THE EXTERIOR.
The exterior of the Cathedral Church of Manchester is by no means
imposing. The traveller who reaches the city by the London and
North-Western Railway and alights at the Exchange Station, will see
fronting him what appears to be a large parish church with a western
tower. Its walls are grimy with the smoke of the city, and although the
building occupies a good site, open on every side save the east, with a
large churchyard stretching out on the north and south sides of it, yet
few of those who see it would stay their steps to walk round the building
or enter it by the south porch, unless they had been previously told that
this parish church, as it seemed to them, and as in a certain way it is,
is also the Cathedral Church of Manchester, and that its interior is both
impressive as a whole, and contains detail work of the highest interest.
Our examination of the exterior may well begin with the most recent
addition to the church--=the western porch=--only lately finished and
still showing the colour of the stone fresh from the carver's hands.
Whether this addition is an improvement to the general appearance of the
building or not is open to question. To some, among them the writer,
it appears that the porch takes away from the appearance of height in
the tower, much as the Galilee Chapel at Durham, beautiful as it is in
its details, is an excrescence detracting from the effect of the western
front of St. Cuthbert's Cathedral Church. Moreover, the single crocketed
turret that rises from the south-west corner of the porch proper gives
it a one-sided appearance, which is somewhat to be regretted, as with
this exception the porch and its lower flanking chambers is symmetrical,
as indeed is the church itself in its main features, turret answering to
turret, and window to window, porch to porch. The carving on the western
porch is elaborate and carefully executed, and if, as must necessarily
be the case owing to the conditions under which nineteenth century
carving was executed, it lacks the freedom that is so great a charm in
old work, it is more in accordance with the general style of the church,
and is characteristic of its own date. This porch was designed by Mr.
Basil Champneys, who has succeeded in training carvers to carry out his
designs in an admirable manner. A verbal description of the porch is
hardly needed, as the illustration on the opposite page will show the
reader its character. On either side of the porch is a chamber rising
to about the same height as the spring of the arch of the doorway; each
of these is flat-roofed, its wall terminates in a pierced battlemented
parapet, and is lighted by two rectangular-headed windows facing west.
To the south and north of these two chambers respectively, are iron gates
and flights of steps giving access to the churchyard.
[Illustration: THE WEST PORCH.]
Ascending the southern flight we find before us the west ends of the two
south aisles of the church; the roof of the inner one slopes slightly
down from the clerestory wall, and the outer one rises into a very
obtuse-angled gable. The west end of the inner or true aisle is original,
but the outer aisle was extended two bays westward at the time of the
recent restoration. The windows of the church, though all or nearly
all of Perpendicular character, are not all alike, as may be seen by
examining the illustrations; but in most of them the hood moulding after
following the curve of the arch at the head of the window, is brought
down in a vertical line for a short distance beside the lower part of
the window. Most of the windows have four lights, but there are some
exceptions, which will be duly noticed as we pass by them. To begin with,
the west window of the outer south aisle has five lights. On turning
round the south-west corner of this aisle we find the =south porch=
projecting from the second bay. The porch itself consists of two bays,
and has two stories. The lower story of the porch proper is lighted by two
two-light windows on the western side, the upper story by two windows on
the western and southern faces, and by one on the eastern face. Beneath
the windows on the south side the following inscription may be read:--
To the honour and Glory of God and in thankful acknowledgement of
many mercies this porch is erected by James Jardine of Manchester
and Alderley Edge in the year of our Lord MDCCCXCI.
[Illustration: THE SOUTH PORCH.]
An octagonal stair turret surmounted by a crocketed pyramidal termination
stands at the south angle of the inner bay on the eastern side. The
whole of this porch is elaborately carved, as will be seen from the
illustration. The next two bays of the south aisle project beyond the
general line of the south wall of the church. The walls of this are
finished by a pierced battlemented parapet similar to that which runs
round the south porch. The windows in these two bays are alike, but the
next two in the south wall have five lights, and differ from the last two
in their shape and tracery (see illustration, p. 12). To the south of the
church about this point stands a sun-dial, shown in the illustration. The
three next bays belong to what was formerly known as the Jesus Chapel. In
the westernmost of these there is a doorway to give room for which the
sill of the window is placed at a higher level than the sills of the
other windows. The tracery of these windows differs from the preceding
two. From the easternmost of the three bays of the Jesus Chapel formerly
projected the Hulme chantry. To the east of the Jesus Chapel stands the
octagonal chapter house; three of its sides contain windows of a pattern
differing from any of these already mentioned. From within the parapet,
which is not battlemented, rises a rather steep pyramidal roof. This is
modern. Whether the original roof was of this form or not is not known,
but the modern roof is a distinctly agreeable feature. To the east of
the chapter house is another window in the south wall, and then we come
to the Fraser Memorial Chapel, which forms the south-east angle of the
church. This has a four-light window in its south and a three-light window
in its eastern wall. Before examining the east end of the church we may
remark that the clerestory wall is terminated by a pierced battlemented
parapet--a modern addition--and that the pattern is slightly different
on either side of the octagonal turret which rises from the junction of
the nave and choir. The parapet that runs along the south wall of the
chapel of St. Nicholas, again, differs from that which runs along the
other walls on the south side of the church.
The east window of the south choir aisle has five lights; passing this
we come to the =Lady Chapel=. This is exceedingly small, projecting only
some eighteen feet to the east of the aisle walls. It has two bays, each
lit by a small two-light window on either side. Against the centre of the
eastern face rises a buttress, on either side of which is a four-light
window. As already mentioned in Chapter I. the Lady Chapel windows are
eighteenth century work, probably copies of the original windows, and
have tracery of Decorated character.
[Illustration: THE ELY CHAPEL.]
Beyond the Lady Chapel is the window of the north choir aisle; and beyond
this again the eastern termination of the Derby Chapel. This contains
a seven-light window. Passing round the north-eastern corner we see the
=Ely Chapel= projecting from the second bay to the west, with four-light
windows in its eastern and western walls, and a five-light window on its
northern face. From the fourth and fifth bays, counting from the east,
projects a low building with a battlemented parapet, a door and square
headed windows, erected to contain the hydraulic apparatus used for
working the bellows of the organ. To the west of this is a small doorway
with an ogee head leading into the ante chapel of the Derby or John the
Baptist's Chapel. This is the last bay of the eastern division of the
church. The next bay, the north wall of what was once St. James' Chapel,
contains a five-light window. After two more bays, comprising the chapel
of the Holy Trinity, we come to the registry, and see the north porch
projecting from the last bay but one. This bears a general resemblance
to the south porch, save that niches take the place of windows on the
east and west faces of the upper story, and that the stair turret stands
on the west side at the angle between the porch and aisle wall.
The following inscription may be read running round the porch commencing
on the eastern side.
"To the glory of God and in loving memory of James Craven this
porch and registry are erected by his children 1888."
The west window of the outer north aisle has seven lights, and that of
the inner aisle five.
As on the south side so on the north, the tracery is not the same
in all the windows. Those on the north side of the Derby Chapel and
the Ely Chantry resemble each other; the next is a short window above
the doorway; the next, which is known as the Gordon window, is entirely
different; the next three have tracery similar to that of the windows of
the Derby Chapel.
The parapet along the north walls of the church, like that along the south
walls, is pierced and battlemented, the design differing in different
parts. The parapet of the Lady Chapel, however, is not pierced, but is
simply battlemented. The parapet on the clerestory on both sides is a
modern addition, and is considered by some to be no improvement on the
old form which ran in an unbroken line from end to end of the church,
and gave an appearance of greater length than that given by the present
arrangement, with its line broken by battlements and pinnacles. The two
octagonal turrets that rise from the east end of the clerestory walls
with their crocketed pyramidal terminations form a pleasing feature.
The tower, square in section, projects from the western extremity of
the nave, and rises to the stately height of 140 feet. The west window
of the nave is surmounted on the outside by a richly carved ogee label;
in the next stage we see the faces of the clock, and in the belfry stage
above double windows on each face of the tower; a pierced battlemented
parapet with three pinnacles at each of the angles and one at the middle
points of each of its sides, forms a suitable termination to the tower.
We have now carefully examined the exterior of the church in detail. It
remains only to mention the points of view from which it is best seen as a
whole. The view from the roadway running up to the railway station shows
the tower to advantage, as not only is it of considerable height itself,
but its base on the level of the churchyard is considerably raised above
the street. The whole of the south side, which is richer in variety and
detail than the north, can be well seen from the churchyard, and the
north side itself from the open space in front of Chetham's hospital,
the play-ground of the boys who are educated there.
[Illustration: NORTH SIDE OF THE NAVE.]
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.]
[Illustration: THE CHOIR SCREEN.]