CANOPIED STALLS
It is probable that all the back stalls of monastic and collegiate churches
had originally some form of canopy. For this there was a very practical
reason, in the desire of the occupants of the stalls to have their tonsured
heads protected from down draughts, which from open triforium chambers
imperfectly tiled must often have been excessive. A great number of these
canopies have been destroyed, usually in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, to make room for galleries, _e.g._, at Wells in 1590 and 1690,
and Hexham in 1740.[12] In Belgium not a single set of stalls retains
canopies. When the galleries were removed in modern restorations, the
ancient forms of canopy were frequently not replaced, but something of
modern design was put up. This should be borne in mind in examining the
cresting of the stalls as it is at present; much of it is not original
either in material or design.
The following is a list approximately in chronological order of some of the
finest sets of stalls in cathedral, monastic, collegiate and parochial
churches.
Rochester Cathedral 1227
Winchester Cathedral 1305
Chichester Cathedral 1335
Ely Cathedral begun in 1338
Lancaster Church 1340
Gloucester Cathedral 1350
Lincoln Minster 1370
Abergavenny 1380
Hereford Cathedral 1380
Hereford All Saints 1380
Chester Cathedral 1390
Nantwich 1390
Stowlangtoft 1400
Wingfield, Suffolk 1415
Higham Ferrers 1415
Norwich Cathedral 1420
Carlisle Cathedral 1433
Sherborne Abbey 1436
Hereford St Peter 1450
St David's 1470
Windsor 1480
Ripon 1500
Manchester 1508
Westminster 1509
Christchurch 1515
Bristol 1520
Dunblane 1520
Beverley Minster 1520
Newark 1525
King's College, Cambridge 1533, 1633, 1676
Aberdeen 1520
Cartmel 1620
Brancepeth 1630
Durham Cathedral 1665
Bishop Auckland Chapel 1665
Sherburn Hospital, Durham 1665
Sedgefield 1680
St Paul's Cathedral 1697
Canterbury Cathedral 1704
{30}
[Illustration: Rochester]
{31}
The stalls of the churches of Ratzburg illustrated by M. J. Gailhabaud,
vol. iv., seem to be of the middle of the twelfth century; they are of
clumsy design and in a fragmentary condition. At Hastières and
Gendron-Celles, both near Dinant, Belgium, are simple stalls of the
thirteenth century.[13]
In France the chief examples are those in Notre Dame de la Roche; fragments
occur also in Poitiers cathedral and the church of Saulieu.[14]
The earliest stallwork of which we have remains is in Rochester cathedral
(30). From fragments which remained it was found that the stalls had been
about 3 feet 6 inches high, and had hinged seats only 13½ inches from the
floor; there was a space of 2 feet 9 inches between the seat and the form
in front, and the seat was 2 feet deep.[15] There was but a single row of
stalls, and the forms were very low; only 22¼ inches above the platform on
which they stood. They are too low to have been used as book rests; which
indeed would have been unnecessary, as the monks knew the Psalter and their
services by heart; the only service books employed being the big books
which lay on the great lectern in the gangway of the choir. It is probable
that the forms were of use at certain parts of the service when the monks
were _prostrati super formas_.[16]
[Illustration: Westminster]
At Westminster the original stallwork of the choir has perished;
fortunately, however, a sketch of a portion of it has been preserved
(31).[17] That the sketch is trustworthy may be seen by comparing it with
the description of the stalls by Dart in his _Westmonasterium_ (1742), who
says that "the stalls were crowned with acute Gothic arches supported by
pillars." The sketch shews slender shafts with molded capitals, neckings
and bases, supporting lancet arches which are without cusps; at the back
are trifoliated lancets. The work belongs to the period when the eastern
bays of the nave were built, viz., 1258 to 1272. In Henry VII.'s chapel are
two misericords of conventional foliage; no doubt they belonged originally
to Henry the Third's choir. A valuable and little known example of a
thirteenth century stall survives at Hemingborough, Yorkshire (87). At
Peterborough also fragments of stalls of the same century remain; but they
have backing of Jacobean character (32). At Gloucester a fragment of a
thirteenth century stall has been preserved behind the seat of the Canon in
residence. {32}
[Illustration: Peterborough]
{33}
Apart from the above, we seem to have no stallwork of earlier date than the
fourteenth century. Of that period the earliest and perhaps the most
beautiful is that in Winchester cathedral. The pulpit was given by Prior
Silkstede, whose name is inscribed on it; he was prior from 1498 to 1524;
the desks and stools of the upper tier have the date 1540. The canopies are
of one story. Each is surmounted by a straight sided gable or pediment,
which is crocketed and finialled and has compound cusping. The upper part
of each gable is perforated with a multifoiled trefoil. Below, the stall is
spanned by a broad pointed arch, which is subdivided into two pointed and
detached arches, with foliated cusps. These two minor arches carry circles
with varying tracery. At the back of each stall (35) is a broad arch
containing a pair of detached pointed trifoliated arches supported by
shafts whose capitals are alternately molded and foliated. These two small
arches carry a circle within which is inscribed a cinquefoil, cusped and
foliated. The spandrils between each pair of containing arches at the back
of the stalls are occupied by foliage admirably carved, in which are
figures of men, animals, birds, &c. There is no pronounced ogee arch
anywhere, though there is a suspicion of one where the open trefoils of the
gables rest upon the containing arches. The tracery too of all the circles
is geometrical, _i.e._, composed of simple curves; there is no flowing or
ogee tracery with compound curves. It may be assumed therefore that the
work is earlier than _c._ 1315. On the other hand the foliage of the
spandrils has pronounced bulbous or ogee curves and the pediments contain
compound cusping; both features being characteristic of ornament of the
first half of the fourteenth century. {34}
[Illustration: Winchester Cathedral]
{35}
[Illustration: Winchester Cathedral]
{36}
Taking all into account, 1305 may be taken as an approximate date for this
superb work. It is usually assigned to the year 1296, on the ground of
similarity of design to that of the Westminster tomb of Edmund Crouchback
who died in that year; but that is to forget that he died in debt, leaving
instructions that he was not to be buried till his debts were paid: it is
likely therefore that his tomb is several years later than 1296; indeed,
except that its main arch has not ogee arches in its cusping, it is not
much earlier in design than the adjoining tomb of Aymer de Valence, who
died in 1324. Comparison may be made also with the monument in Winchelsea
church of Gervase Alard, who was still alive in 1306; and with the
monuments in Ely cathedral of Bishop Louth (_ob._ 1298) and in Canterbury
cathedral of Archbishop Peckham (_ob._ 1292).
[Illustration: Chichester]
On the other hand in Chichester cathedral (36), the ogee motive is supreme.
There are no more pointed arches; every arch is an ogee; and the cresting
consists of wavy tracery surmounted by a battlement. The cusping of the
upper ogee arches is compound; the foliage of pronounced bulbous character.
It is unlikely that this work can be much earlier than that of the Ely
stalls, which were not begun till 1338. On the evidence of costume and
armour it would seem that the misericords were in course of execution
between _c._ 1320 and _c._ 1340; the stallwork would probably be the last
part of the work; and {37} as the Chichester Records are reported to assign
the work to Bishop John Langton, who died in 1337, we may assign 1335 as an
approximate date to the stalls.
[Illustration: Ely]
When we come to Ely, we deal with ascertained dates; it is known that the
stalls were commenced in 1338. They are on {38} a noble scale, but have
been "improved" by restorers, who among things have actually inserted
Belgian carvings in the upper niches. These stalls have two distinct tiers
of canopies, so that they rise to a considerable height. Each of the lower
canopies has a pointed arch with compound ogee cusping; above each of these
is a niche with three gabled canopies carrying a low spirelet which is
flanked by ornate pinnacles; the whole forming a very beautiful
composition. It is a great advance from the one-story design of Chichester
(36), to the two stories of Ely.
[Illustration: Gloucester]
The great east window of Gloucester choir was glazed _c._ 1350; by which
date half of the stalls were ready. The northern stalls are the work of
Abbot Staunton (1337-1351); the southern of Abbot Horton (1351-1377); they
replace thirteenth century stalls erected by Elias de Lideford. The design
of the stalls is curious and interesting. In the canopy the leading motif
is the "bowing ogee," repeated twice; it is well seen in the contemporary
work of the Percy monument at Beverley and the arcading of Ely Lady Chapel.
The upper and acutely pointed ogee is finialled, and is flanked by
battlemented and crocketed pinnacles; behind is a battlemented, crocketed
and finialled spirelet. Behind the spirelets is arcading composed of window
tracery; and above the arcading is a crested horizontal cornice. At first
sight the design looks no more advanced than that of Ely; but if the
tracery of the arcading be examined, it will be found that the three lower
lights have supermullions, and that the centre-pieces are straight-sided.
In woodwork, as in stone, it was at Gloucester that the reign of the
straight line commenced (38). {39}
[Illustration: Lancaster]
{40}
Then comes a group of stalls which it is not easy to date, but all of which
are redolent of fourteenth century inspiration; those of Lancaster church,
those of the cathedral and All Saints' church at Hereford, and those of
Abergavenny priory and Norwich cathedral. The Lancaster stalls are the
_chef-d'oeuvre_ of English woodwork, wonderful alike in design and
execution; in woodwork they must have been in their day unrivalled; in
stone they find a compeer in the marvellous detail of the Percy monument
and in the still finer work at the back of the reredos in Beverley Minster.
They do not shew the slightest sign of the revolution of design which had
commenced in Gloucester transept _c._ 1330, and which by the end of the
century was to overspread all England; they are the natural development of
the design of the first half of the fourteenth century carried forward to
an extent for which the only parallel is to be found in the highly
developed Flamboyant detail of French, Spanish, and Flemish design of the
middle and latter part of the fifteenth century. So inordinately Flamboyant
are the traceries (41, 42) that one would unhesitatingly ascribe them to
Continental artists did one not see the touch of the English craftsman
everywhere; compare for instance the tracery shewn at the top of page 42
with that of the west window of the far-away church of Snettisham,
Norfolk.[18] One hesitates to assign to the Lancaster work such an early
date; but if the Percy monument was in course of erection, as we know it
was, soon after 1340, it is quite possible that the Lancaster stalls also
date before the arrival of the Black Death in 1349-50. After that date a
great change came over design; the rich exuberance of Ely Lady Chapel, the
Easter sepulchres, sedilia and piscinas of mid-Lincolnshire and the Percy
monument at Beverley, appear no more. Any lingering hesitation one may
have, however, is removed by a scrutiny of the moldings, especially those
of the capitals, neckings and bases;[19] they are just those which were in
fashion _c._ 1340. {41}
[Illustration: Lancaster] [Illustration: Lancaster]
{42}
[Illustration: Lancaster]
{43} The Lancaster stalls may be regarded as the Flamboyant version of the
stallwork of Winchester cathedral, with which they should be compared (34).
Like the Winchester stalls, they are but one story high; they do not aspire
to the two stories of Ely and Norwich. There is a tradition,
unsubstantiated, that these stalls came from Cockersand abbey in 1543. But
St Mary's, Lancaster, was a priory church attached, first, to the abbey of
St Martin, Sées, in Normandy, and then, when alien priories were
suppressed, transferred to Sion abbey, Middlesex. In 1367 Lancaster priory
had a revenue of £80, say £1,200 per annum, and was quite able to provide
stalls for itself.
[Illustration: Hereford Cathedral]
The lower part of each canopy consists of an ogee arch; this is somewhat
low, but in compensation is surmounted by an exceptionally lofty pediment.
Both ogee arch and straight-sided pediment are filled with perforated
tracery. All this tracery, both above and below, differs from bay to bay;
the craftsman would not and could not repeat them; he was simply
overflowing with inventive design. The tracery of the ogee arch rests on an
arch, usually an ogee arch, which is cusped in ogee, semicircular or
segmental curves, tipped with charmingly diversified pendants of faces,
fruits and foliage; the interval between {44} the two arches is filled with
a network of compound curves--a labyrinth of beautiful forms--enticing the
eye to attempt to follow their ramifications by ever new routes; each
little pattern is cusped, and each has the ogee curve at one end or both
ends, or at one side (41). Equally ingenious and diversified is the tracery
which fills up the tall pediment. The broad band of foliated ornament,
which forms a kind of continuous crocketing, in spite of much mutilation
remains the richest example in English woodwork.[20] Notice too the little
masks which immortalise the features of the Lancaster men of 1340;
sometimes no doubt they represent the carvers themselves.
[Illustration: Hereford All Saints']
{45}
[Illustration: Hereford All Saints']
In Hereford cathedral the stalls are of one story and have a horizontal
cresting. At the back of each stall is an ogee arch, and in front a bowing
ogee arch; there is some lack of contrast. The sides of the upper ogees are
prettily flanked by graduated window tracery; and the great multiplication
and predominance of the vertical line makes it likely that the stalls were
put up rather after than before the Black Death (43). {46}
[Illustration: Abergavenny]
[Illustration: Wingfield]
{47}
At All Saints', Hereford, is a range of stalls of remarkable beauty. They
have the bowing ogees, the compound cusping, the intersecting wavy tracery
of the first half of the fourteenth century; yet the cusping and tracery
are not in the early manner. In the cathedral the bowing ogees meet at an
angle of nearly 45°; at All Saints', they project but slightly, meeting
with a very obtuse point. All Saints' has ogee canopies under a coved
horizontal tester with supporting shafts, as in the cathedral. In the
latter the cornice of the tester on the south side has a perforated
battlemented parapet; that on the north (43) has brattishing; at All
Saints' both sides have brattishing, but the pattern is not the same.
Hereford suffered much from the Black Death of 1350, and it is not likely
that a parish church would be able to afford such costly stalls before the
last quarter of that century. We may suggest 1380 as a probable date. It
must be remembered that nearly all changes in mediæval design originated
with the stone mason; it was some time before they were caught up by the
craftsmen in other materials (44).
To the exquisite stallwork of Abergavenny the remarks made on that at All
Saints', Hereford, again apply; it is redolent of the inspiration of the
first half of the fourteenth century; but its effects are gained in a
totally different way: this also may be assigned to the last quarter of the
fourteenth century;[21] say _c._ 1380 or later (46).
The stalls at Wingfield, Suffolk, might date from 1362, when the church was
made collegiate; but much work was done in the time of Michael de la Pole,
2nd Duke of Suffolk, and his wife, Catherine Stafford; he died in 1415; the
badges of Wingfield and Stafford--a wing and the Stafford knot--are seen on
the arches between the de la Pole chapel and the chancel. The design of the
stalls and desks is such as might be expected early in the fifteenth
century, especially in East Anglia, where fourteenth century design
lingered long (46). {48}
[Illustration: Norwich Cathedral]
At first sight the Norwich stalls might seem to belong to the first half of
the fourteenth century; as in the stalls of Chichester, the lower canopies
have ogee arches; while there is a second story above, as at Ely. The
exuberance of earlier design is present in the cusping and the crockets;
notice how the crockets vary from bay to bay, one set being actually
composed of hawks. Nevertheless supermullions rise from the apex of each
minor arch of the window tracery of the spandrils, and are conclusive
evidence that the date is considerably later. The stalls and misericords
below are of two periods. In the earlier set of twenty-four the seats are
polygonal; the armour depicted is that of the last half of the fourteenth
century, and there are arms of donors who died respectively in 1380, 1400
and 1428; so that we may assign the approximate date of 1390 to this set of
misericords. The remaining thirty-eight misericords have seats curved on
plan, and, according to Mr Harrod, are not later than the middle of the
fifteenth century. Now the canopies extend above both sets of misericords;
the probability therefore is that they were put up together with the second
set of misericords. But there is one curious bit of evidence in the canopy
work itself, which is here illustrated (48); viz, that one set of crockets
consists of hawks with jesses. Now on the arms of John Wakering, who was
bishop from 1416 to 1425 are three hawks' lures;[22] that being so, the
probability is that the whole of the canopies, and the second set of
misericords as well, are {49} of the approximate date of 1420. Though so
much later than the Ely stalls, the absence of the spirelet and the
retention of the horizontal cornice marks this, in spite of much beauty of
detail, as a retrogressive design.
The stalls of Sherborne abbey, Dorset, are somewhat of a puzzle (49). The
arch design, with the compound cusping, is in accordance with that of the
lower story of the Ely stalls of 1338, except that the arches are
semicircular or nearly so; but fourteenth century exuberance and
versatility have faded away; the design is regular, symmetrical, prim.
There was a great fire in Sherborne Minster in 1436; the piers of the choir
are still reddened with the flames; the former stalls would certainly be
consumed, and these no doubt are their successors.
[Illustration: Sherborne]
The stalls at Hereford St Peter and Stowlangtoft are illustrated to shew
that not only monastic and cathedral churches, but parish churches also
possessed abundance of fine stallwork. Stowlangtoft is a remote Suffolk
village; but possesses a magnificent set of the original carved benches in
the nave and stalls in the chancel (91). The woodwork is probably of the
{50} date of the church, which seems to have been rebuilt late in the
fourteenth or early in the following century; the Hereford church is a town
church; its stalls appear to be well on in the fifteenth century (89).
In Bristol cathedral the stalls consist of a range of traceried panels
surmounted by a horizontal coved cornice. There are now twenty-eight
stalls. They bear the arms and initials of Abbot Elyot (1515-1526).
At St David's a totally new departure occurs in stall design; the motif now
being clearly taken from an oak screen surmounted by a parapetted loft
(109). In the fourteenth century stalls illustrated the ogee arch was the
characteristic feature; in the fifteenth century the fashion was to take an
elongated ogee arch, and truncate it, employing only the upper portion with
the concave curve; these semi-ogees occur everywhere both in stone and
wood; they are well seen at St David's in the backing of the stalls. This
work has superseded that which was ordered to be put up in 1342 by Bishop
Gower, only one fragment of which remains; it was found above the present
canopy and consisted of a finialled ogee canopy, agreeing nearly in detail
and character with those portions of the Bishop's throne which are of
Gower's time.[23] The present stalls, misericords, stall backs and canopy
are all fifteenth century work; on the dean's stall (in this cathedral, as
nowadays at Southwell, the bishop was also dean) are the arms of Bishop
Tully (1460-1481), and on the Treasurer's stall is the name of POLE, who
was treasurer in the bishop's latter days. The parapets above cannot have
been added till the sixteenth century; for they terminate to the east in
scrolls of the form common in cinquecento work.
* * * * * {51}