[Illustration: LINCOLN FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo_.]
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF LINCOLN
A HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
OF ITS FABRIC AND A LIST OF
THE BISHOPS
BY A. F. KENDRICK, B.A.
WITH FORTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration: Arms of the See]
LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1902
_First Published July 1898_
_Reprinted, with corrections, 1899, 1902_
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED
EDINBURGH
GENERAL PREFACE
This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the
great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated guide-books
at a popular price. The aim of each writer has been to produce a work
compiled with sufficient knowledge and scholarship to be of value to
the student of Archæology and History, and yet not too technical in
language for the use of an ordinary visitor or tourist.
To specify all the authorities which have been made use of in each case
would be difficult and tedious in this place. But amongst the general
sources of information which have been almost invariably found useful
are:--(1) the great county histories, the value of which, especially
in questions of genealogy and local records, is generally recognised;
(2) the numerous papers by experts which appear from time to time in
the Transactions of the Antiquarian and Archæological Societies; (3)
the important documents made accessible in the series issued by the
Master of the Rolls; (4) the well-known works of Britton and Willis on
the English Cathedrals; and (5) the very excellent series of Handbooks
to the Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John Murray; to which the
reader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail, especially in
reference to the histories of the respective sees.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The literature on the subject of Lincoln Minster is considerable, but
scattered. The valuable researches of the late Precentor Venables published
chiefly in the _Archæological Journal_, claim the first place among
authorities consulted in the preparation of the present handbook. The
works of Freeman, Scott, Rickman, and Parker have also been referred
to. For the Episcopal Visitations, Prebendary Perry's account in the
thirty-eighth volume of the _Archæological Journal_ has been followed;
and for the Inventories of the Treasures, that of Prebendary Wordsworth in
the fifty-third volume of the _Archæologia_. Holinshed's "Chronicles,"
Bright's "Early English Church History," and the topographical works
of Leland, Dugdale, Camden, and Stukeley, contain useful information on
the subject. In the Rolls series, the chronicles of Henry of Huntingdon,
Matthew Paris, Roger de Hoveden, and Giraldus Cambrensis, as well as
the annals of various reigns and the "Magna Vita" of St. Hugh, have been
consulted. A number of old guides in the Library of the British Museum
contain useful MS. notes. Some of the other works referred to have been
acknowledged in the pages of this book.
The author has to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr J. Shillaker and Mr
G. H. Palmer for kind suggestions. Mr P. G. Trendell has prepared the list
of the Bishops, and has given valued help in other ways. The illustrations
are largely taken from photographs reproduced by the kindness of the
Photochrom Co., Messrs S. B. Bolas & Co., Mr F. G. M. Beaumont, and Mr
H. C. Oakden; others are from the Lincoln volume of the Proceedings of
the Archæological Institute (1848).
A. F. K.
_May 1898._
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.--The History of the Building 3
CHAPTER II.--The Exterior 43
The West Front 44
The Western Towers 55
The Galilee Porch 57
The Chapter Archives 59
The Central Tower 59
The Bells in the Central Tower 61
The Presbytery 65
The Chantry Chapels 68
The East End 71
The Minster Yard 74
The Palace of the Bishops 76
The Deanery 78
The Cantelupe Chantry House 78
The Vicars' Court 80
CHAPTER III.--The Interior, including the Cloisters and Chapter-house 82
The Ground Plan 83
The Vestibule 83
The Nave 86
The Nave Pulpit 93
The Central Tower 93
The Western Transept 94
The "Dean's Eye" and the "Bishop's Eye" 96
The Screen 99
St. Hugh's Choir 103
The Choir Stalls 105
The Bishop's Throne and the Pulpit 107
The Reredos 108
The Easter Sepulchre 109
The South Aisle 110
The Shrine of the Little St. Hugh 110
The North Aisle 112
The Eastern Transept 112
The Dean's Chapel 115
The Choristers' Vestry 118
The Angel Choir 121
The Lincoln Imp 125
The Stained Glass 91, 126
The Fleming Chantry 126
The Russell Chantry 128
Bishop Longland's Chantry 128
The Monuments 92, 129
The Cloisters 137
The Library 141
The Chapter-house 144
CHAPTER IV.--List of the Bishops of Lincoln 145
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Lincoln from the South-West _Frontispiece_
The Cathedral from the South-West 2
Old Map of Lincoln 7
Seals of William De Roumara, Earl of Lincoln, and of Ranulph,
Earl of Chester and Lincoln 12
Seal of Henry De Lacy, Earl of Lincoln 13
Monumental Crocket 16
The Cathedral in the Seventeenth Century 21
Early English Pier 25
The West Front and the Exchequer Gate, by P. De Wint 33
The Observatory Tower, Lincoln Castle 39
The Stone Bow 42
The West Front 45
Carved Work of the Central Doorway at the West End 49
The Minster from the Castle, by F. Mackenzie 53
Galilee Porch, and South Side of the Nave 58
The Central Tower, from the South 60
The Minster from the Cloisters, by F. Mackenzie 63
South-East Porch, with the Chantry Chapels of Bishops Longland
and Russell 66
Cast of the Figure of Christ, in the South-East Porch 67
View from the South-East 69
North Doorway of the Angel Choir 73
North Side of the Angel Choir 75
Elevation of the former Chapel of the Bishop's Palace, with
Bishop Alnwick's Tower 77
Plan of the Bishop's Palace, Lincoln, on the level of the Hall Floor 79
View of the Ancient Deanery 80
Part of the Ancient Deanery, with Dean Fleming's Tower 81
Elevation of One Bay on the North Side of the Nave 84
Half Section of the Nave, looking West 85
The Nave, looking West 87
Part of the Double Arcading of St. Hugh 89
The West Transept, looking South 94
Aisle Doorway, North of St. Hugh's Choir 100
The Choir, looking East 101
The East Transept, looking North 113
Triforium on the West Side of St. Hugh's Transept 117
North Side of the Angel Choir 119
East End of the Angel Choir 123
The Lincoln Imp 125
Triforium of the Angel Choir 127
Tomb of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh 133
Bishop Wordsworth's Tomb 138
The Cloisters, from the North-East Corner 139
Arcade in the Chapter-house 141
Capital in the Chapter-house 142
The Chapter-house 143
PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL 150
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE SOUTH-WEST.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
LINCOLN CATHEDRAL
CHAPTER I
THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING
The venerable walls of Lincoln Minster look down from their proud position
upon a city far more ancient than themselves. Long before the arrival of
the Saxons and Angles, the spot on which Lincoln Minster and Castle stand,
had been occupied by a settlement bearing a name which has survived through
various changes to the present day. "Lincoln" is "Lindum Colonia": the
latter word dates from the Roman occupation of Britain, and is sufficient
to show the importance of the city at such an early period; the former
carries us back further still to the times of the ancient Britons, whose
dwelling on the "dun" or hill, was named "Llin-dun," from the "llin"
or mere at its foot. The hill is that on which the minster now stands,
and the mere still survives in the harbour of Brayford. The limits of the
Roman city on the summit of the hill were marked by massive quadrangular
walls, of which fragments may be seen at the present day. These walls
were pierced with four gates; the position of the east and west gates
is marked by the streets bearing these names; the southern gateway was
still in existence at the beginning of the eighteenth century, but was
battered down by a man named Houghton about the year 1707. The old Roman
road to the north still passes under the northern or "Newport" gate.
The city occupied a proud position, and its importance in Roman times is
shewn by the fact that it was the meeting-point of five main roads, two of
which, the Foss Way and Ermine Street, met a little south of the present
church of St. Botolph, and formed what is now the High Street of the
city. Remains of Roman Lincoln are abundant, and some are preserved within
the minster precincts. Passing on to the time of the Saxons, we read that
the indefatigable missionary Paulinus, Bishop of York, journeyed into the
neighbouring district of Lindsey, and "preached in the old Roman hill-town
of Lincoln." His labour was rewarded by the conversion (about the year 628)
of its "prefect" Blaecca, who immediately set about building "a stone
church of noble workmanship" for the use of the converts to the new faith.
But it is not directly to the preaching of Paulinus, nor to the energy of
Blaecca, that we owe the foundation of the minster. The "stone church" is
now almost certainly represented by the church of St. Paul, in Bailgate, a
church which still retains the name, though in a corrupted form, of the
first great Christian missionary to the people of Lincoln. In this church
Honorius was consecrated by Paulinus to succeed Justus as Archbishop of
Canterbury. The little village of Stow, eleven miles to the north-west of
the city, has been identified by Professor Freeman as "the ancient
Sidnacester," and can thus claim to be the original seat of the diocese of
Lincoln. The venerable church of St. Mary at Stow was called by Camden "the
mother-church to Lincoln." In the year 678, when the huge Northumbrian
diocese of Wilfrid was divided, Egfrid of Northumbria built a church at
Sidnacester. This church was made the "bishopstool" of the new diocese of
Lindsey, and the line of bishops may be traced for two hundred years, from
Eadhed to Berhtred. During the bishopric of the latter, about the year 870,
the church at Stow was burnt in an invasion of the Northmen, and in
consequence of their ravages the see remained vacant for a period of eighty
years. Lincoln itself fell into the hands of the invaders, and became the
chief of the "Five Boroughs" of the Danish Confederation. From this time
until the Norman invasion the borough continued to be governed by its
twelve hereditary Danish law-men. About the middle of the tenth century,
the seat of the bishops of this district was removed for security to
Dorchester-on-Thames, in the very farthest corner of the vast diocese,
where it was protected by the fortified camp. The Mercian see of Leicester
was here united with that of Sidnacester, and in the next century Eadnoth,
the second of the name, is styled Bishop of Dorchester, Leicester, and
Sidnacester. The little city by the Thames was not long to enjoy the honour
of being the "bishopstool" of the largest diocese in England. As the Saxons
gave way before their Norman conquerors, the Saxon bishop of Dorchester
was succeeded by the Norman bishop of Lincoln. William the Conqueror
brought many prelates in his train, and not the least conspicuous among
them was Remigius, who was destined soon to share largely in the spoils
of the newly-conquered country. This man was Almoner of Fécamp on the
coast of Normandy. His offer, for the projected invasion, of a single
ship with twenty knights, procured him the promise of the first English
bishopric vacant, and the Conqueror redeemed his word on the death of
Wulfwig, Bishop of Dorchester. In the first years of his episcopate,
Remigius commenced to build on a stately scale at Dorchester, but it
seemed to him inconvenient, so Henry of Huntingdon records, that the
see should be in a corner of the diocese. Remigius had already begun to
look on the "distinguished city of Lincoln" as being more worthy to be
the seat of a bishop, when in the year 1072 a council held at Windsor
decreed that bishops should fix their sees in walled towns instead of
villages. Remigius would naturally turn to the district of Lindsey, whence
his predecessors had come, and with his choice of Lincoln begins the
history of our minster. The city at this time, according to the Domesday
record, boasted eleven hundred and sixty inhabited houses. The Conqueror,
"in feare of rebellious commotions," had already commenced the erection
of a castle there to overawe the surrounding country. For this purpose,
one hundred and sixty-six houses were destroyed on the top of the hill,
within the bounds of the Roman walls. Their inhabitants were driven
beyond the Witham to found a new town in the plain beneath, where the
land belonged to Coleswegen, an English favourite of the king. The towers
of St. Mary-le-Wigford and St. Peter-at-Gowts stand to this day as the
venerable relics of the churches built by him for these new tenants of
his estate. They are extremely valuable records, being monuments of the
earlier--Saxon--style of architecture, reared by Englishmen, while the
castle and cathedral in the more advanced Norman style were rising on
the height above.
The following is Henry of Huntingdon's account of the transference of the
see, translated by Precentor Venables:--"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." The transference of the see must have taken place between
1072 and 1075, since at the council held in the former year at Windsor,
Remigius signed himself "Episcopus Dorcacensis," and three years later
at the council of London "Episcopus Lincolniensis." Lincoln thus became
the centre of a diocese comprising an enormous area, including the ten
following counties:--Lincoln, Northampton, Rutland, Leicester, Cambridge,
Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, Oxford and Hertford. In the strong city
beneath the massive walls of William's castle, Remigius could build in
safety, not hindered, as his predecessors at Stow had been, by the fear
of fierce invaders from across the sea.
The piece of ground purchased by Remigius lay a few hundred yards to the
east of William's castle, just within the Roman wall of the upper city. It
was the site of an earlier church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, which
was no doubt entirely destroyed to make room for the prouder edifice
of Remigius, and for the next 250 years, the parishioners of St. Mary
Magdalene retained the right of assembling in the nave of the minster. The
building thus served a double purpose until the time of Bishop John de
Dalderby (1300-20), who completed the arrangements begun by his predecessor
for the union of the parish of St. Mary Magdalene with that of All Saints.
[Illustration: OLD MAP OF LINCOLN.
(From Stukeley's _Itinerarium Curiosum_, 1722.)]
The church of Remigius was cruciform, with a short eastern limb,
terminating in a semi-circular apse, which, unlike those of Norwich and
Gloucester, was destitute of aisles. In the west front, with its three deep
and lofty arches, and its two niche-like recesses, we still see the work of
the first bishop, but the structure has been twice extended in an easterly
direction--once by Bishop Hugh of Avalon, who built the present choir;
and the second time to receive that bishop's miracle-working relics,
and to afford room for the large and increasing throng of pilgrims
that visited his shrine. The existing portions of the fabric built by
Remigius are the west front, part of the first bay of the nave, and the
side walls now enclosed in Early English chapels. The black basalt font
in the nave is of the same period. On the erection of St. Hugh's choir,
at the end of the twelfth century, the whole eastern limb of the original
structure was removed. But the foundations remained, and were discovered
in 1852 by Mr. T. J. Willson, architect, of Lincoln, under the floor
of the present choir. The apse was found to have extended a little way
beyond where the litany-stool now stands in the choir. The foundations of
the lateral walls were also laid bare for some distance. Just beyond the
springing of the apse on the north side, there are traces of a pilaster
buttress, and on the inside of the lateral walls, sixteen feet from the
springing of the apse, the foundations still exist of the piers of the
great transverse arch which divided the presbytery from the choir of
the Norman church. The measurement of these foundations, as well as the
still-existing west front, are sufficient to show the sturdy strength
of the early church. The walls of the apse must have been about eight
feet thick. There appears to have been a lantern of some kind over the
crossing, since the tower which fell in 1237-9 was called _Nova turris_.
The edifice was begun and completed by the energetic bishop, and was ready
for consecration within twenty years of its commencement. To judge from
the portions yet remaining, the building must have been severely plain;
not a moulding softens down the rugged edges in those parts which are
still as Remigius left them. But it was solid and strong, built to stand
the wear and tear of many centuries. In fact, so like a fortress was it,
that Stephen used it as such fifty years after, when the castle opposite
was held by his enemies. Precentor Venables thus gives the dimensions
of Remigius' church--300 feet in interior length, 160 feet less than at
present; 28 feet in breadth, as against 38 feet at present, and 60 feet
in height to the level of the ceiling. The roof was undoubtedly of wood,
and probably a flat one of painted boards, like those of the transepts at
Peterborough. The contemporary church at Canterbury, built by the primate
Lanfranc, was roofed in this way. The present nave is 82 feet high,
and the choir 74 feet; the comparison of these dimensions with those
already given shew that the old church was in every way smaller. And
this is only natural. In Norman churches, the stalls for the choir and
clergy were usually placed under the lantern or in the first bays of the
nave, as at Westminster, Norwich, Winchester and other places. For this
and for other reasons the naves were long. The eastern limbs, however,
were short, and it remained for later builders to extend them for the
transference of the stalls to this part, and to erect Lady Chapels beyond.
Remigius was not destined to witness the consecration of the cathedral he
had reared. At the council of Windsor in the year 1072, Thomas, archbishop
of York, had laid claim to a jurisdiction over the diocese of Lindsey,
which claim had been disallowed. When the question of the consecration of
the new cathedral arose, Thomas renewed his pretensions, and the ceremony
was thus delayed. We learn from Roger de Hoveden that Remigius, feeling
the day of his death draw near, wished to have the church consecrated
as soon as possible, and that Rufus was finally won over by a sum of
money from the bishop. A date was fixed, the 9th of May, 1092, and all
the bishops throughout the country were summoned to be present for the
occasion. But on Ascension-day, three days before, Remigius died. He
was buried in his own church, before the Altar of the Holy Cross, which
stood in front of the screen that carried the rood. The character of
the energetic bishop is given in a few words by the historian Henry of
Huntingdon--small in stature, but great of heart, swarthy in colour,
but comely in deeds (_statura parvus, sed corde magnus, colore fuscus,
sed operibus venustus_). His successor was Robert Bloet, Chancellor to
William Rufus, but Thomas of York objected to his consecration as bishop
of Lincoln. "He might be Bishop of Dorchester, like his predecessors;
but Lindesey, part of the spiritual conquest of Paulinus, was of ancient
right subject to the metropolitan authority of York. This claim came to
nothing, and Thomas found better scope for his energies in the reform
of his own church." [1] A present from Bloet of £5000 to the king set
matters right, and the ceremony so long delayed was at last performed.
The bishop does not appear to have made any addition to the fabric before
his death, which occurred suddenly, while riding with the king in a
"deer-fold" at Woodstock (10th January 1123). It was quite otherwise
with his successor, Alexander the Magnificent, nephew of the princely
Roger of Salisbury. Alexander had already shewn his love of building by
the erection of strong castles at Newark, Banbury and Sleaford, when
a fire which destroyed the roof of the cathedral about the year 1141,
gave him an opportunity of exercising his talent in a direction more
fitting to his office. Giraldus Cambrensis relates that in this fire
the burning beams fell from the roof and broke the slab of Remigius'
tomb. This fact is interesting as adding support to the opinion that the
slab now replaced in the nave of the minster was really that which covered
the original burial-place of the bishop. Of the stone vaulting with which
Alexander replaced the wooden roof after the fire, not a fragment remains;
but the lines of the vault may be traced at the western end of the nave
and against the two west towers. In addition to this, we learn from Henry
of Huntingdon that he so remodelled the church by his "subtle artifice,"
that it looked more beautiful than in "its first newness," and was not
surpassed by any building in England. The difference between the work
of Remigius and Alexander is well seen in the west front, where the
three great uncompromising arches of the earlier bishop are pierced
by the rich and elaborate doorways of the later. We are fairly safe in
assigning these to Alexander, and they probably formed part of the work
he did, according to Roger de Hoveden, in the year 1146. The intersecting
Norman arcade along the west front, just above the work of Remigius, may
also be ascribed to Alexander, as well as the lower portions of the two
western towers. The connection of these towers with the original west
front was unfortunately hidden by the erection of the present Gothic
screen-wall. It will be noticed, however, that gables are added at the
sides to the Norman work, and traces may be seen which prove that similar
gables decorated their western faces. There was probably another gable
of larger dimensions in the centre. Precentor Venables thus conjectured
the appearance of the west front as begun by Remigius and completed
by Alexander: "It was furnished with three gables, like the façade
of the cathedral of Ferrara, behind which rose the low Norman towers
still existing, richly ornamented with three tiers of arcades, ... and
terminated with low spires of timber covered with lead, similar to those
which once covered the western towers of Durham, or those still nearer,
which have recently been replaced, with happy effect, at Southwell. The
angular turrets would also be terminated in a similar manner, giving a
picturesque combination of spires."
In the time of the "magnificent" bishop, Lincoln was the scene of stirring
events, in which the minster played a curious part. The lamentable war
between Stephen and Matilda produced a miserable state of confusion
and bloodshed in every corner of the land. The strong castle of Lincoln
was seized by William de Roumara, Earl of Lincoln, and Ranulph, Earl of
Chester, and held for Matilda. The citizens and Bishop Alexander sent word
to the king, who hastened to their relief. The king's eye fell on the
massive walls of the minster, in such a convenient position opposite the
stronghold of the earls. The sacred fabric was seized, and, according to
William of Malmesbury, garrisoned as a fortress. Such a proceeding could
bring no good fortune to the king, and omens of evil soon followed. As
he offered a wax candle in the minster, Henry of Huntingdon tells us,
it broke just when Bishop Alexander was about to take it. The chain too,
by which the pyx was suspended, snapped asunder, and the sacred vessel
fell, in the presence of the bishop. The decisive contest took place
soon after; Stephen was left a captive in the hands of his enemies,
and the city was taken and plundered. Two years before these events,
in 1139, Alexander and his uncle Roger, bishop of Salisbury, had been
treacherously seized by the king, and deprived of their treasures and
castles. Roger died insane at the end of the same year, and Alexander
regained his liberty on resigning his castles.
In 1144 Stephen was again at Lincoln, besieging the castle, where his
enemies repulsed every attack. Two years later, at Christmas time, the king
appeared crowned within the city, in defiance of an ancient superstition
which foretold evil to any English sovereign who should do so. Eleven years
after, Henry II. out of deference to this tradition, was crowned outside
the walls, in the suburb of Wikeford. In 1167, on the death of Bishop
Chesney, the king seized the revenues, and the see remained vacant for
many years. A prophecy that it would never again be filled seemed likely
to prove true, when Geoffrey Plantagenet, a natural son of the king, was
elected in 1173. He was never consecrated, and resigned nine years later.
During his term of office, Geoffrey gave to the minster "two great sonorous
bells," which were probably hung in one of the western towers.
[Illustration: Seals of William De Roumara, Earl of Lincoln, and of
Ranulph, Earl of Chester and Lincoln.]
The fabric of the church is considered to have remained as left by
Alexander until the year 1185. On the 15th April of this year occurred the
great earthquake mentioned by Roger de Hoveden. He tells us that it was
felt throughout almost the whole of England, and was of such a severity
as had not been known in the land "_ab initio mundi_." The minster was
cleft from the top to the bottom.
The disasters of this year were more than compensated in the next, when a
man was consecrated to the bishopric who has left a name as great as any
that figure in the ecclesiastical history of England. St. Hugh of Lincoln
was a son of a Lord of Avalon, near Grenoble. At an early age he entered
a priory, a dependency of the cathedral church of Grenoble, and near
his father's castle and land. About 1160 he was received into the Grand
Chartreuse, where he became eventually the procurator or bursar. Henry
II. of England, hearing of his fame, sent the bishop of Bath and other
ambassadors to the great Carthusian monastery, begging that Hugh should
come to England, and take charge of the newly-established monastery of the
Carthusians at Witham in Somersetshire. The prior was not at all inclined
to part with Hugh, but the matter was settled by the bishop of Grenoble,
and Hugh crossed over to England.
[Illustration: Seal of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln.]
At Witham Hugh became a great favourite with the king, who, about ten years
after his arrival in this country, offered him the vacant bishopric of
Lincoln. The prior was not, however, dazzled by the prospect of a bishop's
mitre, and the king had to tax his persuasive powers before he could
induce him to exchange Witham for Lincoln. When once installed, Hugh, like
Thomas of Canterbury, soon made it clear that he would become no tool in
the hands of the king. Henry's chief forester was excommunicated for an
offence against the church, and Hugh refused to bestow a vacant prebend
on a courtier recommended by the king. The bishop was summoned to the
royal presence, Henry instructing his courtiers not to salute him when he
entered. Hugh found the king sewing a bandage round a wounded finger, and
apparently so occupied as not to notice his approach. The bishop, not at
all disconcerted, made some witty remark about the king reminding him of
his ancestor of Falaise; whereupon Henry burst into laughter, and explained
the joke to his courtiers. In the year 1198, in a council held at Oxford,
Hugh and the bishop of Salisbury stood alone in opposing a grant for the
king's foreign wars; "the saint of Lincoln, grown into an Englishman on
English ground, spoke up for the laws and rights of Englishmen." Richard
was furious, and ordered the confiscation of his property; but Hugh stood
firm, and the king at last gave way. Yet this dignified assertion of his
rights was not accompanied by an arrogant spirit. The miracles which,
in an ignorant and superstitious age, were attributed to many who had a
reputation for piety, were strenuously disclaimed by him. Such was the
man who, in 1186, became bishop of the vast diocese of Lincoln.
The building was in a most deplorable state, and Hugh had thus an
opportunity of becoming, so to speak, the second founder of the church.
He quickly resolved to commence the building entirely afresh from
the foundations. The sum of money necessary for this purpose was large,
and Hugh proposed to retire to Witham until the accumulated revenues of
the see should reach the amount required. Although he was not permitted
to do this, he often visited the little Somersetshire monastery, where he
would remain for a month or two at a time, doing the duties of a simple
monk, and practising all the austerities of the Carthusian order. For six
years Hugh diligently collected the materials for carrying out his great
scheme, and at last the foundations of a new choir were laid. The year
1192 marks an epoch, not only in the history of Lincoln Minster, and of
English architecture, but in that of Gothic architecture generally. "What
Diocletian did at Spalato for the round arch, Saint Hugh did at Lincoln for
the pointed arch.... We have seen how, while the elder church of Remigius
was rising in the stern grandeur of early Norman times, men were still
found who clave to the older traditions of independent England. So, while
its eastern limb was giving way to the new form which rose at the bidding
of Saint Hugh, men were still rearing the naves of Peterborough and Ely,
works which shew in their details some signs of the change which was
beginning, but which, in their leading lines and proportions, vary not at
all from the earlier works which they continue." "St. Hugh was strictly the
first to design a building in which the pointed arch should be allowed full
play, and should be accompanied by an appropriate system of detail.... To
Hugh of Avalon, neither from the West-Saxon nor the Ducal-Burgundian
Avalon, ... French and English forms would be alike foreign, and he
doubtless gave full play to the taste of his architect, a taste which did
nothing less than develop on the soil of Lindesey the first complete and
pure form of the third great form of architecture, the architecture of the
pointed arch." [2] Who was this architect? What nation did he belong to?
These questions are of considerable interest. The first it is easy to
answer. In the "_Magna Vita_" of St. Hugh we read that the architect was
Geoffrey de Noyers (_Gaufrido de Noiers_). The name certainly looks like
that of a foreigner, but from a letter contributed by M. Viollet le Due to
the _Gentleman's Magazine_ in May 1861, we must conclude that he was in all
respects an Englishman, though doubtless of foreign descent. The letter
contains such interesting remarks on the characteristic differences between
French and English Gothic, that it may be worth while to quote it in full--
"I expected from what I had heard in England to find at Lincoln the French
style of architecture, that is to say, some constructions of the end of
the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth which would
shew the evident influence of a French architect. But after the most
careful examination I could not find in any part of the cathedral of
Lincoln, neither in the general design, nor in any part of the system of
architecture adopted, nor in the details of ornament, any trace of the
French school of the twelfth century (the lay school from 1170 to 1220),
so plainly characteristic of the Cathedrals of Paris, Noyon, Senlis,
Chartres, Sens, and even Rouen. The part of the cathedral of Lincoln in
which the influence of the French school has been supposed to be found,
has no resemblance to this. I speak of the choir. On the exterior the
choir of the cathedral of Lincoln is thoroughly English, or Norman if you
will: one can perceive all the Norman influence; arches acutely pointed,
blank windows in the clerestory, reminding one of the basilica covered
with a wooden roof; a low triforium; each bay of the aisles divided into
two by a small buttress; shafts banded. In the interior, vaults which
have not at all the same construction as the French vaults of the end
of the twelfth century; arch-mouldings slender, and deeply undercut;
the abacus round; the tooth-ornament; which do not at all resemble the
ornaments which we find at Paris, Sens, St. Denis, &c.
"As to the large rose window of the north transept, which is said to
have been executed between 1190 and 1200, without disputing that date,
which appears to me rather an early one for it, I cannot consider it as
a French composition. In the first place, I do not know a rose window of
that period in France which is divided into four compartments; the centre
of this window does not resemble the arrangement adopted in France;
and as to the decoration with small roses which cover the mouldings,
they are a very characteristic English ornament.
"Nowhere in France do we find between 1190 and 1200 pillars similar to
those at Lincoln, with the crockets placed between the shafts; nowhere
in France do we find crockets carved like these; nowhere shafts with
hexagonal concave section; nowhere capitals or abacus similar to those
of these pillars.
[Illustration: Monumental Crocket.]
"Moreover, I confess that I cannot believe readily in the date of 1190 to
1200 for the different parts of this choir; but that the date of 1220, or
1210 at the earliest, seems to me to agree better with the architectural
character. We have in Normandy, especially in the cathedral of Rouen and
the church of Eu, architecture of the date of 1190; it is purely French,
that is to say, it corresponds exactly with the architecture of the 'Isle
de France' except in certain details. At Eu, at the cathedral of Le Mans,
at Seez, we have architecture which resembles that of the choir of Lincoln,
but that architecture is from 1210 to 1220, it is the Norman school of the
thirteenth century. There is, indeed, at Lincoln, an effort at, a tendency
to originality, a style of ornament which attempts to emancipate itself;
nevertheless the character is purely Anglo-Norman.
"The construction is English, the profiles of the mouldings are English,
the ornaments are English, the execution of the work belongs to the
English school of workmen of the beginning of the thirteenth century."
Sir G. G. Scott was entirely in agreement with the eminent French authority
on this point. And the matter was summed up by Precentor Venables in the
following words[3]:--"Regarding the choir and eastern transept of Lincoln,
as we are fully justified in doing, as an English work, great and peculiar
interest attaches to it as the earliest dated example of pure Gothic
architecture, without any lingering trace of Transitional feeling;
the first perfect development of what is known as the Early English
style. Other examples of this style might, it is true, were their dates
known, prove to have been earlier in execution. But their exact age
is unrecorded, and Lincoln stands the foremost of all whose dates we
know. Its fully developed style makes the work at first sight, as Sir
G. G. Scott has said, seem almost 'an anachronism,' and has caused some,
especially M. Viollet le Due, to imagine that it must be 'antedated.' But
there is no building in England of which the precise age is more certainly
known, and of the date of which the evidence is more indisputable. No
one has ever doubted the early date of Bishop de Lucy's eastern chapels
at Winchester. The commencement of these is placed by Professor Willis
on documentary evidence in 1202, only ten years after the foundation
of the Lincoln choir, while their character is even more advanced than
that which is found at Lincoln. One leading characteristic of advance at
Lincoln is the circular abacus of the columns, which is found throughout."
The work of St. Hugh at Lincoln is of such extraordinary importance to the
student of architecture, that it may be well to closely follow an eminent
authority in tracing the parts which date from this bishop's time. J. H.
Parker, who remarked that the architecture of Lincoln Minster was his
favourite study for thirty years, carefully investigated the matter, and
the results were published in the 43rd volume of the _Archæologia_. He
says that "the work of the time of St. Hugh, A.D. 1192-1200, is pure early
English Gothic, and is the earliest building of that style in the world.
The French have nothing so early, not even in the royal domain, which is
usually cried up as the district of the earliest Gothic in the world.
The best-informed French archæologists admit that they have nothing of
the character of Lincoln for twenty or thirty years after the time of
St. Hugh.... The portion of the cathedral (erected by St. Hugh) consists
of the choir ... the aisles to it and the smaller or eastern transept,
with the apsidal chapels on the eastern side of that, also two bays on
each side of the chancel arch in the great transept; but the walls of
the eastern side of that transept only--the the two ends with the wheel
windows and the western walls of the transept are of later periods. The
original work had thin walls only, with flat buttresses on the outside,
and one of the elegant wall-arcades on the lower part of the inside,
making the wall still thinner." Mr. Parker also considered that the
vaults were insertions of subsequent periods, and that the original
building had only a timber roof and a flat wooden ceiling, similar to
that which remains at Peterborough. "When the vaults were added it was
found necessary to make the walls thicker, and this was done by a casing
on the inside; but the builders being unwilling to conceal the beautiful
wall-arcade, made another similar to it in the lower part of the new
inner wall, exactly like the earlier one against which it is built, but
in such a manner as not to conceal it. This arrangement is proved by a
flat vertical joint up the middle of the wall, ... not content with this,
when the vaults were inserted the architect also placed vaulting-shafts
to help to carry those of the aisles, and these descend to the ground.
This accounts for the three shafts one in front of the other, which have
so long been a puzzle to architects and to students of architectural
history. The walls were further strengthened by solid square buttresses
built up against the flat ones; these now strong buttresses receive
and support the thrust of the vault of the choir, which is carried over
the aisle by flying buttresses, with circular openings over the vault
of the aisle, built against the inner flat buttress of the inner wall,
which had been sufficient to carry the wooden roof, but would not have
carried the vault." It may be well to remark here that some authorities
have not agreed with Mr. Parker with respect to the stone vault and the
double wall-arcade, but have considered that the intention was from the
beginning to construct them as they now are seen.
In addition to the work still existing, St. Hugh united the north and
south limbs of his eastern transept by a most remarkable apse. To learn
the character of this work we must again trace the foundations beneath the
floor. In the year 1791 the choir and presbytery were repaved, when parts
of the foundations of Hugh's apse were discovered. The Rev. John Carter,
who was master of the Lincoln Grammar School at the time, made a sketch and
notes of the discovery. The drawing was lithographed and published in the
"Associated Societies' Reports" for 1857. Far more important revelations
were made in 1886, when it became necessary to take up a portion of the
pavement at the south-west end of the south aisle of the presbytery.
Precentor Venables had long desired an opportunity of investigating on
this spot, and readily gave permission to have the pavement removed,
at the same time instructing that an effort should be made to find the
foundations of the destroyed apse. The work began in November, and in
consequence of the discovery of part of the south wall, it was decided
to systematically proceed with the investigations. The result was highly
satisfactory. A detailed account was published in the _Archæological
Journal_ for 1887, vol. xliv. From this it appears that the apse was
almost in the form of a triangle, of which the apex was cut off by a short
wall, so as to form a half-hexagon with two long sides, and a shorter one
at the end. In each of the longer sides were two chapels, the walls of one
in the form of three-fourths of a circle, having a diameter of 18 feet,
and the other, a smaller one, having straight side walls and rounded ends;
a half-hexagonal chapel with an internal diameter of 23 feet occupied the
centre of the apse at the extreme east. It was at first thought that the
smaller chapels at the sides might indicate stair-turrets, which would
occupy a similar position to those in the apse at Peterborough, but no
trace of the foundations of a newel could be found in either case. The
apse extended to the second bay of the present Angel Choir, 48 feet short
of its eastern end. Throughout almost the whole of the investigations,
only the rude concrete foundations were found remaining, their upper
surface being about 16 or 17 inches below the existing pavement; in parts,
however, fragments of the walling were also discovered.
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 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 November 1200, Hugh breathed his last,
lying, as he had wished, on the bare ground, on a cross of consecrated
ashes. "A more self-denying, earnest, energetic, and fearless bishop
has seldom, if ever, ruled the diocese of Lincoln, or any other diocese
whatever" (_Dimock_). 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 northernmost of these chapels was the site
of his tomb. The chapel was greatly enlarged about twenty years after
Hugh's death, by the removal of the apse and the extension of the side
walls about 50 feet, the chapel being finished with a square east wall.[4]
This fact would certainly add support to the theory that Hugh was buried
here, the enlarged chapel forming a sort of intermediate stage between the
narrow apse and the splendid Angel Choir. But Mr. T. J. Willson has pointed
out[5] that this place was hardly large enough to be a chapel at all,
especially as it had a doorway in the north wall, leading from the common
room. He considers that the altar of St. John the Baptist was in the
central chapel of the great apse, corresponding to its later position in
the Angel Choir, and that the coffin found in the north side of this
chapel, when the pavement was removed in the year 1886, was the original
tomb of St. Hugh. The words "_a boreali ipsius aedis regione_" would then
refer, not to the northern side of the church, but merely to the northern
side of the chapel in which the bishop was buried. Mr. Willson's assumption
certainly throws light on one difficulty, that the northern chapel was
called by Bishop Sanderson and others "_capella beatae Mariae Virginis_."
The matter is of no great importance, since neither of the chapels exists
as it was at the time of Hugh's burial, and whichever of them contained his
remains, it did not hold them long. Roger de Hoveden records that King
John, on the day before the funeral, offered a golden chalice at the altar
of St. John the Baptist, _quod est in novo opere_.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
(From an Old Print.)]
Of all the great names connected with Lincoln, none are worthy of higher
honour than that of the sainted bishop, whose zeal and energy has left so
conspicuous a mark on the present fabric, whose shrine was a continual
source of revenue for more than three centuries, and whose memory will
be revered as long as the walls of Lincoln Minster shall stand.
Although it is somewhat uncertain where the bishop's body was laid, some
interesting details of the ceremony have been recorded. Hugh having died in
London, the hearse travelled by road to Lincoln, where it was met by King
John himself, attended by a numerous retinue of counts and barons. Three
archbishops and thirteen bishops were also present at the ceremony. The
body was borne by the king and his nobles to the entrance of the minster,
where it was received by the archbishops and bishops, who carried it
on their shoulders to the choir. The entombment took place next day
(24th November). _O quantus luctus omnium, O quanta lamenta, praecipue
clericorum._
An old legend relates that, at the burial of St. Hugh,
"A' the bells o' merrie Lincoln
Without men's hands were rung,
And a' the books o' merrie Lincoln
Were read without man's tongue;
And ne'er was such a burial
Sin' Adam's days begun."
The work of St. Hugh at Lincoln is chiefly of importance as marking
an epoch in the history of Gothic architecture. As the earliest known
example of the pointed style carried out consistently in its details,
the choir of Lincoln Minster cannot be too carefully studied. Close
attention will, of course, make more evident its defects; the stone vault,
which has the appearance of being all askew, is especially unsuccessful,
but the perfection of the Angel Choir could not be attained all at once,
and the faults of the earlier work serve but to emphasise the beauties
of the later.
At Hugh's death the work did not lie neglected long, if at all. A letter
was issued in December 1205, appealing for help on behalf of the _novum
opus_ at Lincoln. The "Brotherhood of the Church of Lincoln" was offered to
those who would contribute; in this way they became enrolled for a certain
number of years among those who were specially named in the prayers of the
church. The western transept was completed during the early years of the
thirteenth century, and the nave constructed, replacing the Norman work of
Remigius. The designers here profited by the experience of the past. The
vaulting shews a great improvement, and the whole work is of such superior
skill as to earn the high praise of the late Professor Freeman, who says
that "there are few grander works in the style of the thirteenth century
than Lincoln nave, few that shew greater boldness of construction and
greater elegance of detail." The nave appears to have been carried steadily
onwards to the completion of the first five bays, at which point a curious
irregularity is perceptible. The vault suddenly falls two feet lower,
and its axis is turned slightly northwards, ultimately falling in with the
old west front. The span of the last two bays is also lessened. Perhaps a
slight error was made in the direction of the nave at first, which became
more evident as time went on, so as to necessitate the change. It has,
however, also been suggested that the first intention may have been
to remove the west front of Remigius altogether, and to build another
at a somewhat different angle farther westwards. If this was the case,
economical reasons probably occasioned the change of design, and secured
the preservation of a most interesting relic of Remigius' church. It should
be remarked that some authorities consider these narrow bays to be no later
than the others, and that the work was carried on at both ends of the nave
simultaneously, finally meeting towards the middle. There is no document
remaining which records the precise date of the erection of the nave at
Lincoln, but it would not be difficult to shew that the first half of the
thirteenth century practically covers the whole period of its construction.
Very little, if any at all, can have been built before the death of St.
Hugh in the year 1200, and it was undoubtedly finished before the Angel
Choir was begun in 1255. Precentor Venables mentions that Bishop Hugh de
Wells, in his will dated 1233, bequeaths 100 marks to the fabric of his
church at Lincoln, as well as all the felled timber of which he might die
possessed, through all his episcopal estates. He draws the conclusion
that the legacy of so large a quantity of timber points to there being a
good deal of roofing going on at the time. A new central tower was also
begun about this time; it fell in 1237-9, and was replaced by a third,
which still stands.
As the new nave was approaching completion, the bishopric of Lincoln was
conferred on a man who was destined to play a part second only to that of
St. Hugh in the history of the diocese. It has been said that probably no
one had greater influence on English thought and literature for the next
two centuries than Robert Grosseteste, the friend of Roger Bacon. It is
to Grosseteste that Tyssyngton refers when he speaks of "_Lincolniensis,
cujus comparatio ad omnes doctores modernos est velut comparatio solis
ad lunam quando eclipsatur._" Of humble birth, Grosseteste rose to be
one of the greatest scholars of his day, and the boldest defender of
the rights and liberties of the Church of England. In the first year
of his episcopacy (1235) he visited the monastic establishments of his
diocese, and found it necessary to remove no fewer than seven abbots and
four priors. Such a proceeding was, of course, much resented, but when the
bishop meditated a still bolder stroke, and contemplated a Visitation
of the cathedral, the opposition was brought to a climax. He says:
"In my first circuit some came to me finding fault and saying, 'My Lord,
you are doing a thing new and unaccustomed.' To whom I answered 'Every
novelty which does good to a man is a blessed novelty.'" Grosseteste wrote
a pamphlet in defence of his claim, in answer to which the cathedral body
produced a charter, altogether a forgery, purporting to give authority
to the dean to govern all things, requiring an appeal to the bishop
only if his own discipline failed. The matter was referred to the Pope,
and finally decided by a Bull of Innocent IV., in 1245, in the bishop's
favour. Amongst his reforms was the suppression of the "execrable custom"
known as the "Feast of Fools," when the "House of God" was turned into
a "house of joking, scurrility, and trifling." It was enjoined that
the minster authorities should "by no means permit to be holden this
Feast of Fools, since it is full of vanity and defiled with pleasures,
in the church of Lincoln on the venerable feast of the Circumcision of
our Lord." But there were troubles to come from higher quarters still;
Grosseteste had put his hand to the plough, and was determined not to look
back. Six years after his triumph over the chapter, he was temporarily
suspended by the Pope for refusing to induct an Italian, ignorant of the
English tongue, into a rich benefice in his diocese. In the year 1253,
the Pope again required him to appoint an Italian (this time his nephew,
Frederick di Lavagna) to a canonry, and he again refused. In spite of
a sentence of excommunication for this offence, Grosseteste fearlessly
continued his episcopal duties.
[Illustration: Early English Pier.]
The new nave was completed during this episcopate. It soared high
above the west front of Remigius, which had to be patched up in a
most unfortunate manner before it could do duty under the altered
conditions. The experiment was tried of putting a piece of new cloth
upon an old garment, and, so far as appearance was concerned, it was
a failure. The old Norman work was surrounded by a huge arcaded wall,
dislocating the whole façade from the structure behind, and hiding the
lower portions of the western towers. The deep recess in the centre was
raised far higher, and finished with a pointed arch. The only piece of
honesty about the new front was the gable in the middle, which certainly
did follow the line of the roof. The wall was flanked by two octagonal
turrets, each surmounted by a statue. Beyond the aisles of the nave, two
chapels were erected on either side, enclosing the outside walls of the
last bay of Remigius' church and together forming what might almost be
called a third transept. On the south side of the minster, the canons'
vestry was added to the eastern transept, and the Galilee porch to the
western. Lastly, the lower portion of the magnificent central, or "Broad,"
tower was erected, taking the place of the tower which had fallen soon
after Grosseteste's appointment.
Matthew Paris tells us a curious story that one of the canons of the
minster was declaiming from the pulpit against the actions of Bishop
Grosseteste; as he uttered the words "If we were to be silent, the very
stones would cry out for us," the new central tower came crashing down,
burying several people in the ruins. This catastrophe he assigns to the
year 1239. The Chronicles of the Abbot of Peterborough record the event
as occurring in the year 1237. There the accident is ascribed, with
far greater probability, to the insecurity of the foundations (_propter
artificii insolentiam_). The Annals of Dunstable give the same date as
Matthew Paris. The fall of the tower crushed part of the vault of St.
Hugh's choir, and injured some of the piers, which had to be reconstructed.
We may be quite safe in assuming that the new tower was begun soon after,
and the reticulated pattern which covers its lower part, both inside
and out, may be taken as a mark of Grosseteste's work. The tower was
afterwards made higher, and a timber spire added; but Grosseteste's
tower was also finished with a spire of timber and lead; the stump of
the central shaft may still be seen in the clock chamber. The ten-sided
chapter-house, formerly attributed to St. Hugh, was constructed while
the nave was in progress. It bears the characteristics of a later period
than St. Hugh's choir, and since it is mentioned in the "Metrical Life of
S. Hugh," written between 1220 and 1235, it could not have been erected
after the latter date.
The bishop died in 1253, leaving the church again complete, though not
quite as it is now. The cloisters had not been erected, nor the towers
carried to their full height. The eastern end still retained the apsidal
form given to it by St. Hugh, and of the demolition of this part of the
building it is now time to speak. The fame of the bishop grew fast, and
annually attracted to Lincoln a vast crowd of pilgrims seeking bodily or
spiritual benefit. Twenty years after his death, a decree of Pope Honorius
III. announced his canonisation, and directed that the body should be
removed to a more honourable place. Whether the immediate outcome of this
was the extension of the semi-circular chapel at the north-eastern angle
of the eastern transept, it is difficult to decide, but it is certain
that before very many years had passed the fame of St. Hugh gave rise
to the destruction of the apse which he himself had reared, and the
demolition of part of the ancient city wall. This apse, did it still
exist, would be the most remarkable eastern end of any cathedral in
England; the one which replaced it is perhaps the most beautiful. Thus
the Angel Choir of Lincoln was erected to contain the shrine of one of
Lincoln's noblest bishops, and one of England's greatest saints; whose
lowly tomb, placed in a corner at his own desire, for fear of its being
in the way, had become the resort of such a vast concourse of pilgrims
as to require the transformation of the eastern arm of the minster. In
1255, licence was obtained from Henry III. for the removal of part of
the eastern city wall, which stood in the way, and in the next year
the Angel Choir was probably begun. The work was carried on so rapidly,
that within a quarter of a century the translation took place. The choir
"was not, however, fully completed till the fourteenth century was well
on its way, The work evidently lagged; episcopal appeals, letters of
indulgence, and injunctions to the Rural Deans for its completion were
issued by Bishop Oliver Sutton in 1297 and 1298, and by Bishop John de
Dalderby, at various dates between 1301 and 1314. In 1306 a contract
for the '_novum opus_' was entered into between the Chapter and Richard
of Stow, or Gainsborough, '_cementarius_,' the plain work to be done by
measure, and the carved work and sculpture by the day." [6]
Richard of Gainsborough now lies buried in the cloisters of the minster.
To those who have visited the Abbey of Crowland, on the southern borders of
the county, the following statement by Sir G. G. Scott may be of interest.
In speaking of the old ruined western front, he says that the details
"are hardly to be surpassed, and are the more interesting as having
been evidently the work of the architect of the eastern part of Lincoln
Cathedral. Even the stone is from Lincoln" ("Lectures on Mediæval
Architecture," vol. i. p. 194).
Like the choir of St. Hugh, the Angel Choir stands at the threshold of
a new period in architecture. "The style is the earliest Geometrical,
of which the triforium and windows are among the best examples in the
world." [7] No hard-and-fast line can be drawn, of course, between the
different phases of English Gothic, and when we consider that the period
during which the Angel Choir was being built includes the last years of
the earliest style, and carries us well into the style which followed,
it is not difficult to reconcile the words of two eminent authorities
on the subject. Fergusson says that "true geometric (window) tracery
is ... seen in perfection in the Angel Choir at Lincoln," whilst in
Rickman's book we read that we have here the "richest ... and latest work"
of the Early English style. Both writers would undoubtedly agree that it
is "one of the most beautiful examples of the best period of English art,"
"simply perfect in its proportion and details." It may be hardly necessary
to remark that the name is due to the beautiful sculptured angels filling
the spandrels of the triforium.
The 6th October 1280 was the proudest day in the history of the city.
Perhaps never, before or since, has such an august assembly gathered
within her walls. The body of the Saint of Lincoln was to be translated
to the costly shrine in the centre of the Angel Choir. The ceremony was
magnificent. Edward himself was present, and supported on his own shoulder
the saint's remains as they were carried to their new resting-place; with
him was his beloved queen Eleanor, whose effigy was so soon to be placed
beneath the same roof. The king and queen were accompanied by Edmund,
Earl of Kent, brother of Edward, and his wife; the Earls of Gloucester
and Warwick; the Archbishop of Canterbury; the bishops of Lincoln, Bath,
Ely, Norwich, Worcester, Llandaff, Bangor, and St. Asaph; the bishop-elect
of Exeter; and two hundred and fifty knights. The shrine, ornamented with
gold and silver and precious stones, was raised on a lofty stone pedestal,
and about thirty years after was protected by an iron grille, wrought by
Simon the Smith. It is recorded that the fastenings of the grille were
still to be seen in the pavement at the middle of the last century, but
all traces have now entirely disappeared. It must have been soon after
the translation that the head was removed from the body, and enclosed
in a metal case, enriched with gold and silver and precious stones. A
keeper was appointed to guard the precious relic during the day, and two
had this charge at night. Yet, in spite of all such precautions, it was
stolen from the church in the year 1364; the head was thrown into a field,
and the case sold in London for twenty marks. The thieves were robbed of
their ill-gotten gains on their way back, and were afterwards convicted
of the crime, and hanged at Lincoln. The head was found and restored to
the cathedral. The treasurer John de Welburne (d. 1380) either restored
the old shrine or made a new one of the same materials. The accounts for
many years of the receipts and expenditure at the half-yearly opening,
when the relics were exhibited to stimulate the offerings of the faithful,
are preserved in the muniment room. At Pentecost 1364 (the year of the
theft) the amount received was £36, 2s. 3d., and at Pentecost 1532 it had
fallen to £2, 2s. 5d., a sure sign of the decline of relic worship. In
the year 1540, this shrine shared the fate of so many other precious
relics, finding its way to the melting-pots of King Henry VIII.
By the erection of the Angel Choir, the ground plan of the minster was
completed almost as it is now. Since that time, the three towers have
been raised to a greater height, the cloisters and library constructed,
the minster yard protected by gates, and several alterations made in
the details of the main building. In the year of the translation of
St. Hugh's remains, Oliver Sutton succeeded Richard de Gravesend as
bishop. He removed the canons' stable, which stood in close proximity
to the minster, and began the erection of the cloisters, starting the
work, as his registrar, John de Schalby tells us, by a gift of fifty
marks from his own purse. Since Lincoln was a secular foundation,
and was never the church of a monastery, there was no absolute need
of the cloisters at all, but it is a pity, since they were undertaken,
that the work was not more substantially done. Three walks still remain,
after having been strengthened by buttresses, and finally reconstructed,
owing to the insecurity of the original foundations; the fourth has
quite disappeared, and has been replaced by a most incongruous classical
structure, after the design of Sir Christopher Wren. The date of the
cloisters can be given approximately; they are mentioned as being
in progress in a letter of Bishop Sutton's, dated August 23rd, 1296,
and such a flimsy structure would probably not take long to finish. Up
to this time the central tower still remained as it had been left by
Grosseteste. But in the year 1307 Bishop Dalderby issued letters of
indulgence for raising it to a greater height. The work was begun on
the 14th March in that year, and was probably completed during the next
four years, since in 1311 a question arose regarding the cords for two
bells which had been lately hung in the tower. A tall spire of wood,
coated with lead, was afterwards added. A Lincoln historian of the early
part of the present century assigns this spire to Bishop Dalderby, but
little reliance can be placed in his testimony, since he ascribes the
companion spires on the west towers to the same bishop, and the upper
storeys of these towers were not added until a century later.
During this episcopate occurred the trial of the Knights Templars in the
chapter-house. A Bull of Pope Clement V., the creature of the French king,
who feared the immense power of the knights, pronounced the suppression
of the Order in the year 1309. The cruelties with which this was carried
out abroad were avoided in this country. The English Templars were put
under custody in London, Lincoln, and York. From Lincoln the larger number
were transferred to the Tower of London, but Bishop Dalderby was
reluctantly compelled to preside at the trial of the others.
In order to trace the history of the walls and gatehouses protecting
the close, it is necessary to go back a few years. Edward I. had, in
1285, received a petition from the canons, praying that the close might
be fortified. Their plea was, that it had become positively dangerous
to attend the midnight services of the church, owing to the number of
evil-doers who thronged the precincts. The licence from the king in the
year 1285 to the dean and chapter, giving them permission to erect the
close wall, is still preserved at Lincoln. The wall was commenced, and in
the thirteenth year of Edward II. (1319), permission was given for the
addition of towers. Double gateways were erected to guard the approaches.
Before we come to speak of the upper storeys of the western towers, a few
less important matters may be recorded. It is not difficult to see that the
tracery which fills the round window, "the Bishop's eye," of the southern
limb of the great transept, does not accord in style with its surroundings.
The flowing lines mark a period subsequent to the geometrical forms of the
Angel Choir, and later by more than a century than the wall in which the
window is placed. This window and that in the gable above, the latter only
to be seen from the outside, must be assigned to about the middle of the
fourteenth century. About this time, Lincoln received a treasurer, who
has left abiding traces in the minster. John de Welburne has already been
mentioned as having restored the precious shrine of St. Hugh. Perhaps the
greatest of his benefactions are the present magnificent choir-stalls,
the finest examples in the kingdom. He also constructed the vaulting of
the central and western towers, and placed over the great west door the
respectable row of royal statues. Welburne died in the year 1380; this we
learn from a volume relating to his chantry and other foundations, written
in 1382. The tracery of the three west windows has been assigned by some to
him, and by others to a bishop who lived more than half-a-century later.
They may be considered as belonging to the end of the fourteenth century,
and mark the entrance into the next stage of Gothic architecture, the
Perpendicular. The two western towers, St. Mary's and St. Hugh's, had
been awaiting their completion for many years. They were now raised to a
height of nearly 200 feet, by the addition of early Perpendicular storeys,
constructed immediately above the Norman work of Alexander the Magnificent.
These towers, as well as the centre one, were crowned by tall spires of
wood, coated with lead. The height of these timber spires was 89 feet
from the base to the ball, and another 12 feet to the top of the vane;
their fate will be recorded later.
Besides the three west windows, and the upper portions of the western
towers, the only other parts of the minster in the Perpendicular style are
the three chantry-chapels added to the Angel Choir. The first of these was
built by Bishop Fleming (d. Jan. 1430-1), and stands on the north side.
Bishop Russell (d. 1494) added another opposite to it on the south side.
The third chapel was constructed by Bishop Longland (d. 1547). It is a
copy of Bishop Russell's, and stands on the same side of the choir, to the
west of the doorway. The old library, of which a fragment only remains,
was erected in the year 1442 over the east walk of the cloisters. In the
year 1609 it suffered severely from fire, and in 1789 all that remained
was taken down, with the exception of the part forming a vestibule to
the new library.
Turning from the building itself to the internal history of the minster, we
find that, towards the middle of the fifteenth century, dissensions had
arisen among the cathedral body, which, if not of such historical
importance as the differences under Grosseteste, are of sufficient interest
to be worth recording. They give considerable insight into the
ecclesiastical life of the time. John Mackworth, the dean, was a man of
violent temper. In 1435, having some difference with the chancellor, Peter
Patrick or Partridge, he entered the church one day during vespers,
attended by ten armed servants. The chancellor was dragged from his stall
in the choir, brutally assaulted, and left in a wounded condition on the
pavement of the church. It is said that over this affair the point was
raised during the trial at Westminster, whether the Cathedral Close was in
the _county_ or the _county of the city_ of Lincoln; the delinquents had
been described as of the former, and since this was not legally correct,
they escaped the punishment they richly deserved. Matters came to a
crisis, and the chapter brought before the bishop, William Alnwick,
forty-two charges against their dean. The following are sufficient to
shew Mackworth's haughty temper:--He would not walk in processions in a
straight line; he had fraudulently kept back from the chapter 25s. 8d.;
he came to the chapter attended by armed men to the great terror of the
canons; at vespers and prime he made the bell stop before the officiating
priest had arrived, but made the choir wait for him, if he was late; he
had pulled down part of the wall of the cloister to build a stable. The
dean in return accused the chapter of appropriating to their own use
the cloth bought out of the common funds of the church for clothing the
poor. The matter was settled in 1439 by a "Laudum" of the bishop, who set
himself the task of constructing a new body of statutes for governing the
church; these are still in use. Dissensions, however, did not end here,
and we find a complaint made to the bishop four years later, that the dean
had, in the choir, called the precentor a "buffoon" and a "vile tailor,"
and had offered personal violence to him. In 1449 the bishop issued a
commission for the trial of the dean, but died before it could take place.
[Illustration: THE WEST FRONT AND THE EXCHEQUER GATE.
(From a Water-colour Painting by Peter De Wint, in the South Kensington
Museum.)
_W. Giles, Photo._]
Before speaking of the grievous losses which the minster sustained under
Henry VIII., it may be well to refer to a Visitation which was undertaken
by Bishop Smyth in the first year of the sixteenth century. The charges
then brought against the dean, George Fitzhugh, shew the deplorable
negligence of the cathedral body with regard to the sacred building
under their care. The dean stated that all was right in the cathedral,
but from the following statements it would appear that there were several
abuses which might with advantage have been corrected. It was affirmed
(1) that the chaplains often resorted to a chantry within the church,
and there played at dice, bones, and cards in questionable company,
often staying till after midnight; (2) that the servants of the dean and
other residentiaries did great mischief to the fabric of the church,
by breaking the glass windows and the stone tracery with their arrows
and crossbow bolts, and by piercing the lead on the roof with their
missiles. In the examination that followed it was found that, though
large sums had been spent on the fabric, there was still urgent need of
further repairs, and an appeal to the public was necessary. We may well
be grieved at "the great mischief" done at this time, which would partly
account for the dilapidated state of some of the stained glass windows;
but the minster was to suffer far more severely under Henry VIII. In the
Chapter Acts of 1520 we find mentioned the "head of seint hugh closed
in silver gilt and enamelled." The treasure belonging to it is also
carefully detailed, down to "a littil blew stone" and "ij qwysshyns
of silk." Thus zealously had it been guarded ever since the mishap of
1364, but its doom was now pronounced. At the end of a "Registre and
Inventarye of all Jewell Westimentes and other ornamentes in the yere
of ow^r lorde god m.ccccc.xxxvj," is "A Copye of the Kinges Lettres by
force whereof the shrynes and other Jewels were taken" [1540]. Part of the
letter may be given here: "For as moch as we understand that there ys a
certain shryne and di[vers] fayned Reliquyes and Juels in the Cathedrall
church of Lyncoln with [which] all the symple people be moch deceaved
and broughte into greate su[per]sticion and Idolatrye to the dyshonor of
god and greate slander of th(is) realme and peryll of theire own soules,
"We Let you w[~y]t that (we) beinge mynded to bringe o^r lovinge subiectes
to y^e righte knowledge of y^e truth by takynge away all occasions of
Idolatrye and supersticion. For y^e especiall trust (and) confidence we
have in yowr fydelytyes, wysdoms and discre[~c]ons, have (and) by theis
presentes doe aucthorise name assign and appointe you fowre or three of
you that immediatelye uppon the sighte here of repairinge to y^e sayd
Cathedrall church and declaringe unto y^e Deane Recydencyaryes and other
mynisters there(of) the cause of yowr comynge ys to take downe as well
y^e sayd shryne and supersticious reliquyes as superfluouse Jueles, plate
copes and other suche like as yow shall thinke by yowr wysdoms not mete
to contynew (and) remayne there, unto the wych we doubte not but for
y^e considera[~c]ons rehersed the sayde Deane and Resydencyaryes w^th
other wyll be conformable and wyllinge thereunto, and so yow to precede
accordingly. And to see the sayd reliquyes, Juels and plate safely and
surely to be conveyde to owr towre of London in to owr Jewyll house there
chargeing the m^r of owr Jewyls w^th the same.
"And further we wyll that you charge and co[~m]ande in owr name the sayd
Deane there to take downe such monumentes as may geve any occasioñ of
memorye of such supersticion and Idolatrye hereafter...."
Underneath is the following "memorandum," proving how great was
the treasure possessed at that time by the authorities of the
minster:--"Memorandum that by force of the above wrytten comyssyoñ there
was taken owt of ye sayd Cathedrall church of Lyncoln at that tyme in
gold ij^{m}vj^{c}xxj oz (2621 oz.), in sylver iiij^{m}ij^{c}iiij^{xx}.v oz
(4285 oz.); Besyde a greate nombre of Pearles & preciouse stones wych were
of greate valewe, as Dyamondes, Saphires Rubyes, turkyes, Carbuncles etc.
There were at that tyme twoe shrynes in the sayd Cath. churche; the one of
pure gold called S^t Hughes Shryne standinge on the backe syde of the highe
aulter neare unto Dalysons tombe, the other called S^t John of Dalderby his
shryne was of pure sylver standinge in y^e south ende of the greate crosse
Ile not farre from the dore where y^e gallyley courte ys used to be kepte."
Harry Lytherland was the last treasurer of Lincoln. As he saw the last of
the treasures carried away, he cried "ceasing the Treasure, so ceaseth the
office of the Treasurer," and flinging down the keys on the pavement of the
choir, he walked out of the church. This occurred on the 6th June 1540;
Lytherland never sat in his stall again. Of the risings in 1536, resulting
from the religious changes, Lincoln was one of the chief centres. The
Lincolnshire insurgents, assembled at Horncastle, sent six demands to
the king, the last being that Bishop Longland should be deprived. The
Chancellor of Lincoln was captured and conveyed to Horncastle, where he
was killed, and his garments and money were distributed among the rebels.
The Abbot of Barlings rode into Lincoln with his canons in full armour.
A number of insurgents gathered in the city, and the bishop's palace was
attacked and plundered. The rebel council was sitting in the chapter-house
when the messenger arrived from the king. His answer was characteristic;
he reproved them for "their presumptuous follie and rebellious attempt,"
called the shire "one of the most brute and beastly of the whole realm,"
and summoned the people to depart quietly to their homes. An attempt
on the part of the gentlemen to read the letter secretly caused a panic
among the commons, who decided to kill them all. The gentry hurriedly
escaped into the chancellor's house, where they barricaded the door.
Shortly after, the commons, deserted by their leaders, and "each
mistrusting other, who should be noted the greater meddler, suddenlie
... began to shrinke, and got them home to their houses without longer
abode" (Holinshed's "Chronicles "). On the arrival of a royal force, the
cathedral was "turned into an arsenal, fortified and garrisoned." Lord
Hussey, a prominent Lincolnshire noble, was executed, and the Abbot of
Barlings was hanged, together with the Abbots of Whalley, Woburn, and
Sawley. Another event which occurred towards the end of the same reign
should not pass unnoticed. Anne Askew was a member of an old Lincolnshire
family, being the daughter of Sir William Askew or Ayscough; her birthplace
was probably Stallingborough, near Grimsby. "When she was at Lincoln,"
we are told, "she was seen daily in the Cathedral reading her Bible,
and engaging the clergy in discussions on the meaning of particular
texts." Her bold opinions at last brought her to the stake in 1546,
at the age of twenty-five, a martyr to the doctrines of the Reformation.
A few possessions of value appear to have survived the reign of Henry, but
these were sacrificed to the rapacious greed of the unscrupulous ministers
of his son and successor. The following statement occurs in "An Historical
Account of the Antiquities in the Cathedral Church of St. Mary, Lincoln,"
published in that city in 1771:--"A second Plunder was committed in this
Church Anno 1548, during the Presidence of Bishop Holbech, who being a
zealous Reformist, gave up all the remaining Treasure which Henry had
thought proper to leave behind; this Bishop together with George Henage
Dean of Lincoln, pulled down and defaced most of the beautiful Tombs in
this Church; and broke all the Figures of the Saints round about this
Building; and pulled down those [of] our Saviour, the Virgin, and the
Crucifix; so that at the End of the Year 1548, there was scarcely a whole
Figure or Tomb remaining." Henry Holbeach became Bishop of Lincoln in the
year of Henry VIII.'s death, and soon after that event he surrendered to
the Crown twenty-six (or according to Strype thirty-four) rich manors
belonging to the see. He died at Nettleham in 1551.
Passing on to the beginning of the next century, a fire which broke out
in the year 1609 partly destroyed the old library over the east walk of
the cloisters; little further damage appears to have been done.
The turbulent times of the Civil War were disastrous for Lincoln in common
with so many other places. An account of the troubles which the struggle
brought upon the city is given by Mr. Edward Peacock in the thirty-eighth
volume of the _Archæological Journal_. The shire appears to have been
distinctly Puritan, and up to July 1643, at any rate, the city was in the
hands of the Parliamentarians. John Vicars, the author of "Jehovah Jerah.
God in the Mount or England's Parliamentarie Chronicle," printed in London
in the year 1644, gives an account of an unsuccessful attempt of the
Royalists to capture the city about that time. "And as proeme and preamble
to the ensuing tragedie or treacherie, Serjeant Major Purfrey had let
into the town, at a back gate, about sixty bloodie cavaliers, all of them
disguised in countrie marketmen's habits, who were all hid and sheltred
(as it was credibly enformed) in the Deane's house in Lincolne." The
attempt was unsuccessful, but the city soon after fell into the Royalists'
hands, an event of unhappy interest for our subject, as it gave rise to
an attack (in April of the following year) of the Parliamentarians under
the Earl of Manchester. The capture of the city was soon followed by the
mutilation of its most glorious monument. Through the misguided zeal of
the rude soldiers of the Parliament, the stained glass of the minster was
nearly all broken, the tombs were injured, and the brasses torn from their
matrices. It should yet be remembered that considerable damage had already
been done under Henry VIII., and even earlier, and that the injuries of
1644 were not so great as it might appear at first sight. Lincoln was
again attacked by the Royalists in 1648, when the bishop's palace was
stormed and taken, and the city given over to plunder. In a description
of the minster, published in 1771, the following account of the injury is
given:--"Bishop Winniff had little Enjoyment of his Honor in presiding
over this See; for in the Year 1645 ... he had the Mortification to see
all the Brass Work of the Gravestones pulled up, the rich Brass Gates to
the Choir and divers of the Chantries pulled down, and every regaining
Beauty defaced; and his Church made Barracks; for the prevailing Parties
in that unhappy Reign, and his Episcopal Palace totally destroyed,
both at Lincoln and Buckden."
During the time of the Commonwealth, the minster passed through a crisis
such as it had never before experienced, and such as we may hope it
will never experience again. "Certain godly ones," we are told, were
"then gaping after its stone, timber, and lead," and the minster was in
great danger of being demolished altogether. This fact has been recorded
by the late Precentor Venables, who states that the fabric was "only
rescued from threatened destruction by the civic worthy, Mr. Original
Peart (Mayor in 1650 and Member of Parliament in 1654 and 1656), who
represented to Cromwell that 'if the minster were down Lincoln would
soon be one of the worst towns in the county.'"
[Illustration: THE OBSERVATORY TOWER, LINCOLN CASTLE.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
In 1654, on the 19th August, Evelyn visited the city. He has left
to us in his Diary an interesting record of the Lincoln of the
Commonwealth:--"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 county. 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 barge-loads
of metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead; so hellish an
avarice possessed them: besides which, they exceedingly ruined the city."
At the Restoration, Robert Sanderson was rewarded for his long faithfulness
to the royal house by the bishopric of Lincoln. He had been a chaplain
to Charles I., who is reported to have said, "I carry my ears to hear
other preachers, but I carry my conscience to hear Dr. Sanderson."
Sanderson died in 1663. Four years later, William Fuller, the antiquarian,
was appointed bishop. "He bestowed very much in adorning his church,"
and restored many of the monuments and inscriptions.
Fuller's efforts at restoring something like order to the grievously
ill-used fabric were seconded by those of Dean Honywood, who in 1674 caused
the present arcade to be constructed on the north side of the cloisters,
with the library above it. Sir Christopher Wren, the architect, did not
take the least care to let his work harmonise with its surroundings. From
the times of Fuller and Honywood to our own, there have been many whose
energy has led them to undertake various works in and about the minster.
Some have undoubtedly worked with mistaken zeal; but, taken as a whole,
Lincoln has escaped with less injury than many others of our public
monuments. In the year 1727 an attempt to remove the timber spires of
the western towers, resulted in a serious riot (see p. 56), and the
townspeople were only pacified by a promise that the spires should not
be touched. No such disturbance occurred when they were finally removed
in 1807, the excuse then being that they were very insecure, and would
cost much to repair. But it seems that even at this time the removal
was not entirely approved of; a lament, clothed in ridiculous rhyme,
was published in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ of January 1808, and
a local writer two years later relates how the "lofty spires" were
"levelled by tasteless inconsiderate improvers." Early in the 18th
century the western towers began to shew signs of instability, and caused
considerable anxiety. An architect named John James was employed about
1730 to strengthen the towers by constructing arches underneath, which
formed a kind of triple porch just inside the church. The materials of
the chapel of the old bishop's palace were employed in the construction
of these arches. The central porch was reconstructed by James Essex
about thirty years later. An anonymous historian of about forty years
ago quotes the following extract from a letter written by Sympson, at
one time clerk of the works to the fabric, to Browne Willis:--"Before
I make an end of this long letter, I must acquaint you that I took down
the antient image of St. Hugh, which is about 6 foot high, and stood upon
the summit of a stone pinnacle at the south corner of the west front,
in the month of June last (_i.e._ 1743), and pulled down 22 foot of the
pinnacle itself, which was ready to tumble into ruins, the shell being
but 6 in. thick, and the ribs so much decayed, especially on the east
side, that it declined visibly that way.... I hope to see the saint fixed
upon a firmer basis before winter." The date of this work coincides with
that of the appointment of Bishop Thomas (1743-61), who appears to have
zealously applied himself to the repair of the fabric. The historian
of 1771 writes as follows:--"During the Presidence of Bishop Thomas,
and towards the first of the present Bishop Dr. Green, over this See,
this Church was repaired and modernised in the State which it is this
Day seen. Also, during the Presidence of Bishop Thomas, he set on Foot
the appropriating the tenth of the Fines arising from the renewal of the
Leases of their respective Estates, as a Fund for the continual Repair
of this Church, himself setting the Laudable Example."
The "scraping process" to which the exterior of the minster was subjected
under the late John Chessel Buckler of Oxford is within the memory of many.
It caused much angry discussion and bitterness at the time, and resulted
in the publication of a book, in which Buckler undertook to justify his
work on the minster. The chief part of this volume consists in long
chapters of abuse, written with a most extraordinary flow of language,
and directed against all who ventured to object to the way in which his
work had been done.
Under the late consulting architect to the chapter, J. L. Pearson, R.A.,
many necessary strengthenings and restorations were carried out; but as
no radical changes are in progress they do not call for detailed notice
in this place.
[Illustration: THE STONE BOW IN THE HIGH STREET.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]