THE EXTERIOR
"In England," wrote Mr J.H. Parker, in his _Glossary_, "Wells affords
the most perfect example of a cathedral with all its parts and
appurtenances. It was," he continues, after an enumeration of the
parts of the church, "a cathedral proper, and independent of any
monastic foundation, but with a separate house for each of its
officers, either in the Close or in the Liberty adjoining to it. The
bishop's palace was enclosed by a separate moat and fortified, being
on the south side of the cloister, from which it is separated by the
moat; the houses for the dean and for the archdeacon are on the north
side of the Close, with some of the canons' houses; the organist's
house is at the west end, adjoining to the singing-school and the
cloister; the precentor's house is at the east end, near the Lady
Chapel. The vicars-choral have a close of their own adjoining to the
north-east corner of the canons' close, with a bridge across through
the gate-house into the north transept; they were a collegiate body,
with their own chapel, library, and hall." One need only add that all
these sentences can still, with one exception, be read in the present
tense to show that Wells possesses a beauty and interest which gives
it an unique place among cathedral foundations. There is no other
cathedral city in which so many of the old ecclesiastical buildings
remain, or on which the modern world has made so little impression.
The church itself, in Fergusson's opinion perhaps the most beautiful,
though one of the smallest in England, is but one part of a "group of
buildings, which," wrote Professor Freeman, "as far as I know, has no
rival, either in our own island or beyond the sea." The little city to
which these buildings belong is itself worthy of them, almost a part
of them, so quiet and venerable is it, so picturesque in its lovely
setting of green hills.
Were size the main distinction of a church, Wells would sink
comfortably into the second class; even in some of its best features
it has many rivals, but the peculiar charm and glory of Wells lies (to
quote again from Freeman's _History_) "in the union and harmonious
grouping of all. The church does not stand alone; it is neither
crowded by incongruous buildings, nor yet isolated from those
buildings which are its natural and necessary complement. Palace,
cloister, Lady Chapel, choir, chapter-house, all join to form one
indivisible whole. The series goes on uninterruptedly along that
unique bridge, which, by a marvel of ingenuity, connects the church
itself with the most perfect of buildings of its own class, the
matchless vicars' close. Scattered around we see here and there an
ancient house, its gable, its windows, or its turret, falling in with
the style and group of greater buildings, and bearing its part in
producing the general harmony of all." Thus, in the first place, the
group of buildings must be looked at as a whole from the north, from
the east, from the south-east; then the superb, unrivalled picture
from the rising ground on the Shepton Mallet road,[1] outside the
city, must be seen, and, when this little journey has been made, the
most hurried visitor must find time at least to peep into the vicars'
close, and walk round the moat of the palace. After some such general
impression has been gained, the study of the exterior of the church
will naturally begin with that part which is a peculiar distinction of
Wells Cathedral--the west front.
The WEST FRONT of Wells has been universally admired. Long ago, old
Fuller wrote--"The west front of Wells is a masterpiece of art indeed,
made of imagery in just proportion, so that we may call them _vera et
spirantia signa_. England affordeth not the like." This verdict is but
repeated by modern writers; the front is "quite unrivalled," says
Fergusson, and comparable only to Rheims and Chartres. Mr Hughes, in
Traill's _Social England_, goes farther and says[2] that "nothing fit
to rank with it was then being done in Northern Europe--for the
monumental porches of France, formerly supposed to be contemporary,
are now recognised as of a later date."
[Illustration: West Front. Bishop Aethelhelm (103). Drawn by H.P.
Clifford.]
But there has been a discordant note in the general chorus of praise.
Professor Freeman, whose admiration for nearly everything in Wells was
so intense, could find little to praise in the west front of the
cathedral.[3] "It is doubtless," he wrote, "the finest display of
sculpture in England; but it is thoroughly bad as a piece of
architecture. I am always glad when I get round the corner, and can
rest my eye on the massive and simple majesty of the nave and
transepts. The west front is bad because it is a sham--because it is
not the real ending of the nave and aisles, but a mere mask, devised,
in order to gain greater room for the display of statues ... The front
is not the natural finish of the nave and aisles; it is a blank wall
built up in a shape which is not the shape which their endings would
naturally assume. It is therefore a sham; it is a sin against the
first law of architectural design, the law that enrichment should be
sought in ornamenting the construction ... not in building up anything
simply for the sake of effect." He then proceeds to criticise the way
in which the windows and doorways "are stowed away as they best may
be," as if they were felt to be mere interruptions to the lines of
sculpture.
[Illustration: The West Front.]
This latter objection to the doorways had often been made before, only
that the "rabbit-holes on a mountain side" of earlier critics became
"mouse-holes" with Mr Freeman. Mr E.W. Godwin, in a lecture in 1862,
had also found fault with the crowding in of the niches over the
central doorway, which he declared to be in the highest degree clumsy;
with the bald appearance given by the shallowness of the reveals in
the principal windows; and with the way in which "the solid work of
the base suddenly crops up at the very summit of the two central
buttresses, not altogether unlike the dog-kennel of modern Gothic."
Of these criticisms the most serious is Mr Freeman's general charge of
unreality. But why should not a stone screen be erected for the
display of statuary before the west end of a church, just as lawfully
as behind the high altar? And, if a screen may be allowed as an end in
itself, standing simply as a thing of beauty to glorify a building of
which it is not a structural part, then the front of Wells may stand,
like the reredos of Winchester, as the noblest example of its kind. It
has no need to simulate lofty aisles which do not exist, for it
covers, not the aisles, but the faces of the great towers themselves;
and, as a consequence, the portion of really blank wall which
stretches from them to the central gable is so small as to be more
than justified by the cohesion it gives to the whole. The whole effect
is singularly broad, but so is the space it covers within; for this
breadth is legitimately attained by the happy device of planting the
western towers beyond the aisles.
The massive front of Wells stands, therefore, on its own merits as a
west front, and not merely a west end--a great stone screen that, so
far from pretending to be a regular termination of the nave and
aisles, is actually carried, in all its sculptured magnificence, round
the sides of the two towers upon which it so frankly depends. It is a
screen built at a period different from, and, we may now safely
assume, later than, that of the nave, and built for the exhibition of
a noble legend in stone, which has ever since been the glory of a
county famed for its splendid churches.
Taking it then for what it is, and remembering that the lower tiers
were once filled with statuary, can we regret that the doorways
themselves were subordinated to the one grand design of accommodating
this great multitude of silent teachers? The great doorways of French
churches are magnificent in themselves, but that is surely no reason
why we should make it an axiom that a front cannot be fine unless it
have a great doorway. Striking as the effect of these foreign
entrances may be, there is no structural reason why a door should be
of an unwieldy size out of all proportion to the stature of the people
who use it, so that a smaller door has to be cut for ordinary use out
of the real door. It certainly, as even at Amiens, limits the
sculptor's opportunities; and in a country like England, where doors
can only be kept open for a few weeks in the year, great doorways
would be as inappropriate as closed doors are forbidding. As a matter
of fact, the usual entrance to Wells Cathedral in Jocelin's time was
not from the west, but through the cloister and the south porch. And
the central entrance of the west was made impressive, not by its size,
but by the exquisite nature of its carving, and the blue and scarlet
and gold with which it was coloured. It was not insignificant then. It
had the prominence of a jewel. Moreover, in French churches, where the
exterior is sacrificed to the internal effect, there is some wisdom in
concentrating attention upon the doorway. But in English churches--and
in Wells, perhaps, more than any other English church--the exteriors
are perfect in themselves, and the visitor need not be tempted to
hurry to their portals. After all, if the rabbit-holes on a
mountain-side looked as large as quarries, the mountain would not look
like a mountain.
There are, moreover, three faults in the front as it now stands which
cannot be attributed to its maker. In the first place, it is
undoubtedly a little formal, a little square, and this defect is
particularly marked in the photographs which one sees everywhere.
Unfortunately this picture, which is too small to show the detail,
gives no idea whatever of the general external effect of the church.
It gives the impression that Wells Cathedral is a glorified wall,
because the photograph cannot show the other parts upon which the
front depends. The architect, no doubt, intended the towers to be
carried higher or surmounted with spires, and though no trace of any
stone erection has been found on the tops of the present towers, they
may once have been crowned with wooden spires covered with lead or
shingle. One need hardly say how vast a difference such lofty towers
as exist at Laon Cathedral, or spires like those of Lichfield, would
make in the effect of the front. They would also account for the great
size of the buttresses, which seem to have been built with a view to
sustaining a great weight.
A disagreeable impression is also caused by the row of hip-knobs along
the coping of the central gable, and the pinnacle in their midst. This
collection of curiosities was probably added in the seventeenth
century, and the pinnacle may have been taken from one of the denuded
buttresses of the Lady Chapel to replace the gable cross which must
have originally stood here: at all events it is a later addition, as
was proved by an examination of the masonry. It would be an act of
justice to the memory of Jocelin if these trivial excrescences were
removed.
Perhaps one is even more distressed on first seeing the front by a
third fault--the weak and stringy effect of the long, thin, dark,
marble shafts. For this the restorer, Mr Benjamin Ferrey, must bear
the blame. He complained with justice that the original blue lias
shafts, when they were decayed, had been replaced by the ordinary
Doulting stone.[4] But, unhappily, he did not go back to the original
material, but fitted the whole front with a complete set of shafts of
Kilkenny marble, which is at once dark and cold. They absolutely
refuse to blend with the old, warm, grey stone, and stand out, stark
and stiff, like an array of gigantic slate pencils. Mr Ferrey was
possessed with the idea that the blue lias shafts (having only lasted
for a paltry half-dozen centuries) were not durable enough for the
work. He therefore used this marble, which, doubtless, will stand in
increased obtrusiveness when every stone of the cathedral has decayed.
He further was impressed with the strange notion that the hideous
Kilkenny marble is of the same colour as the exquisitely delicate grey
of the blue lias. The result is a sad warning to all restorers not to
be more clever than the original architect.
Let us, then, try to imagine the west front with its empty lowest tier
filled with graceful figures, its gable in its first simplicity and
surmounted by a cross, its towers of Early English form crowned with
lofty spires, its delicate shafts of their original material, and its
ranges of figures "all gorgeous in their freshly-painted hues of blue
and scarlet and purple and gold." Then we shall have some idea of the
front of Wells as Jocelin meant it to be and to remain.
[Illustration: Ornaments In The West Front.]
As for the colour, its effect can be gathered from the traces which
survive. There is ultramarine, gold, and scarlet in the tympanum of
the central doorway, where there are also the marks of metal fittings.
Ferrey found a deep maroon colour on the figures of the Apostles, and
a dark colour painted with stars in the Resurrection tier. One of the
chief glories of the front is the faithful care which is given
throughout to the smaller features. The mouldings (a succession of
rounds and hollows) are most bold and effective; the carving of the
foliage in caps and canopies, tympana, pedestals, and terminals is
singularly beautiful and free. This impression is deepened by a minute
examination; indeed, it is almost a matter of regret that some of the
finest work is at such a height as to be almost impossible to see; for
in all the earlier work at Wells the Lamp of Sacrifice burns brightly.
Mr Ferry pointed out an instance, which may be given here, of the care
with which minor matters were thought out:--In order that the lowest
tier might not look weak and yet might provide a sufficient shadow for
the statues, the backs of the niches are set at a slightly recessed
angle in the centre, and thus an effect of strength is given to the
angular jambs. Indeed, there may be differences of opinion as to the
general design of the west front, but there can be none as to the
supreme excellence of its detail. It is beyond doubt the most rich
example of Early English work to be found anywhere. The crown of its
glories, the justification of its form, did it need justification, are
the frail statues which line it, tier upon tier.
[Illustration: Ornaments In The West Front.]
Vertically the west front is divided into three main parts--the
centre, containing the three lancet windows of the nave and the main
doorway, is surmounted by a gable receding in stages with a pinnacle
at either angle; and the two lateral towers, the lower portion of
which form one continuous screen with the centre, broken only by the
boldly projecting buttresses, of which each division possesses two.
Horizontally the front divides itself naturally into four parts--the
plain base, which is high enough to contain the full height of the
small north and south doorways. One of the stones in this division,
about the level of the eye, and near the middle, which has evidently
been moved from some other place, bears the inscription, _Pur lalme
Johan de Putenie priez et trieze jurs de_ ... Next is an arcade of
niches interspersed with windows, the space above being pierced by
quatrefoils. The third division contains the three lancet windows, the
forms of which are repeated on the north and south, breaking the line
of the two historical tiers of niches which, with the Resurrection
tier, adorn this main division of the front. A bold string course
marks it off firmly and decisively from the fourth and upper division,
in which the three parts of the front become separate, the towers at
each side and the stepped gable, flanked by two graceful Early English
pinnacles, in the middle. The statuary is mainly confined to the
arcading of the second division, to the buttresses of the third, with
its continuous cornice of the Resurrection tier, and to the gable
front of the fourth; but the amount of it is largely increased by the
fact that the work is carried round three sides of the north-western
tower, which only touches the church on one side. The niches on the
sides of the south-western tower are almost empty.
THE STATUARY.--The statuary is not only the finest collection of
medieval sculpture to be found in England; but, separately, the
figures are with few exceptions finer than any others in this country,
while some of them are almost as beautiful as the greatest
masterpieces in Italy or France. It is strange that here, at the
outset of the Gothic period, the chief characteristics of the old
Greek spirit should be so apparent, the same restraint, the same
simplicity, the same exquisite appreciation of light and flowing
drapery: in other things there is difference enough, the form is less
perfect, the action is less free, though there is a deeper sentiment
and a higher power of spiritual expression; but in the essentials of
sublime statuary there is a singular agreement.
And, strange though it seems, it may well be that in these statues one
must look for the first signs of the influence of the Renaissance in
England. Romanesque work has but just died out, and already the old
spirit, destined in time to supplant the architecture which sprung
from it, is at work again. While the statues were being cut at Wells,
Niccola Pisano was reviving sculpture in Italy under the inspiration
of classical examples; and there can be little doubt but that it was
Italian sculptors who produced the statuary at Wells. Some of the
figures on the northern part of the front have been found to be marked
with Arabic numerals (_Somerset Proceedings_ 1888, i. 57, 62), and
these numerals, which did not become common in England till the
sixteenth century, were used in Italy long before, having been
introduced by Bonacci of Pisa (a fellow-citizen of Niccola) in 1202.
That they are found here before the middle of the century is a fairly
conclusive proof that the workers were Italians, and very likely from
Pisa itself. Jocelin, indeed, was English, but he had been in exile
from 1208 to 1213, when he had ample opportunity of studying the work
of the Italian artists. Pleasant as it would be to our national pride,
we can hardly believe that Englishmen produced what seems to be the
earliest example of such magnificent and varied sculpture in
north-western Europe. At Jocelin's death, in 1242, when the work had
been going on for some thirty years, Niccola Pisano was in his prime,
Cimabue was two years old, and forty years had yet to elapse before
the rival sculpture of Amiens Cathedral was executed.
[Illustration: West Front: Christina (185). Drawn by H.P. Clifford.]
Mr Ruskin, whose admiration of the work at Amiens is so intense, has
given almost as high praise to the sculpture at Wells, and has
presented sets of photographs of the statuary to various art schools.
The verdict of enthusiastic approval is, in fact, unanimous. Flaxman,
to his credit, in spite of his classicalism, was one of the first to
draw attention to the work. Whoever was the general designer of the
whole arrangement, he deserves as great praise as the sculptors
themselves. There must have been several sculptors, both because no
one man could have carved three hundred and fifty subjects (of which
one hundred and fifty-two are life-size or colossal), and because a
certain number of the figures in the fourth and fifth tiers are of
obviously inferior design. But one master-mind must have conceived and
directed the work. The height and lightness which is given to the
gable by the tall row of the Apostles, the solemn prominence of the
figure of our Lord above, the rich cornice-like effect of the small
Resurrection tier, the difference in height between the fourth and
fifth tiers, the concentration of the three lower tiers, the breadth
which the seated figures give to the face of the buttresses, the
arrangement of the statues and groups round the buttresses, which
makes it impossible for them all to be seen at once, all show that one
mind was busy, carefully subordinating the parts to the whole.
It may well have been Jocelin himself who planned the subject-matter
of the statuary with such admirable breadth and balance of mind. It is
easy to produce sermons in stones, easy to sermonise in very many
ways; but Jocelin did not preach. He just tried to embody the
Christian spirit at work in the world: God made manifest in man, the
great truth of the Incarnation; and this he did in what we should call
the most modern manner, though in truth it is medieval as well as
modern. He did not conceive of Christianity as confined within the
covers of the Bible, but he took all history, as he knew it, the
patient education of man in the Old Testament, the fulfilment of man's
aspirations and God's purpose in the New, from the birth of our Lord
to the founding of the Church, and the continuation of this church up
to his own time, with especial regard to the heroes, saints and rulers
of the Church of England. He made a "kalendar for unlearned men,"
which is both a _Biblia Pauperum_ and _Annales Angliae_, because the
annals of England were to him a new Bible. "Slowly the Bible of the
race is writ," a modern writer has said, "each age, each kindred, adds
a word to it." That was the spirit of Jocelin's design; only that,
through the pomp of mighty kings and fair women and honoured bishops,
he looked to the naked truth of the judgment time, when mitres and
crowns would remain but as signs of an awful responsibility, and the
divine justice, so tried, so obscured on earth, would be vindicated
before the angels who are quick to do God's will, and the twelve plain
men who turned the mighty currents of the world. Such was the spirit
of a man who lived in the days of St. Francis and St. Louis, Stephen
Langton and Roger Bacon.
Before commencing a detailed description of the statuary, one must
refer to Professor Cockerell, R.A., whose enthusiastic love of the
work led him to construct a theory which he published in 1851, as an
_Iconography of the West Front_. There can be little doubt that he was
right in his general idea; there can be equally little doubt that he
was wrong in nearly every application of it. Everyone now, for
instance, takes it for granted that the south side of the front is
mainly "spiritual," devoted to ecclesiastics, while the north is
"temporal"; and that the whole of the fourth and fifth tiers do
represent certain leading historical figures. But when we read
Cockerell's reasons for identifying these figures we recoil in dismay.
His knowledge of history is superficial, of costume he knows practically
nothing; his drawings are as inaccurate as his imagination is fertile,
and he states as obvious facts the wildest conjectures. Further
reference will be found to his book in our description of the fourth
and fifth tiers. It was at least an honest labour of love, and
Cockerell deserves the honour, as he had to endure the disadvantages,
of being the first in the field.
The CENTRAL DOORWAY may be taken before the lowest tier. Its soffit
contains an evident addition, as if the architect felt that it needed
emphasising by some enrichment. In the first of its four
deeply-wrought mouldings a series of niches, five on each side, with
small delicately-carved figures, has been inserted, evidently after
the arch was made; they are cut from a different stone (white lias),
and are skilfully fitted and grooved into the back of the large sunk
moulding. They add considerably to the effect of the arch, although
all the heads of the figures have been destroyed. It is characteristic
of Cockerell's random method of conjecture, that he declared these
figures to be representations of the Ten Commandments.
1. The tympanum under the arch and above the double opening of the
doorway contains a quatrefoil, in which is a noble sculpture of the
Madonna and Child. The head of the Mother and the upper half of the
Child are gone, but the drapery that remains is of quite perfect grace
and dignity. A serpent is under the feet of the Madonna, who is
sitting on a throne; angels censing are on either side without the
quatrefoil. A good deal of the old colour which once gave this central
group a peculiar brilliancy can still be traced on this protected
sculpture; the background was ultramarine, the mouldings red and gold.
The figures were also gilded in part, and there are marks on the wall
to show that a metal nimbus was once attached to it.
2. In a canopy above the arch is another sculpture of equal beauty,
though, owing to its more exposed position, the treatment is a little
broader. It represents the coronation of Our Lady; both the heads and
all the hands are gone. The two figures are both seated on one long
bench, and our Lord leans forward to place the crown upon his Mother's
head.
THE TIERS.
In order to avoid any possible mistake I have taken each tier from
right to left, specifying the gaps, windows, and buttresses, to
facilitate identification, and commencing with the lowest tier. I have
also numbered the figures afresh, because of the confusion which has
hitherto caused great waste of time to every one who has attempted to
identify them. Cockerell's numbers are the only ones that are at all
accurate (and he omits the two figures on the extreme south of the
fourth and fifth tiers); but, as he recommenced his enumeration with
each series, they are not much use for purposes of identification.
There are mistakes and omissions in the enumeration of the
photographs, there are mistakes in the album in the cathedral library,
the photographs in the South Kensington Museum are hopelessly muddled,
and even the descriptions of the restorer, Mr Ferrey, are so arranged
that it takes days to identify them, while some of them elude one's
efforts altogether. I have, therefore, numbered the statues and groups
in a continuous order from bottom to top, so that comparison with
photographs will in the future be easy. In the case of work most of
which can only be seen from a distance, the study of photographs is
absolutely necessary for a full appreciation of their beauty, more
especially as in very many cases the photographs reveal the form which
the accidents of discoloration have partly concealed. Mr Phillips of
10 Market Place has an almost complete set of admirable photographs,
which he was enabled to take when the scaffolding was up for the
restoration of 1870-73: it is these which Mr Ruskin has so much
admired.
As there are so many statues, some of inferior interest and beauty, I
have ventured to put an asterisk (*) to those which I think no one
should fail to see; and, in almost every case, I have but echoed the
general verdict.
THE LOWEST TIER.--This tier contains sixty-two niches, forty-three of
which are empty, so fatally convenient has their position been for the
iconoclast. Of those which remain nearly all are on the north side of
the tower, so that at first sight the tier seems to be quite empty.
The loss here has been the greater because the figures were of the
finest kind, as well as the most easily seen: those remaining are
certainly of the most exquisite loveliness. Cockerell's theory that
this tier represents the heralds of the gospel, prophets and
missionaries, has nothing to support it.
It seems to me not unlikely that the tier was devoted to some of the
most popular saints in the calendar; the position, so near the
passer-by, would have suited this arrangement, and the front must have
been singularly deficient in saints if it were otherwise. The figures
which remain, a group of deacons, a group of bearded figures holding
books, and of women bearing religious attributes, might well stand for
saints.
3. _South Tower._ Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.
4. Male figure, much decayed, held by metal clamps.
_Rest of figures missing along west front up to_--
5. _North Tower._ Male figure, much decayed, holds book.
6. A similar figure.
_Missing._
7. _North Buttress._ Male figure, which held some drapery in front.
8. _North Buttress._ Male figure, holding a vessel in right hand
covered with a cloth, the end of which was in left hand. [Cockerell
calls this St. Augustine, erroneously supposing this cloth to be the
pallium.]
9. Beautiful female figure,* drapery resembling a chasuble; hands
gone.
10. Female figure with flowing hair; hands gone.
11. Female figure, wimple round head, in left hand holds a vessel,
right hand is on the edge of the vessel, the fingers dipping in.
12. Female figure,* hood over head, holds in right hand the foot of a
chalice, and with her left the fold of her dress in front.
13. Tall male figure, bearded, holding closed book; in good
preservation.
14. Male figure, bearded; hands gone.
15. _Buttress._ Male figure, bearded, with flowing hair; hands gone.
16. _Buttress._ Male figure, bearded, holding open book in left hand;
upper part moulding away.
17. Deacon* in dalmatic, alb, amice, holding open book in left hand,
right hand gone; drapery is wonderfully fine. (This and the remaining
figures are tonsured and shaven.)
18. Deacon,* a beautiful figure, (apparently in dalmatic), amice; left
hand gone.
19. Deacon, in girded alb, ends of girdle hanging down, wears the
folded chasuble (very rare in art) over left shoulder, maniple; holds
book with both hands.
_Missing._
20. _Buttress._ Deacon, in girded alb, amice, stole over left
shoulder, book in left hand. Besides ends of girdle, end of a stole is
visible on left side, as if a crossed stole had first been carved and
this end forgotten.
21. _Buttress._ Deacon,* stole worn over left shoulder, maniple, but
no amice and no girdle; wears instead of alb a surplice with full
sleeves--an unusual combination.
SECOND TIER.--The next tier (22-53) consists of thirty-two
quatrefoils, some of which are now empty. The rest contain half-length
figures of angels, holding crowns, mitres, scrolls, or drapery in
their hands.
THIRD TIER.--This, which we may call the Bible Tier, consists of
forty-eight quatrefoils, ranged close above the quatrefoils of the
second tier, and broken in the centre by the larger sculpture of the
Coronation of the Virgin (2). The subjects are all from the Bible,
those on the south from the Old Testament, dealing with the first
things, while those on the north and on the north and east sides of
the northern tower are from the New Testament, and represent the life
and mission of our Lord. The iconoclasts seem to have concentrated
their attention on those earlier New Testament groups, which would
contain the figure of our Lady, and they have made the Crucifixion
almost unrecognisable. The figures are about two feet high.
_Empty._
54. The Death of Jacob.
55. Isaac blessing Jacob, who leans over him.
56. Meeting of Isaac and Rebecca, probably.
57. Noah sacrificing on Ararat. Very fine.
58. The Ark. A curious structure, raised pyramidally in four tiers,
with open arcades, in which birds and beasts are seen. Below is the
Flood.
59. Noah building the Ark.* He is in workman's dress, and wears a cap;
he is working at a bench, beneath which are his tools. Behind is the
ark, and an "Early English" tree.
60. God decreeing the Deluge.* In great wrath Jehovah approaches a man
who sits pensively on a hill-side: from behind the man's head springs
a demon. The figure of Jehovah is admirably expressed.
_Empty._
61. Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac, who is bound on a bundle of
wood. Cockerell called this the Sacrifice of Cain, which certainly
suits its position better.
62. Adam delves and Eve spins. Fine.
_Empty._
63. Jehovah in the Garden. A draped figure, addressing two figures
naked and ashamed.
64. The Temptation. The serpent's body is coiled round the tree near
Adam, and his head hovers above with an apple in the mouth. Adam is
already eating the fruit.
65. God placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
66. The Creation of Eve.
67. The Creation of Adam. The figure of the Almighty in each of these
three is magnificent, especially in the last.
_Empty._
OVER CENTRAL DOORWAY. 2. Coronation of the Virgin (p. 34).
_Here follow eighteen New Testament subjects._
68. St. John the Evangelist*; he is winged. A book rests on the back
of an eagle. The idea of inspiration could not be more finely
expressed.
_Empty._ (Perhaps the Annunciation was here.)
_Empty._ (Perhaps the Visitation.)
69. The Nativity. Mutilated.
_Empty._
_Empty._
_Empty._
_Empty._
_Empty._
_Empty._
70. Christ among the Doctors: the Holy Child is a very small figure on
a pedestal. A most expressive group.
71. St. John Baptist, clothed in camels' hair, in the wilderness. (An
angel appearing from the clouds, broken off since 1862. The fragment
is now in No. 72).
72. Figures in critical attitudes. Perhaps the Sermon on the Mount.
_Empty._
73. Christ in the Wilderness, probably.
74. Figures in intent attitudes. Perhaps the Mission of the Apostles.
75. Five figures seated at a table. Perhaps the Anointing of Christ's
feet.
76. Figure on a Mount surrounded by many figures. Perhaps the Feeding
of the Five Thousand. NORTH SIDE OF TOWER.
77. Christ, sitting, with other figures. Perhaps the Feeding of the
Four Thousand.
78. The Transfiguration.* A fine composition, two of the Apostles
crouching in the foreground.
79. The Entry into Jerusalem. Under the city gate two men strew
clothes and branches: from the walls and tower many people are
looking.
80. The Betrayal. Chief priest with mitred head-dress in centre:
winged devil holds up the train of right figure. On left a figure
holds open a money-box.
81. The Last Supper.* The Virgin kneels to receive the Communion from
her Son: St. John's head rests on His bosom. The drapery is very fine.
Underneath are a bottle and a basket.
_Empty._
82. Christ before Pilate.
83. Christ bearing the Cross. Mutilated.
84. The Elevation of the Cross. Much mutilated.
85. The Deposition. Much mutilated.
_Empty._
86. The Resurrection. An angel on either side, guards below.
87. Pentecost: the Birthday of Holy Church. A dignified group of
figures.
FOURTH AND FIFTH TIERS.--The fourth and fifth tiers contained at least
120 figures (about a dozen of which are gone), varying in height from
7 ft. 10 in. to 8 ft. 1 in., a few running as high as 8 ft. 10 in.
They no doubt represent the kings, bishops, and heroes of English
history from Egbert to Henry II. Cockerell was probably right in his
general interpretation of the series, but it is easy to prove that he
is wrong in many of the names he gives. It is not so easy to suggest
any better, and therefore his names have stuck to the figures, since
people naturally like to know them by something more interesting than
a number. I shall therefore adopt his nomenclature, with the admission
that equally good grounds could be given in almost every case for some
other theory. Besides Mr Ferrey's account (_Inst. Brit. Arch._, 1870),
quoted in inverted commas, Cockerell's descriptions, inaccurate as
they are, have been consulted, and also Mr Planche's criticism of
Cockerell.
The word _Buttress_ means that the figure (generally a sitting one) is
on the west face of the buttress in question. Bishops ("Bp."), unless
otherwise stated, wear the usual vestments--mitre, chasuble, dalmatic,
tunicle, stole, maniple, alb, and apparelled amice. Kings ("K.") and
Queens ("Q.") wear crowns. A favourite attitude is described as
"holding cord"; this cord being the lace or cord of the mantle, which
crossed the chest and prevented that garment from falling off the
shoulders. The mantle seems to have had an uncomfortable tendency to
slip down, and thus it became a habit constantly to pull the cord
forward, whence the frequency of this attitude. This cord was wrongly
described by Cockerell as a necklace, with which it has, of course, no
connection. The word "trampling" refers to another common feature in
these tiers; kings are generally represented as trampling on a small
figure under their feet, to signify their success over their enemies.
The figures of the fifth tier are rather taller than those of the
fourth. The first twenty figures on our list, those of the fourth tier
up to King Ina, may represent the twenty bishops of the diocese from
Athelm to Jocelin, in direct order, since the corresponding series of
the fifth tier contains figures which cannot be those of bishops. I
have, however, kept to Cockerell's names to avoid confusion.
FOURTH TIER.--88. _South Tower_--_Buttress_--Sitting Bp.; much
decayed, supported by metal clamps.
89. Bp. Savaric. Much defaced, head grotesquely so.
90. Bp. Robert. Much defaced, head grotesquely.
_Missing._
91. _Buttress._ Bp. Reginald de Bohun, sitting; somewhat decayed.
92. Bp. Ethelweard, good drapery, well--preserved; no hair or beard.
93. Sighelm, good drapery, well-preserved; ring of curly hair and
beard.
94. Alfry, in hood; large curly beard.
95. Etheleage, monastic dress, cowl and scapular; large curly beard.
96. Bp. Asser. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.
97. Bp. Heahmund. Short and stout figure, in attitude of benediction.
98. _Buttress._ Bp. Wolfhelm. Fine seated figure, in attitude of
benediction.
99. Bp. Ealhstan. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.
100. Bp. Wilbert. Stout common-place figure; rather mutilated.
101. Bp. Denefrith. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.
102. Bp. Ethelnod. Stout common-place figure; better preserved.
103. _Buttress._ Bp. Aethelhelm, first Bishop of Wells* (reproduced on
p. 22). Noble figure, sitting in attitude of benediction.
104. Bp. Herewald, in attitude of benediction.
105. Bp. Forthere, head bent slightly forward.
106. Bp. Ealdhelm. A fine figure. _Central Window (South)._
107. K. Ina, looking over right shoulder, hand gone. (These central
figures, Ina and Ethelburga, are supposed to be of later date than the
rest.) _Central Window._
108. Q. Ethelburga. Wears the long kirtle with girdle, from which are
hung an ink-bottle and aulmoniere. _Central Window (North)._
109. K. Egbert, trampling, bearded; cloak falls in a graceful sweep
from right to left.
110. K. Ethelwulf, bearded. A very short figure, but raised on high
stone (crouching figure?) higher than the others.
111. K. Ethelbald; decayed.
112. _Buttress._ K. Edgar, sitting, flat cap on head.
113. K. Ethelbert, smooth face, trampling; apparently holds fragment
of sceptre in right hand, cord of mantle with left.
114. K. Ethelred I., smooth face, trampling, gracefully draped cloak,
holds fragment of sceptre apparently in right, and something
indistinct in left hand.
115. K. Edwy, left arm raised, holding cloak, which is over right
shoulder.
116. K. Edward the Martyr, bearded, holding cup (his usual symbol) in
left hand, trampling. This is one of the most likely ascriptions.
117. _Buttress._ K. Edmund, sitting, right arm uplifted, left resting
on knee. Fast decaying.
118. K. Ethelred the Unready, bearded, short figure, trampling, but
the trampled figure leans easily on its elbow.
119. K. Cnut, bearded, short figure, trampling, but the trampled
figure is apparently still struggling.
120. Q. Osburga,* in long supertunic, with ample sleeves, falling in
folds over the feet. The tight sleeve of her kirtle appears on left
arm, which holds cord of mantle. Head and neck in the wimple which was
not in thirteenth century distinctive of nun's dress. Book in right
hand.
121. Q. Emma, in flowing supertunic with ample sleeves, and wimple;
hands gone.
122. Harold I., no head covering, trampling; hands touching girdle.
123. Harthacnut, like II old, but hands and part of face gone.
124. _Buttress._ K. Edred, sitting, right hand on knee, left raised to
cord, drapery crossed.
125. Q. Edgitha, mantle falls round over left foot.
126. Edmund Ironside.* Knight in surcoat over chain armour, hauberk
but no helmet; right arm and left hand gone, but head turned to left
and attitude is that of drawing or sheathing his sword.
127. Harold. Knight, hauberk and surcoat of mail, cylindrical helmet,
shield on left side; delapidated.
128. _North Side of Tower. Buttress._ Edward the Confessor, in cap;
sitting in attitude of judgment (Planche), left hand resting on right
ankle, this leg being crossed over left knee.
129. Prince Richard.* Crowned figure of great beauty, bearded, head
slightly bent to left with a melancholy expression; hands gone.
130. Robert Curthouse,* bearded, the right hand draws aside part of
the surcoat, exposing right leg in curious hose; left leg covered by
surcoat.
131. K. Rufus,* bearded, right hand holds cord of mantle, left holds
border of mantle across his body.
132. Q. Matilda, flowing hair, holds mantle in left hand.
133. Emperor Henry, crowned, holds cord of mantle, with right hand
fingering end of his girdle.
134. K. Stephen, right hand holds cord of mantle, left on girdle.
135. K. Henry II., end of cloak thrown over shoulder, holds the fold
with both hands; in good preservation.
136. _Buttress._ K. William the Conqueror, sitting in menacing
attitude, elbows projecting, and hands upon knees.
137. Prince Henry. A dignified figure; hands gone.
138. Prince Geoffrey. Beautiful figure, head gone, holds cord of
mantle, loose sleeves, and good drapery. (Ferrey is wrong in calling
this a female figure.)
139. Q. Maude the Good, flowing hair, left hand on girdle of
supertunic, dress fastened at neck with "a beautiful jewel" (Ferrey).
140. Adelais. Graceful figure, with flowing hair.
141. _Buttress._ K. Henry I., sitting in defiant attitude, right arm
akimbo, left knee raised, foot on pedestal.
_Missing._
_Missing._
_Missing._
142. K. John.* A beautiful figure.
143. Henry III., no crown, standing, but right knee raised to suit the
weathering of aisle roof.
FIFTH TIER.--144. _South Tower. Buttress on the south side._ Sitting
Bp., supported by metal clamps.
145. Bp. J. de Villula; hands gone, much decayed, clamped.
146. Bp. Gisa; hands gone.
147. Bp. Duduc*; right hand gone, book in left.
148. _Buttress._ Bp. Lyfing; decayed.
149. Bp. Merewit; hands gone.
150. Bp. Brihtwine; hands gone.
151. Aethelwine. Fine figure with long wavy beard spreading at end,
hood and mantle, aulmoniere at girdle.
152. Burwold, tall bearded figure in hood, satchel (?) hanging from
girdle.
153. Bp. Aelfwine.* Beautiful figure in cowl, curly hair and beard,
finely draped habit with loose sleeves.
154. Bp. Sigegar, book in left hand.
155. _Buttress._ Bp. Brithelm, head turned to right; decayed.
156. Bp. Cyneward.
157. Bp. Wulfhelm. A fine figure.
158. Bp. Elfege. A fine figure.
159. Edfleda, flowing hair, in supertunic or surcoat with long and
wide sleeves, head covered with veil, which hangs behind, no wimple.
Nothing conventual to suggest Edfleda.
160. _Buttress._ K. Edward the Elder. Fine figure, right hand on
knees, left on cord of mantle.
_Missing._
161. Edgitha. Very tall figure, right hand on cord, left holds end of
veil.
_Missing._
_Central Window (South)._
162. Q. Edgiva, kirtle only, with crown and veil, no wimple.
_Central Window._
163. Ethilda. Wears supertunic over her kirtle, veil and wimple.
_Central Window (North)._
164. Hugh. A sword hangs from his girdle on left side.
165. Elgiva.
166. Q. Edgiva; hands gone.
167. _Buttress._ K. Ethelstan, defiant attitude, right foot on stool,
wears brooch.
168. K. Charles the Simple. A squat figure with very big head,
trampling.
169. Otho, close-fitting tunic, over which is mantle with handsome
fastening.
_Missing._
170. Guthrum. Knight in surcoat, mail hauberk and chausses, shield on
left side.
171. _Buttress._ K. Alfred, seated; both hands gone, front decayed,
and clamped.
172. Earl of Mercia.* Knight in helmet with cross-slit, holding right
hand up and shield upon left arm; the surcoat turned over below the
waist shows a suit of mail. Well preserved.
173. St. Neot (more probably St. Decuman, as St. Neot was not
beheaded). Bp. holding with both hands the upper part of his head,
which has been cut off across the brows.
174. Ethelfleda,* the Lady of the Mercians. A striking and beautiful
figure with flowing hair, long veil hanging below the waist,
supertunic held by brooch, but without sleeves, the tight sleeves of
her kirtle being visible to the shoulders.
175. Ethelward. Woman with flowing hair, veil; hands gone.
176. Grimbald. Priest; hands gone.
177. St. Elfege, Archb.; hands gone; a noble figure.
178. _Buttress._ St. Dunstan, upper part decayed.
179. Turketul. Short figure, trampling, in very pointed cloak, big
head in cap.
180. John Scotus.* A beautiful figure, with exquisitively fine drapery
that looks as thin as gauze.
_Missing._
181. _North Side of Tower.--Buttress._ Robert, Archbishop of
Canterbury, standing, holding book in right hand, left hand gone; no
mitre.
182. Q. Elgiva, drapery falls from left shoulder, is folded over right
arm; book in left hand.
183. Q. Edgitha. Tall, gaunt figure; veil falls in long folds to knee,
right arm close to side, left hand holds cord.
184. Q. Edburga, circlet round head, brooch on her breast, holds
drapery in right hand.
_Missing._
_Missing._
185. Christina, Abbess of Romsey.* Beautiful female figure, holding
box in left hand: "her dress is peculiar": one end of veil is caught
over right shoulder, the other falls down in front on right side (p.
31).
186. Wulston of Winchester, bearded, "with distended ears"; right hand
gone.
187. _Buttress._ Archb. Aldred of York, sitting; "mitre modern," it is
conical in shape.
188. Edgar Atheling. Knight, spurred, in surcoat only, with sword
girded outside, no mail, but close-fitting cap and fillet on head: the
fillet was used for the large cylindrical helmet to rest on. He
carries what may be a palmer's hat (Cockerell points out that Edgar
went on a pilgrimage); but Planche says it must be a small Saxon
buckler, as pilgrims did not carry swords. It certainly looks like a
hat.
189. Robert the Saxon. Knight in hauberk, without mail, but feet
spurred, cap on head, shield and sword.
190. Falk of Anjou. Knight in hauberk and chausses of mail, hood of
hauberk enclosing whole head except a portion of the face: on head is
the thick fillet. He covers his body with a shield. His surcoat is
deeply jagged.
191. Robert of Normandy. Knight, in hauberk and complete suit of mail,
in good preservation, shield with boss on it held down: he wears
cyclindrical helmet, his eyes and nose being visible through the slit.
192. _Buttress._ B. Roger of Salisbury, sitting, without mitre.
_Missing._
_Missing._
193. Female figure, holding drapery with right arm, left hand on side.
194. St. Nicholas, the patron saint of baptism, stands in water up to
knees, holding a child in each arm. This ascription is approved by
Planche. (He is commonly called by children "the pancake man," the
conventional water suggesting round cakes).
195. Female figure, in good preservation, but clamped in a sloping
position, drapery good.
THE RESURRECTION TIER.--The sixth tier (195-283) consists of a series
of small canopies which run continuously under the cornice that
finishes the main division of the front. Above and around, the
spandrels are filled with beautiful foliage most boldly undercut. Each
of the eighty-eight canopies (of which thirty are on the north side)
contains a figure, or group of figures, representing the Resurrection
of the dead. In spite of a rather defective anatomy, these figures are
singularly impressive, "startling in significance, pathos, and
expression," are Cockerell's words. They are naked--crowns, mitres,
and tonsures alone remaining to distinguish their office. They awaken
by degrees, heave up the lids of their tombs, and draw themselves up
slowly, as if scarcely yet awake. Some sit in a strange dreamy posture
with folded arms, some seem expectant, others are in attitudes of
fear, hope, defiance, and despair. There are none of the grotesque
accessories which are too common in ancient representations of this
subject, but the awful feeling of a great awakening shivers along this
range of naked, grey, stone figures. It is probably the earliest
representation of the subject in art; it is certainly the most
profound and spiritual.
THE ANGELS' TIER.--This is immediately above the Resurrection Tier,
and occupies the lower part of the gable only. The angelic figures
stand in nine low niches with well-moulded trefoil heads that rested
on blue lias shafts; the two niches on the returns of the buttresses
also contain angels, which are represented as blowing trumpets. In all
probability the nine figures symbolise the nine orders of the heavenly
hierarchy, and I have ventured to give the names which the attributes
and position suggest to my mind as the most likely. Mr Ferrey's
account is quoted in inverted commas: it must be remembered that he
had the advantage of a close inspection from the scaffolding.
284. Thrones. "Angel holding an open book," two wings, long robe,
facing to his right.
285. Cherubim. "Seraph," with four wings, "apparently holding a
banner," decayed.
286. Seraphim. "Seraph," with four wings, "entirely feathered, with
bare legs and feet," face gone.
287. Dominations. "Angel wearing a helmet," in vigorous attitude, two
wings, "too dilapidated to make out what its attributes are."
288. (_Central Figure_). Powers. "Beautifully robed, holding a
sceptre," two wings: the dress is very ample and majestic.
289. Virtues. "Robed in a short tunic, with an ornamental border, the
legs are encased in armour," wears "a jewelled cap," two wings.
290. Principalities. "A Seraph, entirely feathered, holding a vessel
shaped like a bowl," with flames issuing out of it, the legs and feet
being also enveloped in "wavy lines of flames: probably the avenging
angel"; four wings.
291. Archangels. "Apparently holding a crown in the right and left
hands, close to his breast," long robe covering the feet; two wings.
292. Angels. "Carrying a regal or small hand organ," in left hand,
four wings, decayed; apparently bearing a wand in right hand.
THE APOSTLES' TIER.--The next tier, that of the Apostles, who are thus
raised above the angels, contains twelve figures of imposing design,
later in style than the rest of the statuary. The figures are hollowed
out at the back so as to press less heavily on the tier beneath. The
arrangement of these niches is very happily managed, so as to avoid
any monotony in the range of twelve similar niches; for, besides the
natural division formed by the small attached shafts between the
figures, an additional projecting shaft in every third division forms
the tier into four large bays with three figures in each. The capitals
of these niches are remarkable, the graceful foliage being disposed in
a very free manner, in some cases growing upwards, in others bent
down, but always true to the outline of the capital. Of the figures
themselves the central one, in the place of honour, and taller than
the rest, is St. Andrew. The others are not all so easy to name, the
attributes of some having disappeared; and, although Cockerell gave
names to them all (some of which were certainly wrong), we may content
ourselves with the following list, which at least is accurate so far
as it goes:--
293. No symbol in hand, which is covered with drapery. (Carter's
drawing represents a staff or spear, but he is quite unreliable,
though it is occasionally possible that the attributes he draws did
exist when he saw the figures a century ago.)
294. Book (?) in right hand, a vessel or bag of cylindrical form is
apparently suspended from the left arm. Perhaps St. Matthew with his
purse.
295. Holds something, which may be the fuller's club, in which case
the figure is that of St. James the Less; forked beard.
296. Club (?) in hand, long curly hair and beard. There is something
near the knee, which may be a palmer's hat. (Carter drew this figure
as St. Bartholomew with knife and skin.)
297. Carter drew this figure as St. Peter with the keys.
298. St. Andrew with his cross; he is so tall that his head fills the
upper portion of the canopy.
299. St. John holding the chalice, which has large bowl and short
stem; wavy hair. This is the only figure not bearded.
300. St. James the Greater. Staff in right hand, large satchel on left
side hung from hand over right shoulder, book in left hand (the book
of the Gospels with which St. James is always represented, in addition
to the pilgrim's stiff and scrip). He wears a high cap.
301. Perhaps St. Paul (who is often represented among the Twelve),
with sword and book.
302. St. Philip holds drapery in right hand. Ferrey says the five
loaves can be distinguished.
303. Long hair and head-dress like a veil bound by a fillet round the
brows, forked beard, book in left hand, girdle.
304. This figure occasioned much controversy, owing to Carter having
drawn it with a crown. Cockerell therefore attributed it to St. Peter,
and said that the crown showed Bishop Jocelin's papistical tendencies!
Planche scoffed at this, remarking with truth that none of the
Apostles are ever represented with crowns, but he caused even greater
confusion by suggesting that the figure stood for a Saxon king, and
that the tier, in spite of the Apostolic number, did not represent the
twelve Apostles. If he had looked at the actual figures instead of
Carter's drawings he would have seen that there is no crown at all. In
the photographs this is still clearer, the Apostle's head being
evidently covered by nothing more imposing than his own long hair or a
veil like that of the preceding figure.
THE UPPERMOST TIER.--The whole magnificent series was fitly crowned by
this group (305), of which only the lower part of the central figure
remains. That, however, sufficiently attests the noble character of
the rest: it represents our Lord seated in glory within a
vesica-shaped niche. The feet are pierced. It seems to have been
mutilated by Monmouth's followers, for it still bears the marks of
their bullets. The two figures in the niches on either side must also
have been destroyed at this time, for they are shown in a print in
Dugdale's _Monasticon_. Ferrey cannot have seen this print when he
suggested that the figures were of angels censing, for they are there
given as representing Our Lady (new covenant) and John Baptist (old
covenant).
THE WESTERN TOWERS.--The projection of these towers beyond the aisles
of the nave gives its great breadth to the west front, which is 147
feet across, as against the 116 feet of the almost contemporary
cathedral of Amiens, which is twice its height. It is an unusual
arrangement, of which there is no exactly similar example except at
Rouen. Above the screen the towers are Perpendicular, the southern
tower having been completed towards the end of the fourteenth, and the
northern at the beginning of the fifteenth century. They are thus
later additions to the original design of the front, and make it more
difficult for us to realise the effect that was first intended.
These two towers are very nearly alike, but the southern, or Harewell,
tower is some forty years the earlier of the two, and belongs to the
earliest days of the Perpendicular style, Bishop Harewell having died
in 1386. The northern tower was built with a sum of money left for the
purpose by Bishop Bubwith, who died in 1424, and his arms are carved
high up on a buttress upon the north side, those on the west being a
modern copy. In one of its two western niches is a figure of the
bishop in prayer. Both the towers have two belfry windows on each
side, tiny battlements, and a stair-turret on the outer western angle;
in both the buttresses are carried up, with but slight reduction in
bulk, two-thirds of their height and then finished with small
pinnacles. There are, however, certain slight differences between the
two towers; their height is not exactly equal, and there are no niches
on the earlier one. The south tower contains a peal of eight bells;
that on the north is traditionally considered "rotten," but to all
appearance it is sound enough.
[Illustration: The Central Tower From The South-east.]
THE CENTRAL TOWER is Early English to the level of the roof. The two
upper stages are Decorated, but there is a curious inter-mixture of
styles in them, owing to the repairs that were made after the
settlements of 1321. The chapter seemed determined to allow no
possibility of another accident, for besides the inverted arches and
buttresses of the interior, the original high narrow windows of the
upper part of the tower have been fortified by later insertions, by
way of bonding and stiffening the structure, which had been so
endangered by the sinking of its piers below. There are, however, no
signs of any rents in the Decorated part. The tower has square angular
turrets, and is divided vertically into three main compartments, each
division being marked by a small pinnacle, and the turrets by large
compound pinnacles. It is an interesting tower to ascend, the rents in
the wall being plainly discernible; and from the summit there is a
fine view of Wells and of the valley in which the city stands.
The NORTH PORCH is perhaps the finest piece of architecture at Wells,
though it generally receives far less attention than it deserves. It
is certainly the oldest part of the church, and must have been the
first work which Bishop Reginald undertook, about 1185; in style it
retains much of the Norman influence. The mouldings of the noble
entrance arch are numerous and bold, and twice the Norman zig-zag
occurs, though enriched with leaves in a manner that suggests the
coming Gothic. A weather moulding, exquisitely carved with deeply
undercut foliage, covers the arch. Its capitals on the east side
contain figures among their leaves representing the martyrdom of St.
Edmund the King: the first three of the caps have the saint in the
midst, crowned, and transfixed with a number of conventionally-arranged
arrows, and his enemies, two on either side, drawing their bows; the
fourth cap shows an executioner cutting off the saint's head; in the
fifth the head is found by the wolf; the sixth has been partly cut
away, but the body of the wolf and the heads of two figures remain.
In the spandrels above are two square panels containing a cockatrice,
and another strange beast. The gable is filled with an arcade, the
central member of which is corbelled off to make room underneath for
three little lancet windows which light the parvise chamber within.
The buttresses of the porch have slender shafts at the angles, which
are finished off with foliage of a remarkably free and graceful kind;
it should be noticed as an example of those subtle touches that are so
abundant in this porch. On the buttresses are pinnacles with an
arcade, at the top of which little openings cast a shadow that gives a
lightness to the whole effect. A smaller pinnacle is at the apex of
the gable, and underneath it an ornament of twisted foliage.
Nothing could well surpass the interior of this porch; the delicacy,
and refinement which are shown in every detail are the more amazing
when we consider that the architect and his masons had only just
emerged from the large methods of Norman building. A range of three
arcades on either side is divided in the midst by three shafts boldly
detached from the pear-shaped moulding round which they are grouped.
These shafts carry the ribs of the groined vault, and divide the porch
into two square bays. Their capitals are very boldly undercut, and
bear distinct traces of Romanesque influence; indeed, the volutes of
the cap on the west side give it almost the appearance of a very
freely-carved Corinthian capital. Those at the angles are of like
fashion, except that on the north-east, which has fuller and freer
foliage, wherein stands a man shooting with his bow at a bird, the
whole most vigorously conceived.
[Illustration: The North Porch.]
In the uppermost arcade the little touch of foliage that is worked on
to the junction of the mullions (which are made up of four pear-shaped
mouldings) illustrates the love of delicate things that is so
characteristic of this architect. Below is a projecting double arcade,
behind which, against the wall, is a third row of arches: the outer
mouldings intersect and the abaci of the outer caps are finished off
in a carefully restrained curl of foliage; those on the soffit are
deeply undercut, by means of which a very black shadow is secured. All
the capitals are carved with the stiff-leafed foliage; and in the
spandrels are grotesque beasts, full of character. The string-course
below is finished with dragons who bend round and swallow the end of
the string, their tails (on the west side) twisting right along the
moulding. It is significant of the free way in which the masons were
employed, that the carving varies very much on the two sides. The
grotesques in the spandrels above mentioned are finest on the east
side, but the dragons of the string course are best on the west side,
where their expressions, as they bite the moulding, are full of life
and humour. On this western side, too, the foliage which fills the
spandrels of the lowest arcade is at its best; it is indeed the purest
and truest piece of decorative work in the whole cathedral. Each
moulding in this beautiful porch, from the filleted ribs of the groins
to the bands round the shafts, and the moulded edge of the stone
bench, is most carefully thought out, and adapted to its position, in
a way that every architect will appreciate. The double doorway which
leads into the church has an unusual and most effective moulding on
its jambs, very large and simple, with slight projections worked upon
it: the inner moulding of the enclosing arch, however, is a boldly
projecting zig-zag, the supporting capitals of which have two figures,
one in a cope, the other a bishop in a very pointed chasuble. The
central pillar is of much later date. Above is a square recess filled
with later masonry, where perhaps a figure was once inserted.
Most happily, the North Porch has been spared from the restorer's
hand. It is a unique and most beautiful example of early work; any
restoration of it would practically destroy it, and would be an
unpardonable crime. The hungry eye of the modern vandal is sure to
seize on this piece of virgin work, sooner or later; for its very
purity will tempt him. We only hope that when that day comes the
Chapter will be faithful to their trust.
The GABLE END of the north transept, which must be very near to the
north porch in date, is a very similar example of the early work. It
is flanked by turrets which are capped with pinnacles; both turrets,
pinnacles and wall are rich with arcading, the effect of which is
especially charming in the gable, where, by a happy device, the
weather moulding is made to curve suddenly over the two topmost
arches, filling the angle at the apex of the coping, and leaving a
little space between it and the two arches to be occupied by foliage.
The general character of the WALLS is distinctly Transitional; the
buttresses are almost as low, broad, shallow and massive as in Norman
work; and the windows, though now filled with Perpendicular tracery,
are so broad that, were they but round-headed, they would look more
Norman than much real Norman work.
The richness of exterior effect is much increased by a most graceful
Decorated PARAPET, which is carried all round the church on the wall
of both nave and aisles. As for the masonry as a whole, with the
exception of the west front nothing could be sounder and more
skilfully executed. Mr Britton's opinion was that "perhaps there is
not a church in the kingdom of the same age where the stone has been
so well chosen, better put together, and where it remains in so
perfect a state: this deserves the particular notice and study of
architects."[5]
The CHAIN GATE, one of the peculiar glories of Wells, is really a
bridge over the roadway, built by Bishop Beckington and his executors,
to connect the chapter-house staircase with the vicars' close. Freeman
spoke of it as a "marvel of ingenuity," yet perhaps its excellence
consists rather in its simplicity. A covered way was needed to the
close, but the road lay between, and so a bridge was built; the bridge
had to rest on something: three arches were therefore made, one large
for carts, and two small for foot-passengers; a further space had to
be spanned between the road and the staircase: the bridge was
therefore continued on the same level, but, as the ground here was
lower, the arch on this side was built on a lower level. Furthermore,
the two ends of the bridge not being exactly opposite to one another,
the bridge had to turn at a slight angle where it reaches the road. It
is just such simple adaptation of means to an end that gave his chance
to a medieval architect; it is this that gives what is called its
picturesqueness to an ancient town, it is this that makes nature so
picturesque. A modern architect would have built his bridge in a
straight line across the road, and have pulled down something to avoid
the irregularity; he would not have had the sense of proportion which
alone was needed to make utility supremely beautiful. The builder of
the Chain Gate just used his opportunities to their very best. He saw
that but a small thing was wanted, that the close must not be dwarfed;
so he kept the work little and delicate, rich and light: he made its
chief beauty to lie in its _bijou_ character. Yet he preserved its
dignity by the wide opening of the central arch, the height of which
is emphasised by the smallness of the two arches on either side. But
although the two small arches effect so much by their contrast with
the large one, the harmony of the gateway is preserved by the
panelling above them which marks this part of the bridge off from the
rest. On the south of the gate is a blank wall, supported by a
buttress which was wanted here, and so here was put. On the south of
the buttress is the lower arch which is so admirable a foil both to
the height of the main gateway and the delicacy of the windows. A
correctly-minded architect would not have tolerated this blank wall
and irregularly-placed arch; but substitute what you will for the
wall, or alter the height of the arch, or replace both by an arcade,
and the dignity of the little gateway is gone. It may further be
noticed that the builder kept the upper and lower stages very
distinct, and made the upper storey as clearly a bridge as the lower
is a gateway: the charming little windows run in a continuous range
over blank wall, gate, and all, but they are grouped closer together
over the gate. A battlemented parapet finishes the top of the bridge.
Niches are placed in the midst of the two windows over the gate; they
contain graceful statues of St. Andrew and other saints. In the wide
moulding of the string course there are angels, curiously placed in a
horizontal position, as well as the stags' heads of Beckington's arms.
[Illustration: The Bishop's Eye.]
Passing under the Chain Bridge a good view of the CHAPTER-HOUSE is
obtained. It is a massive, buttressed octagon, the lower stage marked
by the small broad barred windows of the undercroft, the next by the
rather squat traceried windows of the house itself, while under the
cornice is an open arcade. The gargoyles are interesting. A parapet,
different in design and inferior to that of the church itself,
finishes the building. From this part of the road, there is a good
view of the cathedral in one of its most characteristic aspects;--the
Lady Chapel, the low buildings of the north-eastern transept and
retro-choir, the chapter-house in the foreground, all lying on ground
below the level of the road, and over the Chain Bridge a glimpse of
the north transept gable and the north-west tower.
A queer corner, hidden by a thick tree, is formed between the
chapter-house and the choir aisle; in spite of the obscure position, a
fine gargoyle of the head and shoulders of a man, carved in unusually
colossal proportions, is placed here at a low altitude, to carry off
the water that must gather at the junction of aisle with undercroft
passage. Through the walls that rise high on either side a capital
glimpse of the tower can be had.
From the same road, opposite the prebendal house (now allotted to the
Principal of the Theological College), which has a picturesque
Perpendicular doorway with a window above, the grouping of the Lady
Chapel with the rest of the church can be well seen.
The rich and light appearance of the EAST END is due not only to the
charm of its tracery, which contrasts so well with the network of the
Lady Chapel windows, and to the parapet which rises slightly in the
centre, but also to the three lights which pierce the gable; of these
the upper is diamond-shaped, and thus the masonry that is left has the
appearance of a stout Y cross.
FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.--One of the most interesting views of the
exterior is from the lovely grass-plot on the east of the cloisters,
where once stood the cloister Lady Chapel, and where the vicars were
formerly buried. It is being again used as a cemetery, which is
unfortunate, since there are few things more irreligiously dismal than
a modern burial-ground, and already a cluster of marble and granite
monuments has arisen to spoil one of the most peaceful and unspoilt
places in Wells. If monuments there must be (and why need we so
advertise the dead?), let them at least be quiet and humble and
beautiful: those ostentatious erections of hard and polished stone
ruin the grey walls before which they stand; their frigid materials
are too obtrusive for Christian modesty, too enduring for human
memory. May we not yet hope that this spot will be spared the fate of
the cloister garth?
From here the Lady Chapel is well seen as quite a separate building,
joined to the rest of the church only in its lower part, and with its
own parapet round all its eight sides; its form harmonises most
charmingly with the square presbytery behind it, and with the lofty
chapter-house, like itself octagonal. A further beauty is added by the
solitary flying buttress which stands out at the south-eastern corner;
though certain rents in the southern wall show that the buttress was
built for reasons of the gravest utility. On the south side of the
chapel there is a little door, covered by what looks at first like a
kind of porch, but it is really the passage of a small vestry (p. 132)
which was built up against the wall; the roof of the vestry was a
little higher than that of the passage, and must have leant against
the wall just under the window, as is proved by its gargoyle near the
passage door. This vestry was fatuously destroyed in the early part of
this century by an official who did not even know that it was medieval
work till the soundness of the masonry proved almost too much for his
workmen.
The junction between the earlier and the later presbytery is well seen
from here--too well seen, in fact, for it is awkwardly managed. The
later choir windows, with their crocketed ogee hood-moulds, are a good
feature, and so are the flying buttresses; but the high-pitched roof
of the earlier aisle is discontinued at the break in order to give
room for these windows and buttresses; and the effect of this sudden
termination of an aisle roof half-way along a building is not
pleasant. In the earlier part, too, the later windows have been
clumsily inserted some distance below the Early English dripstone, as
if only the internal effect had been considered. The same may also be
said of the window in the south transept gable: the gable, by the way,
is a much plainer affair than that of the north transept.
Here stood the two CLOISTER LADY CHAPELS, but unfortunately their
sites were not marked on the grass after the excavations were finished
three years ago. Thus nothing can be seen from here of the earlier
chapel, and, of the later, only the doorway and the Perpendicular
panelling against the cloister which marks its western end, and the
commencement of the walls. A small quatrefoiled hagioscope may be
noticed in the library above the cloister; it, no doubt, commanded a
view of the high altar of the chapel.
The earlier _Capella B.M.V. juxta claustrum_ is often referred to in
the chapter documents, and was a favourite centre of devotion. It
became a kind of family chapel for the numerous clan of Byttons, after
the first bishop of that name was buried there; it was also sometimes
used as a chapter-house. The Early English doorway which led to it can
still be seen in the cloister wall, on the right of the present
doorway; it is partly covered by an I.H.S. of later date, made with
the instruments of the Passion. The excavations of 1894, when the
foundations were laid bare under Mr Buckle's direction, showed that
this chapel consisted originally of a plain oblong building, earlier
even than the north porch in date (_i.e._ before 1185), which was
afterwards (c. 1275) enlarged by the addition of an aisle on either
side. The excavations showed that arches were used at this time to
replace the western part of the older walls, and thus to throw the
ancient chapel open to its new aisles. The original chapel, then, if
it was not actually part of Bishop Gisa's buildings, spared when John
de Villula destroyed Gisa's cloister, seems to have been built not
long after Gisa's time, and at least on the site of Gisa's chapel.
This would account for its orientation, which was in a more northerly
direction than that of the cathedral, and probably was the same as
that of the pre-Norman church. Excellent plans of the foundations both
of this and the later chapel are to be found in the _Somerset
Proceedings_ for 1894, where the whole matter is discussed in detail
by Canon Church and Mr Edmund Buckle.
The later chapel on this site was built by _Bishop Stillington_
(1466-91): it followed the orientation of the cathedral, and was of
much larger size than the former building, being about 107 ft. in
length. It consisted of a nave, transepts and choir, with fan-tracery
vault, of which some fragments have been lately fixed in the cloister
wall. Most profusely ornamented and panelled within, as can be seen by
the west end against the cloister wall, it is considered to have been
the _chef d'oeuvre_ of the Somerset Perpendicular, surpassing even
Sherborne and St. Mary, Redcliffe.
But its glory was not to be for long. Stillington was buried in this
"goodly Lady Chapell in the Cloysters," says Godwin, "but rested not
long there; for it is reported that divers olde men, who in their
youth had not onely scene the celebration of his funeral, but also the
building of his tombe, chapell, and all did also see tombe and chapell
destroyed, and the bones of the Bishop that built them turned out of
the lead in which they were interred." This was in 1552, when Bishop
Barlow and the chapter made a grant to that barbarous scoundrel, Sir
John Gates, of "the chappie, sett, lyinge and beynge by the cloyster
on the south syde of the said Cathedral Church of Wells, commonly
called the Ladye Chapple, with all the stones and stonework, ledde,
glasse, tymbre, and iron ... the soyle that the sayd chappie standeth
upon only excepted." The condition was that the rubble should be all
cleared away, and the ground made "fayre and playn," within four
years; but before this period had elapsed, Sir John's head had gone
the way of the Lady Chapel.
[Illustration: Doorway, South-east Of Cloister.]
The CLOISTER in its more prominent features is Perpendicular, having
been rebuilt in the fifteenth century. Nevertheless the outer walls
are of Jocelin's date, together with the doorway leading into the
palace (see illustration on this page); and the lower part of the east
cloister wall, including the two small doorways therein, is said by Mr
Buckle to be undoubtedly earlier than Jocelin's time, and contemporary
with the north porch, _c._ 1185. Thus we have still the original plan
at least of the thirteenth-century cloisters. This plan is
characteristic of a non-monastic church, where the cloister is not the
centre of a common life, but merely an ornamental convenience which
might or might not be added, and when added might be of any fashion
that was desired. There is no walk on the north side, no refectory or
dormitory, and the plan is not square, as would be the case with a
conventual building, but an irregular parallelogram, while the eastern
walk is built up against the south end of the transept instead of
against its western wall.
[Illustration: East Walk Of Cloister.]
The inner part of Jocelin's cloister was probably a wooden penthouse
like that of Glastonbury. At all events, it has entirely disappeared.
The eastern alley was built by the executors of Bishop Bubwith, who
died in 1424. That on the west, with its rooms, was built by
Beckington (1443-65) and his executors. That on the south was
completed soon after by Thomas Henry, the treasurer. Beckington, by
the way, showed a reckless disregard of the earlier work by carrying
his cloister right up against the south-west tower, and completely
concealing the beautiful arcading of that part. Beckington's
executors, in the time of Bishop Stillington, also built the singing
school over the western cloister. Bubwith's executors built the
northern part of the library over the eastern cloister; but the
southern part was added at a later date. The square windows were
inserted later still by the famous Dr Busby, about 1670. The fourteen
bays of lierned vaulting over the east alley, and one on the south,
were executed in 1457-8 by John Turpyn Lathamo, at the cost, we find
from the fabric roll, of 3/4d. per foot, or L6, 11s. 3d. for the
whole, though an additional ten shillings was presented to him for his
diligence.
Each alley consists of thirteen bays in the Perpendicular style; the
windows are now all unglazed, of six lights, with transoms and
tracery; between the windows are buttresses to support the rooms
above, which extend, however, only over the east and west alleys.
Turpyn's vaulting is of a curiously decadent character, which reminds
one of the Jacobean Gothic of Oxford and Cambridge. The ribs spread at
the start to enclose a trefoiled panel, and they curve into one
another when they meet at the bosses. In the rest of the south walk,
however, the bosses are square, and receive the ribs in the usual
manner; in the west walk they are still square, and more varied in
their ornament, bearing Beckington's initials, arms, and rebus,
arranged in several different ways. Beckington's arms, which occur
also on the gateways, are argent on a fess azure, between in chief
three bucks' heads caboshed gules, and in base as many pheons sable, a
bishop's mitre or. His rebus is a fire _beacon_ lighted, a _tun_
holding the fire.
Two small stone pent-houses, of which the purpose is uncertain, are
built up against the windows of the fourth and sixth bays of the
eastern alley. The vault of this alley was built without reference to
the fine Early English doorway into the transept, one side of which it
hides, the weather moulding being cut away. This doorway is mentioned
in an Act of the Chapter of 1297, but it was probably made by Jocelin
before he built the cloister wall, which comes uncomfortably near to
the door, as if it were an afterthought. The companion doorway from
the western alley, which was the usual entrance to the cathedral in
the thirteenth century, has been similarly defaced by the vault. Three
annual fairs used to be held in the cemetery, till Bishop Reginald set
apart for the purpose the new ground which is still the market-place.
The traditional entrance to the church by this south-western porch may
have been due to the fact that the citizens gathered for secular
business on the south-western side. At the south end of the eastern
alley is the Early English bishop's doorway, which no doubt led
straight to the palace in the days when there was no moat to obstruct
this route. The door was originally hung to open inwards; a beautiful
moulding was destroyed to hang it in its present position. There is a
bracket of later date over this doorway.
The cloister-garth, which is hideous with modern tombstones, is
traditionally called the _Palm Churchyard_, no doubt because of the
yew which grows there. Yew trees, so common in churchyards, are still
commonly called palms, because their branches were used for the
procession on Palm Sunday. This churchyard was anciently the
burial-place of the canons, the ground east of the cloister (now used
again as a cemetery) being reserved for the vicars, while the space
before the west front was the lay burial-ground.
An admirably contrived _dipping-place_ was still standing in the Palm
churchyard, near the second bay of the east cloister, within the
memory of living persons, but now no trace of it remains above ground.
A water-course, held within a channel of carefully-worked masonry,
runs under the eastern cloister from St. Andrew's well, and passes on
to fall ultimately into the old mill-stream. The oblong building over
it that formed the dipping-place was entered at the south end, and a
few steps (with aumbries for the linen at either side) led to the
washing-place at the little stream. An arch covered this spot, where
the water ran through two low arches on either side and was bridged in
the midst by a pavement. The place was used for washing linen, and the
water required for the cathedral was drawn here before the modern
supply pipes were introduced.
THE LIBRARY is over the east walk of the cloister, and is entered from
the south transept. It is a charming old-world place, full of ancient
volumes, many of which are of great interest. A passage runs from end
to end, along the east side of the long room, the other side being
mainly occupied by the old desks, benches and bookcases, which project
at right angles to the wall, many of the book-chains still hanging on
them. There are said to be over three thousand volumes, including the
bulk of Bishop Ken's library, a collection of early editions of his
works, and his copy of Bishop Andrewe's "Devotions." There are also
several books (including one Aldine "Aristotle") with MS. notes and
autograph of Erasmus. The collection of old charters, which have
recently been made to throw so much light on the history of the
cathedral, is also preserved here. Some of the most interesting
charters are displayed in glass cases; one of them, Edgar's grant to
Ealhstane, is specially venerable for the signature of St.
Dunstan--_Ego Dunitan Ep._--which occurs third among the witnesses to
the document.
Two precious relics of medieval times are also kept here. One, which
is generally called a lantern, was till lately hung in the undercroft.
There is no trace of its ever having been used as a lantern, and it is
probably the wooden _canopy of the pyx_ which hung before the high
altar. The Blessed Sacrament was in medieval times reserved, not in a
tabernacle, but in a hanging pyx of precious metal; and this graceful
wooden canopy probably contained the pyx. There are only two other
possible examples of the pyx-canopy (at Milton Abbas and Tewkesbury),
and both are of later date than this, which is thirteenth century.
Woodwork of this period is so rare that, even were it not a
pyx-canopy, it would be of extreme interest. It is cylindrical in
form, divided into three storeys of open tracery, and crowned with a
cresting of three-lobed leaves. Its height is 3 ft. 111/4 in., its
internal diameter 141/2 inches. It is made of oak, certain parts of a
later restoration being of deal. Mr St. John Hope (_Proc. of Soc. of
Antiquaries_, 1897), thus enumerates the traces of colour: "The whole
of the body and its upper and lower rings have been painted red, with
gold flowers or other devices upon the transverse bands. The slender
dividing shafts seem to have been coloured blue. The leaves of the
cresting have apparently been painted white, but the circular boss in
the middle of each leaf was entirely red." Two pairs of iron rods,
with a ring and swivel hook, serve to suspend it in a steady position.
The other relic is the thirteenth-century _crozier_ which was recently
found in a tomb in the cathedral, and probably belongs to the time of
Savaric, though there is no evidence, beyond its style, for describing
it as his crozier. It was dug up in a stone coffin in the western
burial-ground of the cathedral in the time of Dean Lukin (1799-1812).
It is thus described in the _Catalogue_ of the Burlington Fine Arts
Club exhibition of enamels, June 1897: "A complete crozier, [the
staff] wooden (modern), with enamelled head one foot in length.
Limoges, thirteenth century. The volute is a serpent with blue scales
and serrated crest, enclosing a winged figure of St. Michael and a
dragon studded with turquoises. The knop is encased in pierced
repousse open work formed of dragons, and the socket ornamented with
thirteenth-century foliated scrolls in these slightly spiral bands,
separated by jewelled dragons whose tails form three rings under the
knop." St. Michael is represented in the act of attacking the dragon
with his spear.
A little MUSEUM has been formed in one of the rooms over the western
cloister. It contains a collection of seals, Mr Buckle's plans of the
cloisters and the Cloister Lady Chapel excavations, and many other
objects of interest.
The principal buildings in connection with the cathedral are the
vicars' close, the bishop's palace, the deanery, the archdeaconry, and
the canon's houses. There are also Beckington's fine gates,--the Chain
Gate by the vicars' close, Brown's, or the Dean's Gate, near the
deanery, the Penniless Porch, leading from the Market Place to the
cathedral; and the Bishop's Eye, leading from the Market Place to the
palace.
[Illustration: The Chain Gate, Entrance To Close, 1824]
Most deservedly famous is the unrivalled VICARS' CLOSE, which contains
the houses built by Bishop Ralph and his successors for the
vicars-choral. Passing through the gate, one sees the two long ranges
of quiet and lovely houses, fronted by their little gardens, with a
roadway betwixt them. Nothing can surpass this arrangement for its
peaceful seclusion and constant charm, not even the square quadrangles
and cloisters of Oxford, and yet, so convenient is it, that no better
model could be chosen should there ever come any general return to the
old collegiate life; for a settlement, for a model factory, one can
imagine nothing better even now. There are forty-two houses,
twenty-one on either side: each consisted originally of two rooms, one
above the other, with a staircase; for the vicars were single men. Now
that the vicars-choral are married, many of them live in the town, but
all the theological students are lodged here, and there are always a
few rooms to be let to those visitors who are wise enough to stay in
this charming place.
The tall chimneys rise up through the eaves of the little houses;
octagonal at the top, they are perforated like a lantern, with two
openings on each side. On them are shields bearing the arms of the
see, of Bishop Beckington and his executors, Swan, Sugar, and Pope,
sugar-loaves and swans abounding in the decoration.
At the farther end of the close is the tiny chapel (finished by
Bubwith, and finally consecrated in 1489, after Beckington had added
the wooden ceiling and the chamber above), where compline is still
said by the theological students. It is one of the most beautiful
things in Wells--a jewel, like so much of its period--and it has been
well decorated in sgraffitto and colour by Mr Heywood Sumner. An
interesting feature of its exterior is that some of the old Early
English carving was worked in with the masonry of the wall, by way of
decoration, and very effective it is. A passage at the side leads to
the Liberty, where are some of the prebendal houses.
Over the entrance, and leading into the bridge of the Chain Gate, are
the hall and its offices, which are approached by a fine staircase. In
the hall is a painting of much interest, which represents Bishop Ralph
seated on his throne, the vicars kneeling before him; the petition
which he holds runs--_Per vicos positi villae, Pater alme rogamus, Ut
simul uniti, te, Dante domos maneamus_; and the answer, which has the
episcopal seal, is--_Vestra petunt merita, Quod sint concessu petita:
Ut maneatis ita, Loca fecimus hic stabilita._ On the right are
seventeen figures with ruffles, evidently added in Elizabethan times;
corresponding inscription has also been added--_Quas primus struxit_,
etc.
There is also a pulpit over the fireplace, which is large, with good
mouldings and an inscription, _In vestris prec[=i] habeat^s
comedat[=u] do[=m] Ricard[=u] Pomroy quem salvet Ihs. Amen_. On the
hearth are a pair of fine fire-dogs.
Just outside the entrance to the vicars' close is a beautiful ORIEL
WINDOW, which has been much copied in modern times. It springs from a
corbelled head, from which foliate four cinquefoiled panels. The
window now has only three square-headed lights, the centre one being
large. Under its sills are rich panels, and it is capped by a slight
crenelated cornice with a boldly-carved drip, from which springs a
conical roof surmounted by a fleur-de-lys.
The beautiful BISHOP'S PALACE was mainly built by Jocelin, who died in
1242. It consists of three sides of a quadrangle, the bishop's house
being on the east, the chapel on the south, the kitchen and offices
running alongside the moat on the north: on the west side there was
formerly a gate-tower and a wall having a cloister within which led to
chapel and hall. In addition to these buildings the great hall, now in
ruins--forming, with the walls and outhouses, an outer court--was
built to the south-west of the chapel. The whole group of buildings
stands on a piece of ground, rich with trees, surrounded by a lovely
old wall and moat, the single approach being by the bridge and the
gate-house, which has Renaissance windows and retains the slit for the
portcullis and the drawbridge-chains. Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury
constructed the gate-house and fortifications, which form an irregular
pentagon, with a bastion at each angle, and an extra one in the
south-east side. The bastion in the western angle (on the south of the
gate-house) contains two storeys, of which the lower, called the
cow-house or stock-house, was used as a prison for criminous clerks.
The moat is fed by a stream from St. Andrew's well hard by.
[Illustration: The Bishop's Palace.]
The palace itself is a most interesting example of medieval
architecture, and remains very much in its original condition. It is
oblong in plan, and divided lengthwise by a solid wall, running
through both storeys from end to end, at about one third of its width;
the long outer chamber formed by this wall on the ground floor is
divided into the entrance hall of three bays (containing a fireplace,
_temp._ Henry VIII.), and the passages to staircase and to chapel at
either end. The wider chamber within the wall is lighted by plain
lancet windows, and has a row of slender Purbeck pillars down the
middle, which, with the corbels on the wall, carry a groined vault:
this, the "crypt," or undercroft, was probably used as a storage-room;
it is now the dining-room. To the north of this hall is a square
chamber with a pillar in the centre; and to the east of the chamber a
small room projects beyond the ground plan of the building, with a
space at one end (probably a closet) now walled up.
On the first floor the great chamber (68 by 28 feet) stood over the
undercroft, while on its north was the bishop's private room, both
open to the roof, and to the east of this, his private chapel. The
gallery above the entrance hall was formerly divided into three
chambers, the two larger of which Mr Buckle thinks were used as a
lobby and a wardrobe. The windows in the gallery were restored by Mr
Ferrey in 1846, but nothing is new except the marble shafts and bases.
The two windows at the north end of the great chamber are evidently
later additions, as they have fully developed bar-tracery, while the
other windows in the chamber consist of pairs of trefoil-headed
windows with a quatrefoil in plate tracery above them.
The GREAT HALL, which is now but a beautiful ruin, was built by Bishop
Burnell, who died 1292. It was a magnificent chamber, 115 feet by 591/2,
with high traceried windows. It was divided into nave and aisles
by rows of pillars to carry the roof and the passage at the west end
led between buttery and pantry to the kitchen; over these rooms was a
large solar, and on the north side a porch with staircase at the side
leading to the solar. Both hall and palace are well and fully
described by Mr Buckle in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1888. Bishop
Barlow had the hall dismantled, employing Sir John Gates for the
purpose; the walls, however, were left standing until Bishop Law's
time, when they were partly demolished in order to make the ruin more
"picturesque."
The chapel is very similar in style to the hall, and was built very
shortly afterwards; it is at present defaced by bad decoration and
fittings. The carving is very fine and varied; some of the capitals
retain the old stiff-leaf foliage, while in some the leaves grow
freely round the bell in the Decorated manner. The vaulted ceiling is
also an excellent example of the transitional work of the period. The
west window is of later date, and has been twice restored--once by
Bishop Montague (1608-16), and again in the present century. On the
north side, at some height from the ground, are the indications of
what may have been a gallery used as a private pew.
Bishop Beckington (1443-66) added the northern block of buildings, now
considerably altered, the kitchen and various offices, _le botrye,
cellarium, le bakehous, ad lez stues ad nutriendos pisces_, in William
of Worcester's words, as well as the gate now called the Bishop's Eye,
_aliam portam ad introitum de le palays_, and the parlour (_parlurum_)
and guest-chambers adjoining the kitchen. This block lies very
prettily alongside the moat.
Unfortunately the palace, which had so wonderfully escaped the brutal
adaptations of the eighteenth-century architect, was restored in 1846
by Mr Ferrey, and its west front completely altered. The upper storey,
the porch, the buttresses were all added by Mr Ferrey; not to mention
the tower at the north and the turret at the south, and the
conservatory. Bishop Bagot, at whose order the work was done, also
rebuilt the kitchen and offices; in fact, he did what he could to
destroy the unique character and beauty of a block of buildings
without parallel anywhere.
THE BISHOP'S BARN, which stands in a field near the palace is
remarkable for its length (110 ft. by 251/2) and the number of its
buttresses. Simple in character, stately in proportions, it is a
striking instance of the perfect sense of fitness which marked the
medieval builders: in fact, it is the exact opposite to what a modern
builder would erect if asked to provide a barn in the Gothic style.
THE DEANERY, rebuilt by Dean Gunthorpe (1472-98), is an almost perfect
specimen of a fifteenth-century house, in spite of the modern sash
windows and other alterations which deface it. As at the palace, the
principal apartments were on the first floor; and of these the chief
is the hall, an excellent example of the more comfortable late
medieval arrangement. Two handsome oriel windows with vaults of
fan-tracery are at the upper end, not quite opposite to each other,
where the sideboards used to stand; and at the lower end a stone arch
carries a small music-gallery, with three small windows opening to the
hall. Under this arch is the lavatory, a stone niche, in which a small
cistern was suspended, with a drain at the bottom; so that the diners
could put their hands under the tap of the little cistern as they
passed into dinner.
Over the hall are guest chambers with fine windows; and behind the
partition at the back of the dais is another chamber with a large
window, which Mr J.H. Parker thought to have been the chapel.
Fuller description of the various ecclesiastical buildings can be
found in Mr Parker's paper in the _Somerset Proceedings_ for 1863.
THE ARCHDEACONRY was built in the time of Edward I., but the front of
the house has been entirely modernised. The hall is larger than that
of the deanery, and occupies the whole height of the building, having
a very fine early fifteenth-century open timber roof.
THE CHOIRMASTER'S HOUSE, at the east end of the cathedral, is a fairly
perfect example of a fifteenth-century house, retaining its beautiful
porch unspoiled. The roof and upper part of the windows of the hall
remain, but are disguised and concealed by modern partitions. It is
now the residence of the Principal of the Theological College.
An organist's house once communicated with the singing-school, which
is over the western cloister; it was much defaced in the eighteenth
century, and entirely removed a few years ago.
THE CANONS' HOUSES, which lie in the Liberty to the north of the
cathedral, have been either entirely rebuilt, or much spoilt by
alterations.
THE SCHOOLHOUSE is partly of the fourteenth century, with wings added
in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; it retains some features of
interest.
BISHOP BUBWITH'S ALMSHOUSE is near St. Cuthbert's Church. It was much
spoilt in the fifties: the original plan was a great hall, with a
chapel at the end of it, and cells along the side for the almsmen.
These cells were open at the top so that there was plenty of fresh
air, and if an almsman became ill or infirm, he could hear the service
chanted daily in the chapel without leaving his bed. At the west end
of the hall is a building of two storeys built by the bishop's
executors, given to the citizens of Wells as a Guildhall, and used for
that purpose till about 1779. Here is preserved a very fine money
chest of the fifteenth century, painted with a scroll pattern, and
resting on a stand inscribed with curious doggerel of the date 1615.
ST. CUTHBERT'S CHURCH, which is kept open during the daytime, is thus
described by Mr J.H. Parker in the _Builder_ for 1862 (p. 655):--
"It was originally a cruciform church of the thirteenth century with a
central tower, and with aisles to the nave; but of the church all that
remains in the original state is a part of the north aisle. The
central tower has been removed, the church entirely rebuilt in the
fifteenth century. The pillars and arches of the nave have been
rebuilt in the fifteenth century also, and the pillars lengthened
considerably. The arches, with their dripstones, preserved and used
again on the taller pillars, and most of the capitals have had the
foliage cut off. The aisle walls, the clerestory, and roof, are all
Late Perpendicular, about the time of Henry VII.; but the beautiful
west tower is evidently earlier than the clerestory and roof, and has
the mark of the old roof on the east side of it, coming below the
present clerestory. This fine tower, which is certainly one of the
finest of its class, and which Mr Freeman considers, I believe, to
rank only second to one other [Wrington], is said to have been built
in the time of Bishop Bubwith, or about 1430; and this appears to me
probable. The character of the work is rather Early Perpendicular, and
the groined vault under the belfry appears to be an imitation of the
Decorated vault of the cathedral."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The road should be followed for about a quarter of a mile out
of the town; at this point a path leads over a stile and through
a coppice to the best point of view.
[2] Vol. i. 421.
[3] _History of the Cathedral_, 125.
[4] The Doulting stone, of which the cathedral is built, comes
from the St. Andrew's quarry at the little village of
Doulting, where Bishop Ealdhelm died. It is inferior oolite,
and very like Bath stone, which is the greater oolite. The
exterior shafts were blue lias, and those within either blue
lias or Purbeck marble, though there are one or two shafts of
red Draycot stone in the western responds of the nave.
[5] _Cathedrals_, iv. 98.