various changes. Money was raised in various ways for the purpose, and
among them the abbot persuaded his monks to do without wine for fifteen
years and contribute the savings to the fund for building.
After him came William of Trumpington (1214-1235), who continued the
work of building. He also constructed the cloister. Let us see exactly
in what their work consisted:
“Abbot John de Cella (1195-1214) pulled down the west front and
began to build a new one in its place. He laid the foundation of
the whole front, but then went on with the north side first. The
north porch was nearly finished in his time; the central porch was
carried up as far as the spring of the arch; the southern porch was
carried hardly any way up from the foundations. The porches are
described by those who saw them before Lord Grimthorpe swept away
the whole west front as some of the choicest specimens of
Thirteenth Century work in England. The mouldings were of great
delicacy, and were enriched with dog-tooth ornament. It is said
that Abbot John was not a good man of business, and that he was
sorely robbed and cheated by his builders, and so had not money
enough to finish the work that he had planned. To his successor,
William of Trumpington, it therefore fell to carry on the work. He
was a man of a more practical character, though not equal to his
predecessor in matters of taste. He finished the main part of the
western front. Oddly enough no dog-tooth ornament was used in the
central and southern porches, and the character of the carved
foliage differs also from that of the north porch. In Abbot John’s
undoubted work the curling leaves overlap, and have strongly
defined stems resembling the foliage of Lincoln choir, while that
of Abbot William’s time had the ordinary character of the Early
English style. There is evidence to show that he intended to vault
the church with a stone roof; this may be seen from the marble
vaulting-shafts on the north side of the nave between the arches of
the main arcade, which, however, are not carried higher than the
string-course below the triforium. The idea of a stone vault was,
however, abandoned before the two eastern Early English bays on the
south side were built, for no preparation for vaulting shafts
exists there.
“Abbot John de Cella had begun to build afresh the western towers,
or, according to some authorities, to build the first western
towers that the church ever had; we have no record of their
completion, and it is said that Abbot William abandoned the idea.
We have only the foundations by which we can determine their size.
William of Trumpington transformed the windows of the aisles into
Early English ones. He also added a wooden lantern to the tower,
somewhat in the style of the wooden octagon on the central tower of
Ely.”--(T. P.)
The next changes were made in the east end. These were begun in the last
half of the Thirteenth Century. The walls of the presbytery were raised;
the Saint’s Chapel built; then the retro-choir; and then the Lady-Chapel
(1326).
Then Hugh of Eversden (1308-1326) became abbot and had to rebuild the
part of the nave that fell in 1323. His work was continued by Richard of
Wallingford (1326-1335) and completed by Michael of Mentmore in 1345.
John de Wheathampstead, who was twice abbot (1420-1440, and 1451-1464),
rebuilt the upper part of the west front, made changes in the roofs,
inserted Perpendicular windows in the ends of the transept, and also
converted the Norman triforium arches into windows by filling them with
Perpendicular tracery. His chantry was built after his death. William of
Wallingford (1476-1484) contributed the gorgeous screen.
The exterior has no interest for the student of architecture. The
enormous church is plain, and Lord Grimthorpe has been at work
everywhere. The only feature that has any real beauty is the fine Norman
tower.
“It is 144 feet high and is not quite square in plan, measuring 47
feet from east to west, and two feet less from north to south. The
walls are about seven feet thick; in the thickness, however,
passages are cut. It has three stages above the ridges of the roof.
The lower stage has plain windows in each face, lighting the church
below; the next stage, or ringing room, has two pairs of double
windows; and the upper or belfry stage, two double windows of large
size, furnished with louvre boards. The parapet is battlemented,
and of course of later work than the tower itself. The tower is
flanked by pilaster buttresses, which merge into cylindrical
turrets in the upper story. For simple dignity the tower stands
unrivalled in this country. It must have been splendidly built to
have stood as it has done so many centuries without accident.
Winchester tower fell not long after its building, Peterborough
tower has been rebuilt in modern days; but Paul of Caen did not
scamp his work as the monks of Peterborough did, and no evil-living
king was buried below the tower, as was the case at Winchester,
thus, according to the beliefs of the time, leading to its
downfall. Tewkesbury tower alone can vie with that of St. Albans,
and the Seventeenth Century pinnacles on that tower spoil the
general effect, so that the foremost place among central Norman
towers as we see them to-day may safely be claimed for that at St.
Albans. Few more beautiful architectural objects can be seen than
this tower of Roman brick, especially when the warmth of its colour
is accentuated by the ruddy flush thrown over it by the rays of a
setting sun.”--(T. P.)
The pilgrims to St. Alban’s shrine used to enter by the =North Door of
the Transept=, carrying the candles that they had bought at the Waxhouse
Gate. This Norman doorway, with a Norman window on each side (modern
glass), still exists. The upper part of the north wall with the wheel
window was rebuilt by Lord Grimthorpe.
The nave is immensely long--about a tenth of a mile. It is Norman, grim,
and cold, but impressive.
“As we stand just inside the west door of the church we are struck
by the length of ritual nave, about 200 feet, the flatness of the
roofs, and the massiveness of the arcading dividing the nave from
the aisles; for, though the four western bays on the north side and
five on the south are Early English in date, there is none of that
lightness and grace that we are accustomed to associate with work
of this period, no detached shafts of Purbeck marble such as we see
at Salisbury, no exquisitely carved capitals such
[Illustration: ST. ALBANS: NORTH]
[Illustration: ST. ALBANS: NAVE, EAST]
as we meet with at Wells. William of Trumpington seems to have
aimed at making his work harmonize with the Norman work that he
left untouched; and when the rest of the main arcade on the south
side was rebuilt in the next century, it was made to differ but
little in general appearance and dimensions from Abbot William’s.
“On entering by the west door a peculiarity will at once be
noticed. About fifteen feet from the inner side of the west wall
there is a rise of five steps which stretch right across the church
from north to south. The floor to the east of these steps slopes
imperceptibly upwards for eight bays, when a rise of three more
steps is met with. On this higher level stands the altar, which is
backed up by the rood screen. There is another step to be ascended
to the level of the choir, and another to reach the space below the
tower. Five steps lead from this into the presbytery; there is
another step at the high altar rails, and four more lead up to the
platform on which the high altar will stand. From the space below
the tower one step leads up into the north aisle and two more into
the north arm of the transept. From the level of the south choir
aisle and south transept two steps lead up into the south aisle of
the presbytery; from this aisle there is a rise of four steps into
the aisle south of the Saint’s Chapel, and from this into the
chapel itself a rise of four more. So that the floor of this chapel
is, with the exception of the high altar platform, which is one
step higher, the highest in the whole church, or nineteen steps
above the floor just inside the west door. From the aisle of the
Saint’s Chapel one step leads into the retro-choir, and two more
into the Lady-Chapel; hence the floor of the Lady-Chapel is one
step lower than that of the Saint’s Chapel. If we take seven inches
as the average height of a step, it would appear that the floor of
the Lady-Chapel is about ten feet higher than the floor at the west
end of the nave.”--(T. P.)
The nave is blocked behind the altar with a =Rood screen=, of Fourteenth
Century work, much restored. It is pierced by two doors (also Fourteenth
Century), through which processions passed into the choir. Upon it the
organ is placed.
The eastern part of the nave was rebuilt after the calamity that
happened on St. Paulinus’s Day (October 10), 1323. Mass had just been
celebrated, and the church was still crowded with men, women and
children, when two of the great piers of the main arcade on the south
side fell outwards, crushing the south wall of the aisle and cloisters.
Soon the wooden roof of the nave also fell. Strange to relate nobody was
injured; and although the shrine of St. Amphibalus was damaged, still
the chest that contained his relics suffered no harm.
All this part of the church had to be rebuilt; and, of course, the south
arcade differs from the northern one.
A massive pier, either the original Norman or one rebuilt in the Norman
style, divides the five Early English bays on the west from the
Decorated ones on the east. West we find the characteristic tooth
ornament; and east, the characteristic ball-flower.
When the pestilence was raging in London (only twenty miles away) in
1543, 1589, and 1593, courts of justice were held in this nave. On the
north side a pier bears an inscription to the memory of Sir John
Mandeville, the famous traveller, who was born at St. Albans in the
Fourteenth Century and educated in the monastery school.
The massive piers were coated with plaster and then painted. Each has
traces of the same picture of the Crucifixion, with a second subject
below it. This subject differs on every column. The soffits of the
arches were also bright with colour, so that the severity and plainness
that we now feel were originally missing.
“Although in the four western bays of the main arcade the Early
English work is very plain, yet the triforium is ornate. The
arcading consists of two pointed arches in each bay, each
comprising two sub-arches; the supporting columns are slender and
enriched with dog-tooth mouldings, with which also the
string-course below the triforium is decorated. The shafts, which
probably were intended to support a stone vault over the nave,
should be noticed.
“The triforium over the Norman main arcade consists of large,
wide-splayed, round-headed openings, in which the tracery and
glazing introduced in the Fifteenth Century, when the aisle roof
was lowered in pitch so as to expose the north side of the
triforium to the sky, still remains. One of the triforium arches,
namely, the third from the tower, was simply walled up at this
time, and so retains its original form. The clerestory in this part
of the church consists of plain, round-headed openings. Between
each bay the outer southern face of each Norman pier is continued
in the form of the flat pilaster buttress up to the roof.”--(T. P.)
The piers of the choir, like those of the nave, were originally painted.
So was the ceiling. Wall-paintings were likewise discovered between the
clerestory windows in 1875. The choir-stalls and Bishop’s Throne are
modern. In the south-choir-aisle the tomb of =Roger and Sigar=, two local
hermits, was once a place of pious pilgrimage.
The arches of the =Tower= are fifty-five feet high. The four inside faces
of the lantern contain windows above the arcade, and the ceiling of the
lantern (102 feet from the floor) is painted with the red and white
roses of Lancaster and York, and various coats-of-arms. The effect of
the tower is impressive. The peal consists of eight bells, cast in
London in 1699. Some of the bells have been recast.
Beneath the =Presbytery= notable abbots, monks and laymen were given
burial. The presbytery is divided from the aisles by solid walls, broken
by the Ramryge and Wheathampstead chantries, and two doorways: it is
closed in on the east side by a magnificent screen, constructed during
William of Wallingford’s rule (1476-1484), and generally known as the
=Wallingford Screen=. It is hard to realize that the lace-like canopies,
of which it is composed, are made of stone. The material is clunch, a
hard stone from the lower chalk formation. This great reredos has been
restored of late years and filled with statues. There are no records to
describe or even name the original figures; but those now occupying the
niches, by Mr. H. Hems, of Exeter, are, beginning on the left and
reading downwards: (1) St. Titus, St. Timothy, St. Barnabas, Angel
Gabriel; (2) King Edmund, St. Cuthbert, St. Augustine; (3) St. Oswyn,
St. Giles, St. Cecilia, St. Boniface, St. Katherine, St. David; (4) King
Offa, St. Helen, oak door; (5) St. Ethelbert, St. Leonard, St. Agnes,
St. Nicholas, St. Frideswide, St. Chad; (6) Edward the Confessor, St.
Benedict, St. Alban; (7) Angel, Angel, Angel; (8) Angel, Blessed Virgin
Mary; (9) Crucifix; (10) Angel, St. John; (11) Angel, Angel, Angel; (12)
St. Hugh of Lincoln, St. Patrick, St. Amphibalus; (13) Edward King of
West Saxons, St. Lawrence, St. Lucy, St. Wolfstan, St. Osyth, St.
Alphege; (14) Pope Adrian IV., St. Etheldreda, oak door; (15) St.
George, St. Benedict, Biscop, St. Ethelberga, St. Richard; (17) The
Venerable Bede, St. Germain, St. Erkenwald, St. Margaret, St. Ælfric;
(18) St. Paul, St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Mary the Virgin. Below the
Crucifix stands a row of smaller statues representing Christ and the
Twelve Apostles. On Christ’s right: St. James Minor, St. Philip, St.
John, St. James Major, St. Andrew, St. Peter; and on his left: St.
Thomas, St. Bartholomew, St. Matthew, St. Simon, St. Matthias and St.
Jude.
On the right and left of the altar are chantries. The south one is that
of =John of Wheathampstead=, who was twice Abbot (1420-1440, and
1451-1464). His effigy is robed in full vestments, carries a pastoral
staff and wears a mitre. His rebus--three ears of wheat--and his
motto--_Valles habundabunt_--appear in various places.
On the other side of the steps the handsomer =Ramryge Chantry=
commemorates Abbot Thomas Ramryge, who also has a rebus--a ram wearing a
collar with the letters R. Y. G. E. upon it. He entered office in 1492,
and, strange to relate, no details of his rule are known. The date of
his death is also a blank. Yet here is his fine monument in the
Perpendicular style.
Behind the Wallingford Screen lies the =Saint’s Chapel=, with the =Shrine
of St. Alban= in the centre.
“The bones of St. Alban were of course counted as the chief
treasure of the Abbey, in some respects the most valuable relics in
the kingdom, since they were the bones of the first Christian
martyr in the island. It was meet and fitting, then, that the most
splendid resting-place should be chosen for them. The bones
themselves were enclosed in an outer and an inner case; the inner
was the work of the sixteenth Abbot, Geoffrey of Gorham
(1119-1149), and the outer of the nineteenth Abbot, Symeon
(1167-1183). These coffers were of special metal encrusted with
rich gems. It is recorded that the reliquary was so heavy that it
required four men to carry it, which they probably did by two
poles, each passing through two rings on either side of the coffer.
It is said to have been placed in a lofty position by Abbot Symeon;
but the pedestal of which we see the reconstruction to-day was
erected during the early part of the Fourteenth Century, in the
time of the twenty-sixth Abbot, John de Marinis (1302-1308). This
was built of Purbeck marble and consists of a basement 2 feet 6
inches high, 8 feet 6 inches long, and 3 feet 2 inches wide, above
which were four canopied niches at each side and one at each end;
these were richly painted and probably contained other relics; in
the spandrels were carved figures, at the corners angels censing.
At the west end was a representation of St. Alban’s martyrdom; on
the south side in the centre was, and still is, a figure of King
Offa holding the model of a church; in the next spandrel to the
east the figure of another king; on the east side a representation
of the scourging of St. Alban, and on the north other figures, of
which the only one remaining is that of a bishop or mitred abbot.
In the pediments or gables were carvings of foliage, and round the
top of the pedestal ran a richly-carved cornice; round the base
stood fourteen detached shafts, on which perhaps the movable canopy
rested, and outside three other shafts of twisted pattern on each
side, which carried six huge candles, probably kept burning day and
night, certainly during the night, to light the chamber holding the
shrine. On this lofty pedestal, 8 feet 3 inches high, the glorious
shrine rested. It was rendered still more ornate than it was in
Abbot Symeon’s time by the addition of a silver-gilt turret, on the
lower part of which was a representation of the Resurrection with
two angels and four knights (suggested by the guard of Roman
soldiers) keeping the tomb. A silver-gilt eagle of cunning
craftsmanship stood on the shrine. All these additions were given
by Abbot Thomas de la Mare (1349-1396). A certain monk also gave
two representations of the sun in solid gold, surrounded by rays of
silver tipped with precious stones. Over all was a canopy which,
like many modern font-covers, was probably suspended by a rope
running over a pulley in the roof, by which it might be raised.
There is a mark in the roof remaining, possibly caused by the
fastening of the pulley. An altar, dedicated to St. Alban, stood at
the west end of the pedestal.
“Such a precious thing as this jewelled shrine and the still more
precious bones within it could not be left for a moment unguarded
and unwatched, for stealing relics, when a favourable opportunity
arose, was a temptation too great to be resisted by any monks,
however holy. So on the south side of the shrine was erected a
watching loft; the one that remains was constructed probably during
the reign of Richard II., and his badge appears on it, but, no
doubt, from the first there was some such place provided for the
purpose of keeping guard. The chamber had two stories: the lower
contained cupboards, in which vestments and relics were kept, these
are now filled with various antiquarian curiosities, Roman pottery
from Verulamium, architectural fragments, etc. An oaken staircase
leads up into the chamber where the ‘custos feretri’ sat watching
the shrine day and night, guard of course being changed at
intervals. It must have been trying work watching there during the
night-time in frosty weather, but monks were accustomed to bear
cold. The watching chamber was built of oak and was richly carved.
On the south side of the cornice are angels, the hart--badge of
Richard II., the martyrdom of St. Alban, Time the reaper, and the
seasons; on the north the months of the year are represented.”--(T.
P.)
On the south side is buried =Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester=, son of Henry
IV., brother of Henry V., and uncle of Henry VI. He died in 1447. The
handsome tomb was probably erected by the Abbot Wheathampstead, who was
a great friend of Duke Humphrey’s.
In the north aisle of the Saint’s Chapel we come to the pedestal of the
=Shrine of St. Amphibalus= (see page 362). It stood in the centre of the
retro-choir until Lord Grimthorpe removed it to its present position.
An oak screen separates the Saint’s Chapel from the =Retro-Choir=. This is
Lord Grimthorpe’s work, and through it we pass. The Retro-Choir dates
from the end of the Thirteenth Century, and has been greatly restored.
In the centre once stood the shrine of St. Amphibalus (now removed to
the north aisle of the Saint’s Chapel), and there were several altars:
to Our Lady of the Four Tapers; to St. Michael; to St. Edmund, King and
Martyr; to St. Peter; and to St. Amphibalus.
The =Lady-Chapel=, greatly restored, dates from the latter part of the
Thirteenth and early part of the Fourteenth Centuries. Several changes
of style may be noted. The side windows are fine examples of the
Decorated, and the statuettes ornamenting the jambs and mullions still
remain. The eastern window of five lights is a strange combination of
tracery and tabernacle work. Originally the Lady-Chapel was separated
from the retro-choir by a screen. The glass in the windows is modern,
and the stone vaulting is also modern. Historical associations are
numerous.
Beneath the floor lie the hated Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset,
grandson of John of Gaunt; Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, son of
the famous Hotspur; and Thomas, Lord Clifford: whose bodies were found
lying dead in the streets of St. Albans, after the first battle in 1455,
in which they fell fighting for the Red Rose party.
Beyond the eastern bay on the south side was built the =Chapel of the
Transfiguration=, dedicated in 1430. Of late years this addition was
rebuilt for a vestry. The walls were made lower than the original ones,
so as to show the fine window above that consists of a traceried arch
within a curvilinear triangle, beneath which is a row of niches. Beneath
these is a very fine row of _sedilia_ and _piscinœ_. The carving in the
new chapel is very naturalistic, and represents the poppy, buttercup,
primrose, gooseberry, rose, blackberry, pansy, ivy, maple, and
convolvulus and other local flowers and leaves.
OXFORD
DEDICATION: THE HOLY TRINITY, ST. MARY AND ST. FRIDESWIDE.
SPECIAL FEATURES: CEILING IN CHOIR; WINDOWS; SHRINE OF ST.
FRIDESWIDE.
This Cathedral is peculiar in being almost hidden from sight in a series
of college buildings, gardens and quadrangles. It is the chapel of
Christ Church, as well as a cathedral; and to enter it we have to pass
through the gateway of the famous =Tom Tower=, and across the great
quadrangle, familiarly known as =Tom Quad=.
The big bell =Tom= gives its name to the tower and quadrangle, is seven
feet one inch in diameter, and weighs 17,000 tons. It was brought from
Oseney Abbey with the other bells, the “merry Christ Church bells,” that
now hang in the bell-tower above the =hall staircase=. Tom was recast in
1680.
The lower story of Tom Tower was built by Cardinal Wolsey. The cupola
was added by Sir Christopher Wren. Three sides of the quadrangle were
built by Wolsey, and the north side by Bishop Fell. As we pass through
Tom Tower we note that a statue of Cardinal Wolsey faces St. Aldgate’s,
and a statue of Queen Anne faces the quadrangle.
=Christ Church= is the largest college in the University of Oxford, and
stands on the site of the ancient priory of St. Frideswide.
In 1524 Cardinal Wolsey obtained authority from Henry VIII. and Clement
VIII. to suppress a number of religious houses in various parts of
England, and to appropriate their revenues to the building and endowing
of a College. After he had made considerable progress in the building of
Christ Church he fell into disgrace with the King, who seized the
property and distributed it among his courtiers. At a later period Henry
VIII. refounded the establishment, and added to it the Abbey of Oseney,
which was then the Cathedral of the See of Oxford. Christ Church (the
present Cathedral) was at that time called the College of Henry VIII.,
and was a Collegiate Church. In 1546, on the suppression of Oseney
Abbey, St. Frideswide became the Cathedral Church of Oxford. Oseney is
depicted in the King window (see page 391).