[Illustration: FROM NORTH-EAST.]
But though the remodelling was complete, even to the vaulted roof above,
the choir was all naked and bare; and the next bishop set himself,
not to carry the work into the nave, but to complete the equipment of
the choir. In one respect Bitton’s choir was weak in design: it had a
triforium in the choir bays (the four to the west) but not in the bays
of the sanctuary. Bitton’s eastern clerestory windows were splayed down
till they rested on the summits of the new pier-arches; to the same
line were continued downward the shafts in the jambs of his windows.
This diversity of treatment of the two halves of the choir must have
had a most discordant effect; and Stapledon corrected it very cleverly
by adding a triforium to the east in such a way that though the eastern
arcading is not so deep as the western, yet in perspective the difference
is hardly noticed. Probably the next thing was to glaze the remainder
of the sixty choir windows, only eighteen of which were filled with
stained glass at Stapledon’s accession. It seems likely that nearly all
the stained glass for the choir and the transepts came from abroad—from
Rouen. For the nave, later on, the place of the laity, English glass,
cheaper and not so good, was thought sufficient. The glass was inserted
by Walter le Verrouer (he has descendants still living in Exeter), at
the moderate price of 6_s._ for a fortnight’s work, of himself and “two
boys,” for one pair of clerestory windows. Hitherto the clergy had
sat in the transept and the western bays of the nave; now, as in many
other cathedrals, the stalls were moved into the western bays of the
choir. (The present canopies of these stalls are modern.) Next came the
Bishop’s throne (A.D. 1316), intended for his Lordship with a chaplain
on either side; “a magnificent sheaf of carved oak, put together without
a single nail, and rising to a height of 57 feet. The lightness of its
ascending stages almost rivals 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.
These 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. Then came
the great work of all—the high altar, with its reredos, perhaps the
most magnificent in Europe; the cost of it would amount now to £7,500.
Of this not a fragment remains. Finally, the choir was closed in with a
great screen to the west, from which was read the Epistle and Gospel,
as in the two ambos of the early Christian basilicas. And on it was
placed an organ; the ancient and best position for a cathedral organ.
The accounts show that 500 lbs. of iron bars were used to hold the
screen together. This concluded Bishop Stapledon’s work, except that he
built a cloistered walk as far as the doorway of the chapter-house. “The
cathedral of Exeter,” as Stapledon’s successor wrote to the Pope, “now
finished up to the nave, is marvellous in beauty, and when completed,
will surpass every Gothic church in England or in France.” Stapledon died
in 1327. The completed choir was consecrated by Bishop Grandisson in 1328.