautiful Early English windows—twelve lancets in groups of three—which, singularly enough, were little injured. Externally these are very plain, but internally they are full of interest, and there is nothing better of the kind in the Cathedral. The site of the old altar is clearly marked; indeed, a small portion of it has been preserved. The piscina also still remains. The aumbry remains in which antiquarians suppose that St. Chad’s relics were preserved.”—(L.)

“On approaching the cathedral on the south side, the transept, or church of St. Oswald, is a remarkable feature. Projecting to nearly the same length as the nave, with its lofty clerestory and great south window, it attracts attention as well by its own importance as by the unusual ground-plan which it gives to the entire building.”—(R. J. K.)

“The WEST FRONT consists of an eight-light canopied Perpendicular window, with a band of elaborate tracery succeeded by ordinary tracery of the period in the head, set between two banded octagonal turrets, which are battlemented. The west door is peculiar; it consists of an arch under a square head, with foliated spandrels and a range of angels in the mouldings, deeply recessed under a larger arch with another square head. On each side are four crocketed niches, with pedestals denuded of their statues. To the west is a four-light canopied window, under a panelled band and flanked by a rich but empty niche on either side.

“The door of the SOUTH PORCH is Tudor with two-light, square-headed windows and a canopied niche, and an intervening rich band. The windows of the aisles and clerestory of the nave are Perpendicular; the parapet is shallow. The SOUTH TRANSEPT, as long as the choir and as broad as the nave, has a Perpendicular clerestory and south windows, the former of four lights and with two transoms. The windows of the aisle are Late Decorated and of four lights separated by buttresses. This description applies to the south side of the choir, but the aisles are extended within one bay of the east end of the Lady-chapel, which has Perpendicular windows; the great east window is of the same date. Traces of Early English architecture appear in the north side of the choir and Chapter-house. The north window of the transept and windows of the nave are Perpendicular.”—(Wal.)

“The choir is remarkable for the great beauty of the wood-work which it contains, as well as for its architectural merits. The style is that of the transition between the Early English and Decorated. The north side differs from the south, especially in regard to the mouldings. The north side is earlier than the south, the building having been commenced at the east end of that side. The mouldings on the north are bold rounds, while those on the south are shallow and small hollows. The triforium has a series of elaborately-carved cusped arches, and the clerestory windows are light and graceful with geometrical tracery. The vault is modern, constructed of good English oak. At the east there are figures of the sixteen prophets and at the west are angels playing musical instruments. There are some curious grotesque corbels, from which the vaulting shafts spring.

“The carving of the CHOIR STALLS is equal, if not superior, to anything in England. These are Fourteenth Century work and rival the noble stalls of Amiens. They have been restored with much accuracy and taste. The carving of the dean’s stall should be noticed, as it represents the Jesse tree, surmounted by the Coronation of the Virgin. That representing Jacob’s Dream is modern. The misereres are extremely interesting and curious and full of religious instruction, though often conveyed in the way of sarcastic reproof. There are forty-eight, of which three are modern. Some of the most curious are: a pelican feeding her young; St. Werburgh and the stolen goose; a wife beating her husband; the strategy of the fox; stag hunt; Richard I. pulling out the heart of a lion; a fox in the garb of a

monk presenting a gift to a nun; various wild men; wrestlers; unicorn resting its head on a virgin’s knee, and numerous grotesques.”—(P. H. D.)

“At the end of the stalls on the south side is the Bishop’s Throne. This has been formed from the base of the shrine of St. Werburgh, which seems to have served its present purpose since the foundation of the See in the Sixteenth Century. It has, however, so greatly altered during the late ‘restoration,’ that it is difficult to ascertain the ancient arrangement. The lower part, with niches for figures, is ancient. The part resting on this, as high as the small gilt figures, is modern. The figures themselves are old, and before the alteration they rested on the ancient base. The pinnacles and all the upper portion are modern. The ancient portions are early Decorated work of the Thirteenth Century. The niches in front and at the sides of the base are lined with a small arcade and vaulted. Above them are foliaged canopies. The gilt figures hold scrolls, once perhaps bearing names. They are conjectured to represent kings and queens of Mercia, connected either directly or collaterally with St. Werburgh. It is possible that when the shrine itself was perfect, the lower part, with niches, formed a portion of the base, whilst the small figures may have been a canopy supported by marble shafts. Under this canopy and on the base the feretory or actual shrine, with the relics, may have rested. This, however, is but conjecture, since no drawing or description exists of the shrine before the Reformation.”—(R. J. K.)

“The Lady-Chapel is of Early English design, and was built about 1266, previous to the present choir. Many alterations were made subsequently, including the removal of the ancient steep and lofty roof and the substitution of a flat roof and the insertion of Perpendicular windows. Most of these additions have been removed and the Early English character restored. The east window of five lights was designed by Scott, and the original form of the roof has been restored. The vault, which is original Early English, has a boss representing the murder of Thomas à Becket. The mosaics were designed by Sir A. Blomfield. Here the consistory court was held at the time of the Reformation, and George Marsh, the Chester martyr, was condemned to be burnt.”—(P. H. D.)

“The south walk is entirely new, having been restored by Scott. The west walk adjoins a fine Early Norman chamber, probably the great cellar of the abbot’s house. The cloisters are Perpendicular work. In the south and west walks there is a double arcade on the cloister-garth side, which contained the carrels, or enclosed studies of wainscot, where the monks read or wrote, and on the opposite side are recesses which are not tombs, but Armaria or cupboards, where their books and materials for illumina{221}tions were stored. In the Perpendicular period the roof of the cloisters was raised, which was not an advantage, as it caused the aisle windows and those of the refectory to be partly blocked up, and the vaulting cuts into the earlier work. The Lavatorium is near the Refectory, an Early English building with Perpendicular windows. It is a noble structure, shorn of some of its length, and now used as a music room. The stone pulpit is remarkably fine, of Early English design, which rivals the famous pulpit of Beaulieu Abbey.”—(P. H. D.)

“It is a dimly lighted building; this is due chiefly to two causes: first to the fact that it is enormously wide, and the aisle windows are therefore far from the central nave, and secondly to the fact that almost all the windows both of aisles and clerestory are filled with painted glass, in many cases of a deep colour, and rendered still more impervious to light by the incrustation of carbon deposited on their outside by the perpetual smoke of the city. So dark is the church that in the winter months it has generally to be lit with gas all the day long, and even in the summer, in comparatively bright weather, some gas burners will generally be found alight. The mist also of the exterior atmosphere finds its way into the building, and hangs beneath the roof, lending an air of mystery to the whole place, and giving rise to most beautiful effects when the sunlight streams through the clerestory windows. The tone also of the nave arcading and clerestory rebuilt in recent years, of warm, rose-coloured sandstone, is very lovely.”—(T. P.)

“This church differs from most of our cathedral and abbey churches in having no triforium.[8] And the clerestory is not lofty, so that the church is rather low for its width, though the height of the arches of the main arcade prevents this being felt. The roofs of the aisles are all modern, but that of the nave, though extensively repaired, has much of the original work in it, and, with the exception of a few bosses, the choir roof is old. All the roofs are of timber; in the nave the intersections of the main beams are covered by beautiful bosses carved out of the solid wood. On either side, at the points from which the main cross beams spring, is a series of angelic figures splendidly carved in wood: those on the south side playing stringed instruments, those on the north side wind instruments.

“The pillars of the main arcade of the nave are modern work built in imitation of the original ones. They are light and graceful, and, like many other pillars of fifteenth century date, are formed of shafts of which only half have separate capitals, the other mouldings running round the arch. The spaces between the arches are elaborately carved with heraldic shields.”—(T. P.)

“There are twelve stalls on either side, and three on each side of the entrance through the rood-screen facing east. The stalls are furnished with misereres, which, in common with many others both in England and on the Continent, represent all manner of quaint subjects, monsters, animals, hunting scenes, etc.

“The carved elbows of the stalls and the end of the book desks are also worthy of careful examination, especially the Eagle and Child and general carving of the Dean’s Stall, which is a marvel of beautiful workmanship, and said by high authorities to be unequalled.

“Between the stalls the floor is one step higher than that of the nave, and at the east end of the stall, there is a further rise of two steps as we pass into the presbytery. Here, on the south side, we see the bishop’s throne—modern work, carved with a view to be in harmony with the stalls, but comparing unfavourably with them in execution. There is a rise of two more steps into the sanctuary, and the altar itself is raised two steps higher; this gives a good effect. Behind the altar is an elaborately carved wooden reredos of modern work, richly painted and gilt.”—(T. P.)

“A good view is obtained from the castle. The usual approach is from the east end, whence we observe the grand east window with its beautiful Late Decorated tracery. It is flanked by buttresses, with niches and crocketed pinnacles. In the niches are statues of SS. Peter, Paul, James and John. A foliated cross crowns the gable and on each side are four similar crosses. In the gable is a triangular window, having three trefoils, and below is a niche with a figure of the Virgin. The Central Tower, built by Bishop Strickland (1400-1419) on the old Norman piers, is too small for the huge choir and lacks dignity. Formerly it was crowned with a wooden spire, but this has been removed. There is a turret set at the north-east angle, and in the north side is a niche with the figure of an angel. The lower part of the choir is Early English, with the exception of a Perpendicular window at the west, and a Decorated one in the east bay. The clerestory is Late Decorated, and the windows have flowing tracery. The ball-flower ornament is extensively used in the cornice. The sculpture at Carlisle is worthy of notice. Carved heads and curious gargoyles abound. The North Transept is

nearly all modern. It was rebuilt by Strickland in the Fifteenth Century, and again rebuilt when the church was restored. There is, however, an Early English window in the west wall. On the east side there was formerly a chapel, which has not survived the repeated alterations. The greater part of the Nave was taken down by Cromwell’s soldiers. What is left is of unmistakable Norman character. There is some modern imitation work, and late architectural detail. Most of the windows are modern, and also the doorway. The south side is similar to the north. The South Transept preserves the old Norman walls. On the south is a modern doorway with a window over it. On the east is St. Catherine’s Chapel, a Late Early English or Early Decorated building. The south side of the choir is similar to the north, and presents Early English details of construction. The monastic buildings once stood on the south side of the church but they have been pulled down with the exception of the fratry and gatehouse, the stone being used for repairing the fortifications of the city by Puritan soldiery. The refectory, or fratry, was rebuilt in the Fifteenth Century, and is now used as a chapter-house. There is a fine reader’s pulpit here. The gateway was erected by Prior Slee in 1527. The Deanery is a fine old house, and was formerly the prior’s lodging. It was rebuilt in 1507.”—(P. H. D.)

“We now enter the choir by the door in the organ-screen. This is one of the finest in England—spacious, lofty, well-proportioned and rich in all its details. The arches of the main arcade are Early English, as the mouldings and dog-tooth ornament testify. These remained after the fire of 1292 and were retained. The piers are Early Decorated and were evidently built to support the arches after the fire. The capitals were carved later in the Late Decorated period, when the upper parts of the choir, triforium, clerestory, roof and east end were rebuilt. The builders were probably Bishops Welton and Appleby (1353-1395). When the choir was rebuilt in Early English times, the architect determined to enlarge it, and as the monastic buildings on the south prevented any expansion in that direction, the south piers of the choir retained their old position, while the north were moved further northward, and a new north aisle added. Thus the choir and the tower and nave are not quite symmetrical, and there is a blank wall at the north-west end of the choir which is thus accounted for. The details of the architecture of the choir merit close attention, especially the sculpture. Small figures of men, animals and monsters are mingled with the foliage. There are some admirable representations of the{231} seasons, beginning with the second capital on the south, counting from the east end. There is a very fine timber roof, constructed about the middle of the Fourteenth Century. The scheme of colour decoration is, unfortunately, not original.”—(P. H. D.)

“The north entrance door tells an interesting tale. The present door is a modern restoration, and some of the original features of the famous entrance have been obliterated. Towards this door many a poor wretch hastening to escape the hands of the avenger has sped his fearful steps in days gone by. Attached to the door still glares a fearful-looking metallic head holding a ring in its mouth. In its now eyeless sockets were once in all probability balls of crystal, or enamel. When once the ring was grasped by the hand of the fugitive he was safe. He had claimed the ‘peace’ of St. Cuthbert, and the sanctity of the neighbouring shrine shielded him. Above the door by day and night watched relays of monks to admit those who claimed sanctuary. So soon as ever a fugitive had reached the door he was admitted. This done he had to confess the crime of which he was guilty, and his statement was taken down in writing. All the while a bell was tolling to give notice that some one had taken refuge in the church. Then the culprit was arrayed in a black gown with a yellow cross on his left shoulder, and remained within the precincts for thirty-seven days. If, at the end of that time, he could not obtain a pardon of the civil authorities, he was conveyed across the seas to begin life elsewhere.”—(T.)

“The triforium is almost uniform throughout the whole church. In each sub-bay it consists of two small arches under one large one, with the tympanum solid. Here also the capitals are cushions and perfectly plain.

“Above the triforium is the clerestory, which contains one light to each sub-bay, and surmounting all is the vaulting, which springs from the piers and from grotesquely carved corbels between the triforium arches. The vaulting ribs are ornamented with chevrons on either side of a bold semicircular moulding. So much for the general arrangement of the bays. Some idea of the massiveness of the structures may be gathered when it is known that each group of the clustered pillars separating the bays covers an area of two hundred and twenty-five square feet at its base, while those of the cylindrical columns of the sub-bays are twelve feet square, and the columns themselves have a circumference of over twenty-three feet. There is little room to doubt that the effect obtained by the old builders of Durham was intentional. The masterly way in which great masses of solid masonry, greater than was constructively necessary, are handled, and the reticence and delicacy of the ornament combine to prove this. There is in the whole scheme a delightful union of great power and vigour in the masses, and of tenderness and loving care in the detail.”—(J. E. B.)

“Its name of Galilee has probably some reference to Galilee of the Gentiles, and implies that it was considered less sacred than the rest of the Cathedral. St. Cuthbert had a more than monkish fear of women, and they were not allowed to approach the shrine. A cross let into the pavement of the nave at the far west end curiously marks the far-removed spot nearer than which women might not approach. The prejudices of the good saint were thus perpetuated long after his death. The whole effect is light and graceful, and if the women were not allowed to enter farther than the western extremity of the church, they certainly had a most beautiful place of worship.”

“Entering the chapel by the steps leading from the Norman nave, the visitor is at once impressed with the lightness and delicacy of the work before him, as compared with the massive grandeur of the Norman cathedral behind. Here we have, in fact, one of the latest uses of the round arch influenced by the rapidly developing Early English Gothic. In plan the chapel consists of a nave with double aisles, which perhaps might be more properly called five aisles. These are divided by arcades, each of which is of four bays. These arches and the columns which support them are the chief beauty and characteristic of the chapel. The arches are semicircular, of one order, with three lines of chevrons, one on each face, and one on the soffit between two roll mouldings. The capitals are light and graceful and carved with a volute, and the columns clusters of marble and freestone shafts. The whole seems to have been coloured in fresco, and remains of this are still to be seen. The stone shafts, which alternate with those of marble, do not carry any of the weight of the arch, and are, undoubtedly, an addition, probably in the time of Cardinal Langley, when they must have been added, with a view to improving the appearance. The dimensions of the chapel are forty-seven feet from east to west, and seventy-six feet{242} from north to south. The existing roof and the three Perpendicular windows on the west end are also additions by Cardinal Langley. On the walls above what were once the altars of the Virgin and Our Lady of Pity, remains of fresco painting may be noticed, all that remains of what has evidently been beautiful work. These were only brought to light by the removal of successive coats of whitewash with which they had been covered.”—(J. E. B.)

“The most interesting monument here is the plain altar-slab which marks the burial-place of the great Northumbrian scholar. On the tomb are engraved the well-known words, Hac sunt in fossâ Bedæ Venerabilis ossa (In this grave lie the bones of the Venerable Bede). According to the old legend the monk, who was casting about for a word to complete the scansion of his line between Bedæ and ossa, left a space blank until he could in the morning return to his task with a mind refreshed. However, during the night an unknown hand added the metrically suitable Venerabilis. This, according to the legend, is the origin of the peculiar preface Venerable, always associated with the name of Bede.”—(T.)

“The prior of the day employed at his own expense seven masons for nearly a year to fix the screen, the execution of which is supposed to have been the fruit of the labours of French artists. The screen originally was much more elaborate than at present, being covered with{246} rich colour and every niche filled with sculptured figures, but even now its present appearance is graceful.”—(T.)

“It is approached from the aisles by steps, the floor level being lower than that of the church proper. It is altogether a remarkable and interesting structure. With its lightness and loftiness contrasting grandly with the massive Norman nave and choir, its clustered columns of polished marble alternating with stone, its fine bold sculpture, its splendid vaulted roof and rich arcading, it forms a perfect example of the Early English style. Though regular and symmetrical in general design, the detail shows great variety, and even irregularity, a quality so often present in old work, and so much to its advantage.

“The ‘New Work,’ as it was always called, was commenced in the year 1242. The eastern wall, with its rose and nine lancet windows, is the earliest part of the chapel, the north and south walls being later. The joining and{247} blending of the work with the Norman of Carileph’s choir had evidently been accomplished when the chapel was almost completed. The eastern wall is of three bays, each bay having three lofty lancet windows. The bays are not of equal width, the centre one being regulated by the width of the nave of the church, and narrower than the north and south bays.

“A very beautiful arcade runs completely round the walls. It is of trefoil arches deeply and richly moulded, supported on marble columns carved with foliage. Over the arches is a hood-mould terminating with heads. In the spandrels are a series of deeply sunk and moulded quatrefoils, two of which contain sculpture. The bases of the columns rest on a plinth. Surmounting this arcade is a moulded string from the level of which rise the windows, and above the windows another string-course and a second range of windows. In the centre bay, however, is the large rose window, which is over thirty feet in diameter.

“The division of the chapel into three bays is effected by two main vaulting arches, which spring on the western side from the piers of the east end of the choir, and on the eastern side from responds of clustered shafts alternately of marble and stone, banded at intervals and having richly carved capitals. The arches themselves are deeply moulded and ornamented with dog-tooth ornament and foliage. The vault of the central bay has eight ribs—two springing from each of the clusters just described, and two from each of the choir piers. The vaulting of the remaining bays is quadripartite, but has peculiarities which are worthy of notice, arising from inequality of width. We must not omit to call attention to the exquisite sculpture of the vaulting. The centre has figures of the Four Evangelists, while in the north is a beautifully executed carving of vine and grapes, and in the south, figure subjects. Among the sculptured heads on the wall arcade at the south end, at the western side of the two bays into which the south wall is divided, are two which are portraits of the men to whom we owe the design and execution of the beautiful sculpture of this chapel. One is an elderly man, the other much younger, and both wear linen dust-caps over their heads.”—(J. E. B.)

“Among very late Gothic buildings there are few indeed which are of so good a quality as this nave of Ripon, which, like the late church towers of Somerset, shows that Mediæval art took long to die out in regions remote from London. It is, indeed, the architecture of the days of Agincourt rather than of the eve of the English Renaissance. The pillars are characteristic of the Perpendicular style, their section being a square with a semicircle projecting from each side, and the corners hollowed. Their bases have complex plinths of considerable height and are polygonal, but follow roughly the form of the pillar, and the mouldings, as usual in this style, overhang the plinth. The capitals, with small mouldings and many angles, are of somewhat the same form as the bases. On the westernmost complete pillar of the north arcade are two shields, charged respectively with the arms of Ripon (a horn) and of Pigott of Clotherholme. The arches, instead of being of that depressed form which is so common in late work, are very beautifully proportioned, and their mouldings are bold, numerous and well-cut. There is no triforium; but a passage, at a slightly lower level than in Archbishop Roger’s bays, runs below the great clerestory windows, which were once, no doubt, gorgeous with stained glass. Their arches are moulded, but the splay is left plain. The roof-shafts, which are in clusters of three and have fillets upon them, spring from semi-octagonal corbels, and where each cluster passes the string-course there is an angel holding a shield. A sign of decadence may be found, perhaps, in the way in which the hood-moulds of the windows intersect with these shafts. Though the two sides of the nave are not quite of the same date, they are almost alike, but for some slight{253} differences in the capitals, the arch-mouldings, and the hollows on the pillars; the builders feeling, doubtless, that any marked variation would mar the general perspective—a consideration which, of course, could not bind them in designing the north aisle. The original Perpendicular roof may have resembled that which now covers the transepts. About 1829 Blore put up an almost flat ceiling of deal. The present oaken vault, by Sir Gilbert Scott, was copied from that of the transepts of York Minster, and is adapted to the old roof-shafts, between which have been added angel corbels of wood. As the ribs intersect near their springing, they weave a network over the whole vault, and the carved bosses at the intersections amount to 107. A passing notice is merited by the pulpit, which is Jacobean.”—(C. H.)

“From a trap-door in the pavement below the piscina a flight of twelve steps winds down into a flat-roofed and descending passage 2⅛ feet wide and slightly over 6 feet high, which, running a few feet northwards and bending at right angles round the south-west tower pier, extends eastward for about 10 yards, with a descent of one step near the end, and terminates in a blank wall. There is a square-headed niche at the turn and a round-headed niche at the end, both meant, doubtless, to hold lights. Three feet from the end a round-headed doorway, 2 feet wide and over 6 feet high, opens northwards with a descent of two more steps, into a barrel-vaulted chamber, 11 feet 5 inches long from east to west, 7 feet 7 inches wide and 9 feet 10 inches high. In the north wall of this chamber, and approached by three wide steps, is the celebrated St. Wilfrid’s Needle, a round-headed aperture pierced through into a passage that runs behind. This aperture was connected with one of those superstitions that so often flourished before the Reformation in notable centres of religion, and ability to pass through it, or ‘thread the needle,’ was regarded as a test of female chastity; but it was, of course, in the later middle ages that this superstition arose, and the ‘needle’ (or rather needle’s eye) is evidently only one of the original niches with the back knocked out. Of these niches (which again were doubtless for lights) there are four in the chamber besides the ‘needle,’—one in each wall,—and, like the niche at the end of the passage of entrance, they all have semicircular heads, each cut in a single stone. That in the west wall has a hole or cup at the bottom, probably to hold oil in which a wick might float, while the others (except the ‘needle’) have a sort of funnel at the top, doubtless to catch the soot from lamps.”—(C. H.)

“The great window in the central compartment is one of the finest examples of Geometrical tracery, if not one of the largest windows, in England. It is over 50 feet high, is 25 feet wide, and has seven lights. Of these the three at either end are comprised under a sub-arch, in the head of{256} which are three cinquefoiled circles, while the central light of the seven is surmounted by an arch, not so high as its neighbours, but impaling upon its acute point a huge circle which fills the head of the window and contains six trefoils radiating from its centre. The arch of this superb window is rather acutely pointed and richly moulded, and has two very slender shafts worked on the stones of either jamb, with foliage on their capitals.

“The huge window, which is not splayed, has a deep rear-vault bounded by a massive rib, whose outer edge rests on slender engaged shafts with foliage on their capitals, while the inner edge ends in bunches of foliage. Between this rib and the tracery is another rib springing on the north side from a bunch of foliage and on the south from a grotesque corbel. The inner arch has slender shafts, and so has the moulding next to the tracery, but in the latter case the capitals are plain. Few acts of vandalism are more to be regretted, probably, than the destruction in 1643 of the magnificent Fourteenth Century glass which once occupied this window. The present very poor glass, by Wailes of Newcastle, commemorates the revival of the See of Ripon in 1863.

“Over the window may be seen the mark of one of the earlier roofs. The choir is thought to have received a groined vault of oak after the rebuilding of the east end, but this vault was probably renewed more than once, especially after the accident to the tower about 1450, and the fall of the spire in 1660. Sir Gilbert Scott found a vault of lath and plaster (probably the work of Blore) for which he substituted the present roof, a groined wooden vault, admirable in its lofty pitch and judicious colouring. Its chief feature, however, is the splendid bosses along the ridge, which are survivals from either the Decorated or a subsequent Perpendicular vault. In some of these bosses the figures are five feet long.”—(C. H.)

“There are ribbed vaults under the canopies, and upon the pendants in front are hovering angels. The canopies{257} on the south side were wrecked by the fall of the spire in 1660, and those over the eight easternmost stalls were then reconstructed in the ‘Jacobean’ style with a gallery above, while of the canopies now over the other nine, eight are said to have been brought across from the eastern end of the north range, where more Jacobean canopies were erected in their place. Sir Gilbert Scott removed all this Seventeenth Century work and set up reproductions of the Fifteenth Century design. Thus the eight easternmost canopies on either side are modern. The misereres and arms of the stalls are exquisitely carved.

“The subjects upon the former are as follows, beginning from the archway in the screen:—

“North side:—(1) (Canon in Residence) lion attacked by dogs; (2) dragon attacked by dogs; (3) angel with shield; (4) dragon and birds; (5) hart’s-tongue ferns; (6) conventional flowers; (7) ape attacked by lion; (8) vine; (9) birds pecking fruit; (10) antelopes; (11) fox preaching to goose and cock; (12) fox running off with geese; (13) fox caught by dogs; (14) dragons fighting; (15) fruit and flowers issuing from inverted head; (16) man holding club with oak leaves and acorns; (17) (Mayor’s Stall) griffin catching rabbit.

“South side:—(1) (Dean) angel with book; (2) angel with shield bearing date 1489; (3) lion versus griffin; (4) griffin devouring a human leg; (5) owl; (6) mermaid with mirror and hair-brush; (7) two pigs dancing to bagpipe played by a third; (8) Jonah thrown to the whale; (9) man wheeling another who holds a reed and a bag; (10) fox caught carrying off goose by dog and by woman with distaff; (11) winged animal; (12) hart, gorged and chained; (13) pelican feeding young; (14) Jonah emerging from the whale; (15) Samson carrying the gates; (16) head (modern); (17) (Bishop’s Throne) Caleb and Joshua carrying the grapes and watched by Anakim.

“Most of these misereres have exquisite conventional flowers (especially roses) cut upon them in addition to the figure-subjects. The desks in front of the stalls have rich finials, and their panelled fronts form the backs of a lower tier of seats, the arms of which are supported each on a square shaft set diamondwise. In front of these{258} lower seats the desks again have carved finials and panelled fronts and on those parallel with the Rood-Screen the tracery is distinctly Flamboyant. The finial before the stall of the Canon in Residence has a griffin attached to it and that in front of the Dean’s stall a lion. Before both these stalls the ends of the two tiers of desks are richly carved. The Bishop’s throne and Mayor’s stall have each a canopied niche on the exterior toward the east, and two small apertures in the east side to enable the occupant to see the altar, and in front of these two stalls the ends of the two tiers of desks are again richly carved. The Mayor’s stall is wider than the others, and attached to the finial in front is a grotesque ape, beneath which the supporting shaft is of open work. The end of this desk displays a shield charged with two keys in saltire, for the see of York.

“The Bishop’s throne was originally occupied by the Archbishops of York. The Jacobean canopy, which succeeded that of the Fifteenth Century, comprised the space of two stalls, as did also the modern structure by which it was itself succeeded and which is now in the Consistory Court. The present canopy resembles those of the other stalls but is higher and more elaborate. Upon the back of the throne inside is a small mitre. The finial in front consists of an elephant carrying a man in his trunk, and bearing on his back a castle filled with armed soldiery, and in front of the elephant is a centaur (renewed), the shaft under which is again of open-work. The end of this desk displays a large mitre above a shield charged with the three stars of St. Wilfrid and supported by two angels, between whom is a scroll with the date of 1494.”

“Other English cathedrals are more finely placed, several are richer in ornament, one or two have a more delicately varied outline. None are so stately and so magnificent; and there is hardly a church in Europe that appears so vast as the Minster, viewed from the north.

“The low-pitched roof of the Minster, the solidity of the central tower, the simple and tranquil front of the north transept, give the building an air of masculine and stately repose, and of perfect finish seldom to be found in foreign churches; while the apparent uniformity of style, though the architecture is of three different periods, frees it from the picturesque inconsequence of many English cathedrals. Yet neither inside nor outside does the Minster appear to be the expression of the spiritual aspirations of a people. It represents rather a secular magnificence, the temporal power of a Church that has played a great part in the history of the nation. The archbishops of York have been forced by circumstances to be militant prelates, contending with Canterbury for precedence, leading armies against the Scotch, sometimes even heading rebellions against the king; and in their cathedral they have expressed their ambition and their pride.”—(A. C.-B.)

“If the beauty in the form of our flos florum is due to its architecture, very much of its beauty in colour depends on the glowing and mellowed tints with which its windows are filled. But it is a large subject to enter upon, for as regards quantity there are no less than one hundred and three windows in the Minster, most of them entirely, and the remainder, only excepting the tracery, filled with real old Mediæval glass. Some of the windows, too, are of great size. The east window, which is entirely filled with old glass, consists of nine lights and measures seventy-eight feet in height, thirty-one feet two inches in width. The two choir transept windows, that in the north transept to St. William, and the south to St. Cuthbert, measure seventy-three feet by sixteen feet. They have both been restored, the latter very recently, but by far the greater part of them is old glass. On each side of the choir, the aisles contain nine windows measuring fourteen feet nine inches by twelve feet, only the tracery lights of which are modern; the same number of windows fill the clerestory above, the greater portions of which are ancient.

“The famous window of the north transept, the Five Sisters, consists of five lights, each measuring fifty-three feet six inches by five feet one inch, and is entirely of old glass. There are six windows in the north and six in the south aisles of the nave, with only a little modern glass in the tracery. The superb Flamboyant window at the west end of the centre aisle measures fifty-six feet three inches by twenty-five feet four inches, and consists, I believe, entirely of old glass, except the faces of the figures. The clerestory windows are studded with ancient shields, but a great part of the glass is, I fancy, modern; those of the vestibule, eight in number, measuring thirty-two feet by eighteen, are of old glass, including the tracery lights. The east window has been clumsily restored by Willement. In the side windows of the transept there is some old glass, and the great rose window over the south entrance still retains much of the old glass; while far{262} overhead in the tower there are some really fine bold designs of late, but genuine, design and execution. Altogether, according to actual measurements, there are 25,531 superficial feet of Mediæval glass in the Minster, i.e., more than half an acre—a possession, we should think, unequalled by any church in England, if not in Christendom.”—(P.-C.)

“had the further development of the glories of the Minster thoroughly at heart. At once he sacrificed his palace at Sherburn to provide materials for an appropriate Lady-Chapel, gave successive munificent donations of £100 at each of the great festivals of the Christian year, and called on clergy and laity alike to submit cheerfully to stringent self-denial to supply the funds.

“During his tenure of office of twenty-three years the Lady-Chapel was completed, a chaste and dignified specimen of early Perpendicular style, into which the Decorated gradually blended after the year 1360, and unique in its glorious east window, seventy-eight feet high and thirty-three feet wide, still the largest painted window in the world, enriched with its double mullions, which give such strength and lightness to its graceful proportions, and with its elaborate glass executed by Thornton of Coventry, at{265} the beginning of the following century. But Roger’s choir, which was still standing, must now have looked sadly dwarfed between the lofty Lady-Chapel and the tower and transepts.”—(P.-C.)

“The enemy was very near and fierce upon them, especially on that side of the city where the church stood; and had planted their great guns mischievously against the church; with which constantly in prayer’s time, they would not fail to make their hellish disturbance by shooting against and battering the church; insomuch that sometimes a cannon bullet has come in at the windows and bounced about from pillar to pillar (even like some furious fiend or evil spirit) backwards and forwards and all manner of sideways, as it has happened to meet with square or round opposition amongst the pillars.”

“The West Front is more architecturally perfect as a composition in its details than that of any other English Cathedral, and is unquestionably the best cathedral façade in this country. The lower part, with the entrances and lower windows, belongs to the Early Decorated period. Above the windows the work is Late Decorated and the towers above the roof Perpendicular. Numerous niches cover the surface. It is doubtful whether they ever contained statues. The principal entrance is divided by a clustered pier, and above it is a circle filled with cusped tracery. Over the whole doorway is a deeply-recessed arch, and over that a gable with niches, one of which contains the statue of an archbishop, supposed to be John le Romeyn, who began the nave in 1291, and other niches have figures of a Percy and a Vavasour, who gave the wood and stone for the building. The favourite ballflower ornament of the Decorated style is seen on the gable, and the mouldings in the arches have figures representing the history of Adam and Eve. Above the entrance is a large eight-light window, pronounced by many to be too large even for York Minster, containing very elaborate and beautiful tracery, and over it is a pointed gable. On each side of the west window are buttresses covered with panelling and niches. The noble towers rising on each side of the west front, have buttresses similarly adorned, and each three windows, and over the second an open battlement forms a walk along the whole front. The towers have battlements and pinnacles. The south-west tower (1433-1457) was injured by fire in 1840; and the{268} north tower (1470-1474) has the largest bell in the kingdom, Great Peter, which cost £2,000 in 1845 and weighs ten tons.”—(P. H. D.)

“The central tower rises a single story above the ridge of the roof and is open inside to the top. But for small gables on the buttresses, it is quite plain up to the level of the roof ridge. Above this it contains two long and narrow Perpendicular windows on each side, of three lights each, with a transom. These windows are ornamented ogee gables, and between them are three niches, one above the other, with canopies. The external buttresses are split up with vertical mouldings and ornamented with niches and panelling. The tower is crowned with a battlement. Horizontal string-courses with gargoyles divide the buttresses at intervals. There are no pinnacles on these buttresses, and they appear never to have been finished. It is possible that it was intended to set another story on the top of the present one, but this is merely conjecture.

“The English architects of the Fifteenth Century, if they were inferior to earlier builders in invention and vigour, were at any rate supreme in the management of towers. Their wonderful sense of proportion, their habitual use of vertical lines, and the character of their windows helped them to build what are perhaps the finest towers in Europe, and the central tower of York Minster

is one of the finest of all. Even the absence of pinnacles, if it is an accident, seems to be a lucky accident, and gives this tower an unrivalled dignity and an air of restraint suitable to the character of the whole cathedral.”—(A. C.-B.)

“The transepts, therefore, are unusually prominent, even for an English cathedral, and they have many other unusual features. Taken in conjunction with the lantern, they produce an effect to be found in no other Gothic church in the world. In England there are none so wide and so lofty. In France there are interiors even loftier, but in France the transepts are seldom a prominent feature of the design. Often they do not project beyond the outer wall of the aisles of the nave, and oftener still there is no central tower large enough to allow of a lantern at all. It is a great piece of good fortune, also, that the five vast lancets of the north transept end, known as the Five Sisters, still keep their beautiful original glass. If we look at these windows and consider how utterly ineffective they would be if they were glazed with plain glass, we can understand how little remains of the original beauty of the interior of Salisbury.

“The Five Sisters are, no doubt, the largest lancet win{270}dows in England, and it was a bold idea to fill almost the whole of that great front with them, but the boldness was entirely justified by the result.

“The glass in the Five Sisters is Early English of the simplest and most beautiful design. The colour, an almost uniform scheme of greyish green, is a curious contrast to the vivid blues and yellows of the period which preceded it, and examples of which may be seen in the choir of Canterbury. The pattern is an elaborate but restrained arrangement of the foliage of the Planta Benedicta (herb benet). The plain border surrounding the Early English glass was inserted in 1715. At the foot of the central light is a panel of Norman glass, the subject of which is either the dream of Jacob, or Daniel in the lions’ den.”—(A. C.-B.)

“The choir itself is like an enormous college chapel. The aisles exist, but play no part in the design, which still culminates in the splendid blaze of glass from the eastern transepts and the great east window, and once culminated on the still more splendid blaze of the altar.

“The retro-choir, far too short and wide to be judged as an avenue of stone, is still more dependent for its effect on its glass. As most of that glass luckily remains, it is a miracle of airy splendour; one may see from it what were the objects, and how great the success of the much-maligned Perpendicular architects at their best.

“To sum up, then, this choir has not the delicate and spiritual beauty of the choirs of Lincoln or Ely. That is never found even in the finest work of Perpendicular architects; but for stateliness and magnificence it has not a rival in England. These qualities may be best appreciated standing midway between the two transepts and in front of the altar. From that point glittering screens of glass and soaring shafts of stone are to be seen on all sides; the whole effect is one of triumphant light and space and colour, not to be surpassed by the splendours even of Moorish or Italian architecture.”—(A. C.-B.)

“The glass in the choir is almost wholly Perpendicular. As in the nave, it is very fragmentary and disordered. The change in the character of the design will be easily noticed. The Perpendicular glass is not so clear and delicate in colour, and the architectural and other patterns are less pronounced. This glass, regarded simply as decorative, is perhaps superior to that in the nave.

“Mr. Winston has pointed out that the earliest Perpendicular glass in the choir is contained in the third window from the east in the south aisle; in the third and fourth windows from the east in the north clerestory; and in the fourth clerestory window from the east on the opposite side. These windows date from the close of the Fourteenth Century. There is also an early Perpendicular Jesse in the third window from the west in the south aisle of the choir. The other windows of the choir aisles east of the small eastern transepts, as well as the glass in the lancet windows on the east side of the great western transepts, appears, he says, to be of the time of Henry IV.; the rest of the glass in the choir is of the reigns of Henry V. and VI., chiefly of the latter. He notices also, that the white glass in the windows is generally less green in tint than usual, and that he has learnt from Mr. Browne that it is all of English manufacture.”—(A. C.-B.)

“The great east window was glazed by John Thornton of Coventry. The terms of the contract for this work, dated 1405, are extant. They provide that Thornton shall ‘portray the said window with his own hands, and the histories, images, and other things to be painted on it.’ It was to be finished within three years. Glass, lead and workmen were to be provided at the expense of the chapter, and Thornton was to receive 4s. a week, £5 a year and £10 at completion for his trouble.

“The window is 78 feet high and 32 feet wide, and contains nine lights. It is entirely filled with old glass, except for certain pitches of modern glass, rather crude in colour, and inserted, it is said, after the fire of 1829. It contains 200 panels of figures. The subjects in the upper part are from the Old Testament, reaching from the creation of the world to the death of Absalom. The lower part contains illustrations from the Book of Revelations. In the loftiest row of all are representations of kings and archbishops.

“In the top lights are figures of prophets, saints and kings. At the apex of the window is a representation of the Saviour in Judgment.

“This window is probably the finest example of Perpendicular glass in England.

“The great east window, like the windows of the transepts, has a double plane of tracery reaching to about half the height of the whole. Between the two planes a passage runs at the base of the window, between two doors{274} which lead to staircases in the turrets on each side of the windows. These staircases, in their turn, lead to a gallery across the window on the top of the inner plane of tracery. The view from this gallery is very fine.”—(A. C.-B.)

“The first impression on viewing this nave is a sense of its magnitude. Archbishop Romeyn and his builders determined to build a vast church which would eclipse all other rivals. They would have large windows, high, towering piers, a huge, vaulted roof, and everything that was grand and impressive. Edward I. was then fighting with the Scots and made York his chief city. It was immensely prosperous and the ecclesiastical treasury was replete with the offerings of knights and nobles, kings and pilgrims. Nowhere should there be so mighty a church as York Minster. In order to have space for large windows they made the triforium unusually small, which is formed only by a continuation of the arches of the clerestory windows. The design for the stone vaulted roof was never carried out. The builders feared that the great weight of a roof with so large a span would be too much for the walls, so a wooden vault was substituted. The piers have octagonal bases and consist of various{275} sized shafts closely connected. The capitals are beautifully enriched with foliage of oak and thorn, and sometimes a figure is seen amidst the foliage. We notice thirty-two sculptured busts at the intersection of the hood-moulding with the vaulting shafts. Coats-of-arms of the benefactors of York appear on each side of the main arches. The clerestory windows have each five lights. The old roof was destroyed by fire in 1840. The present one has a vast number of bosses representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Magi, Resurrection, besides a quantity of smaller ones.”—(P. H. D.)

“This is remarkable not only for the purity and boldness of its scheme of colours, but for the admirable way in which the design of the glass fits the elaborate pattern of the tracery. It will be noticed that both the figures and the architectural ornaments are in bolder relief than in the earlier glass of the Five Sisters, or the later of the choir. Some of the faces of the figures have been restored by Peckett, but not so as to interfere with the decorative effect of the whole. The window contains three rows of figures, the lowest a row of eight archbishops, the next a row of eight saints, including St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James and St. Katharine, and above this a row of smaller figures unidentified.

“The window contains eight lights. These lights are coupled in pairs by four arches with a quatrefoil in the head of each, and again formed in groups of four by an ogee arch above the other arches. The flowing curves of these ogee arches are most ingeniously and beautifully worked into the pattern of the upper part of the window, which contains five main divisions of stonework, each like{276} the skeleton of a leaf in shape and in the delicacy of its pattern. Of these five divisions the top one is made by splitting up the central mullion; two diverge from it at the top of the lower lights; and two others curve inwards from the outside arch. The central mullion runs up almost to the top of the arch. The mullions are alike in moulding and size. Below the window is the west door, the head of which is filled with ancient stained glass. There is a gable above it, running up to the bottom of the window and containing three niches. There are kneeling figures on each side of the gable, so that the top of it may have held a figure of Christ. All that portion of the west end not occupied by the window and the porch is filled with stories of niches and arcading.”—(A. C.-B.)

“It consists of five lights, the two outer of which are grouped in a single arch, with a quatrefoil piercing in its head. Between these two arches and on the top of the arch of the central light is a circle fitting into the arch of the window, and ornamented with four quatrefoils, four trefoil piercings, and other smaller lights. There are capitals to the outside shafts of the windows, and to the main shafts of the two inner mullions. All these mullions are very delicately moulded.

“The first window from the west end is plain. The{277} glass in the other windows is rather finer and less fragmentary than in the north aisle.

“The second window appears to have been largely restored. The tabernacle work is very crude in colour. It contains figures of St. Laurence, St. Christopher, another saint, and three coats-of-arms below. The top lights are fine, and perhaps of Perpendicular date.

“The third window is one of the richest in colour in the minster, with its gorgeous arrangement of crimsons, greens and blues. There are inscriptions by Peckett, with the date at the bottom, 1789. His deep blues on the top lights are particularly unfortunate.

“The sixth window is also very bright. It probably contains Norman fragments. All the windows except the fifth contain insertions by Peckett.

“The clerestory window contains fragments and coats-of-arms.

“In the westernmost light of the second window from the west, on the north side, are portions of an Early English Jesse window. The wheel of this window, and those of the next five, also contain fragments of Early English glass. And in the lower lights of the fifth and seventh windows from the west are remains of the same date.

“The wheels in the clerestory windows on the south side of the nave all contain Early English glass, except the third from the west. There is also some Early English glass in their lower lights.

“The aisles of the nave are bolder in design and altogether more satisfactory than the nave itself. Like the nave they are unusually wide and lofty. In the two farthest bays to the west, above which are the western towers, the rough wooden roof, which has never been covered with a vault, may be seen. The vault of the aisles is of stone, with only structural ribs, finely moulded and with carved bosses. The aisle windows are, like those of the clerestory, of the geometrical Decorated Style, but of an earlier and simpler, uniform design. They each contain three lights. Above the three lights are three quatrefoils, pyramidally arranged.”—(A. C.-B.)

“In the north aisle the east window is also very fine. It contains a representation of the Crucifixion, with St. John, St. James and the Virgin.

“The first window from the east is very fragmentary. The windows in the south aisle are rather fragmentary. In the first two from the west the top lights are empty.

“The second window is remarkable for the delicate modelling and drawing of the heads. The head of the Virgin reminds one of one of Lippo Lippi’s Madonnas. That of an old man with a beard in the central light is German in character. If these are compared with the crude

and simple design of the heads in the other windows, it will be obvious that they are of a different origin. Nothing, however, is known of their history.

“The third window has borders by Peckett. It contains the Jesse noted before.

“The fourth window is very fragmentary. It contains a beautiful figure of a saint in one of the top lights; the other top lights are by Peckett. In the central division, at the bottom, is the name of Archbishop Lamplugh, with a coat-of-arms. (Lamplugh’s tomb is close to this window.)

“The last of those windows contains painted glass given by Lord Carlisle in 1804, and bought from a church at Rouen. It is a representation of the Visitation, Mr. Winton says, taken from a picture by Baroccio, and dates from the end of the Sixteenth Century. The upper lights contain the original glass.

“The east window of this aisle is very fine in colouring, and fairly coherent in design. The subject is not clear.”

“Entering the vestibule we notice the exact place where the Early English builders finished their work and the Decorated style begins. The difference between the styles{280} in the Chapter-House and vestibule shows that the former was erected first. It has a wall arcade, and above are windows of curious tracery, filled with beautiful old glass. The shafts of the arcade support trefoiled arches, with a cinquefoil ornamented with a sculptured boss. Each boss and capital is beautifully carved with foliage, amidst which the heads of men and dragons appear. The glass is Early Decorated, and contains representations of Royal personages.

“The Chapter-House is one of the most beautiful in England. The entrance is an arch, divided into two arches by a canopied pier, which bears a mutilated statue of the Virgin and Child. Clustered shafts, with capitals, are on each side of the doors, which have remarkably good scrolled iron-work. The chamber itself is very magnificent. It is octagonal and in each bay there are six canopied stalls under a five-light window. The window tracery is superb. Clustered shafts support the vaulted roof. Everywhere we see richly carved stone-work, the finest in any cathedral, the foliage of maple, oak, vine and other trees. Here are pigs and squirrels feeding on acorns, men gathering grapes, birds, and coiled dragons and reptiles. The grotesques are most curious and interesting. In 1845, unfortunately, the building was restored and the painted figures of kings and bishops were destroyed, a poor tiled floor laid down; but, in spite of all, it can still maintain its proud boast:

[‘As the Rose is the flower of flowers, so is this House the chief of Houses.’]”

“The Choir and Lady-Chapel are Perpendicular work. The four eastern bays constituting the Lady-Chapel, are earlier than the later ones of the choir and vary in detail. The triforium passage in the former is outside the building, and the windows are recessed. Strange gargoyles, with figures of apes and demons, adorn the buttresses. The{282} east end is mainly filled with the huge window, the largest in England, which does not leave much space for architectural detail. Above it is the figure of Archbishop Thoresby, the builder of this part of the Cathedral. Panelling covers the surface of the stone, and below the window is a row of seventeen busts, representing our Lord and his Apostles, Edward III. and Archbishop Thoresby. There are two aisle windows; buttresses adorned with niches separate the aisles from the central portion, and others, capped with spires, stand on the north and south of this front.”—(P. H. D.)

“Throughout a vast district around the city, the one great feature of the landscape is the mighty minster, which, almost like that of Laon, crowns the edge of the ridge, rising, with a steepness well-nigh unknown in the streets of English towns, above the lower city and the plain at its feet. Next in importance to the minster is the castle, which, marred as it is by modern changes, still crowns the height as no unworthy yoke-fellow of its ecclesiastical neighbour. The proud polygonal keep of the fortress still groups well with the soaring towers, the sharp-pointed gables, the long continuous line of roof, of the church of Remigius and Saint Hugh.”—(E. A. F.)

“The best informed French antiquaries acknowledge that they have nothing like it in France for thirty years afterwards; they thought it was copied from Notre-Dame at Dijon, to which there is a considerable resemblance, but that church was not consecrated till 1230, so that the Dijon architect might have copied from the Lincoln one,{285} but the Lincoln could not have copied from Dijon.”—(J. H. P.)

“The surface or exterior of Lincoln Cathedral presents at least four perfect specimens of the succeeding styles of the first four orders of Gothic architecture. The greater part of the front may be as old as the time of its founder, Bishop Remigius, at the end of the Eleventh Century; but even here may be traced invasions and intermixtures, up to the Fifteenth Century. The large indented windows are of this latter period, and exhibit a frightful heresy. The western towers carry you to the end of the Twelfth Century; then succeeds a wonderful extent of the Early English, or the pointed arch. The transepts begin with the Thirteenth, and come down to the middle of the Fourteenth Century; and the interior, especially the choir and the side aisles, abounds with the most exquisitely varied specimens of that period. Fruits, flowers, vegetables, insects, capriccios of every description, encircle the arches or shafts, and sparkle upon the capitals of pillars. Even down to the reign of Henry VIII. there are two private chapels, to the left of the smaller south porch, on entrance, which are perfect gems of art.”—(T. F. D.)

“The king” (William the Conqueror) “had given Remigius, who had been a monk at Fescamp, the bishopric of Dorchester which is situated on the Thames. This{286} bishopric, being larger than all others in England, stretching from the Thames to the Humber, the bishop thought it troublesome to have his episcopal See at the extreme limit of his diocese. He was also displeased with the smallness of the town, the most illustrious city appearing far more worthy to be the See of a bishop. He therefore bought certain lands on the highest parts of the city, near the castle standing aloft with its strong towers, and built a church, strong as the place was strong, and fair as the place was fair, dedicated to the Virgin of Virgins, which should both be a joy to the servants of God, and as befitted the time unconquerable by enemies.”

“Part of the west front of Lincoln was built by Bishop Remi, or Remigius, 1085-1092: the small portion which remains of this work is a very valuable specimen of early Norman, the more so that the insertion of later and richer Norman doorways by Bishop Alexander, about fifty years afterwards, enables us to compare early and late Norman{287} work, while the jointing of the masonry leaves no doubt of the fact that these doorways are insertions and, therefore, confirms the early date of the three lofty arches under which they are inserted. A comparison of the capitals and details of these two periods, thus placed in juxtaposition, is extremely interesting. The wide-jointing of the masonry and the shallowness of the carving distinguish the old work from the new. Several capitals of the later period are inserted in the older work, as is shewn on careful examination by the jointing of the masonry, and by the form of the capitals themselves: the earlier capitals are short, and have volutes at the angles, forming a sort of rude Ionic; the later capitals are more elongated, and have a sort of rude Corinthian, or Composite foliage.”—(J. H. P.)

“Canterbury was completed in 1184 and in 1185 St. Hugh of Grenoble, also called St. Hugh of Burgundy, was appointed Bishop of Lincoln, and immediately began to rebuild his cathedral. It is therefore plain that this portion of the building was completed before 1200, and a careful examination enables us to distinguish clearly the work completed in the time of Bishop Hugh, which comprises his choir and the eastern transepts with its chapels. The present vaults of St. Hugh’s Choir, and of both the transepts, were introduced subsequent to the fall of the tower, which occurred in 1240.

“The architecture in the north of Lincolnshire and the{288} south of Yorkshire appears to have been a little in advance of any other in Europe at that period. St. Hugh’s Choir at Lincoln is the earliest building of the pure Gothic style free from any mixture of the Romanesque that has been hitherto found in Europe, or in the world. The Oriental styles are not Gothic, though they helped to lead to it. The French Gothic has a strong mixture of the Romanesque with it down to a later period than the Choir of Lincoln. St. Hugh of Lincoln certainly did not bring the Gothic style with him from his own country Dauphiny, or from the Grande Chartreuse where he was educated, for nothing of the kind existed there at that period. Grenoble (the place from which St. Hugh was brought to England) and its neighbourhood was quite half-a-century behind England in the character of its buildings, in the time of Henry II. of England and of Anjou, in whose time this style was developed.

“Nothing can well exceed the freedom, delicacy and beauty of this work; the original arcade of the time of St. Hugh is of the same free and beautiful style as the additions of his successors. The crockets, arranged vertically one over the other behind the detached marble shafts of the pillars, are a remarkable and not a common feature, which seems to have been in use for a few years only; it occurs also in the west front of Wells Cathedral, the work of Bishop Jocelin, a few years after this at Lincoln; or perhaps under him, of Hugh de Wells.”—(J. H. P.)

“were busy ones at Lincoln. Contemporary records enable us to picture him encouraging the workmen by his presence and example, even shewing his zeal by carrying the stones on his own shoulders. He did not live to see his work completed, as Remigius had done. But he had set the example and given the pattern, and the work was continued by his successors until the building was again entire. Hugh had already finished the apse, the eastern transept, the choir, and part of the western transept (i.e., the whole eastern portion of the church) when he fell ill. Finding

his death approaching, he sent for his architect Geoffrey de Noyers, and enjoined him to hasten the completion of the altar of St. John the Baptist, his patron. He then gave directions for his funeral, and instructions that he was to be buried in the mother-church of his diocese dedicated to the Mother of God, near the altar of St. John the Baptist. The personality of the great bishop comes vividly before us when we read that he also wished his tomb to be placed near the wall, in a convenient place, lest it should be a stumbling-block to those approaching. On the 16th of November, 1200, Hugh breathed his last, lying, as he had wished, on the bare ground, on a cross of consecrated ashes. His instructions regarding the funeral were carried out; but such a light as Hugh’s could not be hid, and within a century we find his remains enclosed in a costly golden shrine, borne on the shoulders of kings and bishops, and placed at last in a structure erected specially for their reception, ‘one of the loveliest of human works,’ the celebrated Angel Choir. The original place of Hugh’s burial has been somewhat disputed. The Magna Vita tells us that he was buried near the altar he had named, a boreali ipsius aedis regione. On the east side of the eastern transept, Hugh had placed four apsidal chapels, two north and two south of the central apse. From the words above quoted, it has been considered that the northern-most of these chapels was the site of his tomb.”—(A. F. K.)

“Lincoln is an old confused town, very long, uneven, steep and ragged, formerly full of good houses, especially churches and abbeys. The minster almost comparable to that of York itself, abounding with marble pillars, and having a fair front (here was interred Queen Eleanora, the loyal and loving wife who sucked the poison out of her husband’s wound); the abbot founder, with rare carving in the stone; the great bell, or Tom, as they call it. I went up the steeple, from whence is a goodly prospect all over the country. The soldiers had lately knocked off most of the brasses from the gravestones, so as few inscriptions were left; they told us that these men went in with axes and hammers, and shut themselves in, till they had rent and torn off some bargeloads of metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead; so hellish an avarice possessed them: besides which, they exceedingly ruined the city.”

“exhibits an Early English style in its highest stage of development: massive without heaviness, rich in detail without exuberance, its parts symmetrically proportioned and carefully studied throughout, the foliated carving bold and effective, there seems no deficiency in any way to deteriorate from its merits.”—(G. G. S.)

“Each pier is surrounded by round shafts of Purbeck marble. The arch mouldings, like those of St. Hugh’s choir, were considered ‘beautiful specimens’ by Rickman. They are deeply cut, and throw good, bold shadows. In the triforium each bay contains two arches, supported by clustered columns with foliaged capitals. The spandrels are decorated with sunk trefoils or quatrefoils. In most cases the arches are each divided into three sub-arches with clustered shafts, the tympanum being pierced with quatrefoils. A difference is noticeable, however, in the easternmost arch and the two westernmost bays (five arches altogether) on both sides. Here the sub-arches are only two in number. The narrowness of the two western bays accounts for the variation at that end. The clerestory is the same throughout its length, having three tall narrow windows in each bay, with slender banded shafts. In the nave we have, according to Fergusson, ‘a type of the first perfected form of English vaulting.’ He{293} calls it ‘very simple and beautiful.’ At the junctions of the ribs are elaborate bosses of foliage. The compartments are covered with plaster, once decorated in colours and gold. In the second bay from the east is the name: W. L. PARIS:—evidently intended as a record of some repairs to the vault. The springers rest on clusters of three long slender vaulting-shafts, rising from foliaged corbels just above the capitals of the nave piers.

“In the aisles, each bay has two lancet windows, except the easternmost bay on the south side, which has only one. In the jambs are slender Purbeck shafts, twice banded. Just beneath these windows, an arcade of trefoiled arches runs along the whole length of the nave, being continued on the screen walls to the western chapels. The arches are deep, with bold mouldings, and are supported by clustered columns. There are five arches in each bay, but they are not placed in the same manner on both sides of the nave. On the south, the arches are arranged in groups of five, with blank spaces of wall between, in front of which pass the vaulting-shafts. On the north, the arcade is continuous, and is so arranged that each cluster of shafts supporting the vault passes in front of an arch. The work on the south side is more elaborate; tooth ornament is used, a string-course runs along at the height of the capitals, and foliaged bosses are found in the lower corners of the spandrels. In addition to the clustered vaulting-shafts already mentioned, there is a single vaulting-shaft in the centre of each bay, between the windows, rising from a corbel above the wall-arcade. On the north side these corbels merely have plain mouldings, but on the south side they are foliated. The arrangement of the vaulting-ribs is different in the north and south aisles; and in the latter it will be noticed that some of the bosses have figure-subjects, besides the foliage met with on the north side. The Agnus Dei carved on the boss in the fourth bay from the west should be noticed. To such minor differences, continually found in the corresponding parts of a Gothic edifice, the style undoubtedly owes a peculiar charm.”—(A. F. K.)

“On either side of the central doorway are four deep arches supported by detached pillars, decorated with grotesque heads and small figures of bishops. The wall behind is richly carved with diaper designs, shewing much freedom and variety. This screen was once decorated with colours and gilding, traces of which are still visible. It appears to have suffered a good deal at the hands of iconoclasts; many statues have doubtless been removed, and one must be very cautious with regard to the decoration which remains, as it was considerably restored by a mason named James Pink during the second half of last century. The screen now carries the organ erected in 1826.

“The two side doorways leading into the north and south aisles of the choir are somewhat earlier than the screen between them. They are beautiful examples of carving, dating from the end of the Early English period. The exquisite openwork foliage which runs round the arch is executed with the utmost skill and care, and is without the laboured effect of so much of our later stone-work. The injured parts were carefully restored about 1770 by James Pink, who was also employed by Essex on the canopy of the reredos. The doorways have modern iron gates.”—(A. F. K.)

“The foliage of the capitals is exquisitely beautiful, and though distinguished technically by the name of stiff-leaf{296} foliage, because there are stiff stalks to the leaves rising from the ring of the capital, the leaves themselves curl over in the most graceful manner, with a freedom and elegance not exceeded at any subsequent period. The mouldings are also as bold and as deep as possible, and there is scarcely a vestige of Norman character remaining in any part of the work.”—(R.)

“We have in Normandy, especially in the cathedral of Rouen and the church of Eu, architecture of the date of 1190; it is purely French, that is to say, it corresponds exactly with the architecture of the ‘Isle de France’ except in certain details. At Eu, at the cathedral of Le Mans, at Seez, we have architecture which resembles that of the choir of Lincoln, but that architecture is from 1210 to 1220, it is the Norman school of the Thirteenth Century. There is, indeed, at Lincoln, an effort at, a tendency to originality, a style of ornament which attempts to emancipate itself; nevertheless the character is purely Anglo-Norman.

“The construction is English, the profiles of the mouldings are English, the ornaments are English, the execution of the work belongs to the English school of workmen of the beginning of the Thirteenth Century.

“On the exterior the choir of the Cathedral of Lincoln is thoroughly English or Norman, if you will; one can perceive all the Norman influence; arches acutely pointed, blank windows in the clerestory, reminding one of the basilica covered with a wooden roof; a low triforium; each bay of the aisles divided into two by a small buttress; shafts banded. In the interior vaults which have not at all the same construction as the French vaults of the end of the Twelfth Century; arch-mouldings, slender and deeply undercut; the abacus round; the tooth-ornament; which do not at all resemble the ornaments which we find at Paris, Sens, St. Denis, etc.”

“The stalls are in two rows, the upper of 62 seats, and the lower of 46; the former number has now been increased by six and the latter by two. The upper stalls have elaborate trefoiled canopies, surmounted by an intricate maze of buttresses and pinnacles, rising to a height of 24 feet 6 inches above the choir floor. The niches above the canopies have recently been filled with statues of saints in the Anglican Calendar. The stalls in both rows are provided with hinged seats or misereres, intended to serve as supports in the long services during which the occupants of the stalls were required to stand. These seats, as well as the elbow-rests and finials, are richly carved with those grotesque subjects in which the Mediæval artist so greatly delighted. The carver has given full scope to a most fertile imagination. Scriptural subjects do certainly occur on some of the misereres in the upper row, but others are of a playful character. The fox is seen preaching to birds and beasts, and then running riot among them; monkeys are at play, or occupied in the more serious business of hanging one of their number and burying him afterwards; we also find men fighting with wild animals; the labours of husbandry; kings, knights, ladies, dragons, griffins, lions, hogs, and wyverns. Whether there is a hidden meaning in any of these quaint subjects, it is perhaps difficult now to say, but the preaching fox is certainly suggestive.”—(A. F. K.)

“Thus the Angel Choir of Lincoln was erected to contain the shrine of one of Lincoln’s noblest bishops and one of England’s greatest saints, whose lowly tomb, placed in a corner at his own desire for fear of its being in the way, had become the resort of such a vast concourse of pilgrims as to require the transformation of the eastern arm of the minster. In 1255, license was obtained from Henry III. for the removal of part of the eastern city wall, which stood in the way, and in the next year the Angel Choir was probably begun. The work was carried on so rapidly that within a quarter of a century the translation took place. The choir was not, however, fully completed till the Fourteenth Century was well on its way.

“The 6th October, 1280, was the proudest day in the

history of the city. Perhaps never, before or since, has such an august assembly gathered within her walls. The body of the Saint of Lincoln was to be translated to the costly shrine in the centre of the Angel Choir. The ceremony was magnificent. Edward himself was present, and supported on his own shoulder the saint’s remains as they were carried to their new resting-place; with him was his beloved queen Eleanor, whose effigy was so soon to be placed beneath the same roof. The king and queen were accompanied by Edmund, Earl of Kent, brother of Edward, and his wife; the Earls of Gloucester and Warwick; the Archbishop of Canterbury; the bishops of Lincoln, Bath, Ely, Norwich, Worcester, Llandaff, Bangor, and St. Asaph; the bishop-elect of Exeter; and two hundred and fifty knights. The shrine, ornamented with gold and silver and precious stones, was raised on a lofty stone pedestal, and about thirty years after was protected by an iron grille, wrought by Simon the Smith. It is recorded that the fastenings of the grille were still to be seen in the pavement at the middle of the last century, but all traces have now entirely disappeared. It must have been soon after the translation that the head was removed from the body, and enclosed in a metal case, enriched with gold and silver and precious stones. A keeper was appointed to guard the precious relic during the day, and two had this charge at night. Yet, in spite of all such precautions, it was stolen from the church in the year 1364; the head was thrown into a field, and the case sold in London for twenty marks. The thieves were robbed of their ill-gotten gains on their way back, and were afterwards convicted of the crime, and hanged at Lincoln. The head was found and restored to the cathedral. The treasurer, John de Welburne (d. 1380), either restored the old shrine or made a new one of the same materials.”—(A. F. K.)

“It is in five bays carried eastward at a uniform height and breadth with the choir of St. Hugh. Lincoln stone is used throughout, relieved with shafts and capitals of Purbeck marble. The spandrels of the great arches, which are plain in other parts of the building are here decorated with sunk geometrical forms. Each bay of the triforium is divided, as elsewhere, into two arches, both of which enclose two sub-arches; but the details are richer than in the earlier parts of the minster. The clerestory has one window of four lights in each bay, with an eight-foil and two trefoils in the head. The compartments of the vault were originally coated with plaster, which has been scraped away so as to shew the stone surface underneath. It is a question whether it does not now look better than with the old plaster, and the gaudy colouring which once, most probably, decorated it. The springers of the vaulting are supported by slender shafts, which rest on elaborately foliaged corbels in the spandrels of the great arches. The beautiful foliaged bosses along the ridge rib are best seen from the triforium or the clerestory.”—(A. F. K.)

“Bar-tracery being fully developed, the general appearance of ‘the window is rather Decorated than Early English, but the mouldings still belong to the earlier style.’ ‘This window ... together with the whole of that part of the choir is singularly and beautifully accommodated to the style of the rest of the building.’”—(R.)

“The aisle windows are each of three lights, with three circles in the head, two filled with cinquefoils and one with a quatrefoil. The two east windows of the aisles are similar to the others. The wall below the windows is decorated all round with arcading of a richer design than that in the nave. Two trefoiled arches are included in a larger arch, with a quatrefoil within a circle filling the head. The spandrels have sunk trefoils. The bosses of the stone vaults to the aisles are carved with sacred subjects, foliage, and grotesque figures.

“The east windows of the north and south aisles are filled with beautiful stained glass of the Early English period. The subjects are arranged within medallions, and, though somewhat difficult to decipher, appear to represent scenes in the lives of two saints whose story has many points of resemblance—St. Thomas of Canterbury and St. Hugh of Lincoln. The glass is said to have been moved about the end of the last century from the windows of the nave aisles. The date of the medallions may be placed towards the middle of the Thirteenth Century, about the time of the erection of the nave, and, of course, earlier than the windows which they now occupy. The grisaille into which they are now reglazed, is considered by Westlake to be the earliest in England.”—(A. F. K.)

“It represents the Church on Earth and the Church in Heaven. In the centre is our Saviour seated in the midst of the Blessed in Heaven. Around are four large compartments, containing portions of different subjects, which do not appear to have all originally belonged to their present positions. The most interesting is that shewing the translation of the relics of St. Hugh, represented as borne on the shoulders of crowned and mitred personages. Of the sixteen outer circles, the topmost represents our Saviour seated on a rainbow; on either side are angels with the instruments of the Passion; in the next circles St. Peter and other saints are conducting holy persons to heaven; below these is the general Resurrection; the lowest five circles each contain the figure of an archbishop or bishop. The subjects can be best seen from the neighbouring triforium or from the passage which runs just beneath the window; it will be noticed that the glass in some of the compartments is much mutilated, as might naturally be expected, considering its antiquity. From below, the subjects are confused and not easy to distinguish, but the rich and harmonious blending of the colours can be seen to the fullest advantage, and the general effect is much finer. Rickman believes the form of the tracery to be quite unique in England, but states that there is a window exactly similar at Laon.”—(A. F. K.)

“It is filled with delicate and beautiful flowing tracery, which has been compared to the fibres of a leaf. Rickman considers it to be the richest remaining example of its period. It is enclosed within a kind of arch formed by two rows of openwork quatrefoils; an open frame-work of a similar nature is often to be seen round circular windows in French cathedrals. The glass consists of fragments from other windows, chiefly of the Early English period. Although the pieces are placed quite at random, forming no subject whatever, yet the effect of the colouring is good, especially when seen from the opposite end of the transept. Of all the modern windows in the minster, with their elaborate subjects, it may safely be said that not one can be compared in effect with this mass of glowing colour.”—(A. F. K.)

“It was probably constructed, like the Galilee doorway, as a state entrance for the bishop. The porch fills the third bay, and projects as far as the buttresses; its sides recede inwards to the pair of doors giving access to the Angel Choir. Although the doorways of our cathedrals, as a rule, cannot in any way be compared with the magnificent portals to be seen in France, yet this single example of Lincoln would be quite enough to prove that English architects were capable of designing a really magnificent doorway. In the tympanum is the subject of the Last Judgment in relief. The archivolt is richly decorated with sculpture. In the inner band is a row of niches with twelve seated figures, apparently kings and queens: next a double band of delicate open-work foliage; outside this a row of sixteen slender standing figures enclosed by interlacing stems, richly decorated with foliage. The doorway is formed of two cinquefoiled arches, separated by a central pillar having the canopy and base for a figure of the Virgin, which has been removed. On either side of the doorway is a triple canopy for statues, and behind this a row of slender columns with foliated capitals.”—(A. F. K.)

“It is not known how it was acquired; some say it was a gift, others say it was stolen from the Abbey of Beauchief, Derbyshire, or from Peterborough. The origin of its name, too, has been a subject of dispute. Stukeley considered it possible that it had been consecrated to St. Thomas of Canterbury. Others think it took its name from that of the old bell of Christ Church, Oxford, which bore the curious inscription, In Thomae laude, resono Bim Bom sine fraude. It should be remembered that Oxford was in the diocese of Lincoln in olden days, and that several Bishops of Lincoln were chancellors of Oxford. Wherever{311} the first ‘Great Tom’ came from, it was recast in the minster yard by two bell founders from Nottingham and Leicester early in the Seventeenth Century, when the weight was increased from 8,743 pounds to 9,894⅛ pounds. ‘The bell was cast and hung upp and upon Sonday the xxvij of this month [January, 1611] ronge owte and all safe and well.’ It was tolled until 1802, when it was found that this process shook the tower too much. The following extract from the Stamford Mercury of the 6th August, 1802, is given by North in his ‘Church Bells of Lincolnshire’:—‘Great Tom o’ Lincoln is to be rung no more! The full swing of four tons and a half is found to injure the tower where he hangs. He has therefore been chained and riveted down; so that instead of the full mouthful he has been used to send forth, he is enjoined in future merely to wag his tongue.’ Towards the end of the year 1827 experienced ears detected that something was wrong, and by Christmas it became plainly evident that the bell was cracked. It was finally decided to have it recast in a larger size. For this purpose it was broken to pieces with its own clapper, and sent to London. To provide the extra metal, the six Lady Bells were unfortunately sacrificed. The cathedral thus lost the distinction of being the only one in the kingdom possessed of two rings of bells. ‘Great Tom’ was recast by Thomas Mears at the Whitechapel Bell foundry on the 15th November, 1834. It was taken by road to Lincoln, drawn by eight horses, and raised to its new position in the central tower. Two new quarter bells, cast at the same time, were also hung in this tower. The number of quarter bells was increased in 1880 to four.”—(A. F. K.)

“In the Curvilinear Period (1315-1360) was erected quite the loveliest choir-screen in England; next comes that of Lincoln, evidently by the same hand. Eastern and western sides are entirely different in design; on the western side the artist parts reluctantly with the beautiful geometrical design of the Thirteenth Century; on the eastern side he accepts unreservedly the reign of the ogee arch. Magnificent sedilia and stone stalls of similar character were erected, which only survive in part. Very beautiful, too, is the cusping of the reticulated windows inserted in the north transept chapel. The upper parts of the Chapter-House and the north transept chapel also were{314} remodelled in the Curvilinear Period. For two hundred years and more, the highest and best of Mediæval art found cultivated and wealthy patrons in the canons of Southwell. Norman, Lancet, Geometrical, Curvilinear work are all seen here at their best. Few of our cathedrals, from the point of view either of architectural design or sculptural detail, can be mentioned in the same breath with Southwell. It is one of the greatest delights of Southwell that this lovely minster is little known and almost unvisited: one feels as if one were ‘the first that ever burst into the silent sea’!”—(F. B.)

“The West Front has been altered in character from its original Norman work. We see a huge Perpendicular window with an embattled parapet over it, an alteration made in the Fifteenth Century. The windows in the lower stages of the towers are modern imitations of Norman work. The towers have seven stages and the sixth is enriched with fine arcading composed of intersecting arches. The present spires are modern imitations of the originals destroyed by fire in 1711. These were immediately restored but removed in 1802, and have now again been replaced. The old Norman doorway is remarkably fine. It has five orders, the zigzag and the filleted edge roll being the chief mouldings.

“Passing to the south side we see the walls of the nave pierced by apparent Norman windows, but these are modern imitations. The most western window in the north side is the only original Norman window; the rest are copied from it, and were erected in 1847. Four Perpendicular windows were inserted in the Fifteenth Century. There is a row of small square windows above which light the triforium, and the clerestory has a curious series of circular windows which are unique in this country. The roof is high-pitched, having been erected in modern times by the architect Christian, and the parapets are Perpendicular in style. The south doorway should be noticed, of Norman workmanship with zigzag string-course over it.”—(P. H. D.)

“Looking down the nave (1110-1150) we are impressed by the massive appearance of the interior. The piers are rather short, only 19 feet high, six on each side, with square bases and round capitals. The triforium is large, and above is the clerestory with its unique plain circular windows. The Norman mouldings, zigzag, billet, hatchet, etc., are easily recognized. The present roof was erected in 1881. The Font, erected in 1661, is a poor substitute for the one destroyed by the soldiers of Cromwell. The Pulpit is modern. The second pillar from the east on the south side is called Pike’s Pillar, and retains faint traces of a mural painting of the Annunciation; the nave aisles have some good vaulting. A plain stone bench runs along the walls. This was common in old churches and was the origin of the saying ‘Let the weakest go to the wall,’ where they could sit and rest, as the days of pews were not yet. The only original Norman window which remains is at the west end of the north aisle.”—(P. H. D.)

“A stone screen of rich Decorated work separates the transept from the choir, over which is now the organ (a modern instrument). The screen is richly ornamented, and a noble specimen of the work of the period. There are three arches opening to the space beneath the tower, separated by slight piers of clustered shafts, the capitals carved with foliage of a Late Decorated character. The walls of the screen support the old rood-loft, access to which is gained by two staircases.

“Entering the Choir we see on each side of the doorway three prebendal stalls with misereres, on which are carved some foliage. The Bishop’s Stall was once occupied by Cardinal Wolsey. The choir was built by Archbishop Grey in Early English style (1230-1250). There are six arches, with piers of eight clustered shafts. The dogtooth moulding is conspicuous in the arches and on the vaulting of the roof. It will be noticed that the triforium and clerestory are blended together. The east window consists of two rows of lancets, the lower ones containing old glass brought from Paris in 1815, where it was formerly in the Chapel of the Knights Templar. The Baptism of Our Lord; Raising of Lazarus (Francis I. is to be seen in a crimson cap); Christ entering Jerusalem (Luther is near Our Lord, Louis XI. and the Duke of Orleans); the Mocking of Our Lord (the figure of Dante appears).

“The Sedilia were erected in 1350 and are good Decorated

work. They have the unusual number of five seats on the same level. The arches are ogee-shaped and are richly carved. The sculptured figures are remarkable, and represent the Creation and the Redemption. Beginning at the east we see the Father holding the world (two groups uncertain), Joseph’s Dream, the Nativity and Flight into Egypt.

“The Lectern belonged to the monks of Newstead Abbey, who threw it into the lake to hide it from the commissioners of Henry VIII. Its date is about 1500.”—(P. H. D.)

“The transition between the Early English work of the choir and the Decorated style of the Chapter-House is very gradual. The doorway, with its two arches and shafts of Purbeck marble, is remarkably fine. There is a small cloister court, with a stone-covered well. In the vestibule we see the walls covered with beautiful arcading of lancet arches of an Early English character. The capitals are beautifully carved with foliage. There is a curious boss of sculpture representing a secular priest shaking the regular monk by the hair, which figuratively depicts the supremacy of the former in the church of Southwell.

“The Chapter-House (1285-1300) is described by Ruskin as ‘the gem of English architecture,’ and all architects agree in singing the praises of this noble building. It much resembles that of York, but is smaller and perhaps more beautiful. It is octagonal, has no central pillar, and is remarkable for its fine sculpture. The historian of Southwell says: ‘The foliage everywhere is most beautiful: the oak, the vine, the maple, the white-thorn, the rose, with a vast variety of other plants, are sculptured with exquisite freedom and delicacy; and no two capitals, or bosses or spandrels are found alike. Everywhere we meet, in ever-changing and ever-charming variety, with some fresh object of interest and admiration. Figures are introduced amid the foliage, heads with branches issuing out of their mouths, birds and lizard-like monsters. In the{318} capitals a man reclines beneath a tree, puffing lustily at a horn, or a goat is gnawing the leaves, or a bird pecking the berries, or a pair of pigs are grunting up the acorns, or a brace of hounds just grabbing a hare. All this is the work of no mere chiseller of stone, but of a consummate artist; than whom it may be doubted whether any sculptor of any age or country ever produced anything more life-like and exquisitely graceful.’ The entrance doorway is remarkably fine and is worthy of close study. The main arch is divided into two by a slender shaft, and over them is a quatrefoiled circle of beautiful design. The leaf ornament is largely used, both in the smaller arches and in the main arch. Filleted rounds and hollows are the other mouldings used.”—(P. H. D.)

“The Norman style was giving place to the lighter and more elegant architecture of the Early English period, the round arch was beginning to be superseded by the pointed arch, and the massive ornamentation which marks the earlier style was displaced by the conventional foliage that soon came to be very generally employed. Most wisely, however, the Peterborough builders made their work at the west end of the nave intentionally uniform with what was already built. Very numerous indications of this can be seen by careful observers. The bases of the western pillars, the change in the depth of the mouldings, characteristic changes in the capitals in the triforium range, and especially the grand arches below the transept towers, which are pointed but enriched with ornamentation of pronounced Norman character, all point to the later date of this western transept.

“At the west wall of the church all trace of Norman work disappears. The arcade near the ground, the large round arch above the door, the great west window and its adjacent arches (not, of course, including the late tracery), are all of distinct Early English character. The whole of{321} this wall may be held to be an integral part of the west front, and not of the transept which it bounds.

“When we come to the most distinctive feature of the cathedral, the glorious west front, we find we have no help whatever from the chronicles. Nowhere is there the smallest reference to its building. Other works raised by the Abbots of the period are named, but the noble western portico is never once mentioned.”—(W. D. S.)

“The next day after their arrival, early in the morning they break open the church doors, pull down the organs of which there were two pair.

“Then the soldiers enter the quire, and their first business was to tear in pieces all the common prayer-books that could be found. Next they break down all the seats, stalls and wainscot that was behind them, being adorned with several historical passages out of the Old Testament.

“Now behind the communion-table there stood a curious piece of stone-work, admired much by strangers and travellers: a stately skreen it was, well wrought, painted and gilt, which rose up as high almost as the roof of the church, in a row of three lofty spires, with other lesser spires growing out of them. This now had no imagery work upon it, or anything else that might justly give offence, and yet because it bore the name of the high altar, was pulled down with ropes, lay’d low and level with the ground.

“Over this place, in the roof of the church, in a large oval yet to be seen, was the picture of Our Saviour seated on a throne; one hand erected and holding a globe in the other, attended with the four Evangelists and saints on each side, with crowns in their hands, intended, I suppose, for a representation of Our Saviour’s coming to judgment. This was defaced and spoilt by the discharge of muskets.

“Then they rob and rifle the tombs and violate the monuments of the dead....

“When they had thus demolished the chief monuments, at length the very gravestones and marbles on the floor did not escape their sacrilegious hands. For where there was anything on them of sculptures or inscriptions in brass, these they force and tear off.

“Having thus done their work on the floor below, they are now at leisure to look up at the windows above.

“Now the windows of this church were very fair, being adorned and beautified with several historical passages{323} out of Scripture and ecclesiastical story; such were those in the body of the church, in the aisles, in the New Building, and elsewhere. But the cloister windows were most famed of all, for their great art and pleasing variety. One side of the quadrangle containing the history of the Old Testament; another, that of the New; a third, the founding and founders of the church; a fourth, all the kings of England downwards from the first Saxon king. All which notwithstanding were most shamefully broken and destroyed. Yea, to encourage them the more in this trade of breaking and battering windows down, Cromwell himself (as ’twas reported) espying a little crucifix in a window aloft, which none perhaps before had scarce observed, gets a ladder and breaks it down zealously with his own hand.

“Thus, in a short time, a fair and goodly structure was quite stript of all its ornamental beauty, and made a ruthful spectacle, a very chaos of desolation and confusion, nothing scarce remaining but only bare walls, broken seats and shattr’d windows on every side.”—(P.)

“A fine view of the best feature of Peterborough, the west front, is immediately opened with a foreground of smooth turf. The great portico, with its three arches, eighty feet high, of pure Early English style, is unlike anything else in England, and inspires universal surprise and admiration. It was built on the old Norman church, but does not actually touch the western walls.

“The spires of the portico are of different sizes and designs. The northern does not group well with the transeptal tower behind it, and there is a certain confusion to the eye when so many towers are in our view. The southern transeptal tower was never carried above the roof. The central tower over the choir after being repeatedly repaired and restored, fell in 1884, destroying the interior fittings and stalls, but, on the whole, doing less damage than might have been expected. The tower has been rebuilt, but not to the old pattern, and the four corner turrets have disappeared.”—(W. J. L.)

“Immediately before us we see the noble West Front ‘the pride and glory of Peterborough,’ the finest portico in Europe. With the exception of the porch, the style is pure Early English. On the north and south are two lofty turrets, flanked at the angles with clustered shafts, and crowned with spires. Between these are three pointed arches, supported by clustered shafts, six on each side with foliated capitals. The central arch is narrower than the rest, but its mouldings are ornamented with crockets and dog-tooth. A string-course runs along the top of the arches, and the spandrels have trefoils, quatrefoils and niches with statues. Above the string-course is a series of trefoiled arches, some of which have statues. Between the three gables are pinnacles much ornamented. The gables have circular win{325}dows of beautiful design and a cross on the apex; they are ornamented with dog-tooth and have niches with statues—St. Peter in the centre, with SS. John and Andrew on either side. The turrets on the north and south have six stages panelled with arches. The spires are good examples of the difference between those of the Early Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The south spire is connected with the pinnacles of the tower by clustered pinnacles springing from an arch; these are decorated with crockets, and the spire belongs to the early Fourteenth Century; whereas the spire on the north has no such connection and is Early Perpendicular.

“We now notice the Porch with the parvise over it. This was built late in the Fourteenth Century in order to give additional strength to the west front and act as a kind of buttress to the piers of the central arch. The design is very beautiful. The entrance has an obtuse arch, and above a Perpendicular window with elliptical arch. Buttresses empanelled with niches stand on each side. It has a stone vault of good design. One boss is curious, representing the Trinity. The attitude of the Saviour shows that the figure was designed by a freemason, and bears witness to the antiquity of that fraternity. The parvise is now a library.”—(P. H. D.)

“The construction of this elegant little edifice is extremely scientific, especially in the matter in which the thrust is distributed through the medium of the side turrets so as to fall upon the buttresses in front. These turrets being erected against one side of the triangular columns, on the right and the left hand, support them in two directions at once, viz., from collapsing towards each other, and from falling forward. The latter pressure{326} is thrown wholly upon the buttresses in front, which project seven feet beyond the base of the great pillars.”—(F. A. P.)

“It is vaulted in two bays, the first being of the same dimensions as the inner width of the portico; the western bay (of the same size) thus reaches beyond the two great piers and the corner turrets and buttresses in all project about seven feet. This gives a very substantial support to the piers. The whole composition is very fine, and quite worthy of the great portico to which it is an adjunct. It must be left to each spectator to decide for himself if it improves or diminishes the effect of the whole. It is of late Decorated date, highly enriched with profuse carving. The staircase turrets, as well as the great window, are embattled. The spaces north and south, and within the portico, have tracery on the walls similar to the window. The groining is very fine. One of the central bosses has a representation of the Trinity. The Father is represented as the Ancient of Days, with a Dove for the Holy Spirit above the shoulder and the figure of the Saviour on the Cross in front. Freemasons are recommended to look for a special symbol which they alone can understand and appreciate. The floor of the portico is paved with gravestones, some apparently in their original position. The place was at one time appropriated as a burial-place for the Minor Canons.”—(W. D. S.)

“With a few exceptions, the whole of the interior of the Cathedral is in the Norman style, and many judge it to be the most perfect specimen in England. The plan consists of a nave of ten bays, with aisles and a western transept; transepts of four bays, terminating in an apse, nearly semicircular, with aisles; and beyond the apse a large square-ended addition for more chapels having a{327} groined stone-roof of fan-tracery, now known as the New Building. The ritual choir, as distinguished from the architectural choir, extends two bays into the nave. This arrangement is a return to the ancient one used by the Benedictines, the choir in Dean Monk’s alterations having been limited to the position east of the central tower.

“As we enter at the west door we see at a glance the entire length and the whole beauty of the admirable proportion of the several parts. While many may wish that the great arches of the tower which can be seen from the west end had never been altered from the round form of the Norman builders, few will regret that the Decorated arches which took their place were retained when the tower was rebuilt, instead of having new arches in the Norman style substituted. The want of colour which is so marked a defect in many English cathedrals is not so conspicuous here, because of the painted ceiling.”—(W. D. S.)

“As we enter we notice the distinctive character of the Norman work of which this Cathedral is a notable and excellent example. In the extreme west there is a blending of the two styles of Norman and Early English, but the monks of Peterborough clung tenaciously to their old ideas and to Norman and Romanesque models, and right up to the end of the Twelfth Century built in this style, not from any desire to imitate the work of their predecessors{328} (as some writers assert), but from an obstinate adherence to conservative tradition. Even when the glorious tide of English Gothic was rising, and they could no longer resist the flood, they clung to the old zigzag mouldings. It is evident from the construction of the third column that they intended to end their church there; but happily the Thirteenth Century brethren decided to rear the noble twin-towered front and the perfect portico. Some of the later columns show Transition work; on one side we see a Norman base or capital, on the other an Early English.

“There is a grand uninterrupted view of the whole length of the Cathedral from west to east. It will be observed that the lower arch is Decorated, and this adds to the beauty of this view. Before leaving the west we notice some dog-tooth carved in wood, which is somewhat rare.”—(P. H. D.)

“All agree that the style of the painting is perfectly characteristic of the period. The divisions are of the lozenge shape; in each lozenge of the central line is a figure, and in each alternate one of the sides. The middle set has more elongated lozenges than the others. The borders are black and white, with some coloured lines, in odd zigzag patterns. The figures, which are mostly seated, are very quaint and strange. Some are sacred, some grotesque. We can see St. Peter with the keys, kings, queens and minstrels; we find also a head with two faces, a monkey riding backwards on a goat, a human figure with head and hoof of an ass, a horse playing a harp, a winged dragon, a dancing lion, an eagle, and other curious devices.”—(W. D. S.)

“This portion was the earliest part of the Cathedral, and was constructed by Abbot de Sais (1114-1125). The hatchet moulding is conspicuous. The triforium arches are double like the nave, and the clerestory has triple arches, the centre one being the highest. The apse is particularly fine. The Decorated style is evident in the windows, which were inserted in the Fourteenth Century instead of the old Norman ones, and the hanging tracery of graceful design was then added. The roof of the choir is late Fourteenth Century work except at the east end where the roof is flat. Here Cromwell’s soldiers discharged their muskets at the figure of our Lord in glory, which they deemed to be an idol. This ceiling was decorated in 1884 by Sir Gilbert Scott. The bosses of the rest of the roof are curious. Nearly all the old glass was destroyed in the Puritan desecration; the remaining fragments have been placed in the two highest east windows. The fittings of the choir are modern except an ancient lectern of Fifteenth Century date, given by Abbot Ramsay and Prior Malden, as the inscription testifies, though it is now scarcely legible. The choir-stalls are remarkably fine. The carved figures contain a history of the Cathedral written in wood.”—(P. H. D.)

“The New Building built beyond the apse is a very noble specimen of late Perpendicular work. It was begun by Abbot Richard Ashton (1438-1471) and completed by Abbot Robert Kirton (1496-1528): the works seem to have been suspended between these periods. The roof has the beautiful fan tracery, very similar on a small scale to that at King’s College Chapel at Cambridge. The building is of the width of the choir and aisles together.

“The junction of this addition with the original Norman apse is admirable, and should be specially noticed. Parts of the original external string-course of the apse can be{330} seen. The ornamentation on the bosses of the roof and in the cavetto below the windows, and round the great arches from the choir aisles, is very varied.

“It must be sufficient here to indicate some of the designs. Most need little explanation, but a few are hard to understand. On the roof may be seen the three lions of England, a cross between four martlets, three crowns each pierced by an arrow, and another design. The smaller designs include four-leaved flowers, Tudor roses, fleur-de-lys, the portcullis, some undescribable creatures, crossed keys, crossed swords, crossed crosiers, crosses, crowns, crowns pierced with arrows, crowned female head, an eagle, the head of the Baptist in a charger, an angel, mitres, three feathers rising from a crown, St. Andrew’s cross, and perhaps others. There are also some rebuses and some lettering. On the north wall, in six several scrolls, the letters AR before a church and a bird on a tun occur more than once. This certainly refers to Abbot Robert Kirton; but what the bird means is not clear. In the moulding over the large arch to the south choir are four sets of letters. They form the last verse of the psalter. The words are contracted: they stand for Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum.”—(W. D. S.)

“The east end of Peterborough is rather peculiar. There remains the old Norman apse with Decorated windows inserted, and this is surrounded by what is called the New Building, though it is 400 years old, formed by extending the walls of the choir and building a square end to the Cathedral. This was erected by Abbot Kirton. His work possesses the best features of Perpendicular style. It is richly ornamented and when we examine his work we cannot say that the glories of Gothic achievement had quite departed. We see the twelve buttresses, each terminated with a seated figure, usually said to be one of the Apostles.”—(P. H. D.)

“The first glimpse of Ely overwhelms us, not only by its stateliness and variety of its outline, but by its utter strangeness, its unlikeness to anything else. Ely, with its vast single western tower, with its central octagon unlike anything else in the whole world, has an outline altogether peculiar to itself.”—(E. A. F.)

“No one could possibly have been found in the whole kingdom better qualified to cope with the great disaster that took place at Ely in 1322 than the officer of the house who had the special custody of the fabric. The originality and skill with which he designed and carried out the noble work that takes the place of the central tower, which is without a rival in the architecture of the whole world, are beyond all praise. The exquisite work in the Lady-Chapel would in itself have been sufficient to establish Walsingham’s reputation as an architect of the very highest order of merit; but it would have revealed nothing, if it stood alone, of the consummate constructive genius which he displayed in the conception of the octagon.

“The building was begun as soon as the space was cleared. The stonework was finished in 1328, little more than six years after the tower fell. The woodwork of the vaulting and lantern took longer time; but this also was quite complete in 1342. Walsingham had become prior in the previous year. The weight of the lantern, it need hardly be said, is not borne, though it looks like it from below, by the vaulting that we see. There is a perfect forest of oak hidden from sight, the eight great angle posts being no less than 3 feet 4 inches by 2 feet 8 inches in section.

“With such a man as Walsingham on the spot we cannot be wrong in assigning to him the authorship of all the architectural designs that were carried out in his lifetime.{338} It is believed—for the date is not exactly known—that he died in 1364. Besides the Lady-Chapel and Octagon, he must have designed the singularly beautiful bays of the presbytery between the Octagon and Northwold’s work. The exquisite way in which the main characteristics of the Early English work are adapted to the Decorated style demands our highest admiration. The arrangement of the three western bays on each side is exactly like Northwold’s work, while the additional grace and beauty of ornamentation mark the advance in taste that distinguished the Decorated period. Bishop Hotham undertook the whole expense of rebuilding this portion of the cathedral. He did not live to see it completed, as he died in 1337, but he left money for the purpose.”—(W. D. S.)

“Each side externally, is covered with lancet arcading in four tiers. In the upper tier the lancets are trefoiled with dog-tooth in the moulding; in the next lower tier the lancets are cinquefoiled, with two sets of dog-tooth. The lancets in the west face are all cinquefoiled, and the three lower tiers have trefoils in the spandrels. Nearly all are highly enriched with dog-tooth; while the mouldings of the west door have conventional foliage as well. The lancets here are deeper than on the sides of the porch, and were probably designed to hold figures. Of the three large lancets in the west window the central one is slightly more lofty than the others.

“The interior of the porch is even more beautiful; the profusion of ornamentation on the inner doorway and the exceeding gracefulness of the double arcades in the sides are quite unsurpassed. Both doorways are divided by a shaft and both have open tracery of exceptional beauty above.”—(W. D. S.)

“The way in which the octagon and lantern combine in producing a perfectly harmonious composition is in great part due to two points of difference, points which very few observers detect. These are, firstly, that the lantern is a regular octagon, having all its sides equal, in this respect being unlike the stone octagon beneath it; and, secondly, that the eight faces of the lantern are not parallel to the eight faces of the octagon. The new windows of the lantern are similar to the large ones below, but are not mere copies of them. The upper stage of the lantern, above the roof as seen from within, was once a bell-chamber; its lights are not, and never have been, glazed. The whole of the lantern is of wood, covered with lead. Two flying-buttresses rise from the corners of the nave and transept aisles to the corbel table of the clerestory range. There are also eight elegant flying-buttresses, one{340} to each of the angles of the lantern. These are part of the new work, the originals having long disappeared.”—(W. D. S.)

“Few visitors will perhaps be disposed to examine any of the objects of interest in the cathedral before an inspection of the beauties of this magnificent erection, the first sight of which, from one of the smaller arches towards the aisles, is a thing never to be forgotten. There is not one of the many able artists and architects who have written{342} about the Octagon that has not spoken of it as being without rival in the whole world; and the admiration that was expressed fifty and more years ago would have been far greater, and the enthusiasm more profound, had the writers seen it in its present state of perfect restoration. No description can do adequate justice to the grandeur of the conception or to the brilliancy of the execution of this renowned work.

“The four great arches rise to the full height of the roof; that to the east, indeed, is higher than the vaulted roof of the choir and presbytery, the intervening space being occupied with tracery of woodwork on painted boards, the Saviour on the Cross being painted in the middle. The wooden vaulting of the Octagon springs from the capitals on the same level as those of the great arches. The four small arches to the aisles are of course no higher than the roofs of the aisles: above these, on each side, are three figures of apostles, under canopies with crockets. The figures are seated, and each holds an emblem, by which it can be seen for whom the figure is intended. It may be noticed (in the central figure on the south-west side) that St. Paul, not St. Matthias, is put in the place of Iscariot. The hood-moulds of the arches are terminated by heads, of which six are portraits. King Edward III. and Queen Philippa are at the north-east, Bishop Hotham and Prior Crauden at the south-east, Walsingham and his master-mason (so it is believed) at the north-west; those to the south-west are mere grotesques. Above the seated figures on each side is a window of four broad lights, filled with stained glass. The eight chief vaulting shafts rise from the ground as slight triple shafts; they support, a little above the spring of the side arches, large corbels, which form bases for exquisitely designed niches, and through these spring more shafts reaching to the vault. On each of the corbels is a boldly carved scene from the career of St. Etheldreda; they commence at the north-west arch. The subjects (two to each arch) are as follows:

“North-west arch: St. Etheldreda’s second marriage. Her taking the veil at Coldingham.

“North-east arch: Her staff taking root. Her preservation in the flood at St. Abb’s Head.{343}

“South-east arch: Her installation as Abbess of Ely. Her death and burial (two scenes).

“South-west arch: One of her miracles. Her translation.

“In order to understand these wonderful sculptures more fully we refer to the Liber Eliensis which describes Etheldreda as hurrying away from Coldingham with two ladies, Sewenna and Sewara, and as reaching a rocky place on the coast where they were overtaken by the king, but the three ladies crossed the Humber and proceeded south, dressed as pilgrims. One night, while the queen slept, her staff, placed in the ground, burst into leaf and flower. On this spot a church was built and dedicated to St. Etheldreda. When the three pilgrims arrived in the Isle of Ely, they were joined by Wilfrid, the archbishop of York, who induced Etheldreda to take the veil. The miracle referred to in the south-west arch shows St. Etheldreda and St. Benedict appearing to a monk named Brytstan, who was charged with seeking refuge in a monastery in order to escape punishment for robberies of which he had been guilty. The miracle was told to Queen Matilda, who freed Brytstan.”—(W. D. S.)

“In the juxtaposition of these two magnificent specimens of the Early English and Decorated periods of architecture there is an opportunity of comparison which on such a scale occurs nowhere else. It is to be remembered that in neither case is the treatment of the upper part quite in accordance with the usual practice of the period. When the presbytery was being built there were still standing east of the central tower the four original{344} bays of the Norman choir. These, it may be assumed, were very similar in character to those in the nave. There would, beyond question, have been in each bay large triforium arches, each with a couple of subordinate arches; and a single window in the clerestory with a blank arch on each side. Bishop Northwold’s work was purposely made to correspond with these bays as far as Early English work could do so; and when after the fall of the tower it became necessary to rebuild the choir, Bishop Hotham in like manner made his Decorated work correspond with the Early English presbytery. The choir is, as would be expected, richer in detail as well as more elaborate in design; and it would be difficult to find in England anything to surpass the tracery of the clerestory windows and triforium arches, the beautiful cusped inner arches of the clerestory range, the open parapets at the base of the two stages, or the long corbels, covered with foliage, that support the vaulting shafts. In the choir the clerestory windows have four lights each; in the presbytery are triplets. The old colouring has been renewed throughout. On the north side of the choir the three bays are precisely alike; but on the south there is a variation in the tracery of the western triforium arch. There are also shields of arms (of the See of Ely and of Bishop Hotham) in the spandrels of the triforium and arch below; and the shaft between this arch and the next is enlarged at the top into a base for a statue (probably of St. Etheldreda); while level with the string above is a very fine large canopy (called by the workmen ‘the table’), which is like nothing else in the cathedral. The clerestory windows also on the south have different tracery.

“The difference between the two styles of architecture is well marked in the groining of the roof, the Decorated portion being much more elaborate. Some of the bosses are very remarkable: one has St. Etheldreda with pastoral staff; one has the coronation of the Virgin Mary; one has the foundress bearing the model of a church, in which (as Dean Stubbs has pointed out) both arms of the western transept are represented, so that it is a fair inference that at the time this roof was constructed the whole of the western transept was standing.

“Between the choir and presbytery there rise the mas{345}sive Norman piers built as the entrance to the apse; and these are the only remains of the Norman church east of the octagon.”—(W. D. S.)

“The east end of Ely is the grandest example of the grouping of lancets.... Ely is also undoubtedly the head of all east ends and eastern limbs of that class in which the main body of the church is of the same height throughout, and in which the aisles are brought out to the full length of the building.”—(E. A. F.)

“Notwithstanding the cruel mutilation of the sculpture all round this chapel, it can be seen that for perfection of exquisite work there is no building of the size in this country worthy for one moment to be compared with this in its unmutilated state. Its single defect strikes the beholder at once: the span of the roof is too broad and the vaulting too depressed for the size of the chapel. The windows on the north have been restored. The end windows, which are of great size, are of later date; that to the east has a look of Transition work about it. The building was finished in 1349, and the east window was inserted by Bishop Barnet, circa 1373. The great beauty of the interior consists in the series of tabernacle work and canopies that run round all the four sides below and between the windows. The heads of the canopies project. In the tracery beneath, at the head of the mullion, was a statue. The delicate carving of the cusps and other tracery is varied throughout. On the spandrels were incidents connected with the history of the Virgin Mary (mainly legendary) and of Julian the Apostate; and though in no single instance is a perfect uninjured specimen left, yet enough remains, in all but a few cases, for the original subjects to be identified. All was once enriched with colour, and many traces remain; and in various parts of the windows there are fragments of stained glass. Most of the monumental tablets which once disfigured the arcade{348} below the windows have been happily removed into the vestibule. The arches and canopies at the east end are arranged differently from those on the sides. In the roof, which reminds us of the contemporary roof in the choir, are some carved bosses, not large, but singularly good. Among the subjects can be recognised a Crucifixion, with half-figures beside the cross; Adam and Eve; the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, holding between them a book inscribed ‘Magnificat’; the Annunciation, with ‘Ave Maria Gratia plena’; the Ascension, indicated by the skirt and feet of the Saviour and five heads of apostles; the Coronation of the Virgin; and the Virgin in an aureole.”—(W. D. S.)

“The characteristics of the cathedral are—its long nave, which is typical of the Norman church; its glorious apsidal termination, encircled by a procession path, which recalls the plan of a French cathedral; and the form of this, with the remains of its old bishops’ chair centrally placed, and with the westward position, of the throne at Torcello and other Italian churches, of the basilican type of plan.

“It is interesting to note that Herbert’s early French training influenced him in the planning of the beautiful eastern termination to his cathedral, and the grand sweep of the procession path. Similar apsidal terminations, of slightly later date, once existed at Ely, and still remain in a modified form at Peterborough and St. Bartholomew’s.

“It is probable, and the more generally accredited supposition, that Herbert built the presbytery with its encircling procession path and the original trefoil of Norman chapel radiating therefrom;—the choir and transepts with the two chapels projecting eastwards and the first two bays of the nave. Harrod advances a theory that he completely finished the whole of the cathedral church, as well as the offices for the housing of the sixty monks who were placed therein, in 1101.”—(C. H. B. Q.)

“Lord, what work was here, what clattering of glasses, what beating down the Walls, what tearing up of Monu{351}ments, what pulling down of Seats, what wresting out of Irons and Brass from the Windows and Graves! What defacing of Armes, what demolishing of curious stone work, that had not any representation in the World, but only of the cost of the Founder and skill of the Mason, what toting and piping upon the destroyed Organ pipes, and what a hideous triumph on the Market day before all the Countrey, when, in a kind of Sacrilegious and profane procession, all the Organ pipes, Vestments, both Copes and Surplices, together with the Leaden Crosse which had been newly sawne down from over the Green-Yard Pulpit, and the Service books and singing books that could be had, were carried to the fire in the publick Market place; A leud wretch walking before the Train, in his Cope trailing in the dirt, with a Service book in his hand, imitating in an impious scorne the tune, and usurping the words of the Letany; neer the Publick Crosse, all these monuments of Idolatry must be sacrificed to the fire, not without much Ostentation of a zealous joy.”

“The Tower and Spire stand at the intersection of the choir and transepts, covered with vertical shafts on the face of each. The tower is Norman buttress, which is finished by a crocketed pinnacle. Between these buttresses are horizontal bands of design: the lowest, a Norman arcade of nine arches, three of which are pierced as windows; then, above this, a smaller wall arcade with interlaced arches; and then, above again, the principal feature, an arcading of nine arches, three pierced for windows, and the others filled with wall tracery of diamonds and circles; then, between this last and the battlemented parapet, occur five vertical panels, each comprising two circles, the upper pierced for a window. Above, soaring upward, rises the later crocketed spire. The rest of the tower was finished during the reign of Henry I., and is a beautiful specimen of the work of that time; the stonework was almost entirely refaced in 1856. The tower was crowned by a wooden spire from 1297; this was blown down in 1361, damaging the presbytery so badly that the clerestory had to be rebuilt. The wooden spire was constructed probably at the same time, and the present Early Perpendicular turrets were added. The spire was again in 1463 struck by lightning, and again falling eastward, went through the presbytery roof. The present spire was then constructed in stone by Bishop Lyhart (1446-72), and was finished by his successor, Bishop Goldwell (1472-99), who added the battlements.

“It will hardly be necessary to enlarge on the beauty of this spire of Norwich, as the dominant feature, seen from the south-east, rising above the curved sweep of the apse, and strongly buttressed by the south transept, it stands up, clearly defined against the western sky, and points upward, significant and symbolical at once of the ends and aspirations of the church below.

“The eastern arm, or presbytery, takes its history from the tower. Here, as in the nave, the original triforium{353} windows are blocked up, and a range of Perpendicular work superimposed on the old. Above and beyond this, supported between each bay by flying-buttresses, comes the transitional Decorated to Perpendicular clerestory, higher than the original Norman clerestory remaining to the nave. At the base of each flying-buttress are figures of saints. The roof and Norman clerestory were damaged by the falling tower in 1361, but were rebuilt by Bishop Percy, 1355-69. This work is transitional Decorated to Perpendicular. The presbytery was then re-roofed with a framed timber construction, which was consumed by the falling of the burning spire, struck by lightning in 1463. The present stone vault was added in its place by Bishop Goldwell, 1472-99. This necessitated the addition as well of flying-buttresses to take the thrust of the vault.

“The battlementing to the presbytery also was added at the same time as the flying-buttresses.

“It will also be noted that here, as in the nave, an addition was made in the way of a range of later ‘Perpendicular’ windows superimposed over the original Norman triforium, which was blocked up.”—(C. H. B. Q.)

“The nave on the south side can be seen well either from the upper or lower Close, and can be better examined in detail from the interior of the cloisters. Its elevation con{354}sists of fourteen bays divided by flat Norman buttresses. In height it is composed of what, at first sight, appears a bewildering confusion of arches, arcades and windows. Over the aisle windows, hidden by the north walk of cloisters, comes a Norman wall arcading; and over this the Norman triforium windows blocked up, and again, above the later Perpendicular triforium, superimposed on the old, and finished with a battlemented parapet. Behind this come the triforium roof, and then beyond the original Norman clerestory, each bay with a triple arch formation, the centre arch pierced for a window. And then above all, the lead roof over the nave vault.

“The radical changes that have taken place since the nave was built by Bishop Eborard (1121-45) consist of the insertion in the aisles of later ‘Decorated’ traceried windows in place of the original Norman ones, and of the superimposition, before referred to, at triforium level, of a whole range of ‘Perpendicular’ windows over the old Norman work, which were blocked up at this period. The battlementing, too, over the clerestory to the nave is later work, to correspond with battlementing over the triforium windows. It will be noticed that the two bays next the transept in the triforium are higher than the others, in order to throw additional light into the choir.

“Also on this same south side, in the seventh and eighth bays from the west end, two very late windows occur, inserted in the Norman arcading under the original triforium windows; these were inserted by Bishop Nykke to light the chapel he built in two bays of the south aisle of the nave.

“The curious raking of the lead rolls to the nave roof is noticeable; the mediæval builders did this with a view of counteracting the ‘crawl’ of the lead.”—(C. H. B. Q.)

“The vault is of Perpendicular design, and known as lierne; such vaults may be distinguished by the fact that between the main ribs, springing from the vaulting shafts, are placed cross ribs forming a pattern, as it were, and bracing the main ribs, but not in any great measure structural. This vault at Norwich may be taken as typical of the last legitimate development of the stone roof; it was the precursor of the later fan-vaulting, such as we find in Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster, where legitimate construction was replaced by ostentatious ingenuity and the accumulation of needless ornament and detail.

“To all those who take an interest in early stone-cutting, this vault of Norwich is a store of inexhaustible treasure; the bosses, rudely cut as they are, tell their own tales with singular truth and directness. Their sculpture may not display the anatomical knowledge of the work of the Renaissance; yet it has a distinct decorative value that has been seldom equalled in the later decadent period. The fourteen large central bosses on the main longitudinal ribs present in themselves an epitome not only of Bible history, but of the connecting incidents forming the theme of Christian teaching. In the tenth bay, on the longitudinal rib, there is, in place of a boss, a circular hole through{356} the vault. It is supposed to have been formed to allow a thurible to be suspended therefrom into the church below. Harrod, quoting from Lambard’s ‘Topographical Dictionary,’ says: ‘I myself, being a child, once saw in Poule’s Church at London, at a feast of Whitsontide, wheare the comyng down of the Holy Gost was set forth by a white pigeon that was let to fly out of a hole that is yet to be seen in the mydst of the roof of the great ile, and by a long censer which, descending out of the same place almost to the very ground, was swinged up and down at such a length that it reached at one swepe almost to the west gate of the church, and with the other to the queer [quire] stairs of the same, breathing out over the whole church and companie a most pleasant perfume of such sweet things as burned therein.’

“It is probable that the hole in the nave vault at Norwich was used for a similar purpose; and its position would seem to agree with such use, situated as it is about midway between the west end and where the front of the mediæval rood loft occurred.”—(C. H. B. Q.)

“The arches are filled with open tracery carried by two mullions.

“On the east side it is geometrical in character, the work being transitional between Early English and Deco{359}rated; on the south side the tracery is more flowing and has advanced to Decorated; on the west side again, we get the transitional style between Decorated and Perpendicular, with some flamboyant or flame-like detail; while on the north and latest side it is frankly Perpendicular.”—(C. H. B. Q.)

“Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) pulled down the west front and began to build a new one in its place. He laid the foundation of the whole front, but then went on with the north side first. The north porch was nearly finished in his time; the central porch was carried up as far as the spring of the arch; the southern porch was carried hardly any way up from the foundations. The porches are described by those who saw them before Lord Grimthorpe swept away the whole west front as some of the choicest specimens of Thirteenth Century work in England. The mouldings were of great delicacy, and were enriched with dog-tooth ornament. It is said that Abbot John was not a good man of business, and that he was sorely robbed and cheated by his builders, and so had not money enough to finish the work that he had planned. To his successor, William of Trumpington, it therefore fell to carry on the work. He was a man of a more practical character, though not equal to his predecessor in matters of taste. He finished the main part of the western front. Oddly enough no dog-tooth ornament was used in the central and southern porches, and the character of the carved foliage differs also from that of the north porch. In Abbot John’s undoubted work the curling leaves overlap, and have strongly defined stems resembling the foliage of Lincoln choir, while that of Abbot William’s time had the ordinary character of the Early English style. There is evidence to show that he intended to vault the church with a stone roof; this may be seen from the marble vaulting-shafts on the north side of the nave between the arches of the main arcade, which, however, are not carried higher than the string-course below the triforium. The idea of a stone vault was, however, abandoned before the two eastern Early English bays on the south side were built, for no preparation for vaulting shafts exists there.

“Abbot John de Cella had begun to build afresh the western towers, or, according to some authorities, to build the first western towers that the church ever had; we have no record of their completion, and it is said that Abbot William abandoned the idea. We have only the foundations by which we can determine their size. William of Trumpington transformed the windows of the aisles into Early English ones. He also added a wooden lantern to{365} the tower, somewhat in the style of the wooden octagon on the central tower of Ely.”—(T. P.)

“It is 144 feet high and is not quite square in plan, measuring 47 feet from east to west, and two feet less from north to south. The walls are about seven feet thick; in the thickness, however, passages are cut. It has three stages above the ridges of the roof. The lower stage has plain windows in each face, lighting the church below; the next stage, or ringing room, has two pairs of double windows; and the upper or belfry stage, two double windows of large size, furnished with louvre boards. The parapet is battlemented, and of course of later work than the tower{366} itself. The tower is flanked by pilaster buttresses, which merge into cylindrical turrets in the upper story. For simple dignity the tower stands unrivalled in this country. It must have been splendidly built to have stood as it has done so many centuries without accident. Winchester tower fell not long after its building, Peterborough tower has been rebuilt in modern days; but Paul of Caen did not scamp his work as the monks of Peterborough did, and no evil-living king was buried below the tower, as was the case at Winchester, thus, according to the beliefs of the time, leading to its downfall. Tewkesbury tower alone can vie with that of St. Albans, and the Seventeenth Century pinnacles on that tower spoil the general effect, so that the foremost place among central Norman towers as we see them to-day may safely be claimed for that at St. Albans. Few more beautiful architectural objects can be seen than this tower of Roman brick, especially when the warmth of its colour is accentuated by the ruddy flush thrown over it by the rays of a setting sun.”—(T. P.)

“As we stand just inside the west door of the church we are struck by the length of ritual nave, about 200 feet, the flatness of the roofs, and the massiveness of the arcading dividing the nave from the aisles; for, though the four western bays on the north side and five on the south are Early English in date, there is none of that lightness and grace that we are accustomed to associate with work of this period, no detached shafts of Purbeck marble such as we see at Salisbury, no exquisitely carved capitals such

as we meet with at Wells. William of Trumpington seems to have aimed at making his work harmonize with the Norman work that he left untouched; and when the rest of the main arcade on the south side was rebuilt in the next century, it was made to differ but little in general appearance and dimensions from Abbot William’s.

“On entering by the west door a peculiarity will at once be noticed. About fifteen feet from the inner side of the west wall there is a rise of five steps which stretch right across the church from north to south. The floor to the east of these steps slopes imperceptibly upwards for eight bays, when a rise of three more steps is met with. On this higher level stands the altar, which is backed up by the rood screen. There is another step to be ascended to the level of the choir, and another to reach the space below the tower. Five steps lead from this into the presbytery; there is another step at the high altar rails, and four more lead up to the platform on which the high altar will stand. From the space below the tower one step leads up into the north aisle and two more into the north arm of the transept. From the level of the south choir aisle and south transept two steps lead up into the south aisle of the presbytery; from this aisle there is a rise of four steps into the aisle south of the Saint’s Chapel, and from this into the chapel itself a rise of four more. So that the floor of this chapel is, with the exception of the high altar platform, which is one step higher, the highest in the whole church, or nineteen steps above the floor just inside the west door. From the aisle of the Saint’s Chapel one step leads into the retro-choir, and two more into the Lady-Chapel; hence the floor of the Lady-Chapel is one step lower than that of the Saint’s Chapel. If we take seven inches as the average height of a step, it would appear that the floor of the Lady-Chapel is about ten feet higher than the floor at the west end of the nave.”—(T. P.)

“Although in the four western bays of the main arcade the Early English work is very plain, yet the triforium is{369} ornate. The arcading consists of two pointed arches in each bay, each comprising two sub-arches; the supporting columns are slender and enriched with dog-tooth mouldings, with which also the string-course below the triforium is decorated. The shafts, which probably were intended to support a stone vault over the nave, should be noticed.

“The triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large, wide-splayed, round-headed openings, in which the tracery and glazing introduced in the Fifteenth Century, when the aisle roof was lowered in pitch so as to expose the north side of the triforium to the sky, still remains. One of the triforium arches, namely, the third from the tower, was simply walled up at this time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory in this part of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. Between each bay the outer southern face of each Norman pier is continued in the form of the flat pilaster buttress up to the roof.”—(T. P.)

“The bones of St. Alban were of course counted as the chief treasure of the Abbey, in some respects the most valuable relics in the kingdom, since they were the bones of the first Christian martyr in the island. It was meet and fitting, then, that the most splendid resting-place should be chosen for them. The bones themselves were enclosed in an outer and an inner case; the inner was the work of the sixteenth Abbot, Geoffrey of Gorham (1119-1149), and the outer of the nineteenth Abbot, Symeon (1167-1183). These coffers were of special metal encrusted with rich gems. It is recorded that the reliquary was so heavy that it required four men to carry it, which they probably did by two poles, each passing through two rings on either side of the coffer. It is said to have been placed in a lofty position by Abbot Symeon; but the pedestal of which we see the reconstruction to-day was erected during the early part of the Fourteenth Century, in the time of the twenty-{372}sixth Abbot, John de Marinis (1302-1308). This was built of Purbeck marble and consists of a basement 2 feet 6 inches high, 8 feet 6 inches long, and 3 feet 2 inches wide, above which were four canopied niches at each side and one at each end; these were richly painted and probably contained other relics; in the spandrels were carved figures, at the corners angels censing. At the west end was a representation of St. Alban’s martyrdom; on the south side in the centre was, and still is, a figure of King Offa holding the model of a church; in the next spandrel to the east the figure of another king; on the east side a representation of the scourging of St. Alban, and on the north other figures, of which the only one remaining is that of a bishop or mitred abbot. In the pediments or gables were carvings of foliage, and round the top of the pedestal ran a richly-carved cornice; round the base stood fourteen detached shafts, on which perhaps the movable canopy rested, and outside three other shafts of twisted pattern on each side, which carried six huge candles, probably kept burning day and night, certainly during the night, to light the chamber holding the shrine. On this lofty pedestal, 8 feet 3 inches high, the glorious shrine rested. It was rendered still more ornate than it was in Abbot Symeon’s time by the addition of a silver-gilt turret, on the lower part of which was a representation of the Resurrection with two angels and four knights (suggested by the guard of Roman soldiers) keeping the tomb. A silver-gilt eagle of cunning craftsmanship stood on the shrine. All these additions were given by Abbot Thomas de la Mare (1349-1396). A certain monk also gave two representations of the sun in solid gold, surrounded by rays of silver tipped with precious stones. Over all was a canopy which, like many modern font-covers, was probably suspended by a rope running over a pulley in the roof, by which it might be raised. There is a mark in the roof remaining, possibly caused by the fastening of the pulley. An altar, dedicated to St. Alban, stood at the west end of the pedestal.

“Such a precious thing as this jewelled shrine and the still more precious bones within it could not be left for a moment unguarded and unwatched, for stealing relics, when a favourable opportunity arose, was a temptation too great to be resisted by any monks, however holy. So on{373} the south side of the shrine was erected a watching loft; the one that remains was constructed probably during the reign of Richard II., and his badge appears on it, but, no doubt, from the first there was some such place provided for the purpose of keeping guard. The chamber had two stories: the lower contained cupboards, in which vestments and relics were kept, these are now filled with various antiquarian curiosities, Roman pottery from Verulamium, architectural fragments, etc. An oaken staircase leads up into the chamber where the ‘custos feretri’ sat watching the shrine day and night, guard of course being changed at intervals. It must have been trying work watching there during the night-time in frosty weather, but monks were accustomed to bear cold. The watching chamber was built of oak and was richly carved. On the south side of the cornice are angels, the hart—badge of Richard II., the martyrdom of St. Alban, Time the reaper, and the seasons; on the north the months of the year are represented.”—(T. P.)

“St. Frideswide Church, now Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, is a fine example of late Norman and transitional work of early character. It was consecrated in 1180, and was probably building for about twenty years previously: the confirmation, by Pope Hadrian IV. (Breakspeare, the only English Pope), of the charters granting the Saxon monastery of St. Frideswide to the Norman monks was not obtained until 1158, and it is not probable that they began to rebuild their church until their property was secured. The Prior at this period was Robert of Cricklade, called Canutus, a man of considerable eminence, some of whose writings were in existence in the time of Leland. Under his superintendence the church was entirely rebuilt from the foundations, and without doubt on a larger scale than before, as the Saxon church does not appear to have been destroyed until this period.

“The design of the present structure is very remarkable; the lofty arched recesses, which are carried up over the actual arches and the triforium, giving the idea of a subsequent work carried over the older work; but an examination of the construction shows that this is not the case, that it was all built at one time, and that none of it is earlier than about 1160. In this church the central tower is not square, the nave and choir being wider than the transepts, and consequently the east and west arches are round-headed, while the north and south are pointed: this would not in itself be any proof of transition, but the whole character of the work is late, though very rich and good, and the clerestory windows of the nave are pointed without any necessity for it, which is then a mark of transition.”—(J. H. P.)

“After they were meet, and injoyned fasting and prayers were past, as also those ceremonies that are used at such times was with all decency performed, then those bishops that were appointed, accompanied with Alexio, the pope’s legat for Scotland, went to the place where she was buried, and opening the sepulchre, took out with great devotion the remainder of her body that was left after it had rested there 480 yeares, and with all the sweet odours and spices imaginable to the great rejoycing of the multitude then present mingled them amongst her bones and laid them up in a rich gilt coffer made and consecrated for that purpose, and placed it on the north side of the quire, somewhat distant from the ground, and inclosed it with a partition from the sight hereafter of the vulgar.”—(A.-à-W.)

“In the Lancet period (1190-1245) the works went on apace. An upper stage was added to the tower and on that{379} the spire was built—the first large stone spire in England. It is a Broach spire, i.e., the cardinal sides of the spire are built right out to the eaves, so that there is no parapet. On the other hand, instead of having broaches at the angle it has pinnacles. Moreover, to bring down the thrusts more vertically, heavy dormer windows are inserted at the foot of each of the cardinal sides of the spire,—altogether a very logical and scientific piece of engineering, much more common in the early spires of Northern France than in England.”—(F. B.)

“The whole church is exceedingly interesting. It fills a niche in the history of English architecture all by itself. It is not the early and rude Traditional work of the Cistercians. On the other hand, it has not yet the lightness and grace of Ripon; still less the charm of the Canterbury choir, Chichester presbytery, Wells and Abbey Dore—Gothic in all but name. In spite of a pointed arch here and there, it is a Romanesque design.

“The work commenced, as usual, at the east, as is shown by the gradual improvement westward in the designs of the capitals. The evidence of the vaulting, too, points in the same direction. In the choir-aisle the ribs are massive and heavy; in the western aisle of the north transept they are lighted; in the south aisle of the nave they are pointed and filleted.”—(F. B.)

“From the same position at the west of the cloister one can enjoy the best view of the tower and spire of the church. One is close enough to see all the detail and yet from this angle nothing is lost of the general effect. On a moonlit evening the effect is particularly solemn and beautiful. From this point also should be noticed the{381} difference in the masonry of the south transept. The lower story is entirely rubble, while the upper story is partly of good ashlar work.

“On the south side of the cloister is the Old Library, as it is now called, which was formerly the refectory of the monastery, and is all that now remains of the conventual buildings. Its large Perpendicular windows, rising like a clerestory above it, look on to the cloister, but they were spoilt on the inside by a staircase, when the building was turned into undergraduates’ rooms. On the other side, facing the meadow buildings, there is a curious little oriel window, its lights now walled up, that once contained the pulpit whence the lessons were read during meals.”—(P. D.)

“Christ Church is the smallest of our cathedrals; for even with the new ante-chapel it measures about 175 feet in length. Instead of being of the usual cruciform plan, it is now almost square,—in fact, the length from the reredos to the organ-screen is 132 feet, while the breadth across from the Latin Chapel to St. Lucy’s Chapel is 108 feet. The church is made up of the shortened nave with its two aisles, and ante-chapel, the central tower, the north transept with its one aisle, the south transept, and the eastern half of the church, which itself contains no less than six divisions,—the choir, with its two aisles, the Lady-Chapel on the north, and the Latin Chapel (or St. Catherine’s) on the north again of that, while on the south is the small chapel of St. Lucy.

“If the unusual appearance of the cathedral is partly{382} due to Wolsey’s destruction, it is partly due also to its being used as a college chapel, and partly to the fact that in general plan, and to some extent in detail, it is Ethelred’s design, commenced seventy years before the great developments of Norman architecture began.”—(P. D.)

“There are various opinions about this window, which represents Jonah sitting under his gourd, and the town of Nineveh in the distance. We must confess to a great admiration for it; the foliage is fine and rich, and if it is a little over-strong in its green, that only makes it more characteristic of its age. And, however that may be, there cannot be two opinions as to beauty of the town in the background, which reminds one irresistibly of Dürer; and, with its rich brown houses, bluish roofs, touches of greenery, and fair purple hills beyond, makes the right-hand light of the window a picture of which one never wearies. The whole is leaded in rectangular panes, like Bishop King’s window.”—(P. D.)

“The figure of Hope has a greyish-blue drapery, varied in tint and diapered with the pattern of a flower in stain. The scarf floating round the figure is sky-blue in tone and lighter than the dress. The figure of Charity has a ruby over-mantle, with a white dress underneath; while the figure of Faith has a blue dress beautifully and richly diapered, the upper portion with a sumptuous Venetian design familiar on the brocades of the Sixteenth Century, and the lower portion with a sprig of foliage. The tone of the backgrounds is a rich, warm green, and is very carefully painted with foliage, and the contrast yielded by

the pale blue of the drapery, and the rich, warm green of the background in the two outside windows, is most harmonious and striking. The detail in this window is very elaborate, and every part of it bears traces of care and thought.”—(P. D.)

“Fergusson considers this work to be the most satisfactory attempt ever made to surmount the great difficulty presented in all fan-tracery by the awkward, flat, central space which is left in each bay by the four cones of the vault. At Gloucester, King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster, and other places, various attempts were made to deceive the eye, and hide the unmanageable space; in Henry VII.’s Chapel the well-known pendants were boldly introduced with this object. None were wholly satisfactory, but, says Fergusson:—

“‘Strange as it may appear from its date, the most satisfactory roof of this class is that erected by Cardinal Wolsey over the choir of Oxford Cathedral. In this instance the pendants are thrust so far forward, and made so important, that the central part of the roof is practically quadripartite. The remaining difficulty was obviated by abandoning the circular, horizontal outline of true fan-tracery, and adopting a polygonal form instead. As the whole is done in a constructive manner and with appropriate detail, this roof, except in size, is one of the best and most remarkable ever executed.’

“Fan-tracery is a peculiarly English feature, and was invented, according to Fergusson, in order to get rid of the endless repetition of inverted pyramids which earlier vaulting produced. He therefore considers it an improve{384}ment on the vaulting of the early English and Decorated periods; and, as he thinks the ceiling of Christ Church Cathedral to be the best example of fan-tracery, he comes near to pronouncing it the finest in the world.”—(P. D.)

“Here the eye wanders among pillars and arches which branch away in so many directions that the grandest churches can scarcely give more thoroughly the idea of infinity. And here one stands on the site of St. Frideswide’s first little church, with the very arches that she had built for her, still standing in all their primitive simplicity.

“At the end of the north-choir-aisle is the St. Cecilia window, presented in honour of the patroness of music by Dr. Corfe, a former organist, in 1873. In the centre light the saint is represented playing her regal or small hand-organ; two angels holding other musical instruments, with palms in their hands, stand by her. The drapery is wrought in white glass, the angels have pale-blue wings, and the flesh tints matted over with red tell warm against the drapery. In the lower panels are three scenes from her life: ‘Here St. Cecilia teaches her husband,’ ‘Here an angel of the Lord teaches St. Cecilia,’ ‘Here St. Cecilia wins a heavenly crown;’ the saint’s figure in the last panel is most touchingly drawn. These lower panels are richer in colour than the rest, and a greater variety of{385} tints is introduced; but the colours are so delicate, and so skilfully blended, that they fall in most harmoniously with the main parts of the window.”—(P. D.)

“The coffer or shrine, which was made for the translation in 1289 (its base being therefore the most ancient monument in the cathedral), was knocked to pieces at the Reformation (1538), and, being of wood, must have entirely perished. But gradually, and from different places, fragments of the base were brought together: first, several pieces of delicately carved marble were discovered in the sides of a square well in the yard south-west of the cathedral; then a part of the plinth on the south side was found to be in use as a step, luckily with the carved portion turned inwards; next a spandrel was detected by Mr. Francis, the head verger, in the wall of the cemetery; and last of all a piece of the plinth was found in a wall in Tom Quad. Though some portions are still wanting, it is not impossible that more may yet be found.

“As the monument stands now, it cannot, of course, impress one as it would have done in its perfect state, with the rich superstructure crowning it: especially as the restored shafts are merely square stone supports of the clumsiest description, so studiously careful has the restorer been not to confuse them with the original work. Still, though the base of St. Frideswide’s shrine is only a collection of fragments, these fragments are of remarkable beauty and interest. It is of Forest marble, measuring seven feet by three and a half; and consists of an arcade of two richly cusped arches at the sides and one at each end. On the top of this was fixed the feretrum, containing the jewelled casket that held the relics themselves. The spandrels are filled with wonderfully carved foliage, unusually naturalistic, and preserving still the traces of colour and gilding to remind one of its former glories. On the south side there is maple in the central spandrel, with a wreath of what is probably crow’s-foot in a boss below: the two side spandrels contain columbine and the greater celandine. On the north side the foliage is mostly{386} oak, with acorns and numerous empty cups; sycamore and ivy filling the adjoining spandrels. At the east end one of the spandrels contains vine leaves and grapes, the other fig-leaves, but without the fruit; the cusp under the vine has a leaf which may be that of hog-leaf. At the west end there is hawthorn and bryony. The choice of all this foliage was doubtless made for symbolical reasons, referring first to St. Frideswide’s life in the oak woods near Abingdon, and next to her care for the sick and suffering at Thornberrie (now Binsey). And in this connection it is pleasant to think that the sculptor, with tender fancy, chose plants which were famous for their healing virtue.”—(P. D.)

“Its real nature is still a matter of dispute: some maintaining it to have been used as a chantry chapel for the welfare of those who were buried below; others, that it served as a ‘watching chamber’ to protect the gold and jewels which hung about the shrine of St. Frideswide.

“Most elaborately carved and crocketed, the ‘watching chamber’ is a beautiful example of full-blown Perpendicular workmanship; ‘most lovely English work, both of heart and hand,’ according to Mr. Ruskin. It consists of four stories, the two lower, in stone, forming an altar tomb and canopy, and the two upper in wood. A door from the Latin Chapel leads one up a small and well-worn stone staircase into the interior of the little upper chapel, which is now a rough wooden room. Its extreme roughness suggests that it was once panelled and otherwise adorned, while there are marks at its east end, which may be the site of an altar, or of the feretrum itself.”—(P. D.)

“The Decorated vaulting was built when the chapel was enlarged in the Fourteenth Century. The foliage of its bosses is very beautiful; the water-lilies especially of the third boss, so suggestive of Oxford streams, and the roses a little further east, are a happy combination of naturalistic treatment with decorative restraint. It will be noticed that the vaulting does not run true in the third bay, the Decorated work there having been somewhat awkwardly joined to the Early English of the second bay.

“A prominent feature in the Latin-Chapel is the old oak stalling, which a second inspection proves to be patchwork. The returned stalls at the west end probably belonged to the choir of the conventual church, and in that case would have been fitted in here when Dean Duppa ‘adorned’ the choir by destroying the old wood-work. Near to these is some of the work prepared for Cardinal Wolsey’s new{388} chapel. The poppy-heads are good specimens of wood-carving, and contain a monogram I.H.S., a heart in a crown of thorns, a cardinal’s hat, and other devices. The pulpit, with its delicate canopy, an excellent specimen of Seventeenth Century wood-work, was formerly the Vice-Chancellor’s seat in another part of the church, occupied by him during university sermons. It was then used by the Regius Professor of Divinity for his lectures, but since the altar was restored six years ago, the chapel has been no longer used as a lecture-room.”—(P. D.)

“Though this is one of the first windows that Burne-Jones ever designed it is one of his best. Better suited (as many think) to the purpose of a window, at all events in this enclosed chapel, than the freer method of the other glass, it carries on the best traditions of the craft, in its infinite variety of gem-like colour and complexity of detail; while it attains a degree of perfection in pictorial effect and figure-drawing which was impossible during the great era of mediæval glass-painting. The death of{389} the saint, with its lovely effect of light through the latticed window, for instance, and the picture of her in the pig-sty, would be perfect as finished pictures, and yet do not for an instant outstep the convention which is necessary for their function as part of a window.

“The colour is, in spite (or rather because) of its radiant variety, not so immediately attractive to every one as that of the other Burne-Jones windows; but when one has sat down for five or ten minutes and deciphered the various scenes, its unapproachable beauty becomes apparent, and each succeeding visit deepens the impression of the splendour and poetry of this incomparable work.

“The scenes depicted are, by the artist’s own account, as follows:—

“First Light: St. Frideswide and her companions brought up by St. Cecilia and St. Catherine; St. Frideswide founds her first convent; A messenger from the King of Mercia demands her in marriage; The King comes to take her by force, and the first convent is broken up.

“Second Light: Flight of St. Frideswide to Abingdon; The King of Mercia and his soldiers in pursuit; The Flight continued; The Pursuit continued; St. Frideswide takes refuge in a pig-sty.

“Third Light: Flight of St. Frideswide to Binsey; The King of Mercia in pursuit; St. Frideswide founds a new convent at Binsey; Her merciful deeds.

“Fourth Light: Return of St. Frideswide to Oxford; The Siege of Oxford by the King of Mercia; The Siege continued; The King struck blind; The Death of St. Frideswide.

“In the tracery above are the trees of life and of knowledge, and a ship of souls convoyed by angels.”—(P. D.)

“In the uppermost compartment of the tracery is a figure of our Lord seated in glory; below there are angels with censers, and next two Augustinian monks in blue and white robes, kneeling with outstretched arms; then come coats-of-arms, and various grotesque beasts, all most richly coloured in ruby and blue and green and gold. Below, in the principal spaces, are (1) St. Martin on horseback giving his coat to the beggar; (2) the martyrdom of St. Thomas à Becket: St. Thomas’ head has been knocked out by some fanatic, and replaced with white glass; the armour and shields of the knights should be noticed; (3) St. Augustine, who holds a pastoral staff, is teaching his monks and others. In the next four spaces are:—The head of a{391} king; St. Cuthbert, carrying the head of St. Oswald, and wearing a green chasuble; St. Blaise, in a mulberry-coloured chasuble; the head of a queen. The glass in the three main lights was destroyed, and then replaced by some of Seventeenth Century work, but this too is now gone, all except a portion of the upper part which shows that the design was architectural in character and the colour that of fog-smitten stone-work.”—(P. D.)

“This window, with some others, was taken down during the Civil War, buried for safety by a member of the family, and put up again at the Restoration. The Bishop is represented standing vested in a jewelled cope of cloth of gold, and mitre, a pastoral staff in his gloved hand. In the background, among the trees, is a picture of Oseney Abbey in its already ruined condition (c. 1630), drawn without much feeling for its architecture, but of great value as almost the only picture of the place we possess. The western tower was the first home of what are now the Christ Church bells. Three coats-of-arms (being those of the{392} Bishop, impaled with the Abbey of Oseney and the See of Oxford) complete the richness of what is a very good example of Seventeenth Century painted glass, in the strict sense of the word.”—(P. D.)

“Again and again the tocsin sounded, as St. Paul’s bell rang clear and loud, and the citizens seized their weapons and formed their battalions beneath the shadow of the great church. Now it was to help Simon de Montfort against the King; now to seize the person of the obnoxious Queen Eleanor, who was trying to escape by water from the Tower to Windsor, and who was rescued from their hands by the Bishop of London, and found refuge in his palace. Now the favourites of Edward II. excited their rage, especially the Bishop of Exeter, the King’s regent, who dared to ask the Lord Mayor for the keys of the city and paid for his temerity with his life.[9]

“The chronicles of the Cathedral tell the story of the troublous times of the Wars of the Roses. We see Henry IV. pretending bitter sorrow for the death of the murdered Richard, and covering with cloth-of-gold the body, which had been exhibited to the people in St. Paul’s. We see Henry V. returning in triumph from the French wars, riding in state to the Cathedral attended by ‘the mayor and brethren of the City companies, wearing red gowns with hoods of red and white, well-mounted and gorgeously horsed with rich collars and great chains, rejoicing at his victorious return.’ Then came Henry VI. attended by bishops, the dean and canons, to make his offering at the altar. Here the false Duke of York took his oath on the Blessed Sacrament to be loyal to the King. Here the rival houses swore to lay aside their differences, and to live at peace. But a few years later saw the new King Edward IV., at St. Paul’s, attended by great Warwick, the king-maker, with his body-guard of 800 men-at-arms. Strange were the changes of fortune in those days. Soon{395} St. Paul’s saw the exhibition of the dead body of the king-maker, and not long afterwards that of the poor dethroned Henry, and Richard came in state here amid the shouts of the populace. After the defeat of the conspiracy of Lambert Simnel, Henry VII. celebrated a joyous thanksgiving in the Cathedral, and here, amid much rejoicing, the youthful marriage of Prince Arthur with Katherine of Aragon took place, when the conduits of Cheapside and on the west of the Cathedral ran with wine, and the bells rang joyfully, and all wished happiness to the Royal children whose wedded life was destined to be so brief.

“St. Paul’s became the gathering-place for lords and courtiers and professional people, who met every day from eleven till twelve and from three till six to discuss the news of the day and to transact business.

“Here lawyers received their clients; here men sought service; here usurers met their victims, and the tombs and font were mightily convenient for counters for the exchange of money and the transaction of bargains, and the rattle of gold and silver was constantly heard amidst the loud talking of the crowd. Gallants enter the Cathedral wearing spurs, having just left their steeds at The Bell and Savage and are immediately besieged by the choristers, who have the right of demanding spur money from any one entering the building wearing spurs. Nor are the fair sex absent, and Paul’s Walk was used as a convenient place for assignations. Old plays are full of references to this practice. Later on the nave was nothing but a public thoroughfare, where men tramped, carrying baskets of bread and fish, flesh and fruit, vessels of ale, sacks of coal, and even dead mules and horses and other beasts. Hucksters and peddlers sold their wares. Duke Humphrey’s tomb was the great meeting-place of all beggars and low rascals, and they euphemistically called their gathering ‘a dining with Duke Humphrey.’ Much more could be written of this assembly of all sorts and conditions of men, but we have said enough to show that the Cathedral had suffered greatly from desecration and abuse. Indeed an old writer in 1561 declared that the burning of the steeple in that year was a judgment for the scenes of profanation which were daily witnessed in old St. Paul’s.”—(P. H. D.)

“Was there ever known in the history of the world any cathedral which suffered from fire like St. Paul’s? The whole career of the church was an ordeal by fire. It was injured by fire a hundred years before Westminster Hall was built; it was totally destroyed by fire in the Eleventh Century and it took nearly two centuries to restore it to{397} anything like its former magnificence. ‘Away! we lose ourselves in light,’ might have been its motto, for it was all but completely destroyed by fire in the Fifteenth Century, and its spire, which was then claimed to be the highest in the world, was destroyed by fire a century later. Thus we have brought it to the terrible days of 1666, when it went under with so much of London to accompany it—one of the most tremendous conflagrations recorded in the history of great cities. Then came the Commission to rebuild it, of which brave John Evelyn was a member, and then Sir Christopher Wren raised the monument to his fame which those who would question his renown have only to look upon and be satisfied.”—(J. McC.)

“St. Paul’s is often called Classical, or Roman, or Italian; it is not one of these three: it is English Renaissance. It was, too, a distinctly happy thought of Fergusson to suggest that the Cathedral takes a like place in English architecture to that which the immortal ‘Paradise Lost’ does in English literature. The plan is that of a mediæval church; the pilasters and entablature are Roman; the round arch is found in both Roman and Romanesque, and that commanding feature, the Dome, is the common property of many styles and many ages. The general plan resembles the long or Latin Cross, with transepts of greater breadth than length; and the uniformity is broken by an apse at the east, and the two chapels at the west end.”—(A. D.)

“In olden times St. Paul’s Churchyard was one of the great business centres of London. About the church men met to discuss the doings of the day, the last piece of news from Flanders, France or Spain, or the rumours from the country. Here the citizens gathered angrily when there was any talk of an invasion of their cherished liberties,{398} grumbled over the benevolence demanded by his Majesty for the pay of the troops engaged in the French war, or jeered at some poor wretch nailed by his ears in the pillory. Here the heralds would proclaim the news of our victories by sea and land; here the public newsmen would read out their budgets; vendors of infallible nostrums would wax eloquent as to the virtues of their wares; and the wives and daughters of the citizens would gather to gossip and flirt. It was at once the exchange, the club, and the meeting-place of London. Paul’s Cross was the heart of the City; here men threw up their bonnets when they heard of Crécy and of Agincourt; here they listened to the preachings of the first followers of Wycliffe; here they erected their choicest pageants when a new sovereign visited the City for the first time, or brought his new-made spouse to show her to his lieges; and gathered with frowning brows beneath iron caps when London threw in its lot with the Parliament, and the train bands marched off to fight the King’s forces. The business mart of the City lies now in front of the Mansion House, but a great deal of business is still done under the shadow of the Cathedral.”—(C. D.)

“The modern passenger through St. Paul’s Churchyard has not only the last home of Nelson and others to venerate as he goes by. In the ground of the old church were buried, and here therefore remains whatever dust may survive them, the gallant Sir Philip Sidney (the beau idéal of the age of Elizabeth), and Vandyke, who immortalised the youth and beauty of the court of Charles the First. One of Elizabeth’s great statesmen also lay there—Walsingham—who died so poor that he was buried{399} by stealth to prevent his body from being arrested. Another, Sir Christopher Hatton, who is supposed to have danced himself into the office of Her Majesty’s Chancellor, had a tomb which his contemporaries thought too magnificent, and which was accused of ‘shouldering the altar.’

“Old St. Paul’s was much larger than now, and the Churchyard was of proportionate dimensions. The wall by which it was bounded ran along by the present streets of Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, Old Change, Carter Lane and Creed Lane; and therefore included a large space and many buildings which are not now considered to be within the precincts of the Cathedral. This spacious area had grass inside, and contained a variety of appendages to the establishment. One of these was the cross of which Stow did not know the antiquity. It was called Paul’s Cross, and stood on the north side of the church, a little to the east of the entrance of Cannon Alley.”—(L. H.)

“We note the two-storied constructions, the graceful Corinthian pillars, arranged in pairs, with round-headed{400} windows between them; the entablature; and then, in the second story, another row of beautiful pilasters of the Composite order. Between these are niches where one would have expected windows; but this story is simply a screen to hide the flying-buttresses supporting the clerestory, as Wren thought them a disfigurement. The walls are finished with a cornice, which Wren was compelled by hostile critics to add, much against his own judgment. There are some excellently carved festoons of foliage and birds and cherubs, which are well worthy of close observation. The North and South Fronts have Corinthian pillars, which support a semicircular entablature. Figures of the Apostles adorn the triangular-shaped heads and balustrade. The Royal Arms appear on the north side, and a Phœnix is the suitable ornament on the south, signifying the resurrection of the building from its ashes. The south side is almost similar to the north. The east end has an apse.”—(P. H. D.)

“The West Front has a magnificent portico, divided, like the rest of the building, into two stories. The lower consists of twelve coupled and fluted columns; that, above, has only eight, which bear an entablature and pediment of which the tympanum is sculptured in bas-relief, representing the conversion of St. Paul. On the apex of the pediment is a figure of the Saint himself, and at its extremities, on the right and left of St. Paul, are figures of St. Peter and St. James. The transepts are terminated upwards by pediments, over coupled pilasters at the quoins, and two single pilasters in the intermediate space. On each side of the western portico a square pedestal rises over the upper order, and on each pedestal a steeple, or campanile tower, supported upon triangular groups of Corinthian columns finishing in small domes formed by curves of contrary flexure very like bells. Lower down in front of these campaniles, the Four Evangelists are represented with their emblems. In the face of the southern campanile a clock is inserted. A flight of steps extending the whole length of the portico forms the basement. In the southwest tower is the Great Bell of St. Paul’s, cast in 1709 by Richard Phelps and Langley Bradley. It is ten feet in diameter, ten inches thick in metal and weighs 11,474 pounds.”—(M.)

“The form of St. Paul’s is that of the long or Latin cross. Its extreme length, including the porch, is 500 feet; the greatest breadth, that is to say across the transept but within the doors of the porticoes, 250 feet; the width of the nave, 118 feet. There are, however, at the foot or western end of the cross, projections northward and southward, which make the breadth 190 feet. One of these, namely, on the north side, is used as a morning chapel, and the other, on the south side, contains the Wellington Monument, but was formerly used as the Consistory Court. At the internal angle of the cross are small square bastion-like adjuncts, whose real use is to strengthen the piers of the dome; but they are inwardly serviceable as vestries and a staircase. The height of the Cathedral on the south side to the top of the cross is 365 feet.

“The exterior consists throughout of two orders, the lower being Corinthian, the upper composite. It is built externally in two stories, in both of which, except at the north and south porticoes and at the west front, the whole of the entablatures rest on coupled pilasters, between which in the lower order a range of circular-headed windows is introduced. But in the order above, the corresponding spaces are occupied by dressed niches, standing on pedestals pierced with openings to light the passages in the roof over the side aisles. The upper order is nothing but a screen to hide the flying-buttresses carried across from the outer walls to resist the thrust of the great vaulting.”—(M.)

“The dome, which is by far the most magnificent and elegant feature in the building, rises from the body of the church in great majesty. It is 145 feet in outward and 108 feet in inward diameter. Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of twenty-two columns, every fourth intercolumniation being filled with masonry, so disposed as to form an ornamental niche or recess, by which arrangement the projecting buttresses of the cupola are concealed. These, which form a peristyle of{403} the Composite Order, with an unbroken entablature, enclose the interior order. They support a handsome gallery adorned with a balustrade. Above these columns is a range of pilasters, with windows between them, forming an attic order, and on these the great dome stands. The general idea of the cupola, as appears from the Parentalia, was taken from the Pantheon at Rome. On the summit of the dome, which is covered with lead, is a gilt circular balcony, and from its centre rises the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns. The whole is terminated by a gilt ball and cross.

“But with the matchless exterior ceases the superiority, and likewise, to a great degree, the responsibility of Wren. His designs for the interior were not only carried out, but he was in every way thwarted, controlled, baffled in his old age to the eternal disgrace of all concerned; the victim of the pitiful jealousy of some, the ignorance of others, the ingratitude of all.”—(M.)

“all London poured forth for the spectacle, which had been publicly announced, and were looking up in wonder to the old man, or his son, if not the old man himself, who was, on that wondrous height, setting the seal, as it were, to his august labours.

“When one enters the west door one cannot fail to be struck with the vastness of the space enclosed within its massive walls; there is no screen to break the view towards the east, and, as one stands beneath the dome and looks up into its enormous hollow, the sense of overpowering height is felt as in no other church in England.”—(T. P.)

“The interior of the nave is formed by an arcade resting on massive pillars and dividing the church into a body and two aisles. The eastern piers of the nave serve at the same time for the supports of the cupola. They are wider than the other piers, and are flanked by pilasters at their angles and have shallow oblong recesses in the intercolumniations. The roof over these piers is a boldly coffered waggon-vault, which contrasts very effectively with the rest of the vaulting.

“The nave is separated from the choir by the area over which the cupola rises. From the centre of this area, the transepts, or traverse of the cross, diverge to the north and south, each extending one severy, or arch, in length. The choir, which is vaulted and domed over, like the nave and transepts, from the top of the attic order, is terminated eastward by a semicircular tribune, of which the diameter is, in general terms, the same as the width of the choir itself. The western end of the choir has pillars similar to those at the eastern end of the nave, uniform with which there are at its eastern end piers of the same extent and form, except that they are pierced for a communication with the side aisles. Above the entablature and under the cupola is the Whispering Gallery, and in the concave above are representations of the principal passages of St. Paul’s life in eight compartments, painted by Sir James Thornhill.”—(M.)

“The great arches overhead divide the vault as the greater pilasters and their continuations do the walls. Between these arches are the small saucer-shaped domes, 26 feet in diameter. The reason for these and their accessories, the pendentives, may best be understood from Wren’s own words. He says that his method of vaulting is the most geometrical, and ‘is composed of Hemispheres, and their Sections only; and whereas a Sphere may be cut all Manner of Ways, and that still into Circles.... I have for just Reasons followed this way in the Vaulting of the Church of St. Paul’s.... It is the lightest Manner, and requires less Butment than the Cross-vaulting, as well that it is of an agreeable View.... Vaulting by Parts of Hemispheres I have therefore followed in the Vaultings of St. Paul’s, and with good reason preferred it above any other way used by Architects.’ The saucer-shaped domes are sections of spheres, as are both the pendentives, and the sides of the clerestory windows. The wreaths, garlands, and festoons, and the various conventional patterns with which the edges and surfaces of the various parts of the vaulting is adorned cannot be estimated from the pavement.”—(A. D.)

“When Wren planned his dome interior he had the difficulty caused by the four limbs and their side aisles to overcome. He must have turned to his uncle’s cathedral at Ely for enlightenment. In the earlier years of the Fourteenth Century the central tower of Ely collapsed, and the sacrist Alan de Walsingham, who acted as architect, seeing that the breadth of his nave, choir and transepts happened to agree, took for his base this common{406} breadth, and cutting off the angles, obtained a spacious octagon. The four sides terminating the main aisles are longer than the four alternate aisles at the angles of the side aisles; but at Ely this presents no difficulty, owing to the use of the pointed arch. As you stand in the centre of the octagon under the lantern you see eight spacious arches of two different widths, all springing from the same level and rising to the same height of eighty-five feet, the terminal arch of the Norman nave pointed like its opposite neighbour of the choir. Amongst Gothic churches the interior of Ely reigns unique and supreme, certainly in England if not in Europe. Wren was familiar with this cathedral, and even designed some restorations for it; and he adopted the eight arches in preference to any possible scheme of four great arches of sixty feet: but the use of the round arch, as distinct from the pointed, deprived him of Sacrist Alan’s liberty, who without incongruity made his intermediate arches of the shorter sides, springing from the same level, rise to the same height as the others. Wren was compelled to make use of some expedient to reconcile his two different spaces between piers of forty feet and twenty-six feet, and accordingly arched these four smaller intermediate spaces as follows. A smaller arch, rising from the architrave of the great pier, spans each shorter side of the octagon, and has a ceiling or semi-dome in the background, coming down to the terminal arches of the side aisles. A blank wall space above is relieved by a section of an ornamental arch of larger span, resting on the centre of the cornice; and above this a third arch, rising from the level of the triforium cornice, rests more upon the outer side of the great supporting pier, and thereby obtains the required equal span of forty feet, and equal height of eighty-nine feet from the ground. This also has a semi-dome; and the platform beneath on a level with the clerestory is railed.

“The reduction of the octagon to the circle is facilitated by giving the spandrels between the arches the necessary concave surface; and this stage is finished off with a cantilever cornice, the work (at least in part) of one Jonathan Maine. The eight great keystones of the arches by Caius Gabriel Cibber are seven feet by five, and eighteen inches in relief.”—(A. D.)

“intervening spaces are pierced with square-headed windows; and from them such light as the dome receives, streams down through the windows of the exterior colonnade. The alternate fourth recesses, apparently nothing more than ornamental niches, conceal the supports which bear the weight above. In the recent scheme of decoration they have been filled with statues of Early Fathers—the four eastern, SS. Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, and Athanasius; and the four western, SS. Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and Gregory.

“The straight lines bearing inwards give way to the sphere; and here, too, the three separate coverings, which constitute the dome, begin. The circular opening below the lantern coincides with the lower edge of the fluting of the exterior shell, and is about two hundred and fifteen feet from the pavement.

“These upper regions, hidden in an almost perpetual gloom, were decorated in monochrome by Sir James Thornhill; but his work has failed to resist the chemical action of the surcharged atmosphere. In these compartments are scenes from the life of the patronal saint: (1){408} The Conversion, (2) Elymas, (3) Cripple at Lystra, (4) Jailer at Philippi, (5) Mars Hill, (6) Burning Books at Ephesus, (7) Before Agrippa, (8) Shipwreck. We have all heard the story of the painter, on a platform at a great height, who stepped back to get a better view of his work. As he did so, an assistant, standing by, brush in hand, observed with alarm that the slightest further backward step would entail his falling headlong and being dashed to pieces. He deliberately daubed the painting; and the artist, stepping instinctively forward to prevent this, saved his life. The painter is said to be Thornhill: the scene, the giddy height under the dome.”—(A. D.)

“The exquisite carvings of Grinling Gibbons in the stall-work of the choir were not merely in themselves admirable, but in perfect harmony with the character of the architecture. They rivalled, if they did not surpass, all Mediæval works of their class in grace, variety, richness; they kept up an inimitable unison of the lines of the building and the decoration. In the words of Walpole ‘there is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers and chained together the various productions of the elements with a fine disorder natural to each species.’”—(M.)

“The symbolism is expressed in the frieze above the Crucifixion, ‘Sic Deus dilexit mundum’ (‘God so loved the world’). The lower part is pierced with doors on either side; and ‘Vas Electionis’ (‘A chosen vessel’) over the north door refers to St. Paul, and ‘Pasce oves meos’ (‘Feed my sheep’) over the other to St. Peter; and here are the crossed swords, the arms of the diocese. The section above has the Entombment in the centre, and the Nativity and Resurrection on either side. A Crucifixion occupies the central position. The framework is of Roman design, with pilasters and a round arch; and remembering Wren’s conception, it is interesting that the columns of Brescia marble, supporting the entablature above, are twisted. This is flanked with a colonnade; the figure on the north being the Angel Gabriel, and to the south the Virgin. Above the pediment is a canopy with the Virgin and Child, and St. Peter and St. Paul to the north and south; and above all, and nearly seventy feet from the ground, the Risen Christ completes this most reverent design.

“The altar cross is adorned with precious stones and lapis lazuli; and the massive copper candlesticks are imitations of the original four said to have been sold during the Protectorate.”—(A. D.)

“Britannia is directing the young seamen’s attention to their great example, Lord Nelson. On the die of the{412} pedestal which supports the hero’s statue are figures in basso-relievo, representing the Frozen Ocean, the German Ocean, the Nile, and the Mediterranean. On the cornice and in the frieze of laurel wreaths are the words, Copenhagen, Nile, Trafalgar. The British Lion sits on the plinth, guarding the pedestal.”

“I always endow St. Paul’s Cathedral with life and human nature and sympathy. I cannot well explain what early associations and chances have made St. Paul’s a more living influence to me than the much grander and nobler{414} Westminster Abbey; but so it is and I feel as if St. Paul’s were a living influence over all that region of the metropolis which is surveyed by its ball and its cross. But in another sense it is unlike other buildings to me. It is not one long-lived, long-living cathedral; it is rather a generation of cathedrals. Westminster Abbey takes us back in unbroken continuity of history to the earlier days of England’s budding greatness. Westminster itself, nevertheless, was only called so in the beginning to distinguish it from the earlier East Minster, which was either the existing St. Paul’s or a cathedral standing on Tower Hill. It would seem, then, that St. Paul’s rather than Westminster Abbey ought to represent the gradual movement of English history and English thought and the growth of the metropolis. But observe the difference. Westminster Abbey has always since its erection been sedately watching over London. It has been reconstructed here and there, of course—repaired and renovated, touched up and decorated with new adornments in tribute of grateful piety; but it is ever and always the same Westminster Abbey. Now observe the history of St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s has fallen and died time after time, and been revived and restored. It has risen new upon new generations. It has perished in flame again and again, like a succession of martyrs, and has come up afresh and with new spangled ore flamed in the forehead of the morning sky. St. Paul’s is a religious or ecclesiastical dynasty rather than a cathedral. It has been destroyed so often and risen again in so many different shapes, that it seems as if each succeeding age were putting its fresh stamp and mint-mark on it and so commending it to the special service of each new generation.”—(J. McC.)

“East from the Bishop of Winchester’s house, directly over against it, standeth a fair church called St. Mary-over-the-Rie, or Overie; that is, over the water. This church, or some other in place thereof, was, of old time, long before the Conquest, a house of sisters, founded by a maiden named Mary; unto the which house and sisters she left, as was left to her by her parents, the oversight and profits of a cross ferry, or traverse ferry over the Thames, there kept before that any bridge was built. This house of sisters was after by Swithun, a noble lady, converted into a college of priests, who in place of the ferry built a bridge of timber, and from time to time kept the place in good reparations; but lastly, the same bridge was built of stone; and then in the year 1106 was this church again founded for canons regular by William Pont de la Arch, and William Dauncey, Knights, Normans.”

“At the intersection of the nave, transepts and choir, rises a noble tower, thirty-five feet square and one hundred and fifty feet in height, resting on four massive pillars adorned with clustered columns. The sharp-pointed arches are very lofty. The interior of the tower is in four stories, in the uppermost of which is a fine peal of twelve bells. Externally the tower, which is not older than the Sixteenth Century, somewhat resembles that of St. Sepulchre’s Church, close by Newgate. It is divided into two parts, with handsome pointed windows, in two stories, on each front; it has tall pinnacles at each corner, and the battlements are of flint, in squares or chequer-work.”—(E. W.)

“In all probability the door was placed in this position when the Norman nave was built by Bishop Giffard (circa 1106); but its character was altered by Peter de Rupibus, a century later, to bring it into harmony with the rest of his Early English work, when he remodelled the nave in that style.

“The porch that we now have agrees in its main features with the drawings taken of the earlier one before it was destroyed. A deeply recessed and acutely pointed arch is divided into two by a central shaft, with moulded base and foliaged capital. The jambs contain five shafts on each{419} side, which differ from that in the centre, in that they are of Purbeck marble, and banded, in pleasing contrast to the plain stone of their own bases and capitals, and of the (unbanded) central shaft. In the tympanum of the double doorway thus formed, there is a pointed arcading, consisting of a central arch and two smaller arches on either side. The deep soffit of the arch in which this elegant arcading is enclosed, is adorned with a series of quatrefoil panels.”—(Geo. W.)

“He had been a liberal benefactor to the Church, and founded a chantry in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was eventually buried. The chapel and chantry are no more, but the monument marks the spot, having been restored in 1894 to its first position. It is in the Perpendicular style, and consists of an altar-tomb, with a dado, ornamented by seven panels in front, on which lies the effigy of the poet, surmounted by a canopy of three ogee arches, with an inner order of five cusps, and terminating in crocketed pinnacles. There is a pilaster set angle-wise at each end, banded at the separate divisions of the monument, and also rising into crocketed pinnacles. There are similar pinnacles between the arches of the{420} canopy. Behind the canopy is a screen, divided into open panels of three trefoil-headed lights. The cornice at the top is modern, and the hands and nose of the figure are restorations.

“The poet is represented lying on his back, with his hands joined in prayer, and his head resting upon the three volumes on which his fame depends, the Speculum Meditantis, Vox Clamantis, and Confessio Amantis. He is vested in a long dark habit, buttoned down to the feet, after the manner of a cassock, the ordinary dress of an English gentleman at the time. There is a garland of four roses round his head, and at his feet a lion couchant. The SS. collar adorns the neck, with a pendant jewel, on which a swan is engraved—the device of Richard II., to whom Gower was Poet Laureate. On the wall of the canopy, at the foot of the tomb, there is a sculptured and coloured representation of the poet’s own shield of arms, crest and helmet. On the back wall of the recess, above the effigy, there were formerly three painted figures, representing Charity, Mercy, and Piety, each bearing a scroll with an invocation, in Norman-French, for the soul of the departed. After undergoing repainting more than once, with modifications, the figures were scarcely recognisable in 1832, when the monument was repaired, but the figures were unfortunately obliterated. The inscription along the ledge of the tomb, which had also been destroyed, is now replaced: ‘Hic jacet I. Gower, Arm. Angl: poeta celeberrimus ac hoc sacro benefac. insignis. Vixit temporibus Edw. III., Ric. II., et Henri IV.’”—(Geo. W.)

“The screen is about thirty feet in height, and extends to the main arcades on either side. Three tiers of canopied niches, ten in each tier, divided down the centre by a Perpendicular series of three large niches, all occupied by statues, made up a composition which was at once ‘a thing of beauty’ and an object lesson on the Incarnation. The total number of niches (thirty-three) suggested a mystic reference to the years of our Lord’s earthly life, while the image of the Pelican ‘in her piety,’ here and there, besides being a reminder of Bishop Fox (whose peculiar device it was), also typified the sacrament of the altar. The original materials of which the screen was built are quoted as ‘Caen and fire-stone,’ for which Mr. Wallace substituted{422} stone from Painswick in Gloucestershire, as more easily obtained and agreeing in colour with the old work.

“The doors on each side will be noticed, with their depressed ogee headings, which indicate that this screen is of somewhat later date than the corresponding one (also by Bishop Fox) at Winchester. Another indication to the same effect has been detected in the grotesque carvings in the spandrels, which are here of a humorous character, whereas at Winchester the minor decorations are entirely sacred, e.g., the Annunciation and Visitation.”—(Geo. W.)

“Henceforth the chapel will be associated with the name of John Harvard, who was born in the parish, and baptised in the church on 29th November, 1607, and its restoration is intended to take the form of a memorial to that great and good man.

“The first practical step in this direction was taken by the Hon. Joseph H. Choate, who manifested great interest in the ancient fabric while he was American Ambassador, and presented the east window to the chapel in commemoration of John Harvard, founder of the renowned university which bears his name. The window, unveiled by Mr. Choate on Monday, 2nd May, 1905, is of three lights, transomed, as designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield and Sons, the glass being made in America under the supervision of Mr. Charles F. McKim, the famous American architect. The design is by Mr. John La Farge. In the central light of the lower division the Baptism of Christ is depicted, attendant angels occupying the sides. The upper division contains the arms of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where John Harvard was educated, and of the{424} Harvard University, with its mottoes, Veritas and Christo et Ecclesiae. The base bears the inscription, ‘In memory of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University in America, baptised in this church, Nov. 29, 1607.’

“The window is a noteworthy example of modern work, and the treatment of the familiar subject is distinctly original, in which respect, as well as in colouring, it presents a very striking contrast to the other windows, especially to those of mediæval character, throughout the church. Perhaps it is fortunate that it occupies an isolated position in the chapel, where the brilliance and peculiarity of the colouring are seen to full advantage without detriment to the other windows.”—(Geo. W.)

“The West Front is flanked by two towers 225 feet high, built by Wren and finished by his pupil Hawksmoor, about 1740. In the centre of the front is the great Perpendicular window, beneath which is a row of niches. The entrance porch has a groined roof. The nave is remarkable for its length and height. On the north side we notice that there is a wealth of buttresses. Strong buttresses support the aisle walls, and from these flying-buttresses stretch across to the walls built on the central arcade. The four eastern buttresses comprise the part of the church finished by Henry III.; the rest of the nave, with the exception of Wren’s towers, was built during the last half of the Fourteenth Century and the beginning of the Fifteenth. The figures in the niches are modern.”—(P. H. D.)

“It is a very elaborate work and much of it is beautiful; but it does not seem to harmonise with the rest of the building. There is a large rose-window; on each side tall buttresses crowned with turrets and covered with niches. There is an arcade of open-work below and then some deeply-recessed Early English windows, and below three doorways under one string-course, the centre one having a high gable. The door is divided by a pier having a finely-carved figure of the Virgin and Child. The tympanum is divided into three panels. In the highest is Our Lord in glory surrounded by angels and below him are the Twelve Apostles, while in the lowest tier are figures representing Art, History, Philosophy, War, Legislation and Science, with the builders of the Abbey, Edward the Confessor, Henry III. and Richard II. The niches are filled with figures of persons in some way connected with the Abbey. The Choir is in the form of an apse, with radiating chapels, planned on the model of the French chevet, according to the taste of Henry III., which he had cultivated during his sojourn in France. The Lady-Chapel at the east end, commonly called Henry VII.’s Chapel, is one of the noblest examples of the best Perpendicular work in the kingdom, and ranks with St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, and King’s College, Cambridge. The monastic buildings are on the south side of the Abbey.”—(P. H. D.)

“One never enters the Abbey Church without a thrill of admiration for the daring genius who raised those lofty vaults. That they were the first of their kind in England is almost certain, but the name of their designer does not seem to have been preserved. It is more likely that he was an Englishman who had studied in France, than that he was a Frenchman. Certain it is that though the plan, if not all the design, is purely French, the arrangement of the chapels being in fact peculiar to Westminster amongst English churches, the workmanship is very superior to that in any contemporary building on the Continent.”—(W. J. L.)

“The view of the interior is very impressive. Standing at the west end of the nave we cannot fail to admire the magnificent beauty of this noble shrine. This nave of twelve bays, with its clustered columns, its beautiful triforium, and its lofty and firmly proportioned roof soaring to the height of 101 feet, is very striking. A close inspection will show the difference between the piers of the portion finished by Henry III. and the newer work of the Fourteenth Century. The tracery of the triforium openings is very fine. The choir-screen which crosses the nave at the eighth pier, is modern, and also the pulpit. The west window is Perpendicular, and has some Georgian glass containing figures of the Patriarchs. Much architectural beauty has been sacrificed for the sake of ponderous monuments, but many of these have much interest{429} and for many visitors will prove the most attractive features of the Abbey.”—(P. H. D.)

“I pursued my walk to an arched door opening to the interior of the Abbey. On entering here the magnitude of the building breaks fully upon the mind, contrasted with the vaults of the cloisters. The eye gazes with wonder at clustered columns of gigantic dimensions with arches springing from them to such an amazing height; and man wandering about their bases shrunk into insignificance in comparison with his own handiwork. The spaciousness and gloom of this vast edifice produce a profound and mysterious awe. We step cautiously and softly about as if fearful of disturbing the hallowed silence of the tomb; while every footfall whispers along the walls, and chatters among the sepulchres, making us more sensible of the quiet we have interrupted.

“It seems as if the awful nature of the place presses down upon the soul, and hushes the beholder into noiseless reverence. We feel that we are surrounded by the congregated bones of the great men of past times who have filled history with their deeds and the earth with their renown.

“I passed some time in Poets’ Corner, which occupies an end of one of the transepts, or cross aisles of the Abbey. The monuments are generally simple; for the lives of literary men afford no striking themes for the sculptor. Shakespeare and Addison have statues erected to their memories, but the greater part have busts, medallions and sometimes mere inscriptions.

“From Poets’ Corner I continued my stroll towards that part of the Abbey which contains the sepulchres of the kings. I wandered among what once were chapels, but which are now occupied by the tombs and monuments of the great. At every turn I met with some illustrious name, or the cognizance of some powerful house renowned in history. As the eye darts into these dusky chambers of death, it catches glimpses of quaint effigies: some{430} kneeling in niches, as if in devotion; others stretched upon the tombs, with hands piously pressed together; warriors in armour, as if reposing after battle; prelates, with crosiers and mitres; and nobles in robes and coronets, lying as it were in state. In glancing over this scene, so strangely populous, yet where every form is so still and silent, it seems almost as if we were treading a mansion of that fabled city, where every being had been suddenly transmuted into stone.”

“The splendid arcade which forms the Triforium is one of the greatest glories of Westminster, for it is filled with tracery similar in every respect to the best window tracery of the Early English period. Above the triforium comes the grand tier of windows composing the clerestory. Each is divided by a single central mullion which, in the older portions, terminates with two plain arches surmounted by a circle foliated in six divisions, and in the newer portions with trefoil-headed arches surmounted by a circle divided into only four parts. The fine vaulting,{431} of which the rib-work is enriched with sculptured bosses at its points of intersection, completes the centre of the nave in such a fashion that its decorative effect is in complete harmony with the richness of the arch mouldings.”—(C. H.)

“The transept end consists of five stages, of which the lowest is composed of four obtusely pointed arches, two of them being doorways. The spandrels are very richly sculptured. In the second compartment is an arcade of six trefoil-headed arches springing from clustered columns. Above this arcade are six lancet windows on slender columns. The soffits of the arches are decorated with sculpture and at both ends there are statues in niches. The fourth stage is a continuation of the triforium arcade. There are three arches, each enclosing two trefoiled arches,{432} with a cinquefoiled circle between them. It is possible that there were once windows in this compartment, but these have been filled up. The transept end is completed by a great rose-window filled with modern stained glass representing the Apostles and Evangelists. Here we find the celebrated Censing Angels.

“The triforium is the place from which we can best see those famous sculptures known as the ‘censing angels.’ The artist who placed these figures in the north and south transepts must have had a genius which brought him nearer to the great Greek sculptors of the Periclean period than any who has lived since their time. What must the central statues have been like to be worthy of such accessories? Perhaps if one had to select the best public statue in England, it would be impossible to overlook the angel on the north transept on the western side. He appears to be literally hovering in the air, or rather—for this the sculptor has most marvellously expressed—he is supposed to be swinging his censer in the presence of his Lord, and to be floating in a sea of light, which forces him to bow his head and avert his face from its dazzling effulgence.”—(W. J. L.)

“The Choir, which has been the scene of so many solemn and memorable services, has no ancient woodwork. The stalls were erected about the middle of the last century. The altar and reredos are modern. There are some large figures, and a mosaic of the Last Supper. Here the coronations of our monarchs take place. The pavement is interesting, as it was brought from Rome by Abbot Ware in 1268, and beneath it he rests with other abbots of Westminster. The sedilia are Thirteenth Century work, and were decorated with paintings. The figures of King Siebert, the first founder, and of Henry III., the munificent re-founder, remain. Above the base of the tomb of Anne of Cleves, one of Henry VIII.’s many wives, is a remarkable painting of Richard II., and behind it some ancient tapestry.”—(P. H. D.)

“When we enter St. Edward’s Chapel, or the Chapel of the Kings (Capella Regum), we find ourselves in what may fairly be described as the most important part of the Abbey, alike from the ecclesiastical and historical points of view. The chapel is distinguished from the rest of the church by its superior height above the ground. In the centre is the Confessor’s shrine, around which are the tombs of five Kings and six Queens of England. The entrance is by some wooden steps through a small space between one of the columns and Edward I.’s tomb. The chapel is separated from the sanctuary by a Fifteenth Century screen, which, though much mutilated, is still beautiful. The sculptures deal with the life and visions of the Confessor.”—(C. H.)

“The wax-works of Westminster Abbey have not been seen by many people, but are deservedly famous. At first, it was customary when a king or any other great personage was to be buried, to place on the coffin his effigy formed of boiled leather. When the art of modelling in cuir bouilli was lost, wax was employed for making the image, and wax, notwithstanding its proverbial pliancy, is a very enduring substance. From the north aisle of the apse we ascend a narrow staircase, passing by the way some of the most beautiful sculpture in the Abbey fronting the chapel of Abbot Islip. At a turn in the stair which leads to a kind of upper gallery we are suddenly confronted with the lifelike figure of King Charles II., whose face, as rendered familiar by numerous and contemporary engravings, with its black eyes and swarthy complexion, looks out from behind the glass of a cupboard only a few inches from the spot we have reached. The royal figure is dressed in crimson velvet, now sadly browned, and adorned

with the finest lace of the period. When we have recovered composure and breath, and can look around, we find ourselves in the presence of a series of most interesting and curious portraits. The wooden presses, with glass fronts, are, to judge from the pattern of the hinges, of about the time of the monarch whose effigy was the first to confront us. The rest, taken chronologically, consist of ten figures beginning with Queen Elizabeth and ending with Lord Nelson, but neither of these, the first and last, were really funeral effigies.”—(W. J. L.)

“At the entrance to the chapel we are brought to what Dean Stanley calls a ‘solemn architectural pause.’ Here we may study three distinct architectural periods. ‘First,’ as Mr. Loftie says, ‘there is the early work of Henry III., who, it will be remembered, made a Lady-Chapel here before he recommenced the rebuilding of the Confessor’s church. Secondly, the next pier shows us the work done when the body of Henry V. was brought hither from France in 1422. Lastly, alongside of these two is the first column of the new and gorgeous structure with which Henry VII. replaced the Lady-Chapel of Henry III.’ The dimness of the approach materially enhances the effect of the superb building beyond, and it cannot be doubted that this comparative gloom, so far from being an accident, was deliberately intended. The building of the chapel occupied the first twelve years of the Sixteenth Century. It measures inside 104 feet 6 inches long by 69 feet 10 inches broad, and consists of a nave and aisles of four bays, the nave terminating in five small polygonal chapels, the style throughout being Perpendicular. The entrance is under a large central and two smaller side arches, which have six bronze doors of superb design and splendid workmanship, in which a number of Henry VII.’s devices appear.”—(C. H.)

“I stood before the entrance to Henry the Seventh’s Chapel. A flight of steps leads up to it, through a deep and gloomy, but magnificent arch. Great gates of brass, rich and delicately wrought, turn heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchres.

“On entering, the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture and the elaborate beauty of sculptured detail. The very walls are wrought into universal ornament, encrusted with tracery and scooped into niches, crowded with the statues of saints and martyrs. Stone seems, by the cunning labour of the chisel, to have been robbed of its weight and density, suspended aloft, as if by magic, and the fretted roof achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a cobweb.

“Along the sides of the chapel are the lofty stalls of the Knights of the Bath, richly carved of oak, though with the grotesque decorations of Gothic architecture. On the pinnacles of the stalls are affixed the helmets and crests of the knights with their scarfs and swords; and above them are suspended their banners, emblazoned with armorial bearings, and contrasting the splendour of gold and purple and crimson, with the cold grey fretwork of the roof. In the midst of this grand mausoleum stands the sepulchre of its founder,—his effigy, with that of his queen, extended on a sumptuous tomb, and the whole surrounded by a superbly wrought brazen railing.

“There is a sad dreariness in this magnificence; this strange mixture of tombs and trophies; these emblems of living and aspiring ambition, close beside mementoes which show the dust and oblivion in which all must sooner or later terminate.

“Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching instance of the equality of the grave, which brings down the oppressor to a level with the oppressed, and mingles the dust of the bitterest enemies together. In one is the sepulchre of the haughty Elizabeth; in the other is that of her victim, the lovely and unfortunate Mary. Not an hour in the day but some ejaculation of pity is uttered over the fate of the latter, mingled with indignation at her oppressor. The walls of Elizabeth’s sepulchre{439} continually echo with the sighs of sympathy heaved at the grave of her rival.

“A peculiar melancholy reigns over the aisle where Mary lies buried. The light struggles dimly through windows darkened by dust. The greater part of the place is in deep shadow, and the walls are stained and tinted by time and weather. A marble figure of Mary is stretched upon the tomb, round which is an iron railing much corroded, bearing her national emblem—the thistle.”

“It was to be his chantry as well as his tomb, for he was determined not to be behind the Lancastrian princes in devotion; and this unusual anxiety for the sake of a soul not too heavenward in its affections expended itself in the immense apparatus of service which he provided. Almost a second Abbey was needed to contain the new establishment of monks who were to sing in their stalls ‘as long as the world shall endure.’ Almost a second shrine surrounded by its blazing tapers and shining like gold with its glittering bronze, was to contain his remains.

“To the Virgin Mary, to whom the chapel was dedicated, he had a special devotion. Her ‘in all his necessities he had made his continual refuge’; and her figure, accordingly, looks down upon his grave from the east end, between the apostolic patrons of the Abbey, Peter and Paul, with ‘the holy company of heaven—that is to say, angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs, confessors and virgins,’ to ‘whose singular mediation and prayers he also trusted,’ including the royal saints of Britain, St. Edward, St. Edmund, St. Oswald, St. Margaret of Scotland, who stand, as he directed, sculptured tier above tier, on every side of the Chapel; some retained from the ancient Lady-Chapel; the greater part of the work of his own age. Around his tomb stand his ‘accustomed Avours or guardian saints to whom he calls and cries’—St. Michael, St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. George, St. Anthony, St. Edward, St. Vincent, St. Anne, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Barbara, each with their peculiar emblems—‘so to aid, succour and defend him, that the ancient and ghostly enemy, nor none other evil or damnable spirit, have{440} no power to invade him, nor with their wickedness to annoy him, but with holy prayers to be intercessors to his Maker and Redeemer.’ These were the adjurations of the last Mediæval King, as the Chapel was the climax of the latest Mediæval architecture.”

“But although the Chapel hangs on tenaciously to the skirts of the ancient Abbey and the ancient Church, yet that solemn architectural pause between the two—which arrests the most careless observer, and renders it a separate structure, a foundation ‘adjoining the Abbey,’ rather than forming part of it—corresponds with marvellous fidelity to the pause and break in English history of which Henry VII.’s reign is the expression. It is the close of the Middle Ages: the apple of Granada in its ornaments shows that the last Crusade was over; its flowing draperies and classical attributes indicate that the Renaissance had already begun. It is the end of the Wars of the Roses combining Henry’s right of conquest with his fragile claim of hereditary descent. On the one hand, it is a glorification of the victory of Bosworth. The angels at the four corners of the tomb, held or hold the likeness of the crown which he won on that famous day. In the stained glass we see the same crown hanging on the green bush in the fields of Leicestershire. On the other hand, like the Chapel of King’s College at Cambridge, it asserts everywhere the memory of the ‘holy Henry’s shade’; the Red Rose of Lancaster appears in every pane of glass: in every corner is the Portcullis—the Alters securitas, as he termed it, with an allusion to its own meaning, and the double safeguard of his succession—which he derived through John of Gaunt from the Beaufort Castle in Anjou inherited from Blanche of Navarre by Edmund Crouchback; whilst Edward IV. and Elizabeth of York are commemorated by intertwining these Lancastrian symbols with the Greyhound of Cecilia Neville, wife of Richard, Duke of York, with the Rose in the Sun, which scattered the mist at Barnet, and the Falcon on the Fetterlock, by which the first Duke of York expressed to his descendants that ‘he was locked up from the hope of the kingdom, but advising them to be quiet and silent, as God knoweth what may come to pass.’

“It is also the revival of the ancient Celtic-British

element in the English monarchy, after centuries of eclipse. It is a strange and striking thought, as we mount the steps of Henry VII.’s Chapel, that we enter there a mausoleum of princes, whose boast it was to be descended not from the Confessor or the Conqueror, but from Arthur and Llewellyn; and that roundabout the tomb, side by side with the emblems of the great English Houses, is to be seen the Red Dragon of the last British King Cadwallader—‘the dragon of the great Pendragonship,’ of Wales, thrust forward by the Tudor King in every direction, to supplant the hated White Boar of his departed enemy—the fulfilment, in another sense than the old Welsh bards had dreamt, of their prediction that the progeny of Cadwallader should reign again.”—(A. P. S.)

“We now enter Henry VII.’s Chapel, the most perfect example of the Perpendicular style at its best in the country. At the entrance are beautiful bronze doors covered with designs symbolical of the titles of the Royal founder. It is impossible to describe in words the richness and beauty of the interior of this noble chapel. The vault is very beautiful with fan-tracery. The banners of the Knights of the Order of the Bath hang over their stalls. The misereres are wonderfully carved, and are worthy of close examination. The black marble tomb of the founder is considered to be the best example of the Renaissance style in England. It was fashioned by Torregiano. Very numerous monuments are found here. The tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and of Queen Elizabeth have especial interest. Oliver Cromwell’s body once lay in the most eastern chapel, but the Royalists at the Restoration wrought vengeance on his corpse, and on that of other regicides, and did not suffer them to remain in these hallowed precincts.”—(P. H. D.)

“The Chapter-House is visited by comparatively few of the myriads who come to the Abbey; but those who know what to look for may well linger for some time in this deeply interesting building. The splendour and loveliness of the entrance to it show the important place which it held in the general estimation; the stones under the left arcade of the vestibule are still deeply worn by the feet of generations of monks, as they walked two and two to their weekly assemblies. The vaulting and its bosses are quaint and rich. The quaint entrance door itself, bleared and ruined as it now is, was once rich with gold and scarlet.

“Entering the Chapter-House we see at a glance an octagon of the noblest proportions, of which the roof is supported by a slender and graceful pillar of polished Purbeck, thirty-five feet high, ‘surrounded by eight subordinate shafts, attached to it by three moulded bands.’ The painted windows were placed there as a memorial to Dean Stanley. One was given by the Queen, and one by Americans. In the central light at the summit of each is represented the greatest man of each century—the Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, Roger Bacon, Chaucer, Caxton and Shakespeare. In the window over the door is Queen Victoria. The central band of the windows represents many of the great historical events connected with the Abbey.”—(F. W. F.)

“The Chapel of the Pyx is approached from the East Cloister Walk by a massive door with seven locks. It is{443} beneath the old dormitory and occupies two bays of the Confessor’s building, and, historically considered, is perhaps the most interesting portion of the Abbey buildings. The pyx is a box containing the standard pieces of gold and silver coin of the realm which were used for testing the accuracy of the currency. It has now been removed to the Mint, where the trial of the pyx takes place.”—(C. H.)