pillar. It is octagonal and is divided into eight bays. An
acutely-arched window, with geometrical Decorated tracery, fills each of
the seven bays. The space over the entrance is occupied with blank
tracery like that of the windows. The windows contain five lights, each
light terminating in a trefoiled arch. The glass, chiefly medallions and
shields, dates from the time of Edward II. and Edward III. The one
modern window declares itself.
Passing to the =East Front= we find that it is square, and, like the West
Front, it is almost entirely filled with an enormous window. The great
=East Window= contains nine lights, beautifully divided by mullions and
crossed by three transoms. The arch of the head is filled with a great
number of small divisions. Over the window is an ogee gable, surmounted
by a pinnacle. Panelling forms a kind of background for it. Buttresses,
tall and narrow, and containing six tiers of niches, flank the window on
either side. Each is finished with a spire. The two aisle windows also
have ogee gables, surmounted with finials. Above them runs a band of
panelling. At each corner rises a tall buttress, finished with a lofty
spire.
“The Choir and Lady-Chapel are Perpendicular work. The four eastern
bays constituting the Lady-Chapel, are earlier than the later ones
of the choir and vary in detail. The triforium passage in the
former is outside the building, and the windows are recessed.
Strange gargoyles, with figures of apes and demons, adorn the
buttresses. The east end is mainly filled with the huge window,
the largest in England, which does not leave much space for
architectural detail. Above it is the figure of Archbishop
Thoresby, the builder of this part of the Cathedral. Panelling
covers the surface of the stone, and below the window is a row of
seventeen busts, representing our Lord and his Apostles, Edward
III. and Archbishop Thoresby. There are two aisle windows;
buttresses adorned with niches separate the aisles from the central
portion, and others, capped with spires, stand on the north and
south of this front.”--(P. H. D.)
From the south-east we gain a very satisfactory view of the central
tower and the ornate and elegant =South Transept= (Early English), dating
from 1216-1241. The gable, with its large rose-window, cusped lights,
turrets, buttresses, and lancet windows, all make a harmonious
architectural picture. The south porch is considered rather small and
has been much restored. Dog-tooth moulding is plentiful along the
arches. It also occurs on the windows and gable.
Pinnacles and weird gargoyles decorate the =Nave=, divided into seven bays
by tall buttresses.
The north side of the Minster is far less ornate than the south. Of
course, the chief features here are the =Chapter-House=, with its curious
roof and lovely windows, and the =North Transept=, very fine Early English
of 1241-1260. Here we have the famous group of lancets, the Five Sisters
(see page 270), and seven beautifully arranged lancets in the gable
above--a very fine contrast to the gable of the south transept, with its
rose-window. A vestibule leads from the North Transept to the
Chapter-House, that splendid octagonal building, perhaps the finest
example of Early Decorated in existence. Buttresses, topped with
pinnacles, project at each of the eight corners. The strange pyramidal
roof is surrounded by a battlement and curious gargoyles; among them
bears peer out into space.
LINCOLN
DEDICATION: ST. MARY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS.
SPECIAL FEATURES: ST. HUGH’S CHOIR; ANGEL CHOIR; EAST WINDOW;
CENTRAL TOWER.
Lincoln Cathedral possesses a commanding site and three splendid towers
that form a beautiful picture. Distance lends enchantment to the view at
all times of the day and seasons of the year.
“Throughout a vast district around the city, the one great feature
of the landscape is the mighty minster, which, almost like that of
Laon, crowns the edge of the ridge, rising, with a steepness
well-nigh unknown in the streets of English towns, above the lower
city and the plain at its feet. Next in importance to the minster
is the castle, which, marred as it is by modern changes, still
crowns the height as no unworthy yoke-fellow of its ecclesiastical
neighbour. The proud polygonal keep of the fortress still groups
well with the soaring towers, the sharp-pointed gables, the long
continuous line of roof, of the church of Remigius and Saint
Hugh.”--(E. A. F.)
Lincoln Cathedral is also a landmark in the history of architecture, for
here was developed the first complete and pure form of the third great
form of architecture--the architecture of the Pointed Arch.
“The best informed French antiquaries acknowledge that they have
nothing like it in France for thirty years afterwards; they thought
it was copied from Notre-Dame at Dijon, to which there is a
considerable resemblance, but that church was not consecrated till
1230, so that the Dijon architect might have copied from the
Lincoln one, but the Lincoln could not have copied from
Dijon.”--(J. H. P.)
To the historian, as well as to the student of architecture, Lincoln
makes a strong appeal for many visits. Those whose time is limited will
be impatient to inspect St. Hugh’s Choir, and the more beautiful Angel
Choir beyond it. We must, however, pause a moment to recapitulate its
history before we begin our walk through the Cathedral.
“The surface or exterior of Lincoln Cathedral presents at least
four perfect specimens of the succeeding styles of the first four
orders of Gothic architecture. The greater part of the front may be
as old as the time of its founder, Bishop Remigius, at the end of
the Eleventh Century; but even here may be traced invasions and
intermixtures, up to the Fifteenth Century. The large indented
windows are of this latter period, and exhibit a frightful heresy.
The western towers carry you to the end of the Twelfth Century;
then succeeds a wonderful extent of the Early English, or the
pointed arch. The transepts begin with the Thirteenth, and come
down to the middle of the Fourteenth Century; and the interior,
especially the choir and the side aisles, abounds with the most
exquisitely varied specimens of that period. Fruits, flowers,
vegetables, insects, _capriccios_ of every description, encircle
the arches or shafts, and sparkle upon the capitals of pillars.
Even down to the reign of Henry VIII. there are two private
chapels, to the left of the smaller south porch, on entrance, which
are perfect gems of art.”--(T. F. D.)
In the Seventh Century, Paulinus, Bishop of York, made converts in the
Roman hill-town of Lincoln, and several churches were founded. The
“bishop’s stool” was at Sidnacester and Dorchester-on-Thames before it
was fixed at Lincoln.
“The king” (William the Conqueror) “had given Remigius, who had
been a monk at Fescamp, the bishopric of Dorchester which is
situated on the Thames. This bishopric, being larger than all
others in England, stretching from the Thames to the Humber, the
bishop thought it troublesome to have his episcopal See at the
extreme limit of his diocese. He was also displeased with the
smallness of the town, the most illustrious city appearing far more
worthy to be the See of a bishop. He therefore bought certain lands
on the highest parts of the city, near the castle standing aloft
with its strong towers, and built a church, strong as the place was
strong, and fair as the place was fair, dedicated to the Virgin of
Virgins, which should both be a joy to the servants of God, and as
befitted the time unconquerable by enemies.”
Such is Henry of Huntingdon’s account of the transference of the See,
which took place between 1072 and 1075.
The church built by Remigius, on the site of an earlier church, was
completed in twenty years. Remigius died three days before the date
appointed for the consecration, May 9, 1092, and was buried before the
Altar of the Holy Cross in front of the rood-screen. This first church
was 300 feet long. It was severely plain; but so strong that Stephen
used it as a fortress in 1141, when the castle opposite was held by his
enemies.
The next great builder was Alexander the Magnificent (1123-1148), nephew
of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. A fire destroying the roof in 1141
necessitated repairs. Alexander remodeled parts of the church. He added
the elaborate doorways in the west front in 1146; the Norman arcade
along the west front; and built the western towers.
“Part of the west front of Lincoln was built by Bishop Remi, or
Remigius, 1085-1092: the small portion which remains of this work
is a very valuable specimen of early Norman, the more so that the
insertion of later and richer Norman doorways by Bishop Alexander,
about fifty years afterwards, enables us to compare early and late
Norman work, while the jointing of the masonry leaves no doubt of
the fact that these doorways are insertions and, therefore,
confirms the early date of the three lofty arches under which they
are inserted. A comparison of the capitals and details of these two
periods, thus placed in juxtaposition, is extremely interesting.
The wide-jointing of the masonry and the shallowness of the carving
distinguish the old work from the new. Several capitals of the
later period are inserted in the older work, as is shewn on careful
examination by the jointing of the masonry, and by the form of the
capitals themselves: the earlier capitals are short, and have
volutes at the angles, forming a sort of rude Ionic; the later
capitals are more elongated, and have a sort of rude Corinthian, or
Composite foliage.”--(J. H. P.)
In 1185 an earthquake injured the Cathedral; and so, when Hugh of Avalon
became Bishop of Lincoln in 1186, he began to collect money for repairs
and rebuilding. The eastern end of the original Cathedral was removed,
and in 1192 Bishop Hugh laid the foundations of his very original Choir.
The architect was Geoffrey de Noyers. J. H. Parker, who studied Lincoln
Cathedral for thirty years, considers this work of St. Hugh (A.D.
1192-1200) pure Early English Gothic and the earliest building of that
style in the world.
“Canterbury was completed in 1184 and in 1185 St. Hugh of Grenoble,
also called St. Hugh of Burgundy, was appointed Bishop of Lincoln,
and immediately began to rebuild his cathedral. It is therefore
plain that this portion of the building was completed before 1200,
and a careful examination enables us to distinguish clearly the
work completed in the time of Bishop Hugh, which comprises his
choir and the eastern transepts with its chapels. The present
vaults of St. Hugh’s Choir, and of both the transepts, were
introduced subsequent to the fall of the tower, which occurred in
1240.
“The architecture in the north of Lincolnshire and the south of
Yorkshire appears to have been a little in advance of any other in
Europe at that period. St. Hugh’s Choir at Lincoln is the earliest
building of the pure Gothic style free from any mixture of the
Romanesque that has been hitherto found in Europe, or in the world.
The Oriental styles are not Gothic, though they helped to lead to
it. The French Gothic has a strong mixture of the Romanesque with
it down to a later period than the Choir of Lincoln. St. Hugh of
Lincoln certainly did not bring the Gothic style with him from his
own country Dauphiny, or from the Grande Chartreuse where he was
educated, for nothing of the kind existed there at that period.
Grenoble (the place from which St. Hugh was brought to England) and
its neighbourhood was quite half-a-century behind England in the
character of its buildings, in the time of Henry II. of England and
of Anjou, in whose time this style was developed.
“Nothing can well exceed the freedom, delicacy and beauty of this
work; the original arcade of the time of St. Hugh is of the same
free and beautiful style as the additions of his successors. The
crockets, arranged vertically one over the other behind the
detached marble shafts of the pillars, are a remarkable and not a
common feature, which seems to have been in use for a few years
only; it occurs also in the west front of Wells Cathedral, the work
of Bishop Jocelin, a few years after this at Lincoln; or perhaps
under him, of Hugh de Wells.”--(J. H. P.)
The eight years during which Hugh carried on the work
“were busy ones at Lincoln. Contemporary records enable us to
picture him encouraging the workmen by his presence and example,
even shewing his zeal by carrying the stones on his own shoulders.
He did not live to see his work completed, as Remigius had done.
But he had set the example and given the pattern, and the work was
continued by his successors until the building was again entire.
Hugh had already finished the apse, the eastern transept, the
choir, and part of the western transept (i.e., the whole eastern
portion of the church) when he fell ill. Finding
[Illustration: LINCOLN: WEST FRONT]
[Illustration: LINCOLN: GREAT WEST DOOR]
his death approaching, he sent for his architect Geoffrey de
Noyers, and enjoined him to hasten the completion of the altar of
St. John the Baptist, his patron. He then gave directions for his
funeral, and instructions that he was to be buried in the
mother-church of his diocese dedicated to the Mother of God, near
the altar of St. John the Baptist. The personality of the great
bishop comes vividly before us when we read that he also wished his
tomb to be placed near the wall, in a convenient place, lest it
should be a stumbling-block to those approaching. On the 16th of
November, 1200, Hugh breathed his last, lying, as he had wished, on
the bare ground, on a cross of consecrated ashes. His instructions
regarding the funeral were carried out; but such a light as Hugh’s
could not be hid, and within a century we find his remains enclosed
in a costly golden shrine, borne on the shoulders of kings and
bishops, and placed at last in a structure erected specially for
their reception, ‘one of the loveliest of human works,’ the
celebrated Angel Choir. The original place of Hugh’s burial has
been somewhat disputed. The _Magna Vita_ tells us that he was
buried near the altar he had named, _a boreali ipsius aedis
regione_. On the east side of the eastern transept, Hugh had placed
four apsidal chapels, two north and two south of the central apse.
From the words above quoted, it has been considered that the
northern-most of these chapels was the site of his tomb.”--(A. F.
K.)
The western transept and the nave were next finished (Thirteenth
Century), and a central tower was built to replace the one that fell in
1237-1239. To this period belongs Bishop Hugh de Wells, brother of
Jocelin (see page 108), who contributed largely to the funds for
building and roofing.
He was succeeded by Roger Bacon’s friend, Robert Grosseteste
(1235-1253). In his time the new nave was completed. The large screen of
the west front, the central gable and the octagonal turrets at the
corners, belong to this period; also the lower part of the central
tower, the Canon’s Vestry at the eastern transept, and the Galilee Porch
at the western transept. The trellis ornament always marks
Grosseteste’s work. He made many changes in the windows.
To the treasurer, John de Welburne (died 1380), the Cathedral is
indebted for its splendid choir-stalls.
The Russell and Longland chantries, the upper parts of the tower, and
many windows date from the Perpendicular period.
John Evelyn, visiting Lincoln in 1654, gives us an idea how the
Cathedral suffered in the Civil Wars:
“Lincoln is an old confused town, very long, uneven, steep and
ragged, formerly full of good houses, especially churches and
abbeys. The minster almost comparable to that of York itself,
abounding with marble pillars, and having a fair front (here was
interred Queen Eleanora, the loyal and loving wife who sucked the
poison out of her husband’s wound); the abbot founder, with rare
carving in the stone; the great bell, or Tom, as they call it. I
went up the steeple, from whence is a goodly prospect all over the
country. The soldiers had lately knocked off most of the brasses
from the gravestones, so as few inscriptions were left; they told
us that these men went in with axes and hammers, and shut
themselves in, till they had rent and torn off some bargeloads of
metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead; so hellish an
avarice possessed them: besides which, they exceedingly ruined the
city.”
We are now able to analyze the =West Front=, knowing the periods of the
great screen wall, with its Gothic arcading and the octagonal stair
turrets capped by tall pyramids that terminate the ends; the two tall
square towers, Norman below, Perpendicular above; the three great
recesses pierced with windows and doors; the gable above the recess with
seven arches (two pierced with windows and two containing statues) in a
row and one above with angels.
We must note that upon the southern turret stands a statue of St. Hugh;
and The Swineherd of Stow, who contributed a peck of silver pennies
towards building the Cathedral, ornaments the northern one. It is a copy
of the original, now in the Cloisters.
The tracery of the windows in the three recesses is supposed to date
from the end of the Fourteenth Century. The big west window and the
cinquefoil window above were placed there in Grosseteste’s rule
(1235-1253).
The central door and those on either side of it, date from the Twelfth
Century, and give the best possible idea of the Romanesque period just
before it merged into Gothic.
Above the central door are eleven kings, from William the Conqueror to
Edward III. These statues date from 1350 and were originally coloured
and gilt.
The two western towers (Norman) were built in the Twelfth Century. The
arcading (which is not the same in both) shows where they ended and
where the Perpendicular stories were added, carrying them two hundred
feet higher. Like the central tower, they were originally crowned with
tall wooden spires, covered with lead. These spires became unsafe and
were removed in 1807. In the northern, or =St. Mary’s=, hung “Great Tom of
Lincoln” and its successor until 1834. The southern tower, called =St.
Hugh’s=, has a ring of eight bells. Under St. Hugh’s the =Ringers’ Chapel=
is naturally situated; and there is a corresponding chapel under =St.
Mary’s Tower=.
Beneath =St. Mary’s Tower= we find the =Northwest Chapel=; under =St. Hugh’s=,
the =Ringers’ Chapel=. Both chapels are vaulted with stone and date from
the first half of the Thirteenth Century.
The =Nave=, a very characteristic example of the first half of the
Thirteenth Century,
“exhibits an Early English style in its highest stage of
development: massive without heaviness, rich in detail without
exuberance, its parts symmetrically proportioned and carefully
studied throughout, the foliated carving bold and effective, there
seems no deficiency in any way to deteriorate from its
merits.”--(G. G. S.)
There are seven bays. The first bay was converted into a sort of
vestibule by arches constructed in the Eighteenth Century to add
strength to the western towers. The big arch, separating the vestibule
from the nave, dates from about 1730. The vaulting under the western
towers dates from the Fourteenth Century; also the tracery covering the
walls of these compartments.
“Each pier is surrounded by round shafts of Purbeck marble. The
arch mouldings, like those of St. Hugh’s choir, were considered
‘beautiful specimens’ by Rickman. They are deeply cut, and throw
good, bold shadows. In the triforium each bay contains two arches,
supported by clustered columns with foliaged capitals. The
spandrels are decorated with sunk trefoils or quatrefoils. In most
cases the arches are each divided into three sub-arches with
clustered shafts, the tympanum being pierced with quatrefoils. A
difference is noticeable, however, in the easternmost arch and the
two westernmost bays (five arches altogether) on both sides. Here
the sub-arches are only two in number. The narrowness of the two
western bays accounts for the variation at that end. The clerestory
is the same throughout its length, having three tall narrow windows
in each bay, with slender banded shafts. In the nave we have,
according to Fergusson, ‘a type of the first perfected form of
English vaulting.’ He calls it ‘very simple and beautiful.’ At the
junctions of the ribs are elaborate bosses of foliage. The
compartments are covered with plaster, once decorated in colours
and gold. In the second bay from the east is the name: W. L.
PARIS:--evidently intended as a record of some repairs to the
vault. The springers rest on clusters of three long slender
vaulting-shafts, rising from foliaged corbels just above the
capitals of the nave piers.
“In the aisles, each bay has two lancet windows, except the
easternmost bay on the south side, which has only one. In the jambs
are slender Purbeck shafts, twice banded. Just beneath these
windows, an arcade of trefoiled arches runs along the whole length
of the nave, being continued on the screen walls to the western
chapels. The arches are deep, with bold mouldings, and are
supported by clustered columns. There are five arches in each bay,
but they are not placed in the same manner on both sides of the
nave. On the south, the arches are arranged in groups of five, with
blank spaces of wall between, in front of which pass the
vaulting-shafts. On the north, the arcade is continuous, and is so
arranged that each cluster of shafts supporting the vault passes in
front of an arch. The work on the south side is more elaborate;
tooth ornament is used, a string-course runs along at the height of
the capitals, and foliaged bosses are found in the lower corners of
the spandrels. In addition to the clustered vaulting-shafts already
mentioned, there is a single vaulting-shaft in the centre of each
bay, between the windows, rising from a corbel above the
wall-arcade. On the north side these corbels merely have plain
mouldings, but on the south side they are foliated. The arrangement
of the vaulting-ribs is different in the north and south aisles;
and in the latter it will be noticed that some of the bosses have
figure-subjects, besides the foliage met with on the north side.
The _Agnus Dei_ carved on the boss in the fourth bay from the west
should be noticed. To such minor differences, continually found in
the corresponding parts of a Gothic edifice, the style undoubtedly
owes a peculiar charm.”--(A. F. K.)
The great =West Window= was inserted, as we have seen, in Bishop
Grosseteste’s time (1235-1253). Its tracery, however, dates from the
end of the Fourteenth Century and is Early Perpendicular. The upper
lights are filled with fragments of Fourteenth Century glass; but the
glass in the lower lights is modern. The cinquefoil above, of the same
date, contains modern glass also. The central figure represents
Remigius, with his bishop’s staff in one hand and the church in the
other. The rest of the glass in the nave is also modern.
Under the last arch on the north side of the nave we come to a slab
supposed to mark the original burial-place of Remigius. This slab was
discovered in the cloisters and is supposed to date from the time of
that worthy prelate.
The neighbouring =Pulpit= is probably of the Eighteenth Century. On the
other side of the nave stands the black basalt Norman =Font=, reminding us
of the font in Winchester. Around the sides of the square basin a row of
grotesque monsters is carved in low relief.
Now we come to the =Central Tower=. Four massive piers carry the four
arches from which it rises. Foliage decorates the top of each arch. The
spandrels are ornamented by two rows of arcading with slender-clustered
shafts. The vaulting is of the Fourteenth Century. The iron rings on the
piers were placed there for the purpose of fastening the bell-ropes of
the “Lady Bells” that once hung in this tower.
A beautiful stone =Rood-Screen=, Decorated in style and dating from the
end of the Thirteenth Century, fills the eastern tower arch, and marks
the boundary of St. Hugh’s Choir. Traces of colour and gilding reveal
themselves to an earnest scrutiny.