influenced him in the planning of the beautiful eastern termination
to his cathedral, and the grand sweep of the procession path.
Similar apsidal terminations, of slightly later date, once existed
at Ely, and still remain in a modified form at Peterborough and St.
Bartholomew’s.
“It is probable, and the more generally accredited supposition,
that Herbert built the presbytery with its encircling procession
path and the original trefoil of Norman chapel radiating
therefrom;--the choir and transepts with the two chapels projecting
eastwards and the first two bays of the nave. Harrod advances a
theory that he completely finished the whole of the cathedral
church, as well as the offices for the housing of the sixty monks
who were placed therein, in 1101.”--(C. H. B. Q.)
Norwich acquired its chief saint in the Twelfth Century, and a saint,
moreover, that much resembled Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln. A young
boy, William, the child of simple country people, was murdered by the
Jews in the city. Immediately after his death miracles took place. The
monks placed his altar near the ante-choir, and raked in the offerings.
The Cathedral suffered from fires, and the tower was struck by lightning
in 1271. There was also a terrible riot between the people and the monks
in the Thirteenth Century, when the Cathedral was besieged. The
monastery and the Cathedral were burned, and many monks were killed.
Some citizens of Norwich were hanged, drawn and quartered, and the city
had to repair the church. The monks were compelled to erect new gates
and entrances, one of which, St. Ethelbert’s Gate, still exists (see
page 351).
About 1361 the spire and parts of the tower were blown down, and the
presbytery was damaged. Therefore, the clerestory was rebuilt, and in
the transitional style from Decorated to Perpendicular. The Cloisters
date from about this time, and so does the Erpingham Gate. In the middle
of the Fifteenth Century the nave vault was constructed; and it was
under the two rules of Bishop Lyhart and Bishop Goldwell that the
Cathedral was practically completed as we see it to-day. Dean Gardiner
pulled down the Lady-Chapel and the Chapter-House in the Sixteenth
Century, and in the Seventeenth Century Cromwell’s soldiers took
possession.
Bishop Hall tells us how they behaved:
“Lord, what work was here, what clattering of glasses, what beating
down the Walls, what tearing up of Monuments, what pulling down of
Seats, what wresting out of Irons and Brass from the Windows and
Graves! What defacing of Armes, what demolishing of curious stone
work, that had not any representation in the World, but only of the
cost of the Founder and skill of the Mason, what toting and piping
upon the destroyed Organ pipes, and what a hideous triumph on the
Market day before all the Countrey, when, in a kind of Sacrilegious
and profane procession, all the Organ pipes, Vestments, both Copes
and Surplices, together with the Leaden Crosse which had been newly
sawne down from over the Green-Yard Pulpit, and the Service books
and singing books that could be had, were carried to the fire in
the publick Market place; A leud wretch walking before the Train,
in his Cope trailing in the dirt, with a Service book in his hand,
imitating in an impious scorne the tune, and usurping the words of
the Letany; neer the Publick Crosse, all these monuments of
Idolatry must be sacrificed to the fire, not without much
Ostentation of a zealous joy.”
The Precincts are, like those of all English cathedrals, lovely, and
these are fortunate enough to be entered by several ancient gates. The
one on the south, =St. Ethelbert’s Gate= (Early Decorated), was built in
the Thirteenth Century, after the riots and fire of 1272. The =Gate House=
(Perpendicular), on the north, is the entrance to the Bishop’s Palace.
Opposite the west front we find the =Erpingham Gate=, built about 1420, by
Sir Thomas Erpingham, whose figure stands in the niche over the wide
arch. It is a greatly admired piece of Perpendicular work.
The =West Front= (Perpendicular) clearly defines the width of the nave and
the aisles on either side. Over the centre door is the large west window
of nine lights, often compared to the window of Westminster Hall. Above
is a gable, surmounted by a cross. The doors date from 1436, and the
west window from Bishop Lyhart’s time (1446-1472). There are no towers
here; for the pinnacles placed on the side turrets in 1875 are not
deserving of this name.
“The Tower and Spire stand at the intersection of the choir and
transepts, covered with vertical shafts on the face of each. The
tower is Norman buttress, which is finished by a crocketed
pinnacle. Between these buttresses are horizontal bands of design:
the lowest, a Norman arcade of nine arches, three of which are
pierced as windows; then, above this, a smaller wall arcade with
interlaced arches; and then, above again, the principal feature, an
arcading of nine arches, three pierced for windows, and the others
filled with wall tracery of diamonds and circles; then, between
this last and the battlemented parapet, occur five vertical panels,
each comprising two circles, the upper pierced for a window. Above,
soaring upward, rises the later crocketed spire. The rest of the
tower was finished during the reign of Henry I., and is a beautiful
specimen of the work of that time; the stonework was almost
entirely refaced in 1856. The tower was crowned by a wooden spire
from 1297; this was blown down in 1361, damaging the presbytery so
badly that the clerestory had to be rebuilt. The wooden spire was
constructed probably at the same time, and the present Early
Perpendicular turrets were added. The spire was again in 1463
struck by lightning, and again falling eastward, went through the
presbytery roof. The present spire was then constructed in stone by
Bishop Lyhart (1446-72), and was finished by his successor, Bishop
Goldwell (1472-99), who added the battlements.
“It will hardly be necessary to enlarge on the beauty of this spire
of Norwich, as the dominant feature, seen from the south-east,
rising above the curved sweep of the apse, and strongly buttressed
by the south transept, it stands up, clearly defined against the
western sky, and points upward, significant and symbolical at once
of the ends and aspirations of the church below.
“The eastern arm, or presbytery, takes its history from the tower.
Here, as in the nave, the original triforium windows are blocked
up, and a range of Perpendicular work superimposed on the old.
Above and beyond this, supported between each bay by
flying-buttresses, comes the transitional Decorated to
Perpendicular clerestory, higher than the original Norman
clerestory remaining to the nave. At the base of each
flying-buttress are figures of saints. The roof and Norman
clerestory were damaged by the falling tower in 1361, but were
rebuilt by Bishop Percy, 1355-69. This work is transitional
Decorated to Perpendicular. The presbytery was then re-roofed with
a framed timber construction, which was consumed by the falling of
the burning spire, struck by lightning in 1463. The present stone
vault was added in its place by Bishop Goldwell, 1472-99. This
necessitated the addition as well of flying-buttresses to take the
thrust of the vault.
“The battlementing to the presbytery also was added at the same
time as the flying-buttresses.
“It will also be noted that here, as in the nave, an addition was
made in the way of a range of later ‘Perpendicular’ windows
superimposed over the original Norman triforium, which was blocked
up.”--(C. H. B. Q.)
The south transept projects under the central tower.
Next follows the =Chapel of St. Mary the Less= (Fourteenth Century)
projecting southward, then the circular =Chapel of St. Luke= (Norman),
very peculiar in form, with two rows of arcading.
The north side is well viewed from the =Bishop’s Gardens=. It differs
little from the south side, except in the fact that it has been less
restored. The chapel corresponding with the Chapel of St. Luke is the
=Jesus Chapel=, and is also circular. Here we find Perpendicular windows
inserted in the Norman work.
“The nave on the south side can be seen well either from the upper
or lower Close, and can be better examined in detail from the
interior of the cloisters. Its elevation consists of fourteen bays
divided by flat Norman buttresses. In height it is composed of
what, at first sight, appears a bewildering confusion of arches,
arcades and windows. Over the aisle windows, hidden by the north
walk of cloisters, comes a Norman wall arcading; and over this the
Norman triforium windows blocked up, and again, above the later
Perpendicular triforium, superimposed on the old, and finished with
a battlemented parapet. Behind this come the triforium roof, and
then beyond the original Norman clerestory, each bay with a triple
arch formation, the centre arch pierced for a window. And then
above all, the lead roof over the nave vault.
“The radical changes that have taken place since the nave was built
by Bishop Eborard (1121-45) consist of the insertion in the aisles
of later ‘Decorated’ traceried windows in place of the original
Norman ones, and of the superimposition, before referred to, at
triforium level, of a whole range of ‘Perpendicular’ windows over
the old Norman work, which were blocked up at this period. The
battlementing, too, over the clerestory to the nave is later work,
to correspond with battlementing over the triforium windows. It
will be noticed that the two bays next the transept in the
triforium are higher than the others, in order to throw additional
light into the choir.
“Also on this same south side, in the seventh and eighth bays from
the west end, two very late windows occur, inserted in the Norman
arcading under the original triforium windows; these were inserted
by Bishop Nykke to light the chapel he built in two bays of the
south aisle of the nave.
“The curious raking of the lead rolls to the nave roof is
noticeable; the mediæval builders did this with a view of
counteracting the ‘crawl’ of the lead.”--(C. H. B. Q.)
Norwich Cathedral is famous for its magnificent interior. A noble view
is obtained on entering, for the great =Nave= reaches 200 feet to the
choir-screen; and if the organ on the latter were removed, the view
would be longer, for the extreme length of the Cathedral is 407 feet.
The perspective is splendid, as it is, and very largely is it so because
of the lierne vault of Perpendicular days, which relieves the severity
of the Norman work below.
The nave consists of seven double bays (fourteen compartments) from the
west end to the transepts. The main piers are, of course, large, and the
arcade arches are ornamented with the billet. The triforium arches are
decorated with a chevron or zigzag. Over it is the typical Norman
clerestory and above all spreads the handsome lierne vault
(Perpendicular). This splendid vault (72 feet), built by Bishop Lyhart
(1446-1472), after the Norman roof had been destroyed by fire in 1463,
is of great value to the student. There are 328 carved bosses at the
intersection of the ribs, the subjects of which are taken from Biblical
history.
“The vault is of Perpendicular design, and known as _lierne_; such
vaults may be distinguished by the fact that between the main ribs,
springing from the vaulting shafts, are placed cross ribs forming a
pattern, as it were, and bracing the main ribs, but not in any
great measure structural. This vault at Norwich may be taken as
typical of the last legitimate development of the stone roof; it
was the precursor of the later fan-vaulting, such as we find in
Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster, where legitimate construction
was replaced by ostentatious ingenuity and the accumulation of
needless ornament and detail.
“To all those who take an interest in early stone-cutting, this
vault of Norwich is a store of inexhaustible treasure; the bosses,
rudely cut as they are, tell their own tales with singular truth
and directness. Their sculpture may not display the anatomical
knowledge of the work of the Renaissance; yet it has a distinct
decorative value that has been seldom equalled in the later
decadent period. The fourteen large central bosses on the main
longitudinal ribs present in themselves an epitome not only of
Bible history, but of the connecting incidents forming the theme of
Christian teaching. In the tenth bay, on the longitudinal rib,
there is, in place of a boss, a circular hole through the vault.
It is supposed to have been formed to allow a thurible to be
suspended therefrom into the church below. Harrod, quoting from
Lambard’s ‘Topographical Dictionary,’ says: ‘I myself, being a
child, once saw in Poule’s Church at London, at a feast of
Whitsontide, wheare the comyng down of the Holy Gost was set forth
by a white pigeon that was let to fly _out of a hole that is yet to
be seen in the mydst of the roof of the great ile_, and by a long
censer which, descending out of the same place almost to the very
ground, was swinged up and down at such a length that it reached at
one swepe _almost to the west gate of the church, and with the
other to the queer [quire] stairs of the same_, breathing out over
the whole church and companie a most pleasant perfume of such sweet
things as burned therein.’
“It is probable that the hole in the nave vault at Norwich was used
for a similar purpose; and its position would seem to agree with
such use, situated as it is about midway between the west end and
where the front of the mediæval rood loft occurred.”--(C. H. B. Q.)
In the aisles we find Decorated windows, and in the triforium,
Perpendicular windows.
The =Choir-Screen= was erected by Bishop Lyhart in 1446-1472, but only the
lower part survived the fury of the Puritan mob. The organ was placed in
its present position in 1833. Immediately under the organ loft is a
single compartment, blocked off from the north and south aisles by
screens that originally belonged to one old screen (Perpendicular). This
=ante-chapel= was formerly the chapel of Our Lady of Pity.
The =Choir= extends a little into the nave, and, therefore, beyond the
tower and transepts. There are sixty splendid =Choir-stalls= of the
Fifteenth Century, with ornate _misereres_. The Bishop’s Throne and
Pulpit are modern. The old Pelican Lectern, in the Decorated style,
should be noticed.
[Illustration: NORWICH: EAST]
[Illustration: NORWICH: CHOIR]
The =Presbytery= is the earliest part of the cathedral. It consists of
four compartments, or bays, and terminates in a semicircular apse of
five compartments. We find here Perpendicular arches, a lofty Norman
triforium, and clerestory windows of the transitional period from
Decorated to Perpendicular. The whole effect is Norman and noble.
Unfortunately the old glass of the windows has perished.
The aisles of the presbytery are also called the =Processional Path=, and
consist of four bays, and five around the apse. A door in the north
aisle opens into the gardens of the Bishop’s Palace; and in this aisle,
at the fourth bay east of the tower, there is a very peculiar
bridge-chapel that spans the aisle. Critics say that it formed the
ante-chapel to the reliquary chapel projecting northward from the outer
wall of the Cathedral, and that it was probably built as a bridge for
exhibiting relics as the processions passed along underneath.
On the south side of the presbytery (third bay) is the =Chapel of St.
Mary the Less=, or =Bauchon Chapel= (Fourteenth Century). It projects
beyond the wall. The vault is Fifteenth Century, and the bosses
represent the Life, Death and Assumption of the Virgin. This is now the
Consistory Court.
The =north transept= is without aisles or triforium. Arcading decorates
the wall up to the clerestory. Above is a lierne vault of later date, of
course, than the transept. The old apsidal chapel on the east (dedicated
to St. Anne) is now used as a storeroom.
A staircase in the east wall of the north transept leads to the
tower-galleries and walks, very interesting in themselves and affording
glimpses through their openings into the nave, presbytery and transepts
below.
Between the south aisle of the presbytery and the =south transept= a
beautiful screen of late Perpendicular tracery fills the Norman arch.
The roof, like that of the north transept, originally of wood, was
destroyed by fire in 1509, and a new vault added in Perpendicular times.
Of the three chapels grouped around the presbytery the =Jesus Chapel= on
the north and the chapel on the south, =St. Luke’s=, remain. The
=Lady-Chapel=, at the extreme east, has perished.
The Norman Lady-Chapel was partly destroyed by the fire of 1169, and was
succeeded by an Early English chapel of the Thirteenth Century. This was
destroyed in the Sixteenth Century; but the finely proportioned entrance
arches still remain. They are ornamented with the dog-tooth.
It is not often that ancient altar-pieces are found in the English
cathedrals; but Norwich possesses a =Retable=, supposed to be the work of
an Italian painter of the Fourteenth Century. It is in five panels--The
Scourging, Bearing the Cross, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension.
It was formerly in the Jesus Chapel.
The =Cloisters= are in their usual position--on the south. Originally
these were Norman, and perished by fire in 1272. The present ones were
133 years in building, and so they reveal the developments of
architecture during 1297-1430. The cloister garth is about 145 feet
square.
“The arches are filled with open tracery carried by two mullions.
“On the east side it is geometrical in character, the work being
transitional between Early English and Decorated; on the south
side the tracery is more flowing and has advanced to Decorated; on
the west side again, we get the transitional style between
Decorated and Perpendicular, with some _flamboyant_ or flame-like
detail; while on the north and latest side it is frankly
Perpendicular.”--(C. H. B. Q.)
They are entered from the south side of the nave, of course. The =Monk’s
Door=, opening into the East Walk, is an ornate specimen of
Perpendicular; and the =Prior’s Door=, opening into the West Walk, a fine
specimen of Early Decorated.
ST. ALBANS
DEDICATION: ST. ALBAN. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY.
When Sir Gilbert Scott began to restore and repair the old abbey church
of St. Albans, in 1870, he found it in a very dilapidated condition.
Among other base uses to which various parts of the Cathedral had been
put, the Lady-Chapel had been converted into a grammar-school, and a
thoroughfare had been made through the retro-choir. After Scott’s death,
in 1878, Lord Grimthorpe, who had been diligent and liberal for years
regarding restorations, succeeded in getting control of the entire work.
He made various changes and additions, and inserted windows at his own
pleasure, not always with judgment, nor in the best taste. The
consequence is that St. Albans is open to much criticism. Yet it remains
an interesting old pile in many respects.
St. Albans did not become a cathedral until 1877. It was a famous old
abbey church, dating back to the days of Offa II., King of the Mercians,
who founded a Benedictine monastery here about 793. From this time until
the suppression of the monasteries by Henry VIII., the Abbey of St.
Albans was of the greatest importance. Its Abbot had a seat in the House
of Lords, and took precedence of all the abbots in the kingdom.
Naturally, therefore, the list of abbots is notable. Some of them were
related to the royal family. Among those especially distinguished were:
Paul of Caen, John de Cella, William of Trumpington, John of Hertford,
Roger of Norton, Hugh of Eversden, Richard of Wallingford, Thomas de la
Mare, John de la Moote, John of Wheathampstead, and Thomas Wolsey, the
great cardinal.
Royalty was entertained in the Abbey on many occasions as both guest and
prisoner. When the Abbey was consecrated in 1115 by the Archbishop of
Rouen, Henry I. and his queen, Matilda, with their courtiers, were
entertained from December 27 until January 6; Richard II. stayed here
for eight days after Wat Tyler’s rebellion had subsided; and here the
conspiracy against him was planned, when the Duke of Gloucester and the
Prior of Westminster were dining with the abbot, John de la Moote. In
1399 John of Gaunt’s body rested here; and Richard II., and Henry, Duke
of Lancaster (Henry IV.) were here in the same year. During the Wars of
the Roses the Abbey of St. Albans was frequently used as a prison. In
the first battle of St. Albans (May 23, 1455), when the White Roses were
victorious, Henry was confined in the monastery; but in the second
battle (February 17, 1461), the king, having been captured, was set at
liberty by his brave wife, Margaret of Anjou, who marched from Wakefield
with 18,000 men. The royal party went to the Abbey, where the monks
chanted thanksgiving and in every way received them with delight. The
undisciplined horde of soldiers unfortunately ran wild in the town and
plundered the Abbey. Their behaviour was such that Abbot John Stokes
changed his politics, and became an ardent Yorkist.
Among the celebrated monks of St. Albans Matthew Paris takes the lead,
the great historian whose book begins with the creation and continues to
1259.
St. Albans for a long period received “Peter’s Pence.” This was first
levied by the King of the West Saxons in 727, and was a tax of one penny
on each family owning lands. The receipt amounted to thirty pence a year
and went to the support of a Saxon College at Rome; and because it was
collected on August 1 (the day of St. Peter ad Vincula) it was called
“Peter’s Pence.” Offa induced the Pope to give it to the Abbey of St.
Albans.
The monastic buildings have all perished, and the only remnant of the
Abbey is the =Great Gate=, built in the days of Thomas de la Mare, about
1365. Over the archway there is a large room in which sessions used to
be held, and below the road the curious may inspect the dungeons. This
Gateway was a law-court and prison; and, as the Abbot of St. Albans had
civil jurisdiction over all the town, as well as his monastery, many
offenders were tried and condemned here. In the days of Wat Tyler’s
rebellion John Ball and his seventeen companions were tried here and
spent their last days in the dungeons. Another scene that we can picture
is that of the monks bringing out ale and wine to quell the fury of the
mob that stormed the Gatehouse before the news of Wat Tyler’s death
arrived.
St. Albans was a favorite place of pilgrimage, for it sheltered the
remains of the first Christian martyr in Britain. Alban, or Albans, was
a young soldier, who, during the persecution of the Christians in the
Fourth Century, befriended a deacon named Amphibalus by receiving him in
his house. Amphibalus converted him. Alban exchanged clothing with him
so that he might escape. Amphibalus was captured, however, and executed
near Verulamium. Alban was also beheaded; and a few years after his
death a church was built over the spot where his blood had been shed.
The north transept of the existing church is said to cover this place.
Matthew Paris states that the body of St. Alban was, during an invasion,
removed from the church for safety, and afterward placed in its original
grave. Offa II. found the coffin containing the remains of the martyr
and laid them in a splendid reliquary, taking care first to place a
golden band around the head with the inscription “_Hoc est caput Sancti
Albani_.” Offa also had the martyr canonized. With a miracle-working
shrine, the richly-endowed monastery continued to flourish.
The Abbey Church was deemed quite large enough until Paul of Caen
(1077-1093) was appointed abbot by William the Conqueror. In about
eleven years only (1077-1088) he rebuilt St. Albans, using many of the
Roman bricks from the ruins of the neighbouring Verulamium and timber
already collected. His was an enormous Norman edifice (460 feet), longer
even than Canterbury (290 feet).