porch presents itself behind the consistory court. The south face of
that court is very similar, in all respects, to the west, already
described. The porch is flanked by buttresses which once had
pinnacles. The entrance is under a Tudor arch, within a square head,
the spandrils richly panelled, over the square head is a broad belt
of quatrefoil panelling, above that a hollow moulding adorned with
the Tudor flower. Above this are two flat-headed windows, of two
lights each, with a deep niche between them, resting on a projecting
bracket, the statue of course is gone, but the projecting and richly
decorated canopy remains, on both sides of which the wall above is
adorned with two rows of panelling, the open embattled parapet which
once crowned the whole has disappeared. The south side of the nave
and its aisle is plain, but not without dignity; the windows are all
pointed and of perpendicular character; those of the aisle have
straight canopies, with projecting buttresses between, which still
have niches, and once had both pinnacles and statues. The aisle has
no parapet. The windows of the clerestory are unusually large and
lofty, and their canopies are flowing in form, but perfectly plain,
and without finials, they have no buttresses between them, and the
parapet is very shallow and quite plain.
“The next feature of this cathedral, which is now to be described in
due order, is a very singular one, and indeed unique, viz., the south
wing of the transept. It is no uncommon case to find the two
portions of the transept unlike each other in some respects; but in
no other instance are they so perfectly dissimilar as at Chester.
Here, the south wing is nearly as long as the nave, and of equal
length with the choir, and considerably broader than either, having,
like them, aisles on both sides; while the north, which probably
stands upon the original foundations, has no aisles, is very short,
and only just the breadth of one side of the central tower. The east
and west faces of this south portion of the transept are nearly
similar. The aisles have no parapet; the windows are pointed, of
four lights each, with late decorated tracery and small intervening
buttresses. The clerestory has a parapet similar to that of the
nave; the windows are pointed, large, and lofty, with perpendicular
tracery, and two transoms. The south front of this transept, flat at
top, is flanked with square embattled turrets and buttresses, and has
a large window of the perpendicular age filling up nearly all the
space between them. The south face of the aisles on each side have
pointed windows, similar to those already described, and sloping tops
without parapet, but flanked by double buttresses at the external
angles, without pinnacles.
“The south face of the choir, with its aisle, is in nearly all
respects similar to the south portion of the transept; but the aisle
is lengthened out beyond the choir, and becomes the side aisle of the
Lady Chapel, and has an octangular turret near the east end, with
embattled parapet, and beyond it a plain heavy clumsy buttress: the
sloping parapet of the east face of this aisle meets at the top the
flat plain parapet of the most eastern compartment of the Lady Chapel
which projects beyond the aisle, to that extent. The windows of the
Lady Chapel are all pointed, and of good perpendicular character; the
projecting portion has double buttresses at the external angles, and
the eastern face has a low gable point. This chapel is very little
higher than the side aisles of the choir, the east face of which is
seen over it, with a large lofty pointed window, with perpendicular
tracery and several transoms, flanked with octagonal turrets,
engaged, and terminated with something like domes of Elizabethan
architecture. The parapet of this east face of the choir is flat.
The north side of Lady Chapel is similar to the south; the choir and
its aisles exhibit features of early English character on this side,
but the chapter-room conceals a considerable portion of it, which is
a small building of an oblong form, and also of early English
architecture. Over its vestibule and the arched passage leading into
the east walk of the cloister, is seen the large window in the north
front of the transept; the arch is much depressed, the tracery very
common and plain, and it has two transoms; the walls of this wing of
the transept are very plain, flat at top, and no parapet. The whole
north side of the nave can be seen only from the cloister-yard. The
south walk of the cloister is gone, and in the wall of the aisle,
below the windows, are still seen several enriched semicircular
arches resting on short cylindrical columns, evidently belonging to
the original church of Hugh Lupus. The windows of the aisle are
Tudor arched, with the ordinary tracery of this period; but, owing to
the cloister once existing beneath, are necessarily curtailed of half
their due length: there is a thin flat buttress between each; the
aisle has no parapet. The clerestory is lofty, and the windows
pointed, and not so much depressed as those in the aisle beneath:
they are not so lofty as those in the south side, nor have they any
canopies. There is a thin buttress between each, without pinnacles,
and the parapet is quite plain, but not so shallow as that on the
south side.
“The central tower is perhaps the best external feature of this
cathedral, it is indeed only of one story above the roof ridge, but
it is loftier than such towers usually are; in each face of it are
two pointed windows, divided down the middle with a single mullion,
with a quatrefoil at the top, and all of them have flowing crocketted
canopies with finials. At each of the four angles of the tower is an
octagonal turret engaged, all of which like the tower itself, are
terminated with an embattled parapet.”
On entering the interior (says the same authority) through the west
doorway, into the nave, some disappointment and regret cannot but be
felt. Here is no vaulted roof, but a flat ceiling of wood, resting on
brackets of the same material, slightly arched, which gives the nave the
appearance of having less elevation than it really possesses; for the
naves of many much more magnificent cathedrals are not so lofty as this
by several feet, but by being vaulted, their apparent height is
increased. The stone vaulting appears to have been actually commenced,
and it is to be regretted that the desirable work was not completed, as
it would certainly have given to the nave a much more imposing effect.
The north wall of the nave, to the height of the windows, is Norman work,
and contains, on the side of the cloisters, six tombs, where, as it
appears from an old MS. written on the back of an old charter, now in the
British Museum, the early Norman Abbots are interred. Under a wide arch,
sunk in the south wall, which from the ornaments attached to the pillar
near it, appears part of the original building, is a coffin-shaped stone,
with a cross fleury on the lid, over the remains of some Abbot. Nearly
opposite to this, is an altar-tomb, the sides of which are ornamented
with Gothic niches, with trefoil heads, and with quatrefoils set
alternately, the quatrefoils being also alternately filled with roses and
leopards’ heads; the lid slides, and discloses the lead coffin, a part of
which has been cut away; on the lid is a plain coffin-shaped stone. It
is highly probable that this tomb contains the remains of one of the
later Abbots. The pillars of the nave are clustered, and have rich bases
and foliated capitals, and the arches are pointed. In this part of the
Cathedral and the north transept, are several monuments worthy the
attention of visitors. A pyramidical monument by Nollekins, representing
a female figure resting on a rock, against which is placed a broken
anchor, erected by Capt. John Matthews, R.N. to the memory of his wife.
One, in white marble, by Banks, representing the genius of history
weeping over an urn, having three vols., inscribed “Longinus,”
“Thucydides,” “Xenophon,” placed by it; erected to the memory of Dean
Smith, the learned translator of those works. One to the memory of Mrs.
Barbara Dod, erected by the minor canons. One to Capt. John William
Buchanan, of the 16th light dragoons slain at the battle of Waterloo.
One of Cavalier Sir Willm. Mainwaring, killed at Chester during the great
civil war, 1644. Against the north wall, a handsome monument, enclosing
a bust of Sir John Grey Egerton, Bart., erected by subscriptions of the
citizens of Chester, in memory of their honourable and independent
representative. One in memory of Major Thomas Hilton, who died at
Montmeir, in the Burmese empire, 2nd February, 1829. One to Augusta, the
wife of the Rev. James Slade, canon of the Cathedral, and daughter of
Bishop Law. One of Capt. John Moor Napier, who died of asiatic cholera,
in Scinde, July 7th, 1846, aged 28 years: this monument was executed by
Westmacott, the inscription was written by his uncle, the gallant Sir
Charles Napier, and is as follows:—
The tomb is no record of high lineage;
His may be traced by his name.
His race was one of soldiers:
Among soldiers he lived—among them he died.
A soldier, falling where numbers fell with him
In a barbarous land.
Yet there died none more generous,
More daring, more gifted, more religious.
On his early grave
Fell the tears of stern and hardy men,
As his had fallen on the grave of others.
To the memory of their comrade, the officers of the General Staff in
Scinde erect this cenotaph.—[The above was executed by Westmacott.]
In the north transept is a piece of exceedingly fine tapestry, executed
after one of the cartoons of Raphael, representing the history of Elymas
the Sorcerer. Wright, in his travels through France and Italy, after
describing the tapestry he saw in the Vatican at Rome, says “We have an
altar-piece in the choir of Chester, after one of the same cartoons (it
is that of Elymas the Sorcerer), which, in my mind, is much superior to
any of these.” There is also a well-executed stone monument to Roger
Barnston, Esq., and a tablet in memory of good Chancellor Peploe.
The choir well merits the attention of every visitor of taste. From the
organ loft to the Bishop’s throne, the sides are ornamented with rich
spiral tabernacle work, underneath which are massive and highly
ornamented stalls. The choir is separated from the nave and broad aisle
by a Gothic stone screen; there are five pointed arches on each side;
above them, is an arcade of pointed arches, resting on slender shafts,
and above it are the clerestory windows. The pavement of the choir is of
black and white marble. At the west end of it, are four stalls on each
side of the entrance, and there are twenty others on each side of the
choir; over these are rich canopies, with pinnacles and pendants in great
profusion. Above the stalls on the right hand, opposite the pulpit, is
the Bishop’s throne, which formerly stood at the east end in St. Mary’s
Chapel, and is said to have been the shrine of St. Werburgh, or as
suggested by Pennant, the pedestal on which originally stood the real
shrine which contained the sacred reliques. At the Reformation it was
removed to its present position, and converted into a throne for the
Bishop. It is a rich specimen of Gothic architecture, decorated with
carved work, and embellished with a range of thirty curious small
statues, variously habited, holding scrolls in their hands, and
originally inscribed with their names, but now defaced. Dr. Cowper
published in 1799, an elaborate history of these figures, and was of
opinion that they represented kings and saints of the royal Mercian line,
ancestors or relations of St. Werburgh. Very great improvements have
recently been effected within the choir. The restoration of the bishop’s
throne was effected by the munificence of the Rev. Canon Slade, as an
obituary testimonial to his late father-in-law, Bishop Law, in memory of
whom, the following inscription, engraven upon a brass plate, is affixed
to the throne:—
In gloriam Dei hanc cathedram reficiendam curabit A.D. MDCCCXLVI.
Jacobus Slade, A.M. hujus ecciesiæ Canonicus. Necuen in piam
memoriam Georgii Henrici Law, S.T.P. per xii. annes Episcopi
Cestriensis. dein Bathoniensis.
At the back of the throne is a magnificent stone screen, the gift of the
Archbishop of Canterbury, corresponding in style with that on the
opposite side behind the pulpit, which was erected by the Dean and
Chapter. The altar screen was presented by the Rev. Peploe Hamilton, of
Hoole, near Chester; the larger chair within the rails of the communion
table is the liberal gift of the Dean, and the small one was presented by
the Rev. Canon Blomfield; the new lectern, of carved oak in the form of
an eagle, by the Rev. Chancellor Raikes, executed by Mr. Harris, of
Chester; the new stone pulpit, from a beautiful design by Mr. Hussey, is
the liberal gift of Sir Edward S. Walker, of this city. The seats of the
choir have been provided with new crimson cushions, the stalls have been
re-painted, and the canopies gilded by Mr. John Morris, through the
liberality of the Dean. Towards the restoration of the cathedral, Her
Majesty the Queen also contributed a donation of £105 in the name of the
Prince of Wales as Earl of Chester.
The execution of the alterations were entrusted to Messrs. Furness and
Kilpin, of Liverpool, and it is gratifying to add that Chester artificers
have been chiefly employed in carrying them out. Mr. Haswell built the
organ screen, the throne, the pulpit, the stone work of the new east
window in the choir, and re-laid the marble pavement.
Mr. Harrison constructed the reredos at the back of the altar; and the
oak seats, screens and altar rails are the work of Mr. J. Evans.
Under the east window is an arch opening to the Lady Chapel, which
consists of a middle and two side aisles, the stone vaulting of which is
adorned with richly carved key-stones. The side aisles are divided from
the middle portion of two arches, sprung from a massy pier on each side,
apparently part of the original building, cut down and crusted over with
clusters of light pillars, terminated in elegant pointed arches, with
quatrefoils inserted in the mouldings. On the north side of the chancel,
which extends beyond the side aisles, are two elegant pointed arches; one
contains two piscinas; the other was apparently a seat for the
officiating priest: another pointed arch appears also on the opposite
side.
The cloisters are on the north side of the church, and form a quadrangle
of about 110 feet square; originally, there were four walks, but the
south walk is destroyed. The general style of the cloisters is that of
the fifteenth century, with carved key-stones at the intersections of the
vaulting, the arches of the windows are depressed; a lavatory projects
from the west walk of the cloisters, and did extend along the south walk;
over the east walk was a dormitory, which was sometime ago destroyed,
much to the injury of the appearance of these conventual ruins. It is
obvious that the present cloisters are only a restoration of an earlier
one. In the east walk of the cloisters is the entrance into the Chapter
House, or rather its singular vestibule, 30 feet 4 inches long, and 27
feet 4 inches wide. The vaulted roof of this apartment is supported by
four columns without capitals, surrounded by eight slender shafts. The
Chapter room itself is an elegant building, 35 feet high, 50 feet long,
and 26 broad. The stone vaulting rests on clusters of slender shafts,
with foliated capitals; all the windows are in the latest style, those at
the east and west ends consist of five lights each. A gallery goes round
three sides of the room, and where it passes the windows is carried
between the mullions, and a corresponding series of light shafts
connected with them, which have elegant sculptured capitals, and support
the mouldings of the lancet arches above. Notwithstanding the soft
nature of the stone, the carving is all in an excellent state of
preservation.
Pennant has ascribed the erection of this beautiful building to Randle
Meschines, on the ground of his having removed the body of Hugh Lupus,
“de cœmiterio in capitulum,” as mentioned in his charter to the Abbey;
and he is, most probably, right in supposing that the same respect would
have been paid at the time of his death, if a Chapter House had then
existed. This argument, however, merely tends to prove that the Chapter
House was built by Handle Meschines, but as far as can be inferred from
the architecture, it may be reasonably doubted whether any part of the
present Chapter House was built long before the extinction of the local
earldom. The learned Dr. Ormerod is of opinion that this is about the
date of its erection, and he is supported by several other competent
authorities, who concur with him on the point.
In the Chapter House are preserved some interesting local relics, among
which is a red sand stone, 24 inches by 8 inches, found on the site of
the Deanery, bearing this inscription:—
[Picture: COH .I.C. OCRATI MAXIMINI . M . P]
Mr. Roach Smith, an eminent authority in such matters, says that this
inscription is to be ascribed to the century of Ocratius Maximus, of the
first Cohort of the 20th Legion; it has evidently been a facing stone,
probably in the city wall; it resembles in character the centurial
commemorations on the stones in the great northern wall, and like them,
apparently refers to the completion of a certain quantity of building.
There is also the head part of a stone coffin, found by persons employed
in digging in the Chapter House in 1723. The scull and bones were
entire, and lay in their proper position, enveloped in an ox-hide. On
the breast was a piece of cloth, the texture of which could not be
ascertained. It has been supposed by Pennant and others, that these
remains were those of Hugh Lupus, which were removed hither from the
churchyard, by his nephew Randle, Earl of Chester. Ormerod seems to be
of opinion that this relic designated the place of sepulchre of Abbot
Simon Ripley. It is now generally admitted by those most competent to
form a judgment on the subject, that Ormerod has given a true
interpretation of this interesting relic. The initials, he says, are
clearly S. R., and the wolf’s head corresponds in style of carving with a
similar one introduced by Simon Ripley on the tower of Saighton Manor
House. There are also two shot-torn banners of the 22nd Cheshire
regiment of Infantry, which were received from India, after that gallant
corps had been presented with new colours, and were presented by the
government to the then Dean of Chester (Dr. Davys) for preservation in
the Cathedral.
The appearance of this noble room would certainly be much improved by the
removal of the unsightly bookcases, which are not in the slightest unison
with the beautiful architecture they so much obstruct. Mr. Ashpitel
says, “he considers the Chapter House, with its singularly tasteful
vestibule, to be the finest in the kingdom of its form;” and has
animadverted, with deserving severity, upon the tastelessness of a
professed architectural critic, who could pass over the building with the
disparaging criticism, “poor enough?” He (Mr. Ashpitel) had been told
the same story, but he found beauties which grew upon him more and more
at every visit. The Norman remains, he says, are extremely fine—there is
work of all kinds of great beauty; and there are the most curious and
instructive transitions from style to style that perhaps were ever
contained in one building.
The north walk of the cloister contained the chief entrance into the
refectory of the convent, which still remains a magnificent apartment,
now divided by a modern passage, the eastern and greater portion being
used as the King’s School. It was seventy-eight feet long, and
thirty-four feet high, with a roof of oak resting on brackets, which was
removed some years ago. Six pointed windows with intervening buttresses
lighted the north side, and four the south. At the east end were three
lancet-shaped windows, with slender detached shafts, all included within
one greater arch. In the south east angle of this once noble room, is a
flight of steps within the wall, with a projection at the upper end like
a stone pulpit; these steps led to the ancient dormitory, and opens into
the refectory by an elegant range of pointed arches, trefoiled within,
whose spandrils are pierced with a series of quatrefoils.
[Picture: Norman Vaulted Chamber, Chester Cathedral, date about 1095]
We now direct the visitor’s attention to a portion of the Norman edifice,
which has of late excited very deep interest, the Promptuarium, lately
excavated:
“the chamber is a sort of gallery or cloister on the ground floor,
about ninety feet long by forty feet wide, traversed in the centre by
a row of pillars (with one exception cylindrical), which divide it
into six double bays, from which pillars, and four corresponding ones
at each side, spring the intersecting arches by which the building is
vaulted. The side pillars are as entirely Norman in their character
as the centre ones, being simply the square pier, on each face of
which is the pilaster attached; the groining of the roof is without
the finish of ribs at the joints, a finish characteristic of a later
period. The chamber, which has at present only a borrowed light from
the cloisters on the east, was originally lighted from the west side,
by a window in each bay, except the second bay from the south end, in
which was a principal entrance. This doorway and the windows are now
all choked up by the adjoining garden. On the same side, and at the
north end, is a very large chimney and fire-place. A glance at the
groining and arches at the north end, informing us that the chamber
did formerly end here, I was induced to think, by this situation of
the fire-place, that its length was originally very much greater. I
have since found the termination of the chamber in the cellars of the
present Registry, where the groining is supported by corbels, which
shew that the vaults extended there, but no further. One double bay,
therefore, added to the present remains, gives us the entire length
of the building,—about one hundred and five feet. In this last bay,
on the east side, is a principal doorway (four inches wider than the
one on the west side), leading towards the refectory. On the east
side also, and near the north end, is a postern from the cloisters
and a spiral staircase, partly constructed in the thickness of the
wall, leading to the chamber above, of which there are now no
remains. Two small archways at opposite sides of the chamber,
precisely similar in form and size, and rising from beneath the level
of the floor, seemed to indicate a subterranean passage connecting
them. An excavation round each has, however, discovered no channel
between them. In considering the character and situation of this
vaulted chamber it should be borne in mind that though now apparently
subterranean, it is only so with reference to the west side, the
level of the floor being four feet above the level of the nave of the
cathedral. The ground which now rises above it on the west side is
all _made_ ground of late date, belonging to the Palace, the original
level of which is identical with this chamber, as shewn by the area
round the present Palace kitchens, and by those apartments belonging
to the Abbot’s residence, which yet remain.” {74}
Mr. Ashpitel, in his interesting lecture on Chester Cathedral, bestowed
the name of Promptuarium on this Norman cloister, he says, “these are
vaulted apartments of early Norman work, and are described in the charter
of Henry VIII., by which he divides the properties between the bishop and
dean, _promptuaria et pannaria_, the former derived from a word denoting
a butler or steward, probably a buttery; and the latter, from _pannus_, a
cloth, probably the place for clothing.”
Mr. Ayrton, in an able paper on the Norman remains of the cathedral, read
before the Chester Archæological Association, entered into an elaborate
inquiry on the subject, stating his reasons for concluding that this is
not a _Promptuarium_, but, in his opinion, a spacious hall, where the
splendid hospitality of the Abbots was displayed to strangers, friends,
and dependents. His arguments are marshalled with great ingenuity and
force; and as every contribution which tends to throw light on the use,
to which this remain of the ancient monastery was devoted, possesses much
importance and interest; we will here insert his observations upon it:—