therefore, the windows are filled with other than the original. The
seven most eastern windows contain what is called the =Herkenrode glass=,
originally in the Abbey of Herkenrode near Liège. The designs are
supposed to be by Lambert Lombard of the Sixteenth Century. Two of the
windows depict founders and benefactors of the abbey, and the other
five, scenes in the life of Christ. The Herkenrode glass (340 pieces)
was bought by
[Illustration: LICHFIELD: FROM EAST WINDOW]
[Illustration: CHESTER: NORTH]
Sir Brooke Boothby in Belgium in 1802, for £200, now valued at £15,000.
What remained was used to fill other windows in the Cathedral. On the
south side of the Lady-Chapel are three “Mortuary Chapels,” with groined
roofs. In the central one lies the effigy of =Bishop Selwyn= (buried
outside), Bishop of New Zealand, who organized the church in that
far-away country. This accounts for the frescoes showing the Maoris. The
two end windows are also old glass supposed to have come from the Low
Countries. One is a symbolic picture of _Baptism_; the other, the
legendary _Death of the Virgin_.
We have yet to examine the =Sacristy= of the Chapter-House. The sacristy
is on the south side (Early English). Its upper floor was the =Chapel of
St. Chad=, which, as we have seen, was entered from the minstrels’
gallery (see page 211). The restored chapel was re-dedicated on St.
Chad’s Day (March 2), 1897.
“The Chapel of St. Chad, first Bishop of Lichfield, and, with the
Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of our Cathedral Church, was destroyed
in all probability when the rest of the Cathedral was laid in ruins
in 1643, the siege beginning on St. Chad’s Day, March 2nd of that
year. Little was left: the four walls remained in a broken
condition, with the vaulting-shafts and caps for the springers of
the stone groining, and the wall-ribs, to mark its original lines;
also the very beautiful Early English windows--twelve lancets in
groups of three--which, singularly enough, were little injured.
Externally these are very plain, but internally they are full of
interest, and there is nothing better of the kind in the Cathedral.
The site of the old altar is clearly marked; indeed, a small
portion of it has been preserved. The piscina also still remains.
The aumbry remains in which antiquarians suppose that St. Chad’s
relics were preserved.”--(L.)
The =Chapter-House= and the vestibule leading to it were built about the
middle of the Thirteenth Century (Early English). The vestibule contains
beautiful arcading; the capitals of the pillars are finely carved. The
entrance door into the Chapter-House is very handsome, with deeply cut
mouldings, and capitals of the grouped shafts richly carved with leaves.
Dog-tooth and trefoils are also used as ornamentation. The Chapter-House
is octagonal. The central pillar, composed of clustered shafts with
richly carved capitals of foliage, carries the eye upward, where the
ribs spread out beautifully over the roof and bosses mark their
intersection. The windows are Early English, of two lights. Below them
runs a fine arcading.
CHESTER
DEDICATION: CHRIST AND THE BLESSED VIRGIN. ORIGINALLY THE CHURCH OF
A BENEDICTINE ABBEY.
SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR; CHOIR-STALLS; CHAPTER-HOUSE.
Chester was the church of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Werburgh when
Henry VIII. founded the See after the dissolution of the monasteries. It
had been originally an establishment of secular canons. The patron
saint, St. Werburgh, was a niece of St. Etheldreda of Ely; and she took
the veil at Ely, where she eventually became abbess. St. Werburgh was
buried at Hanbury; but when the Danes were ravaging Mercia, the monks of
Hanbury fled with the relics of St. Werburgh to Chester, where they were
richly enshrined in the old church of St. Peter and St. Paul. This
church was rebuilt in the Tenth Century; and when a new foundation was
made in 1095 by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, at the desire of St.
Anselm, the church was rebuilt, the canons replaced by Benedictine monks
and the house called the Abbey of St. Werburgh.
Rebuilding was again necessary in 1194 and was continued for centuries.
The eastern portion of the church is Early English, the rest is
Decorated with alterations and additions in the Perpendicular style.
Ancient and royal Chester is one of the most picturesque cities in
England. It was so important in Roman times that it was called the “City
of Legions.” It was also a stronghold of Saxons and Danes. From the
Norman Conquest until the reign of Henry III. the Earls of Chester had
their own courts and parliaments at Chester. Since Henry III. bestowed
the title of Earl of Chester upon his oldest son, the heir to the throne
has always held the earldom. The old church did not become a cathedral
until 1541.
Chester Cathedral, being built of soft red sandstone, suffered from the
weather. Restoration was a necessity. Consequently the exterior is
almost exclusively of the Nineteenth Century. It is handsome and
effective, though, unfortunately, owing to the situation, somewhat below
the level of the street, and the crowding of buildings, a good view of
the Cathedral is hard to obtain.
At one time it was one of the most beautiful, as well as the richest, in
England. It was terribly defaced during the Civil War, when the Puritans
used it for a stable and broke the windows. Subsequent repairs and
restorations have greatly transformed it.
One of the curious features of the Cathedral is the south transept. It
was claimed as the Parish church of St. Oswald until 1881. Oswald
(604-642), be it remembered, was the son of King Ethelfrid, and became
King of Northumbria. He was a convert to Christianity, which he
introduced among the Anglo-Saxons. Killed by Penda, the King of Mercia,
he was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church.
“On approaching the cathedral on the south side, the transept, or
church of St. Oswald, is a remarkable feature. Projecting to nearly
the same length as the nave, with its lofty clerestory and great
south window, it attracts attention as well by its own importance
as by the unusual ground-plan which it gives to the entire
building.”--(R. J. K.)
Let us look at the chief features of the exterior:
“The WEST FRONT consists of an eight-light canopied Perpendicular
window, with a band of elaborate tracery succeeded by ordinary
tracery of the period in the head, set between two banded octagonal
turrets, which are battlemented. The west door is peculiar; it
consists of an arch under a square head, with foliated spandrels
and a range of angels in the mouldings, deeply recessed under a
larger arch with another square head. On each side are four
crocketed niches, with pedestals denuded of their statues. To the
west is a four-light canopied window, under a panelled band and
flanked by a rich but empty niche on either side.
“The door of the SOUTH PORCH is Tudor with two-light, square-headed
windows and a canopied niche, and an intervening rich band. The
windows of the aisles and clerestory of the nave are Perpendicular;
the parapet is shallow. The SOUTH TRANSEPT, as long as the choir
and as broad as the nave, has a Perpendicular clerestory and south
windows, the former of four lights and with two transoms. The
windows of the aisle are Late Decorated and of four lights
separated by buttresses. This description applies to the south side
of the choir, but the aisles are extended within one bay of the
east end of the Lady-chapel, which has Perpendicular windows; the
great east window is of the same date. Traces of Early English
architecture appear in the north side of the choir and
Chapter-house. The north window of the transept and windows of the
nave are Perpendicular.”--(Wal.)
We can enter, as we prefer, by the west door, or the south porch. The
=Nave= is uninteresting. It consists of six bays, the piers are groups of
attached shafts terminating in foliage capitals. The roof is modern.
Decorated windows light the =South aisle=. The =North aisle= contains some
old Norman work. Here we find an ancient Italian font, presented in
1885, and an old piece of tapestry that has been in the Cathedral since
1668.
The =North transept= is small, owing to the monastic buildings on this
side. Here we find Norman work. Some of the windows exhibit
Perpendicular tracery. The roof is Perpendicular.
Until 1881 the =South Transept= was, as we have said, the Parish Church of
St. Oswald. It has Decorated windows. Perpendicular windows light the
west aisle.
We now enter the =Choir=. The screen is modern and by Sir G. Scott.
“The choir is remarkable for the great beauty of the wood-work
which it contains, as well as for its architectural merits. The
style is that of the transition between the Early English and
Decorated. The north side differs from the south, especially in
regard to the mouldings. The north side is earlier than the south,
the building having been commenced at the east end of that side.
The mouldings on the north are bold rounds, while those on the
south are shallow and small hollows. The triforium has a series of
elaborately-carved cusped arches, and the clerestory windows are
light and graceful with geometrical tracery. The vault is modern,
constructed of good English oak. At the east there are figures of
the sixteen prophets and at the west are angels playing musical
instruments. There are some curious grotesque corbels, from which
the vaulting shafts spring.
“The carving of the CHOIR STALLS is equal, if not superior, to
anything in England. These are Fourteenth Century work and rival
the noble stalls of Amiens. They have been restored with much
accuracy and taste. The carving of the dean’s stall should be
noticed, as it represents the Jesse tree, surmounted by the
Coronation of the Virgin. That representing Jacob’s Dream is
modern. The _misereres_ are extremely interesting and curious and
full of religious instruction, though often conveyed in the way of
sarcastic reproof. There are forty-eight, of which three are
modern. Some of the most curious are: a pelican feeding her young;
St. Werburgh and the stolen goose; a wife beating her husband; the
strategy of the fox; stag hunt; Richard I. pulling out the heart of
a lion; a fox in the garb of a
[Illustration: CHESTER: CHOIR, WEST]
[Illustration: CHESTER: CHOIR-STALLS]
monk presenting a gift to a nun; various wild men; wrestlers;
unicorn resting its head on a virgin’s knee, and numerous
grotesques.”--(P. H. D.)
The =Altar= is modern and is made of oak of Bashan, olive-wood from the
Mount of Olives and the cedar of Lebanon. The Reredos, a mosaic of the
Last Supper, the Pulpit and the Bishop’s Throne are all modern.
For many years the =Shrine of St. Werburgh= was used for the latter. We
pause to look at this interesting piece of Fourteenth Century work,
remembering how many eyes of Mediæval pilgrims have gazed with reverence
upon it.
“At the end of the stalls on the south side is the Bishop’s Throne.
This has been formed from the base of the shrine of St. Werburgh,
which seems to have served its present purpose since the foundation
of the See in the Sixteenth Century. It has, however, so greatly
altered during the late ‘restoration,’ that it is difficult to
ascertain the ancient arrangement. The lower part, with niches for
figures, is ancient. The part resting on this, as high as the small
gilt figures, is modern. The figures themselves are old, and before
the alteration they rested on the ancient base. The pinnacles and
all the upper portion are modern. The ancient portions are early
Decorated work of the Thirteenth Century. The niches in front and
at the sides of the base are lined with a small arcade and vaulted.
Above them are foliaged canopies. The gilt figures hold scrolls,
once perhaps bearing names. They are conjectured to represent kings
and queens of Mercia, connected either directly or collaterally
with St. Werburgh. It is possible that when the shrine itself was
perfect, the lower part, with niches, formed a portion of the base,
whilst the small figures may have been a canopy supported by marble
shafts. Under this canopy and on the base the feretory or actual
shrine, with the relics, may have rested. This, however, is but
conjecture, since no drawing or description exists of the shrine
before the Reformation.”--(R. J. K.)
The =North aisle= of the choir will detain the student because there is
much Norman work here. Here can also be traced the termination of the
old Norman apse. The arch in the east wall of the transept is also
Norman, and early, too. The doorway from the north aisle is Fourteenth
Century work. The apse was rebuilt in the Early English period and made
to end in a square. In the Perpendicular period it was extended further.
Note the gates of old Spanish workmanship across both aisles. They date
from 1558.
At the end stands the =Lady-Chapel=.
“The Lady-Chapel is of Early English design, and was built about
1266, previous to the present choir. Many alterations were made
subsequently, including the removal of the ancient steep and lofty
roof and the substitution of a flat roof and the insertion of
Perpendicular windows. Most of these additions have been removed
and the Early English character restored. The east window of five
lights was designed by Scott, and the original form of the roof has
been restored. The vault, which is original Early English, has a
boss representing the murder of Thomas à Becket. The mosaics were
designed by Sir A. Blomfield. Here the consistory court was held at
the time of the Reformation, and George Marsh, the Chester martyr,
was condemned to be burnt.”--(P. H. D.)
Through a Norman doorway in the north aisle of the choir, we enter the
=Cloisters=.
“The south walk is entirely new, having been restored by Scott. The
west walk adjoins a fine Early Norman chamber, probably the great
cellar of the abbot’s house. The cloisters are Perpendicular work.
In the south and west walks there is a double arcade on the
cloister-garth side, which contained the _carrels_, or enclosed
studies of wainscot, where the monks read or wrote, and on the
opposite side are recesses which are not tombs, but _Armaria_ or
cupboards, where their books and materials for illuminations were
stored. In the Perpendicular period the roof of the cloisters was
raised, which was not an advantage, as it caused the aisle windows
and those of the refectory to be partly blocked up, and the
vaulting cuts into the earlier work. The _Lavatorium_ is near the
_Refectory_, an Early English building with Perpendicular windows.
It is a noble structure, shorn of some of its length, and now used
as a music room. The stone pulpit is remarkably fine, of Early
English design, which rivals the famous pulpit of Beaulieu
Abbey.”--(P. H. D.)
A doorway in the east walk carries us into the =Vestibule= of the
Chapter-House.
In the vestibule (Early English) light graceful piers support the
vaulting. The mouldings are very much admired.
The =Chapter-House= is also Early English and ranks high among these very
national productions. It dates from about 1240. The east window of five
lights is a handsome example of its date.
MANCHESTER
DEDICATION: ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, ST. GEORGE AND ST. DENIS. FORMERLY
SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS.
SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR-STALLS; GORDON WINDOW.
Manchester was built for a parish church and only became a cathedral in
1847. It is a very fine specimen of Perpendicular Gothic of the early
Fifteenth Century, though there are some remains of older work here and
there. The oldest is the arch leading into the Lady-Chapel. This shows
some influences of the Decorated style.
The choir, aisles and chapter-house date from 1422-1458; the nave was
built in 1465-1481; Chapel of the Holy Trinity, 1498; Jesus Chapel,
1506; St. James’ Chantry (Ducie Chapel), 1507; St. George’s Chapel,
1508; Ely Chapel, 1515; and Lady-Chapel in 1518. The Cathedral suffered
during the Civil Wars and has been much restored.
The exterior is not particularly impressive. The walls are grimy with
smoke and there is no emerald sward, nor are there ivy-covered walls.
The one tower (built in 1864-1868) rises above a still more recent
=Western porch=, designed by Basil Champneys and ornamented with a parapet
and a single crocketed turret, which gives it a very unsymmetrical
appearance. The square tower contains a clock in the first stage, soars
140 feet and is finished with a pierced battlement with pinnacles at the
corners.
Turning round the corner, we come to the =South porch=, two bays and two
stories (modern) and elaborately carved. Next comes the Jesus Chapel;
then the octagonal Chapter-House; then the Fraser memorial chapel; and
then we turn the corner and come to the Lady-Chapel, unusually small and
projecting only about eighteen feet. The windows are Eighteenth Century,
though the tracery is Decorated in general character.
Passing the window of the north-choir-aisle and the eastern end of the
Derby Chapel, we again turn the corner. The first projection is the Ely
Chapel and the next and smaller one is an engine room used for working
the organ. The small door next opens into the ante-chapel of the Derby
Chapel. Finally we reach the north porch.
“It is a dimly lighted building; this is due chiefly to two causes:
first to the fact that it is enormously wide, and the aisle windows
are therefore far from the central nave, and secondly to the fact
that almost all the windows both of aisles and clerestory are
filled with painted glass, in many cases of a deep colour, and
rendered still more impervious to light by the incrustation of
carbon deposited on their outside by the perpetual smoke of the
city. So dark is the church that in the winter months it has
generally to be lit with gas all the day long, and even in the
summer, in comparatively bright weather, some gas burners will
generally be found alight. The mist also of the exterior atmosphere
finds its way into the building, and hangs beneath the roof,
lending an air of mystery to the whole place, and giving rise to
most beautiful effects when the sunlight streams through the
clerestory windows. The tone also of the nave arcading and
clerestory rebuilt in recent years, of warm, rose-coloured
sandstone, is very lovely.”--(T. P.)
The =Nave= is wider than it is long. With its double aisles it measures
114 feet; its length is only 85 feet. The choir is about the same
proportion. The Lady-Chapel, at the extreme east, is very small. The
sides of the nave and choir are still further extended by chapels,
partitioned off by screens. On the south side of the nave we have first
=St. George’s Chapel= (founded in 1508) and =St. Nicholas’s Chapel= (founded
in 1186, before the present church was built); and on the north side the
space once occupied by the =Holy Trinity Chapel= (1498) and =St. James’s
Chapel= (1507).
“This church differs from most of our cathedral and abbey churches
in having no triforium.[8] And the clerestory is not lofty, so that
the church is rather low for its width, though the height of the
arches of the main arcade prevents this being felt. The roofs of
the aisles are all modern, but that of the nave, though extensively
repaired, has much of the original work in it, and, with the
exception of a few bosses, the choir roof is old. All the roofs are
of timber; in the nave the intersections of the main beams are
covered by beautiful bosses carved out of the solid wood. On either
side, at the points from which the main cross beams spring, is a
series of angelic figures splendidly carved in wood: those on the
south side playing stringed instruments, those on the north side
wind instruments.
“The pillars of the main arcade of the nave are modern work built
in imitation of the original ones. They are light and graceful,
and, like many other pillars of fifteenth century date, are formed
of shafts of which only half have separate capitals, the other
mouldings running round the arch. The spaces between the arches are
elaborately carved with heraldic shields.”--(T. P.)
In the nave we find the one interesting window in the Cathedral (the
most eastern one in the Ducie Chapel), a memorial to =General Gordon=
killed at Khartoum in 1888. It consists of five lights. Gordon is in the
centre, his hand on the head of a native boy. Natives and angels occupy
the other lights.
Towards the east end of the nave stands the
[Illustration: MANCHESTER: SOUTH]
[Illustration: MANCHESTER: NAVE, EAST]
modern pulpit and then an ancient rood-screen with three wide openings
and double doors.
Passing through the screen, we enter the =Choir=, sometimes called the
=Radcliffe Choir=, because members of this family were buried here.
The =Choir-stalls= date from the early Sixteenth Century and resemble
those in Ripon Cathedral and Beverley Minster.
“There are twelve stalls on either side, and three on each side of
the entrance through the rood-screen facing east. The stalls are
furnished with _misereres_, which, in common with many others both
in England and on the Continent, represent all manner of quaint
subjects, monsters, animals, hunting scenes, etc.
“The carved elbows of the stalls and the end of the book desks are
also worthy of careful examination, especially the Eagle and Child
and general carving of the Dean’s Stall, which is a marvel of
beautiful workmanship, and said by high authorities to be
unequalled.
“Between the stalls the floor is one step higher than that of the
nave, and at the east end of the stall, there is a further rise of
two steps as we pass into the presbytery. Here, on the south side,
we see the bishop’s throne--modern work, carved with a view to be
in harmony with the stalls, but comparing unfavourably with them in
execution. There is a rise of two more steps into the sanctuary,
and the altar itself is raised two steps higher; this gives a good
effect. Behind the altar is an elaborately carved wooden reredos of
modern work, richly painted and gilt.”--(T. P.)
A fine ancient screen runs across the arch at the opening of the
=Lady-Chapel=.
Along the south side of the south-choir-aisle we first come to the
vestry, then to the =Jesus Chapel= (now a library), separated from the
aisle by a handsome screen of the Sixteenth Century. Then we reach the
fine entrance to the =Chapter-House=, beneath a large arch. At the end is
the =Fraser= =Chapel=, with an altar cenotaph to the second Bishop of
Manchester, James Fraser (died 1885), buried elsewhere.
On the north aisle of the choir the space is occupied by the =Derby
Chapel=, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It was the private chapel of
the Stanley family, to which the Earls of Derby belong. It was begun by
James Stanley (1485-1509), who became Bishop of Ely. He died in 1515 and
was buried near the =Ely Chapel=, where the original tomb and brass are
still to be seen.
CARLISLE
DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY. FORMERLY SERVED BY AUGUSTINIAN
CANONS.
SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR AND EAST WINDOW.
In the ancient town of North Cumberland--the famous border town
appearing so frequently in ballads as “Merry Carlisle”--the Cathedral
shares the honours with the Castle. Both date from about 1092.