THE INTERIOR
The earlier architecture of Wells Cathedral presents so many puzzles,
that the most skilled experts have differed widely both from each
other, and, as we know now, from the truth. There are four distinct
varieties of Early English work, covering a period of about a century
from the time of Bishop Reginald, whose episcopate began in 1174; and
yet, until Mr Bennett deciphered the old charters, which have at
length settled the problem, all the work was attributed to Jocelin,
for nothing was known of Reginald's building, and some of the best
judges were even convinced that the west front was built before the
nave. The difficulty was mainly caused by the unusual character of the
architecture of the nave; "unlike that of any ordinary English
building, and belonging to a style on the whole fifty years earlier"
than the west front, as Professor Willis said, who gave it a name of
its own, and called it the Somerset style. Thus the theory came to be
that two bodies of masons had been employed--an ordinary English
company for the front, and a local Somerset company for the nave,
transepts and choir, who worked in a local variation of the prevalent
Early English style. In this way, an attempt was made to overcome the
difficulty of attributing to Jocelin work which Mr Willis had himself
pronounced to be "only a little removed from the early Norman style."
Mr Freeman, too, had allowed that the north porch might be earlier
than Jocelin; and, long before, Britton had said that there would be
little hesitation in ascribing the church to the transitional period
of Henry II. (1154-89) on architectural evidence, were it not for
Godwin's assertion, that Jocelin had entirely pulled down the old
church and built a fresh one.
But now we have got behind Godwin, and have found from contemporary
evidence that Bishop Reginald commenced the present church. Thus we
are able to divide the Early English work into no less than four
periods, (1) The three western arches of the choir, with the four
western bays of its aisles, the transepts, and the four eastern bays
of the nave, which are Reginald's work (1174-1191), and so early as to
be still in a state of transition from the Norman. It is a unique
example of transitional building, and Willis calls it "an improved
Norman, worked with considerable lightness and richness, but
distinguished from the Early English by greater massiveness and
severity." The characteristics of this late twelfth-century work are
bold round mouldings, square abaci, capitals, some with traces of the
classical volute, others interwoven with fanciful imagery that reminds
us of the Norman work of Glastonbury; while in the north porch, which
must be the earliest of all, we even find the zig-zag Norman moulding.
(2) The rest of the nave, which was finished in Jocelin's time--that
is to say, in the first half of the thirteenth century--preserves the
main characteristics of the earlier work, though the flowing
sculptured foliage becomes more naturalistic, and lacks the quaint
intermingling of figure subjects. (3) The west front, which is
Jocelin's work, and alone can claim to be of pure Early English style.
(4) The chapter-house crypt, which is so late as to be almost
Transitional, though, curiously enough, it contains the characteristic
Early English dog-tooth moulding which is found nowhere else except in
the west window. From this, we reach the Early Decorated of the
staircase, the full Decorated of the chapter-house itself, the later
Decorated of the Lady Chapel, the transitional Decorated of the
presbytery, and the full Perpendicular of the western towers.
Much of the masonry in the transepts, choir, choir aisles, and even in
the eastern transepts, bears the peculiar diagonal lines which are the
marks of Norman tooling. This does not, of course, prove that any part
of Bishop Robert's church is standing, for medieval builders were
notoriously economical in using up old masonry, but it does show that
there are more remains of his work in the building than was generally
supposed. A characteristic feature in this Norman tooling is that if a
rule be laid along its lines, they will be found to be very slightly
curved, a feature which is due to the fact that Norman masons dressed
their stones with the broad curved blade of an axe.
[Illustration The Nave.]
The plan of the church is remarkably complete, symmetrical, and
well-proportioned. Nave, transepts, choir, each flanked with its
aisles, combine to form with the Lady Chapel and chapter-house a
cathedral church which, though not of the first magnitude, is the most
complete and typical in England. The ground plan itself, as set out in
all technical severity on page 160, possesses an unusual attraction
for the eye. It is free both from mutilation and excrescences; and yet
all the picturesque external grouping, and internal mystery, which the
afterthoughts of Gothic architects so often lend to a building, are
secured, in the case of Wells, by the carefully-placed chapter-house
and the beautiful arrangement of the Lady Chapel. The transepts of the
choir are very happily carried far enough east to be internally
subordinate to this chapel, which arrangement, with the apsidal form
of the chapel itself, adds much to the beautiful proportions of the
church. A third transept is given to the west end of the nave by the
two towers.
The length of Wells Cathedral from east to west is 383 feet within the
walls, and 415 without. The length of the nave is 161 feet, its
breadth 82 feet, and its height 67 feet. The length of the choir is
117 feet, and its height 73 feet. The transepts are 135 feet within
and 150 feet without.
THE NAVE.--The general effect of the nave is that of length rather
than height, and this is mainly due to the continuous arcade of the
triforium which leads the eye from end to end of the building instead
of from floor to roof. If this be compared with the older work in the
transepts, it will be seen at once by how simple a device this radical
change in the effect has been produced. Instead of being carried down
right across the triforium, as in the transepts, the triple vaulting
shafts are cut off above the arcade so as to be little more than
corbels, and the space thus gained is used to give one additional
opening to each bay of the triforium. In the transepts the triforium
is composed of pairs of lancet arches separated by vaulting shafts,
the triforium of each bay being a distinct composition over its pier
arch; but by the time the architect had come to the nave, a new idea
had occurred to him, and he made the triforium in one continuous
arcade, unbroken from east to west, evidently with the deliberate
intention of producing a horizontal rather than a vertical effect. The
arrangement has undoubtedly a character of its own, and "there is no
nave in which the eye is so irresistibly carried eastward as in that
of Wells."
In spite of this method of securing an effect of length, the builders
managed to make the most of the small height of their church. The
manner in which this was done forms an interesting example of the
subtle feeling of proportion which early architects possessed. The
clerestory was made unusually lofty, and the comparative lowness of
the triforium both adds to the soaring effect and prevents the
horizontal appearance being overmastering. This is increased by the
bold vaulting of the ceiling, and the way in which the lantern arches
fit into the vault.
But, homogeneous as the nave appears, a little examination will
clearly reveal the break which marks the separation between the late
twelfth-century work of Reginald de Bohun and the thirteenth-century
continuation of Jocelin. The earlier work, as we have seen, consisted
of the four eastern bays, which, with the present ritual choir and
transepts, formed Reginald's church; and, as a matter of fact, at the
fifth bay (the next bay westward of the north porch) the marks of
change are so evident that all writers upon the cathedral have based
their theories upon it. The earlier masonry in the spandrels on the
east of this point consists of small stones indifferently set: the
later masonry is made up of larger blocks more carefully laid
together; in the earlier part there are small heads at the angles of
the pier arches, in the later there are none, while the small heads in
the angles of the earlier triforium arcade give place to larger heads
in the later; the tympana, which fill the heads of the lancets in this
arcade, also are mainly ornamented in the earlier part with grotesque
beasts, while in the later they contain foliage, with two exceptions.
Again, the medallions which decorate the spaces above the triforium
are sunk in the earlier masonry, but, in the later, they are flush
with the surface and not so deeply carved. Even more noticeable is the
difference in the capitals, those of the western bays being lighter,
freer, and more undercut, though less interesting and hardly as
beautiful as those of the earlier part. With the exception of these
differences, however, which are doubtless due to the freedom enjoyed
by medieval workmen, the original design of the nave was faithfully
adhered to, the square abaci, even, being retained, though the
circular abacus had become a leading characteristic of the true Early
English of Jocelin's period. Certainly it is an unusual instance of an
architect deliberately setting himself to complete the works of an
earlier period in faithful accordance with the original plan; and we
may well be grateful to him for his modesty.
[Illustration: A Capital--the Fruit-stealer's Punishment.]
All the carving is most interesting and beautiful: the caps and
corbels of the vaulting-shafts; the little heads at the angles of the
arches, which are vivid sketches of every type of contemporary
character; and the carvings in the tympana, above referred to, which
are best in the seventh, eighth, and ninth bays (counting from the
west end), those on the north excelling in design and execution, while
those on the south are more grotesque. But the CAPITALS of the piers
are the best of all, and the most hurried visitor should spare some
time for the study of these remarkable specimens of sculpture,
vigorous and life-like, yet always subordinated to their architectural
purpose. Those in the transepts are perhaps the best (p. 89), but the
following in the nave should not be missed:--
_North Side, sixth Pier._--(By north porch) Birds pluming their wings:
Beast licking himself: Ram: Bird with human head, holding knife (?).
_Eighth Pier._--Fox stealing goose, peasant following with stick:
Birds pruning their feathers: (Within Bubwith's chapel) Human monster
with fish's tail, holding a fish: Bird holding frog in his beak, which
is extremely long and delicate.
_Ninth Pier._--Pedlar carrying his pack on his shoulders, a string of
large beads in one hand.
Toothless monster, with hands on knees.
_South side, seventh Pier._--Birds with human heads, one wearing a
mitre.
_Eighth Pier._--Peasant, with club, seized by a lion: Bird with
curious foliated tail: (Within St. Edmund's chapel) Owl: Peasant with
mallet (?).
The lofty clerestory windows are divided into two lights by
Perpendicular tracery of late fourteenth or early fifteenth century
date, which extends to the level of the passage, the lower part being
filled with masonry. The windows were not, however, altered in shape
when the tracery was inserted. In the tracery are very slight traces
of the old glass.
The triforium passage is capacious enough to form a large tunnel,
which gives a good effect to its lancet openings. The small iron
rings, which are prominent enough to be rather tiresome to the eye,
were recently inserted for the use of those engaged in cleaning the
walls. Within the passage additional arches may be seen, inserted to
strengthen the arcade at the commencement of the later work and in
other places.
The groined ceiling has carved bosses at the intersection of its ribs.
The red pattern is a restoration of the old design which was found on
the removal of the whitewash, but the restorer seems to have missed
the right tints.
There is a music-gallery in the clerestory of the sixth bay on the
south side; it is composed of three panels with quatrefoils containing
plain shields, and is finished with an embattled cornice. Another
gallery, perhaps for an organ, must have been supported by the two
noticeable brackets on the spandrels of the fourth bay of the same
side. One may conjecture that it was of wood, and was reached from the
triforium. The brackets are carved in the shape of very large heads of
a bishop and a king, both supported by smaller heads, and of an
extremely benevolent expression. The hair of the king has that curious
formal twist with which we are familiar on playing-cards. As some of
the small heads in the chapter-house have the same style of hair,
these two brackets probably belong to the end of the thirteenth
century.
[Illustration: A Capital--toothache.]
Sir John Harrington in the _Nugae Antiquae_ (ii. 148) says of these
two heads that "the old men of Wells had a tradition, that, when there
should be such a king and such a bishop, then the church should be in
danger of ruin." At the time of the Reformation it was noticed that
the head of the king bore a certain resemblance to Henry VIII., and
that the king held in his hands a child falling, who, it was said,
could be none other than Edward VI. The peculiarity of the bishop's
figure is that he has women and children about him. "This fruitful
bishop, they affirmed, was Dr Barlow (p. 156), the first married
bishop of Wells, and perhaps of England. This talk being rife in Wells
in Queen Mary's time, made him rather affect Chichester at his return
than Wells, where not only the things that were ruined but those that
remained, served for records and remembrances of his sacrilege."
The west end of the nave is covered in its lower portion by an arcade
of five arches with Purbeck shafts, the middle one being wider than
the rest, to contain the two smaller arches of the doorway. The three
lancet windows were re-modelled in Perpendicular times by the
insertion of the triple shafts, which have the casement mouldings and
angular caps of the period; but the dog-tooth moulding of the arches,
the medallions in the spandrels, and the little corbel heads of the
Early English work remain. A Perpendicular parapet along the sill of
the window marks the gallery which, pierced through the splays,
carries the triforium passage round the end of the nave. A string
course runs along the bottom of this gallery and forms the bases of
the triple shafts; the bases are supported on corbels which die off
upon the sloping wall below. This wall conceals a curious gallery, the
purpose of which is not known; it is entered by steps from the
triforium, and lighted by round openings which can be seen in the
central quatrefoils of the west front; when these quatrefoils were
filled with sculpture it would have been difficult to detect the
existence of the dark gallery.
[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
Two small transepts at the west end of the nave are formed by the
western towers, which project in this church beyond the aisles. These
transepts are connected with the aisles by an arch, the lower part of
which is closed by wooden doors. That on the north was used as a
chapel of the Holy Cross, and of late years as the consistory court:
it is now the choir-boys' vestry; that on the south served as a porch
in the days when the usual entrance to the church was by the Early
English doorway which leads into it from the cloister; it is now
appropriated to the bell-ringers. They are both of strikingly
different style to the rest of the interior, as they were built in
pure Early English style, at the same time as the west front, of which
the towers form, of course, an integral part. Their shafts are of blue
lias, the capitals richly carved; their groined vaults have a circular
opening to admit to the upper storey of the tower, which has its
corbels ornamented with foliage, although they cannot be seen. Over
the doorway in the south chapel an arcade is curiously fitted into the
available space beneath the vault.
[Illustration: A Capital.]
THE AISLES OF THE NAVE (see p. 19) are of the same character as the
nave itself, the later part having been resumed at about the same
time, and at the same place. Among the capitals the following in the
north aisle may be specially mentioned:--
_Fifth Shaft._--Peasants carrying sheep, etc., a dog in the midst.
_Ninth Shaft._--Man in rough coat, which falls before and behind
rather like a chasuble, carrying foliage on his back. A very good
figure.
_Tenth Shaft._--(By arch of vestry) Man carrying what seems to be a
hod of mortar and a mason's mallet.
_Opposite side of arch_, at end of the string course: Peasant in hood
carrying a staff. On the caps opposite are two heads with tongues on
their teeth (see p. 92).
The windows, both of these aisles and those of the transepts, were
filled with Perpendicular tracery at about the same time as the
clerestory windows. The date of this addition must have been before
Bishop's Bubwith's time, for the library which that prelate built over
the cloister blocks the south window of the west aisle of the south
transept. A stone bench runs along all the aisles.
[Illustration: Specimens Of Capitals.]
GLASS OF THE NAVE, TRANSEPTS, AND AISLES.--Most of the glass of the
west window was collected abroad, during his exile, by Bishop
Creyghton, while he was yet dean (1660-70). The main part of it is
devoted to the life and death of St. John Baptist, and is of excellent
early sixteenth-century work, for under the fantastic figure of the
executioner is the inscription _Sancti Johannis Decollatio_ 1507. The
two other lights containing the large figures of King Ina and Bishop
Ralph are, however, of later date, and to judge by their costume they
should belong to Creyghton's own time; moreover, on the southern one
are Creyghton's arms. Apparently the compositions at the extreme top
and bottom of the middle light are much later; a little handbook on
the cathedral by Mr John Davies, the verger in 1814, states that the
then dean and chapter re-arranged and restored the window in 1813;
these additions must belong to that time, and according to him they
were brought from Rouen. Their ugly reds and blues certainly do not
blend with the earlier glass, as do the figures of Ina and Ralph, but
considerably mar the mellow and delicate effect of the whole. There
are only a few slight fragments of old glass in the other windows.
There are also two modern windows at the west end of the aisles.
[Illustration: View Across Nave, Shewing Sugar's And Bubwith's
Chapels.]
BISHOP BUBWITH'S CHANTRY CHAPEL.--Two chantry chapels stand opposite
each other under the ninth pier-arches of the nave. They are alike in
general characteristics, though there is an interval of sixty years
between them. The chantry of Bishop Bubwith (_ob._ 1424), who built
the north-west tower, is formed by a hexagonal screen between the
piers, the three eastern sides being filled with a reredos that gives
the chapel a square appearance within. The screen is composed of the
most light and elaborate tracery, its corners surmounted by a crest;
it is open above, but has a rather coarsely-carved canopy over where
the altar stood. Doorways, whose jambs are too delicately carved to
have ever carried doors, give free access and a clear view of the
interior from either side. Altogether it was an ideal place for votive
Celebrations, when but few worshippers were present. The niches over
the altar have been hacked level with the wall, and the little pillar
piscina is also defaced. The triple shafts of the pier at the western
end are corbelled off, the corbel being carved with Bubwith's arms
(argent, a fess engrailed sable between twelve holly leaves vert, 4,
4, 4, and 4, arranged in quadrangles) impaled with those of the see.
The altar here was formerly dedicated to St. Saviour.
SUGAR'S CHANTRY.--In the ninth bay of the nave, on the south side, is
the chantry of Treasurer Hugh Sugar. Before its erection, the altar of
St. Edmund of Canterbury, who was canonised in 1246, stood here; and
perhaps, when it comes to be used again, it will be maintained in
honour of that most attractive scholar saint. Speaking of these
chantries, which were endowed in such profusion in the later Middle
Ages, Canon Church (_Somerset Proceedings_, 1888, ii. 103) says: "The
belief in the communion of saints, living and dead, and the desire for
continued remembrance after death, and for the intercessions of the
living, led practically to the endowment of chantries and obits,
whereby not only was the church enriched, and the services of many
priests provided for, but also attachment to the church of their
fathers was greatly strengthened, as being the common home of the dead
and the living." That attachment, one would think, is hardly likely to
be revived by this beautiful chapel and its fellow being put to base
uses. At present it serves as a kind of booking-office, where visitors
deposit their sixpences and sign their names, while the other is
stored with hassocks, and becomes the resting-place of any brooms,
pails, and dustpans that are in use.
St. Edmund's (or Sugar's) chapel is hexagonal, like that of Bishop
Bubwith, but its tracery, frieze, and reredos are more elaborate. The
canopy over the altar is vaulted with lace-like fan-tracery. Five
niches, now empty of their figures, form the reredos; their sumptuous
pedestals and canopies are in excellent condition. Attached to the
frieze without, on either side, are six demi-angels, with delicate
wings and extremely curly hair, bearing shields, with representations
of the Five Wounds, the Lily of the Annunciation, between angels'
wings; the arms of the see (a plain saltire surmounting a pastoral
staff in pale between two keys addorsed, the bows interlaced on the
dexter, and a sword erect on the sinister); the arms of Glastonbury
Abbey (a cross flory, in dexter chief a demi-virgin with child
proper), the arms of the vicars (a saltire), the initials H.S., and
Sugar's arms, originally a "canting coat," three sugar-loaves, and in
chief a doctor's cap. Sugar's initials and arms also occur under the
canopy. It is the fashion to consider this chapel inferior to its
fellow, merely because it is later in date, but a little impartial
study will show that it is much the better of the two. The tracery,
though less uncommon, is more graceful, that over the doorway
especially being far better contrived; the cornice is better
proportioned, and is not spoilt by the untidy trail of foliage which
runs round that of Bubwith's chapel; the canopy, too, fits in with the
curve of the tracery, while that of the others projects clumsily
across it.
THE PULPIT.--From the west end of this chapel steps lead into the
stone pulpit which adjoins it. This pulpit was built in Henry VIII.'s
reign, by Bishop Knight, who died in 1547. It is a low, but
well-proportioned, structure, resting on a basement, and fronted with
panelled pilasters; it is surmounted by an entablature. In front are
the bishop's curious arms, which occur more distinctly in the glass of
the north choir aisle--Per fess, in chief a demi-eagle with two heads
and sans wings issuing from a demi-rose conjoined to a demi-sun in
splendour in base. On the frieze is the inscription--_preache. thov.
the. worde. be. fervent. in. season. and. ovt. of. season. reprove.
rebvke. exhorte. w^t. all. longe. svfferyng. &. doctryne. 2. Tim[=o]._
A board along the top, covered with red baize, impairs its beauty at
present.
[Illustration: Sugar's Chapel--the Lectern And Pulpit.]
THE LECTERN, which stands near, is composed of a massive double desk,
surmounted by ornamental work, containing the arms of the see. It
rests upon a ball and turned stem and base, and is entirely of brass.
Bishop Creyghton, who had it made when he was yet dean, inscribed it
on both desks with his arms and this legend:--_Dr. Rob^{t.} Creyghton
upon his returne from fifteen years Exile, w^{th} o^r Soveraigne Lord
Kinge Charles y^e 2^{d.} made Deane of wells, in y^e yeare 1660, gave
this Brazen Deske, w^{th} God's holy worde thereon to the saide
Cathedrall Church._ The Bible referred to still rests upon it, bearing
the same date; it is bound up with the Prayer Book, and contains
initial letters and a frontispiece, but it stops at the book of Job.
Opposite the lectern are two sixteenth-century panelled wooden stalls,
with round finials, all bearing the same device on both sides--a Tudor
rose with _I.H.S._ in the centre, and the letters _m.d.l.i.i._ (1552)
on the five petals. These excellent examples of simple and effective
woodwork were found amongst some lumber in 1846, and now form part of
the temporary choir stalls that are used for the nave services.
On the south side of Bubwith's chapel, and partly covered by it, is a
slab, 10 ft. long, covering the grave of Bishop Haselshaw, with the
inscription, _Walterus de Haselshaw Ep. 1308_. On the west of Sugar's
chapel, another slab bears the inscription, _Radulphus Erghum Ep.
1401_. In a slab near the entrance to the choir there is the matrix for
a brass of a lady, with mitred head-dress of the period, _c._ 1460,
beneath a canopy. The style suggests that it may belong to Lady Lisle,
whose tomb possibly stood here.
THE TRANSEPTS are both of the same architectural character, and were
evidently built before the nave. They have less ornament, the
medallions and the carved tympana of the nave being alike absent,
although there are the same small heads at the angles of the pier
arches. The triforium, too, is different; each bay consists of two
large openings, devoid of ornament, instead of three narrower ones,
and is separated from the next bay by the vaulting-shaft which reaches
down to the string-course of the pier arch (see p. 77). Some of the
carved work, however, of the capitals and corbels is of a later date
than that of the nave, which may be due to the capitals having been
left uncut till after the nave was finished, or to damage done by the
fall of the _tholus_ in 1248. Apparently the corbels of the vaulting
shafts are later than those of the nave, they are certainly more
elaborate. Of the capitals those on the west side of both transepts
are of one style and abound in representations of the toothache. The
capitals on the east side are different from those on the west of the
third pier on this side of the south transept, and that is of a style
that suggests the Decorated period. Those on the west are certainly
the best, and some of the following are the finest in the church, and
perhaps in England:--
NORTH TRANSEPT, _first Pier._--(Inside the Priest Vicars' vestry) A
prophet (?) with scroll on which there is no name: Man carrying goose.
(Outside) Head with tongue on teeth.
_Second Pier._--Aaron, writing his name on a scroll: Moses with the
tables of stone.
_Third Pier._--Woman with a bandage across her face.
Above this cap the corbel consists of a seated figure, naked, with
distorted mouth and an agonised expression.
[Illustration: Section of North Transept, and Elevation of South
Transept.]
SOUTH TRANSEPT, _second Pier_ (from the south end).--Two men are
stealing grapes, one holds the basket full, the other plucks grapes,
holding a knife in his other hand: The farmers in pursuit, one carries
a spade and the other a pitchfork: The man with the fork, a vigorous
figure, catches one thief: The man with the spade hits the other
(whose face is most woe-begone) on the head (illust. p. 79).
_Third Pier._--Woman pulling thorn out of her foot: Man with one eye,
finger in his mouth: Baboon head: Cobbler; this figure shows very
plainly the method of shoemaking at this time; the cobbler, in his
apron, sits with the shoe on one knee, his strap passes over the knee
and round the other foot, his foot is turned over so as to present the
side and not the sole to the strap: Woman's head with long hair.
_Fourth Pier._--Head perfectly hairless: "Elias P." (the prophet) with
hand on cheek as if he too has the toothache: Head in hood, with
tongue on the one remaining tooth.
It may be well here to say a word about the general classification of
these earlier capitals, since their date is a matter of great
architectural interest. I would venture to divide them into five
groups--
1. Those of the three western bays of the choir: simple carved foliage
of distinctly Norman character, as in the north porch: these belong to
the time of Reginald (1174-1191).
2. The four eastern bays of the nave and its aisles. Some of these may
belong to the first period, though later than the choir: they are more
advanced in the foliage, and teem with grotesque birds and beasts.
Some, however, of the caps in these bays are of quite different
character (p. 80); they contain _genre_ subjects of perfectly
naturalistic treatment, very different to the St. Edmund of the north
porch capital, but exactly similar to the figure caps of the
transepts. They must therefore have been carved later than the death
of Saint William Bytton.
3. The western bays of the nave. These, which are of much less
interest, belong to the period of Jocelin's reconstruction
(1220-1242). They are characteristic examples of rich stiff-leaf
foliage, freer than that of the earlier work, but much less varied and
without either human figures or grotesques.
4. On the eastern range of transept piers. These would seem also to
come within Jocelin's period, with the exception of the third pier of
the south transept.
5. On the western range of transept piers (p. 89), with which must be
classed those later caps already referred to in the nave under group
2. Their date is settled by the fact that they abound in unmistakable
representations of the toothache. Now Saint William Bytton died in
1274, and his tomb became immediately famous for cures of this malady.
In 1286 the chapter decided to repair the old work, no doubt because
the offerings at his tomb had brought money to the church; this part
of the church had been damaged ever since the fall of the _tholus_ in
1248. The caps must therefore have been carved during the episcopate
of Burnell (1275-1292). Mr Irvine, indeed, suggests that the figure of
the woman taking a thorn ("bur") from her foot may contain a reference
to Bishop Burnell. The undercroft passage, with its curious corbels
and bosses, was probably also a part of the old work then completed,
as it contains one "toothache" head. Although the introduction of such
finished figure-subjects into the capitals suggests this lateness of
date, they are still completely Early English in style, and a great
gulf is fixed between them and the Decorated caps of the chapter-house
begun by Burnell's successor, William de Marchia (1293-1302).
[Illustration: The South Transept From North Side Of Nave.]
[Illustration: Capitals In Transept]
THE FONT is of peculiar interest as the one surviving relic of Bishop
Robert's Norman church. Whether it also stood in the still earlier
Saxon church is still an open question: it is as likely to be of
pre-Norman as of Norman date, and the fact that whatever ornament
there may have been in the spandrels of its shallow arcades has been
hacked off, makes conjecture unsafe. Its unusual position in the south
transept may be due to the Bishop Giso's quasi-conventual buildings on
the south of the church, which would have made this transept the most
common entrance to the cathedral at the time of the Conquest. A
Jacobean cover rests upon the font, and with it forms a charming
combination of pre-Gothic and post-Gothic Romanesque design.
[Illustration: The Font. (Drawn by W. Heywood.)]
At the south end of the south transept is the tomb of Bishop _de
Marchia_ (_ob._ 1302). The effigy lies in a recess, and is covered
with a canopy of three bays, the ogival arches, finished in sumptuous
crockets and finials, painted red and gold, the spandrels being
alternately green and red, powdered with a little pattern, the cusps
and mouldings scarlet and crimson and green and gold, with a dark
colour in the shadows. The effigy of the bishop is one of the best in
the cathedral, but even more lovely are the three little figures so
charmingly supported on foliage at the back of the tomb--two angels
and a bishop between them. The heads of these three figures have been
wickedly destroyed, but parts of the chains of the angels' censers
remain. Of the two beautiful angels which hold the cushion the heads
fortunately remain. Along the plinth of the tomb are six heads which
are quite unique in their treatment; three are bearded (one of these
is bald); one is shaven, tonsured, and turned half round in a
strangely naturalistic manner; another is also shaven, and the
remaining head is that of a woman in a veil. Two large faces are
carved on the east and west ends of the tomb, both with long wavy
hair--one of a woman, the other with a wavy beard. The central boss of
the vaulting is carved with five roses, which are coloured green,
their foliage, like all the foliage in this tomb, being gilt on a red
ground with the red edges showing. The little angels at the back had
gilded robes with red lining, and blue wings; the little bishop wore a
red chasuble with green (or blue) dalmatic, and red tunicle over his
white alb; the lappets of his mitre, which have survived, were red,
and traces of dark blue are on his shoes: there seem to have been
patterns on the various vestments, and the colours can still be seen
where their sleeves overlapped. Modern lettering has been cut across
the back of the tomb and coloured, by way of contrast to the ancient
work.
Under the battlemented cornice of the curtain-wall to the west a row
of heads is painted in fresco on a red ground, which seems to be part
of the same scheme with the curious heads on the plinth of de
Marchia's tomb: one of these, a woman in a dark-coloured hood, is
especially distinct. No doubt, the whole wall was originally painted.
The sill of the window over the tomb seems to have been used for some
special purpose: there is a passage cut through the splay of the
window, through which the sill may be reached, which is not the case
with the corresponding window of the north transept. The passage is
reached from a staircase concealed behind the curtain-wall, which is
reached by an ogee-headed doorway (with cusps in the head, finial, and
two small heads to its very beautiful mouldings). This staircase also
leads to a chamber on the level of the passage, but on the west side:
the interior of the chamber can be seen from the ground, as its old
wooden door is kept open. It is supposed by some to have been a
watching chamber in connection with the tomb. There can, indeed, be
little doubt that these arrangements had something to do with de
Marchia's tomb, or that the ornamented doorway in the curtain wall of
the same date as the tomb, together with the frescoes on the wall,
were connected with the strong efforts that were made at this time for
his canonisation. Perhaps the sill was used for the display of his
relics, and the chamber was the ordinary resting-place of the
reliquary, for which purpose the door and the absence of windows would
have fitted it.
Next to de Marchia's tomb on the other side, the monument of Joan
Viscountess _Lisle_ (_ob._ 1463) gives a good illustration of the
change of architecture in a hundred and fifty years. The crockets are
less free, and straight lines and square members abound; the fine ogee
curve of its single arch is weakened by the rather weedy cusps, its
shafts have become tiny mouldings, and their capitals mere knops. It
is coloured, too, all over, in green and red and yellow, but heavily
in comparison with its neighbour. The colour has been unusually well
preserved, owing to the fact that the tomb was plastered over, and not
discovered till 1809. There is no effigy, but a brass of apparently
recent date bears this inscription:--_Hic jacet Joanna Vicecomitilla
de Lisle una filiarum et haeredum Thomae Chedder, armiger quae fuit
uxor Joannis Vicecomitis de Lisle, filii et haeredis Joannis Comitis
Salopiae et Margaretae u[=x] ejus unius filiarum et haeredum Ricardi
comitis Warwici et Elizabethae uxoris ejus filiae et haeredis Thomae de
Berkley militis, domini de Berkeley, quae obiit xv^{mo} die mensis Julii
A[=n][=n] D^i MCCCCLXIII._ Lady Lisle's husband was killed at the
battle of Chastillon (1453), when he was serving under his father, the
famous Earl of Shrewsbury. The painted designs above the three niches
should be noticed, and also those of the moulding and fleurs-de-lys at
the side. The monument was evidently used as a chantry chapel; but it
did not originally stand here. The brass by the north side of the
screen (p. 89) may mark the site.
The eastern aisles of the transepts are divided off into chapels by
two Perpendicular stone screens, that of the south transept having a
doorway in it for each chapel. These chapels are thus dedicated,
beginning from the south--St. Martin, St. Calixtus, St. David, Holy
Cross. From the last-named chapel the chapter-house is reached through
an Early English doorway, and a similar doorway (now partly blocked by
Biconyll's tomb) led from St. Martin's to a small building, supposed
to have been a vestry, which once stood outside. In the south transept
there are also--a small door to the tower, a small door with ogee head
(p. 96), a rather larger doorway with modern lintel leading to the
library (two shafts just above this door have been cut off, and faces
very roughly cut on their extremities by way of corbel), and the large
doorway leading to the cloister. The principal windows belong to the
original work, having been merely filled with Perpendicular tracery.
The windows of the south-east aisle contain Decorated tracery, but the
tracery of the north-east aisle is not good.
The western aisle of the south transept is open; that of the north
transept is cut off by a Perpendicular stone screen, which is solid in
the southern bay, and through carved in the northern. The latter is,
however, boarded up, and used as the vestry of the priest-vicars, the
other being the vestry of the vicars-choral. From the priest-vicars'
vestry a door leads into a small chamber now used for the water
supply, and over the doorway there is a small and pretty figure of a
woman under a little niche.
There are a very few fragments of Early Perpendicular glass in some of
the upper lights of the nave and transept windows. There are also two
modern windows at the west end of the nave, and one in the south
transept, of which I have been unable to discover the actual
designers' names.
TRANSEPT CHAPELS.--ST. MARTIN'S, where the obits of Savaric and
Jocelin were celebrated, is separated by a solid Perpendicular screen
from the adjoining chapel of St. Calixtus. It is now used as the
canons' vestry. Partly blocking the old Early English doorway is the
tomb of _Biconyll_, who was chancellor in 1454. His will, with a good
deal of information about him, is given in the _Somerset Proceedings_
for 1894, by Mr A.S. Bicknell, a descendant. The name was originally
Bykenhulle (A.S. for Beacon Hill), and has been spelt in forty-seven
different ways. His effigy lies on the tomb, dressed in cassock, long
surplice, and _cappa nigra_ or choral cope. The ends of the almuce can
be seen in the opening of the cope, and its hood hangs over the
shoulders.
ST. CALIXTUS' chapel is enclosed on the side of the choir aisle by
part of the beautiful ironwork from Beckington's tomb. The doors of
this and St. Martin's chapel are also made from the same iron screen.
Within the chapel, and near the screen, in strange contrast to it,
stands one of those indescribable stoves which disfigure the church,
its chimney, as usual, driven through the vault. The east end of the
chapel is occupied by the canopy which formed part of Bishop
_Beckington's_ tomb till the restoration of 1850, when it was, by an
inexcusable act of vandalism, taken down and fixed up in this place
(p. 125). This canopy did not cover the tomb, but stood at its foot so
as to form the eastern part of a chantry chapel, the tomb being on its
south side and the iron screen enclosing it where it jutted into the
choir on the north side. It will be noticed that its northern angle
was sloped off so as not to present an awkward corner on the side of
the choir. The reredos, for such it really is, is a most elaborate and
charming piece of work; "pretty" is perhaps the word that describes it
best, if "pretty" be taken in its very best sense. Here there is
nothing of the suave grace of de Marchia's tomb, nothing of the vigour
and truth of the transept capitals, nothing of the noble delicacy of
the north porch, which was a delicacy of intellect, while this is a
delicacy of execution. It is certainly decadent; even by the side of
Sugar's chapel it is over-refined and a thought effeminate, but, with
the colour that still covers it fresh and bright, it must have had all
the fascination of a splendid piece of jewellery, where profusion of
ornament is more desired than structural grace. The cornice is
particularly rich with a finely-carved vine ornament, and with two
angels, their long outstretched wings minutely feathered, who bear
shields having representations of the sacred wounds. The tabernacle
work behind the altar is gone, like the altar itself, with the
exception of the small niches which formed the sides of the central
composition, but the little canopy of the central niche remains to
give us a slight idea of its workmanship. The short wings of the
reredos have panels and traceried openings, and, on the south, a
piscina which looks almost too tiny to be real. The top has a toy-like
vault of fan-tracery with little pendants.
On the south side of St. Calixtus' chapel is _Dean Husse's_ alabaster
tomb (_ob._ 1305), which bears some of the best carved work in the
cathedral. The effigy itself is good: it represents the Dean clad in
the same choir vestments as the figures on the panels below. These
panels should on no account be missed. The first on the left
represents the Annunciation with a grace that is not less delightful
for the strain of exaggeration which pervades it. The Blessed Virgin
(see illustration on p. 101), a lovely figure in long, close-fitting
kirtle and mantle thrown gracefully over her shoulders, turns round
from the desk at which she is kneeling, and throws out her arms with a
quaint gesture of surprise; her crown and nimbus are both of enormous
size. A very small Gabriel dashes down from the top corner, bearing a
scroll which takes up the whole of the panel; he is preceded by a Dove
with very long rays. The next three panels (passing over these with
shields) contain three figures of clergy, two of which hold books, and
all their short staves. They wear the cassock, long surplice, and a
long, graceful choral cope, somewhat like the modern academic gown in
shape, the rounded ends of the hooded almuce reach to the knee and are
held at the chest by a cord with tassels. There is no better
representation of medieval choir vestments in existence than these
three figures. The last panel is a curious representation of the
Eternal Father holding the crucifix; this remarkable figure has a
_very_ long face, great masses of curly hair, a huge crown, and _very_
long hands.
The two chapels of the north transept can only be reached through the
choir aisle, no doubt because the way to the chapter-house was through
them. The first was probably ST DAVID'S chapel. Here should be noticed
the capital of the easternmost shaft of the second transept pier--a
head with curly hair and handsome smiling face. This shaft is
corbelled off, and the corbel through carved in the shape of a lizard
eating the leaves of a plant with berries thereon; it is a charming
study. The tomb of Bishop _Still_ (1543-1607) in this chapel is under
a handsome canopy of warm-coloured marbles, with black columns and
red, blue, and gold decoration. The effigy is dressed in rochet and
chimere, over which is a red robe lined with white fur; a ruff is
round the neck, a close-fitting black cap covers the head and part of
the ears, and the rochet is finished at the wrists with a plain black
band.
In the chapel of the HOLY CROSS the monument of the intruding Bishop
_Kidder_, Ken's successor (p. 158, _ob._ 1703), stands on the site of
the altar, whither it has been removed from its original position on
the south side of the choir. Standing in all its chilly
pretentiousness so near to Still's tomb, it well illustrates the
immense decline in monumental art which took place during the
seventeenth century. The bishop's daughter, who erected the monument,
is represented reclining, as, with one arm outstretched, she looks at
two urns which are supposed to contain the ashes of her father and
mother; underneath is a very long Latin inscription.
[Illustration: The Annunciation--Husse's Tomb.]
Against the north wall and close to the entrance to the chapter-house
stands the tomb of Bishop _Cornish_ (_ob._ 1513). He was chancellor
and precentor of Wells, and suffragan bishop under Bishop Fox of Bath
and Wells and Bishop Oldham of Exeter, his title being Bishop of
Tenos. Part of the inscription remains:--_Obiit supradictus d[)u]s
Thomas Tinensis Ep[)u]s tercio die mensis Julii anno ... MCCCCCXIII
Cujus Anime p_[_ropitietur Deus A_]_men_. The three panels on the
front bear shields--T with a sheaf of corn, Cornish's arms (on a
chevron between three birds' heads erased a mitre) and C with a sheaf
of corn; on the side panel are the arms of the chapter, the arms, that
is, of the see without the pastoral staff. Against the wall within the
canopy are some matrices of small brasses, in which the kneeling
figure of a bishop, a scroll, and two plates for inscriptions can be
traced.
[Illustration: Priest In Surplice--Husse's Tomb.]
From several peculiarities in Cornish's tomb, I am convinced that it
was also used as the _Easter Sepulchre_, where the Host was laid
during the concluding days of Holy Week. These sepulchres were often
made in connection with a tomb, and the usual place for them was
somewhere on the north side of the choir. The position here in the
chapel of the Holy Cross (which is an appropriate dedication) would be
particularly convenient for the purpose. The chapel was easily reached
by the clergy without their having to go into the public part of the
church; it was thus as safe a place as the choir itself, and at the
same time was much more open to the people, who could pay their
devotions from the transept, and through the open stone screen could
see the candles burning round the sepulchre.
[Illustration: The East End In 1823.]
Just where it could be best seen from the transept, on the eastern end
of the upper storey of the tomb under the canopy, is a carving of the
Resurrection. A wide arch is cut in the stone; within this is carved a
square opening, not through-cut, but farther recessed, to represent
the mouth of the sepulchre; in front of the square recess is the
figure of Christ, issuing from the tomb, clad only in a long mantle,
which He holds across His body; the hair is long, the face mutilated,
and the hands gone. At the left is the kneeling figure of a bishop,
the head gone, but part of the staff remaining in the hands. There is
a great crack (now filled with mortar) round these two figures, as if
the attack of the iconoclasts had been made with heavy tools. A
pedestal at the right-hand corner of the square recess seems a later
insertion, as it is loose and does not exactly fit; probably it was
added soon after the tomb was made, to hold a small silver figure of
an angel, or of a soldier, as there is a little hole (now filled with
mortar) at a height above it convenient for rivetting a metal figure.
The Sepulchre proper would have consisted of a small coped chest, in
shape like a reliquary, round which would be painted the incidents of
the Passion. The slab of the tomb, being without the usual recumbent
effigy, would have formed the place on which this "coffer" rested,
this being the usual method when a tomb was used for the purpose. On
Good Friday, the Host, often in a specially-made pyx, was with much
ceremony laid in the coffer, together with the altar-cross, and there
was kept, surrounded by candles and guarded by watchers, till Easter
Day. We know that there was a special provision at Wells for one
candle to burn continuously within the Sepulchre "_I cereus in
sepulchro cum corpori Dominico qui continue ardebit donec Matutinae
cantentur in die Paschae_" (_MS. Harl._ 1682, _fo._ 5). There is a
small hole in the east wall of this chapel, close to the tomb and a
little below the level of of the slab whereon the coffer would have
rested; this may have held a sconce or some ornament. But the _cereus
in sepulchro_ was probably a large candle within the chapel, and in
accordance with general usage, there would have been other candles
burning upon cressets. There are two other holes in the north wall, a
few inches to the east of the top of the tomb, which may have held
rods for the curtains that were used in much profusion for the
adornment of Easter sepulchres. While the coffer stood on the slab it
would have hidden the carving of the Resurrection; but on its removal
on Easter Day, the carving would have stood in full view of the
people, bright, no doubt, with colour and surrounded by lights. It
will further be noticed that the tomb stands eighteen inches away from
the east wall, the space being now filled with modern masonry; this
was probably in order to leave ample room for the sacred ministers in
their vestments; had it stood close against the wall the ceremonial
could not have been conveniently carried out.
Near the tomb is the doorway, with a fine old oak door, which leads
into the chapter-house; and above the tomb is a window which was
blocked up when the vestibule was built, and a bracket set in the
masonry.
THE CLOCK is a great favourite with visitors, who generally congregate
in the north transept at the striking of the hour and laugh gently to
one another when the quaint performance is over. "Jack Blandiver"
(this is the name given him by the country people for some
undiscovered reason) kicks his bell at each quarter in the most
life-like manner, his feet trembling afterwards with the exertion; but
at the hour, after Jack has sounded his four quarters, as the big bell
begins to toll, the four "knights" above the clock rush round in
contrary directions, and charge each other with so much ferocity that
one unfortunate is felled at each encounter, and has barely time to
recover his upright position before he is again and again knocked down
with resounding clatter upon his horse's back. The other three fight
twenty-four times a day unscathed.
The clock was thus described by Mr Octavius Morgan, F.R.S., in the
_Archaeological Journal_ for 1883:
"In the Cathedral of Wells is what remains of the ancient clock which
once belonged to Glastonbury Abbey. This very curious timepiece is
said to have been originally executed by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of
the abbey, but at the cost of Adam de Sodbury, who was promoted to the
abbacy in 1322. It appears to have been originally placed in the south
transept of Glastonbury Abbey Church, where it continued till the
Dissolution, when, tradition says, it was carried to Wells and placed
in the north transept of the cathedral with all its belongings--viz.
the figure which strikes the quarters with his heels on two little
bells within the church, and the two "knights" which perform the same
service with their battle axes on the outside. The inside figure
strikes the hour on a bell before him with a battle-axe in his hands.
The face of the dial is 6 feet in diameter, contained in a square
frame, the spandrels of which are filled with angels holding in their
hands the head of a man; the outer circle is painted blue, with gilt
stars scattered over it, and is divided into twenty-four parts,
corresponding with the twenty-four hours; the horary numbers are in
black-letter characters on circular tablets, and mark the hours from
twelve at noon to midnight, and from thence to midnight again (noon
and midnight being marked by a cross instead of a numeral). The hour
index, a large gilt star or sun, is attached to the machinery behind a
second circle which conceals all except the index. On the second
circle are marked the minutes, indicated by a smaller star; a third
and lesser circle contains the numbers of the days of the month, which
is marked by a point attached to a small circular opening in the
plate, through which the phases of the moon are shown. On the opposite
side is a female figure, with the motto _Semper peragrat Phoebe_.
"An arched pediment surmounts the whole, with an octagonal projection
from its base like a gallery, capped with a row of battlements,
forming a cornice to the face of the clock. A panelled and
battlemented turret is fixed in the centre, round which four figures
mounted on horses revolve in opposite directions, as if charging at a
tournament, when set in motion by a communication with the clockwork,
to be made at pleasure; these are commonly called _knights_, but their
costume is only that of ordinary persons. The movement is at a
distance from the dial, and connected with it by a long horizontal
rod; the dial work was close at the back of the dial. The revolving
figures on horseback are moved by a separate weight, and are set in
motion by the freeing of a detent. The old boarding at the back [in
the vestry of the vicars-choral] is painted black, with a diaper
scroll of foliage with red and white roses. The female figure on the
dial, representing the moon, is always kept upright by a balance
weight; the quarter-boys inside, who strike the quarters, are much
later, having _knee-breeches_.
"The outside dial has now two hands; it was once like a star with only
one hand. The bells outside are struck by two figures in armour,
_temp._ Henry VIII., probably put up when it was removed from
Glastonbury.
"The clock seems to have remained without alteration after it was then
put up, till the present modern movement, made by Thwaites & Reed of
Clerkenwell, was, in the time of Dean Goodenough, substituted for it,
and the old original movement was taken and deposited in the crypt
under the chapter-house, where it remained uncared for, for many
years, during which time, 1853, I visited and examined it, made notes
of it, and took drawings of it. The great wheel has ninety teeth, and
the pinion, a lantern-pinion, had nine leaves, or rather bars; the
second wheel had sixty teeth; the remainder of the works were all
disjointed and bent, and remained unheeded." The whole is now fitted
together, and in a going condition, in the mechanical museum at South
Kensington.
The _Antiquary_ for August 1897 ("Some Mediaeval Mechanicians")
reminds us that, as the clock was in constant use at Glastonbury for
about 250 years, and then at Wells for another 250 years, and as the
old movement is now still working at the South Kensington, "as though
its life were interminable"--it is probably the oldest piece of
working mechanism extant.
The same article says of these old works: "It will give an idea of the
labour involved, when it is stated the mechanism of the clock occupies
a space of about 5 feet cube (125 cubic feet), that the structure is
wholly of forged iron; that the numerous wrought-iron wheels, some of
which are nearly 2 feet in diameter and about 1/2 inch thick, besides
having to be made truly circular and concentric, had all their teeth
cut out and trimmed to workable shape by hand; and that the heavy
wrought-iron frames, etc., are fastened entirely by means of mortise,
tenon, and colter, no screws being used in the whole structure. The
pinions are of the lantern form, with octagonal cheek-plates on square
spindles, and the pendulum of modern form beats seconds."
THE INVERTED ARCHES.--Undoubtedly the first thing that the stranger
notices in Wells Cathedral, and the last that he is likely to forget,
is the curious contrivance by which the central tower is supported. Of
the three pairs of arches (the upper arch resting inverted upon the
lower) which stretch across the nave and each of the transepts, that
in the nave is seen at once, and lends a unique character to the whole
church. At first these arches give one something of a shock, so
unnecessarily frank are they, so excessively sturdy, so very English,
we may think. They carry their burden as a great-limbed labourer will
carry a child in a crowd, to the great advantage of the burden, and
the natural dissatisfaction of the crowd. In fact, they seem to block
up the view, and to deform what they do not hide.
That is the first impression, but it does not last for long.
Familiarity breeds respect for this simple, strong device, which
arrested the fall of the tower in the fourteenth century, and has kept
its walls ever since in perfect security, so that the great structure
has stood like a rock upon the watery soil of Wells for nearly seven
centuries, with its rents and breaks just as they were when the damage
was first repaired. The ingenuity, too, of these strange flying
buttresses becomes more and more evident; the "ungainly props" are
seen to be so worked into the tower they support, that they almost
seem like part of the original design of the first builders. One
discovers that it is the organ, and not the arches, that really blocks
the view, and one marvels that so huge a mass of masonry can look so
light as to present, with the great circles in the spandrels where the
arches meet, "a kind of pattern of gigantic geometrical tracery."
Indeed, I think no one who has been in Wells a week could wish to see
the inverted arches removed.
Professor Willis, who had made a most careful investigation of the
masonry, thus describes the cause and the construction of the inverted
arches (_Somerset Proceedings, 1863, i. 21_):
"It is evident that the weight of the upper storey of the tower
completed in 1321 had produced fearful settlements, the effects of
which may still be seen in the triforium arches of the nave, and
transepts next to the tower, which are dragged downwards and deformed,
partly rebuilt, filled up, and otherwise exhibiting the signs so often
seen under central towers, of a thorough repair. The great piers of
the tower are cased and connected by a stone framework, which is
placed under the north, south, and west tower-arches, but not under
the east. This framework consists of a low pointed arch, upon which
rests an inverted arch of the same form, so as to produce a figure
somewhat resembling a St. Andrew's cross, to use the happy phrase
applied by Leland to a similar contrivance introduced for a similar
reason [but at a later date] into the central tower arches of
Glastonbury." To this description there only needs to be added a
mention of the circles which occupy the spandrels, and help to prevent
the whole structure from seeming a mere inert mass of masonry. To
appreciate the work fully, it should be looked at from some spot, such
as the north-east corner of the north transept, whence the three great
pairs of arches can be seen together. The effect from here is very
fine, especially when the nave is lighted up, and strong shadows are
cast. The extreme boldness of the mouldings, the absence of shafts and
capitals and of all ornament, give them a primitive vigour, and their
great intermingling curves, which contrast so magnificently with the
little shafts of the piers beyond, seem more like a part of some great
mountain cavern than a mere device of architectural utility.
[Illustration: The Inverted Arches, From The North Transept.]
At the same time as the arches were built, flying buttresses were
inserted further to secure the tower, and they can be seen blocking up
the triforium and clerestory of those bays, in nave, choir, and
transepts, which adjoin it. Other repairs were necessary, for the
pier-arches of the same bays in nave and transepts were completely
shattered, and had to be replaced by the present ones, the
queer-looking capitals of which contrast so oddly with the earlier
work. It is instructive, also, to compare the lightness of these
fourteenth-century mouldings with the boldness of those, wrought at
exactly the same time, of the great inverted arches.
THE TOWER.--Besides its inverted arches and other signs of repair, the
tower is mainly noticeable for its Perpendicular fan-tracery vault of
fifteenth-century date. This vault hides the lantern with its arcades,
and thus destroys one of the elements of distance and mystery which,
before the advent of the more prosaic Perpendicular period, had been a
characteristic of Gothic architecture. Nothing else but the desire for
uniformity can account for this unjustifiable addition; for there can
have been no intention of hanging bells in the lantern when there were
already two western bell-towers. The lantern, with its cracked
masonry, can be seen during the ascent of the tower (p. 47).