and is open inside to the top. But for small gables on the
buttresses, it is quite plain up to the level of the roof ridge.
Above this it contains two long and narrow Perpendicular windows on
each side, of three lights each, with a transom. These windows are
ornamented ogee gables, and between them are three niches, one
above the other, with canopies. The external buttresses are split
up with vertical mouldings and ornamented with niches and
panelling. The tower is crowned with a battlement. Horizontal
string-courses with gargoyles divide the buttresses at intervals.
There are no pinnacles on these buttresses, and they appear never
to have been finished. It is possible that it was intended to set
another story on the top of the present one, but this is merely
conjecture.
“The English architects of the Fifteenth Century, if they were
inferior to earlier builders in invention and vigour, were at any
rate supreme in the management of towers. Their wonderful sense of
proportion, their habitual use of vertical lines, and the character
of their windows helped them to build what are perhaps the finest
towers in Europe, and the central tower of York Minster
[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: WEST FRONT]
[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: SOUTH]
is one of the finest of all. Even the absence of pinnacles, if it
is an accident, seems to be a lucky accident, and gives this tower
an unrivalled dignity and an air of restraint suitable to the
character of the whole cathedral.”--(A. C.-B.)
We enter the Cathedral by the south door of the =South Transept= and are
introduced to what is considered one of the most superb architectural
views in the world. The enormous width of the church and length of the
transepts and the tremendous lantern produce almost the effect of St.
Paul’s or St. Peter’s. Neither the east nor the west end is visible, for
we are looking right across the arms of the crossing straight to the
north end of the transept, where the =Five Sisters= display their jewels.
The =Lantern= is very lofty--180 feet from the floor--each transept is
four bays long--223 feet from north to south--and 93 feet wide. To the
top of the roof they measure 99 feet.
“The transepts, therefore, are unusually prominent, even for an
English cathedral, and they have many other unusual features. Taken
in conjunction with the lantern, they produce an effect to be found
in no other Gothic church in the world. In England there are none
so wide and so lofty. In France there are interiors even loftier,
but in France the transepts are seldom a prominent feature of the
design. Often they do not project beyond the outer wall of the
aisles of the nave, and oftener still there is no central tower
large enough to allow of a lantern at all. It is a great piece of
good fortune, also, that the five vast lancets of the north
transept end, known as the Five Sisters, still keep their beautiful
original glass. If we look at these windows and consider how
utterly ineffective they would be if they were glazed with plain
glass, we can understand how little remains of the original beauty
of the interior of Salisbury.
“The Five Sisters are, no doubt, the largest lancet windows in
England, and it was a bold idea to fill almost the whole of that
great front with them, but the boldness was entirely justified by
the result.
“The glass in the Five Sisters is Early English of the simplest and
most beautiful design. The colour, an almost uniform scheme of
greyish green, is a curious contrast to the vivid blues and yellows
of the period which preceded it, and examples of which may be seen
in the choir of Canterbury. The pattern is an elaborate but
restrained arrangement of the foliage of the _Planta Benedicta_
(herb benet). The plain border surrounding the Early English glass
was inserted in 1715. At the foot of the central light is a panel
of Norman glass, the subject of which is either the dream of Jacob,
or Daniel in the lions’ den.”--(A. C.-B.)
The glass in the lancets above the Five Sisters is modern.
In the eastern aisle of the south transept (Early English) the =Tomb of
Walter de Grey= (died 1255), shows an effigy in full canonicals. The
right hand is raised in blessing, the left grasps a crozier, and the
feet crush a dragon. The columns at the sides are ornamented with leaves
at equal distances. On either side of the gable over the Archbishop’s
head an angel stands. The canopy is supported by nine pillars. In the
eastern aisle of the north transept we stop to look at the tomb of
=Archbishop Greenfield= (died 1315). This is decorated with an ornamented
canopy.
A rich and elaborate =Rood Screen= separates the choir from the crossing.
It dates from 1475-1505 and is composed of a central doorway and fifteen
canopied niches containing statues of English kings from William the
Conqueror to Henry VI. The latter is the only modern one. Above these
are angels by Bernasconi. The central arch is surmounted with an ogee
moulding decorated with foliage and a niche, on either side of which is
an angel with a censer. The capitals of the shafts are carved; and
rosettes and rows of foliage appear between the shafts. The canopies are
very ornate. It is interesting to compare this screen with the one at
Exeter.
The =Choir=, including the retro-choir, consists of nine bays--the largest
and loftiest choir in England and one of the most beautiful. It was
begun in 1361 at the east end and completed in 1405. It has been
described as an “interesting example of a Perpendicular building carried
out on the lines of an earlier Decorated design.”
“The choir itself is like an enormous college chapel. The aisles
exist, but play no part in the design, which still culminates in
the splendid blaze of glass from the eastern transepts and the
great east window, and once culminated on the still more splendid
blaze of the altar.
“The retro-choir, far too short and wide to be judged as an avenue
of stone, is still more dependent for its effect on its glass. As
most of that glass luckily remains, it is a miracle of airy
splendour; one may see from it what were the objects, and how great
the success of the much-maligned Perpendicular architects at their
best.
“To sum up, then, this choir has not the delicate and spiritual
beauty of the choirs of Lincoln or Ely. That is never found even in
the finest work of Perpendicular architects; but for stateliness
and magnificence it has not a rival in England. These qualities may
be best appreciated standing midway between the two transepts and
in front of the altar. From that point glittering screens of glass
and soaring shafts of stone are to be seen on all sides; the whole
effect is one of triumphant light and space and colour, not to be
surpassed by the splendours even of Moorish or Italian
architecture.”--(A. C.-B.)
The magnificent Perpendicular stalls perished in the fire of 1829, so
did the Perpendicular altar-screen. The present stalls and screen are
reproductions of these. The reredos of terra-cotta and wood is modern.
The vault of the choir is of wood, an imitation of the vault destroyed
by fire in 1829. The windows of the clerestory are Perpendicular and
contain five lights.
“The glass in the choir is almost wholly Perpendicular. As in the
nave, it is very fragmentary and disordered. The change in the
character of the design will be easily noticed. The Perpendicular
glass is not so clear and delicate in colour, and the architectural
and other patterns are less pronounced. This glass, regarded simply
as decorative, is perhaps superior to that in the nave.
“Mr. Winston has pointed out that the earliest Perpendicular glass
in the choir is contained in the third window from the east in the
south aisle; in the third and fourth windows from the east in the
north clerestory; and in the fourth clerestory window from the east
on the opposite side. These windows date from the close of the
Fourteenth Century. There is also an early Perpendicular Jesse in
the third window from the west in the south aisle of the choir. The
other windows of the choir aisles east of the small eastern
transepts, as well as the glass in the lancet windows on the east
side of the great western transepts, appears, he says, to be of the
time of Henry IV.; the rest of the glass in the choir is of the
reigns of Henry V. and VI., chiefly of the latter. He notices also,
that the white glass in the windows is generally less green in tint
than usual, and that he has learnt from Mr. Browne that it is all
of English manufacture.”--(A. C.-B.)
We now come to the smaller transepts situated between the four eastern
and four western bays of the choir. They are practically one bay of the
choir with the triforium and clerestory removed. At each end are immense
windows. Each is 73 feet long by 16 feet wide. Both have been restored;
but the glass is original and very splendid. The north window contains
scenes from the life of =St.= =William=; the south window depicts the
history of =St. Cuthbert=, and is thought to date from about 1437. In it
are members of the house of Lancaster.
The east end of the choir is almost entirely filled with the great =East
Window=.
The space behind the altar is sometimes called the =Lady-Chapel=. This
occupies four bays. It was built in 1361-1405, and is Perpendicular in
style. The Altar of the Virgin stood under the great east window and
here also was a chantry founded by the Percys.
“The great east window was glazed by John Thornton of Coventry. The
terms of the contract for this work, dated 1405, are extant. They
provide that Thornton shall ‘portray the said window with his own
hands, and the histories, images, and other things to be painted on
it.’ It was to be finished within three years. Glass, lead and
workmen were to be provided at the expense of the chapter, and
Thornton was to receive 4s. a week, £5 a year and £10 at completion
for his trouble.
“The window is 78 feet high and 32 feet wide, and contains nine
lights. It is entirely filled with old glass, except for certain
pitches of modern glass, rather crude in colour, and inserted, it
is said, after the fire of 1829. It contains 200 panels of figures.
The subjects in the upper part are from the Old Testament, reaching
from the creation of the world to the death of Absalom. The lower
part contains illustrations from the Book of Revelations. In the
loftiest row of all are representations of kings and archbishops.
“In the top lights are figures of prophets, saints and kings. At
the apex of the window is a representation of the Saviour in
Judgment.
“This window is probably the finest example of Perpendicular glass
in England.
“The great east window, like the windows of the transepts, has a
double plane of tracery reaching to about half the height of the
whole. Between the two planes a passage runs at the base of the
window, between two doors which lead to staircases in the turrets
on each side of the windows. These staircases, in their turn, lead
to a gallery across the window on the top of the inner plane of
tracery. The view from this gallery is very fine.”--(A. C.-B.)
Of the numerous tombs and monuments in the east end below the windows in
the retro-choir and choir-aisles, we note only two. That of =Archbishop
Bowet= (died 1423), in the retro-choir (south side), is one of the finest
Perpendicular monuments in existence, much mutilated, it is true; but
still exhibiting its clusters of tabernacles and pinnacles joined to the
arch beneath with fan-tracery. Bowet was still alive when this monument
was erected in 1415. The other is =William of Hatfield= (died 1344),
second son of Edward III., aged eight. The Plantagenista ornaments the
canopy. Unfortunately the effigy of the little prince is much damaged.
The =Nave= is also superb and all the decoration most elaborate.
“The first impression on viewing this nave is a sense of its
magnitude. Archbishop Romeyn and his builders determined to build a
vast church which would eclipse all other rivals. They would have
large windows, high, towering piers, a huge, vaulted roof, and
everything that was grand and impressive. Edward I. was then
fighting with the Scots and made York his chief city. It was
immensely prosperous and the ecclesiastical treasury was replete
with the offerings of knights and nobles, kings and pilgrims.
Nowhere should there be so mighty a church as York Minster. In
order to have space for large windows they made the triforium
unusually small, which is formed only by a continuation of the
arches of the clerestory windows. The design for the stone vaulted
roof was never carried out. The builders feared that the great
weight of a roof with so large a span would be too much for the
walls, so a wooden vault was substituted. The piers have octagonal
bases and consist of various sized shafts closely connected. The
capitals are beautifully enriched with foliage of oak and thorn,
and sometimes a figure is seen amidst the foliage. We notice
thirty-two sculptured busts at the intersection of the
hood-moulding with the vaulting shafts. Coats-of-arms of the
benefactors of York appear on each side of the main arches. The
clerestory windows have each five lights. The old roof was
destroyed by fire in 1840. The present one has a vast number of
bosses representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Magi, Resurrection,
besides a quantity of smaller ones.”--(P. H. D.)
Looking up at the west end of the nave we have a double study in the
splendid =West Window= (only surpassed by the famous window of Carlisle
Cathedral); for the tracery of the Curvilinear, or flowing Decorated
style has been carefully restored, and the window, which measures 56 ×
25 feet, is almost entirely filled with the original glass given by
Archbishop Melton in 1338.
“This is remarkable not only for the purity and boldness of its
scheme of colours, but for the admirable way in which the design of
the glass fits the elaborate pattern of the tracery. It will be
noticed that both the figures and the architectural ornaments are
in bolder relief than in the earlier glass of the Five Sisters, or
the later of the choir. Some of the faces of the figures have been
restored by Peckett, but not so as to interfere with the decorative
effect of the whole. The window contains three rows of figures, the
lowest a row of eight archbishops, the next a row of eight saints,
including St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James and St. Katharine, and
above this a row of smaller figures unidentified.
“The window contains eight lights. These lights are coupled in
pairs by four arches with a quatrefoil in the head of each, and
again formed in groups of four by an ogee arch above the other
arches. The flowing curves of these ogee arches are most
ingeniously and beautifully worked into the pattern of the upper
part of the window, which contains five main divisions of
stonework, each like the skeleton of a leaf in shape and in the
delicacy of its pattern. Of these five divisions the top one is
made by splitting up the central mullion; two diverge from it at
the top of the lower lights; and two others curve inwards from the
outside arch. The central mullion runs up almost to the top of the
arch. The mullions are alike in moulding and size. Below the window
is the west door, the head of which is filled with ancient stained
glass. There is a gable above it, running up to the bottom of the
window and containing three niches. There are kneeling figures on
each side of the gable, so that the top of it may have held a
figure of Christ. All that portion of the west end not occupied by
the window and the porch is filled with stories of niches and
arcading.”--(A. C.-B.)
The windows of the aisles of the nave are Decorated.
The =Nave= contains eight bays. Each bay consists of two main divisions:
the upper half containing the triforium and clerestory; and the lower
half, the main arches. A slender moulding runs between the two
divisions. The piers consist of a group of separate shafts and the
capitals are very delicate in design. The triforium is little more than
an extension of the clerestory window-lights; but a band of stone
ornamented with quatrefoils separates triforium and clerestory. The
clerestory windows are geometrical Decorated. The design is much
admired.
“It consists of five lights, the two outer of which are grouped in
a single arch, with a quatrefoil piercing in its head. Between
these two arches and on the top of the arch of the central light is
a circle fitting into the arch of the window, and ornamented with
four quatrefoils, four trefoil piercings, and other smaller lights.
There are capitals to the outside shafts of the windows, and to the
main shafts of the two inner mullions. All these mullions are very
delicately moulded.
“The first window from the west end is plain. The glass in the
other windows is rather finer and less fragmentary than in the
north aisle.
“The second window appears to have been largely restored. The
tabernacle work is very crude in colour. It contains figures of St.
Laurence, St. Christopher, another saint, and three coats-of-arms
below. The top lights are fine, and perhaps of Perpendicular date.
“The third window is one of the richest in colour in the minster,
with its gorgeous arrangement of crimsons, greens and blues. There
are inscriptions by Peckett, with the date at the bottom, 1789. His
deep blues on the top lights are particularly unfortunate.
“The sixth window is also very bright. It probably contains Norman
fragments. All the windows except the fifth contain insertions by
Peckett.
“The clerestory window contains fragments and coats-of-arms.
“In the westernmost light of the second window from the west, on
the north side, are portions of an Early English Jesse window. The
wheel of this window, and those of the next five, also contain
fragments of Early English glass. And in the lower lights of the
fifth and seventh windows from the west are remains of the same
date.
“The wheels in the clerestory windows on the south side of the nave
all contain Early English glass, except the third from the west.
There is also some Early English glass in their lower lights.
“The aisles of the nave are bolder in design and altogether more
satisfactory than the nave itself. Like the nave they are unusually
wide and lofty. In the two farthest bays to the west, above which
are the western towers, the rough wooden roof, which has never been
covered with a vault, may be seen. The vault of the aisles is of
stone, with only structural ribs, finely moulded and with carved
bosses. The aisle windows are, like those of the clerestory, of the
geometrical Decorated Style, but of an earlier and simpler, uniform
design. They each contain three lights. Above the three lights are
three quatrefoils, pyramidally arranged.”--(A. C.-B.)
The second window from the east in the north aisle of the nave is said
to have been given by a guild of bell-founders, or by Richard Tunnoc
(died 1330), Lord Mayor of York. Tunnoc appears in the design kneeling
before the Archbishop and around the picture of the casting of a bell is
the legend “_Richard Tunnoc me fist_.” Above Tunnoc is a window. Bells
appear in the border of the glass.
The window at the west end of the north-aisle of the nave is also very
fine. It represents the Virgin and Child and St. Catherine with her
wheel. In the west window of the south-aisle of the nave the subject is
the Crucifixion. The head of Christ is supposed to be of the Eighteenth
Century.
The choir-aisles are very similar to those of the nave. They have stone
vaults and their windows are very beautiful. They have been described as
representing “a design of which the tracery is arrested half-way in its
process of stiffening from the curved lines of the Decorated style to
the straight of the Perpendicular.” Each window is divided into three
lights, each ending in an obtuse arch. Above these are three other
arches and above them again two quatrefoils, and above them a sexfoiled
opening.
For a description of the glass in these aisles we turn to A.
Clutton-Brock:
“In the north aisle the east window is also very fine. It contains
a representation of the Crucifixion, with St. John, St. James and
the Virgin.
“The first window from the east is very fragmentary. The windows in
the south aisle are rather fragmentary. In the first two from the
west the top lights are empty.
“The second window is remarkable for the delicate modelling and
drawing of the heads. The head of the Virgin reminds one of one of
Lippo Lippi’s Madonnas. That of an old man with a beard in the
central light is German in character. If these are compared with
the crude
[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: CHOIR, EAST]
[Illustration: YORK MINSTER: CHOIR, WEST]
and simple design of the heads in the other windows, it will be
obvious that they are of a different origin. Nothing, however, is
known of their history.
“The third window has borders by Peckett. It contains the Jesse
noted before.
“The fourth window is very fragmentary. It contains a beautiful
figure of a saint in one of the top lights; the other top lights
are by Peckett. In the central division, at the bottom, is the name
of Archbishop Lamplugh, with a coat-of-arms. (Lamplugh’s tomb is
close to this window.)
“The last of those windows contains painted glass given by Lord
Carlisle in 1804, and bought from a church at Rouen. It is a
representation of the Visitation, Mr. Winton says, taken from a
picture by Baroccio, and dates from the end of the Sixteenth
Century. The upper lights contain the original glass.
“The east window of this aisle is very fine in colouring, and
fairly coherent in design. The subject is not clear.”
In the westernmost bay of the north-choir-aisle the eight-year-old son
of Edward III.--=William of Hatfield=--was buried (see page 274). West of
the tomb of =Archbishop Sterne= (died 1683), which has been called “an
example of almost everything that a monument should not be,” we find the
tomb of =Archbishop Scrope=, beheaded by Henry IV. (see page 265),
interesting because it was a place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.
From the north-choir-aisle we enter the =Crypt=. This was discovered after
the fire of 1829. Here we find Norman work and some authorities go so
far as to say some portions of the wall are of the Saxon church, built
by Edwin in the Seventh Century. The capitals of the pillars (time of
Roger Pont l’Évêque) are varied and very interesting.
“Entering the vestibule we notice the exact place where the Early
English builders finished their work and the Decorated style
begins. The difference between the styles in the Chapter-House and
vestibule shows that the former was erected first. It has a wall
arcade, and above are windows of curious tracery, filled with
beautiful old glass. The shafts of the arcade support trefoiled
arches, with a cinquefoil ornamented with a sculptured boss. Each
boss and capital is beautifully carved with foliage, amidst which
the heads of men and dragons appear. The glass is Early Decorated,
and contains representations of Royal personages.
“The Chapter-House is one of the most beautiful in England. The
entrance is an arch, divided into two arches by a canopied pier,
which bears a mutilated statue of the Virgin and Child. Clustered
shafts, with capitals, are on each side of the doors, which have
remarkably good scrolled iron-work. The chamber itself is very
magnificent. It is octagonal and in each bay there are six canopied
stalls under a five-light window. The window tracery is superb.
Clustered shafts support the vaulted roof. Everywhere we see richly
carved stone-work, the finest in any cathedral, the foliage of
maple, oak, vine and other trees. Here are pigs and squirrels
feeding on acorns, men gathering grapes, birds, and coiled dragons
and reptiles. The grotesques are most curious and interesting. In
1845, unfortunately, the building was restored and the painted
figures of kings and bishops were destroyed, a poor tiled floor
laid down; but, in spite of all, it can still maintain its proud
boast:
‘_Ut Rosa flos florum_
_Sic est Domus ista Domorum._’
[‘As the Rose is the flower of flowers, so is this House the chief
of Houses.’]”
The date of this building is generally given as 1320.
A curious doorway at the north-east end of the north transept opens into
the vestibule that takes us into the Chapter-House. This is a narrow
passage running north for three bays, then turning at right angles and
running east for two bays. It is Decorated in style. Traces of ancient
painting may be observed, and the windows display their original glass,
chiefly Decorated. In the upper lights there are some fragments of
Norman and Early English glass.