THE THREE CHOIRS.
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A Handbook to the Cathedrals
OF
GLOUCESTER, HEREFORD,
AND
WORCESTER:

Uniform with the Present Volume.

A HANDBOOK FOR TRAVELLERS

THROUGH THE COUNTIES

OF

GLOUCESTER, HEREFORD, AND WORCESTER.

One Volume. Post 8vo.


LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, AND CHARING CROSS.

CONTENTS.

⁂ Each Cathedral may be obtained, separately, in a Wrapper, Price Half-a-Crown.

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL, FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.

FRONTISPIECE.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

{1} 

{2} 

A South Porch.
B B B Nave and Aisles.
C Organ-screen.
D Choir.
E Presbytery.
F South Transept.
G Chapel used as Vestry.
H H H Choir-aisles.
K K Apsidal Chapels.
L Lady-Chapel.
M North Transept.
N Chapel.
O O O O Cloisters.
P Chapter-house.
Q Abbot’s or Lesser Cloister.
R Slype, or Passage to Cloister.

PLAN OF GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.

Scale of 100 ft. to I in.

REFERENCES.
1 Abbot Seabroke’s Chantry. 2 Brydges’ Effigy. 3 Monument of Ald. Blackleach. 4 Entrance to Crypt. 5 Effigy of Abbot Foliot. 6 Sedilia. 7 Effigy of Osric. 8 Monument of Edward II. 9 Abbot Parker’s Chantry.	10 Effigy of Robert Courtehose. 11 Reliquary. 12 Stone Lectern. 13, 14 Chantries of Abbots Hanley and Farley. 15 Abbot’s Door to Cloisters. 16 Monks’ Door. 17 Lavatory. 18 Recess for Towels.

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GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.

PART I.

History and Details.

I. Until the year 1539, Gloucester Cathedral was the church of a mitred Benedictine abbey, which ranked among the wealthiest and most important in England. In 1539 the abbey was surrendered; and in 1541 its church became the cathedral of the newly established bishopric of Gloucester.

The single authority for the architectural history of Gloucester Cathedral is Abbot Froucester’s (1381-1412) Chronicle of the abbey, including lives of the twenty abbots after the Conquest. Of this Chronicle transcripts exist in the Chapter Library at Gloucester; in the Library of Queen’s College, Oxford; and in the British Museum. The original MS., which was preserved at Gloucester, disappeared mysteriously from the Chapter Library during the present century. An ancient copy, however,—if it be not the original Gloucester MS.,—was recently discovered in a vault under the Rolls Chapel; and is about to be published in the{4} series of Chronicles edited under the direction of the Master of the Rolls[1].

A nunnery was founded at Gloucester in the year 681, by Osric, a “minister” or “sub-regulus” of Ethelred, King of Mercia. Three abbesses ruled it successively until 767, after which the convent was dispersed. Beornulph of Mercia refounded it, about 821, for secular priests,—who, in 1022, were replaced by Benedictine monks. The Saxon Chronicle (A.D. 1058) records the “hallowing” of the monastery by Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester. In 1088 this building was destroyed by fire, and a new church was commenced by Abbot Serlo, which was completed and dedicated in 1100[2]. Two years afterwards this church suffered much from fire; and still more in 1122, when the Saxon Chronicle asserts that “in Lent-tide ... the town of Gloucester was burnt while the monks were singing their mass, and the deacon had begun the gospel ‘Præteriens Jesus.’ Then came the fire on the upper part of the steeple, and burned all the monastery, and all the treasures that were there within, except a few books and three mass-robes.” This injury, according to Froucester’s Chronicle, was repaired by the offerings of the faithful; but the abbey suffered again from fire{5} in 1179 and 1190. The church was re-dedicated to St. Peter, in 1239, by Walter de Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester. In 1242 the nave roof was completed. Abbot Thokey (1306-1329) built the south aisle of the nave in 1318. It was during his abbacy that the body of Edward II. was interred in the church; and it was owing to the great value of the offerings made at his tomb that a series of works was commenced, which form one of the most peculiar features of this cathedral. Under the succeeding Abbot, Wygemore, (1329-1337,) the Norman walls of the south transept (called St. Andrew’s aisle) were cased with tracery; Adam de Stanton, abbot from 1337 to 1351, constructed the vaulting of the choir, and the stalls on the prior’s side; and Abbot Horton (1351-1377) completed the high altar with the choir, and the stalls on the abbot’s side; together with the casing of St. Paul’s aisle, (the north transept). This abbot also commenced the great cloister, which Walter Froucester (1381-1412) completed. Abbot Morwent (1420-1437) erected the west front, the south porch, and two western bays of the nave. Abbot Seabrooke (1450-1457) built the existing tower. Abbot Hanley (1457-1472) began the Lady-chapel, which Abbot Farley (1472-1498) completed.

Notwithstanding the long siege of the city, Gloucester Cathedral suffered but little during the Civil War. Within the last ten years (1853-1863) extensive restorations have been made within and without the cathedral, under the superintendence of Mr. F. S. Waller. These consist chiefly of the clearing and drain{6}ing of the crypt; the restoration of the west front, the south aisle of the nave, the chapter-room, the library and sacristies, portions of the cloisters, the whole of the east end of the choir, and the interior of the nave: to which must be added the alterations entailed in forming and laying out the grounds round nearly the whole of the cathedral; several houses and yards having been removed, and hundreds of loads of soil, the accumulation of years, taken away from against the walls.

II. The ground-plan of the Norman church embraced nave and aisles, choir and sanctuary, short transepts with apsidal eastern chapels, and a choir-aisle, or “procession path,” terminating in three eastern chapels, also apsidal. (The plan of Norwich may be compared.) With the addition of the Lady-chapel and the cloisters, this ground-plan still remains, as in the early part of the twelfth century. The Norman work throughout the building belongs either to this original church, built by Abbot Serlo, and dedicated in 1100; or to the restorations after the fire of 1122. All of it, but especially the great piers of the nave, which remain unaltered, is very interesting and important; but the great peculiarity of Gloucester Cathedral is the later work, ranging from 1329 to 1377, with which the original Norman walls and piers of the transepts and choir are cased and transformed. The manner in which this transformation is effected not only differs altogether from that in which other Norman buildings (the nave of Winchester for example) were re-cased and altered,{7} but the work at Gloucester affords us perhaps the earliest example of English Perpendicular; since it exhibits far more characteristics of this style than of even the later Decorated, which from the date of the work we should expect to find. The Perpendicular work thus begun, is continued through a series of magnificent examples,—the cloister, (1377-1412); the great tower, (1450-1460); and the Lady-chapel, (1457-1498,) almost to the last days of Gothic architecture.

III. The best general views of the cathedral will be obtained from the north-west and from the south-east; but there are many excellent points of view from the lawn by which the building is now happily surrounded. The outlines—owing greatly to the Lady-chapel with its projecting chantries, to the eastern chapels of the transepts and choir-aisles, and to the open-work of parapets and pinnacles—are unusually varied and picturesque. The manner in which the exterior mouldings of the great east window, of the west window, and of the openings in the tower, are carried upwards, so as to form a kind of gable, is a marked feature, which first appears within, in the beautiful arches across the transepts, on which the groining drops; and which was adopted, apparently from them, by the designers of the succeeding work. But the light and graceful tracery of the parapets, and of the pinnacles of the tower, is that which gives especial character to the exterior of Gloucester. Against a clear, mid-day sky{8} this open-work is sufficiently striking; but when its tracery is projected against the red glow of sunset, an effect is produced which is altogether unrivalled. The tower of Gloucester may be compared with the central tower of Canterbury Cathedral, of later date, (Gloucester 1450-1460, height 225 feet; Canterbury 1495-1517, height 235 feet,) and of more massive character. Both towers form admirable centres to the masses of building clustered round them; and well illustrate the great advantage (which English architects alone seem to have appreciated) of “placing the principal features of their churches on the intersection of the nave with the transept[3].” At Gloucester, even more than at Canterbury, the various lines of the Lady-chapel, the transepts, the choir-aisles, and the choir-roof with its eastern gable, lead the eye gradually upwards to the great tower, with its crowning pinnacles. This effect is perhaps increased by the shortness of the transepts,—which here and at Worcester (the parent cathedral of Gloucester) are of the same dimensions, (128 feet from north to south[4]).

IV. For a more particular notice of the exterior,

THE NAVE.

{9}

see § XX. The cathedral is generally entered by the south porch, a part of the Perpendicular work erected by Abbot Morwent, (1420-1437). (This abbot pulled down the towers at the west end of the cathedral, and the two west bays of the nave. The present western portion of the nave, as far as the end of the second bay, including the west front and the south porch, is his work.) The porch, which has an upper chamber, is greatly enriched with niches and canopies, and has buttresses at the angles. [Frontispiece.] The arms in the spandrils of the doorway are those of England and France, and of the Abbey. The pinnacles and open parapet are of the same general character as those (earlier) above the gable of the great east window, and as those (later) of the central tower. The ogee arched moulding, with its finial, which rises in the centre is the feature already noticed (§ III.) as characteristic of this cathedral. It occurs throughout the Perpendicular work. Within the porch, the peculiar tracery of the side windows should be noticed. “The internal arrangement of the panelling of the side walls is continued to the exterior, and made to form the mullions of the windows.”

V. The first impression, on entering the nave, is produced by the lofty Norman piers. [Plate I.] The whole arrangement differs much from that of the great Norman naves of the Eastern cathedrals, Norwich, Ely, and Peterborough. In them the divisions of the nave-arcade and of the triforium above it are very nearly equal in height and width, whilst the clerestory range is of{G-10} little less importance[5]. At Gloucester, the massive nave piers are carried to such a height (30 feet) as to afford little space for the triforium, which is only a narrow wall passage; and the original Norman clerestory, the circular arches of which may still be traced below the Perpendicular windows, was of nearly the same dimensions. The height of the piers is thus made to seem greater than it really is. They must have been still more remarkable when the floor of the nave was at its original level, ten inches lower than at present. The bases of the piers stood on square blocks; and there still exist some remains of an encaustic floor on the lower level. These massive circular piers, which are found also at Tewkesbury, at Pershore, and at Malvern Priory, seem to be peculiar to England. They do not, at any rate, occur in any church in Normandy, where the rectangular form prevails. The good effect of carrying them to such a height as at Glou{G-11}cester is perhaps questionable, since the necessary result is to deprive both triforium and clerestory of all dignity and importance.

The nave consists of nine bays, from the west front to the central tower. Of these all are Norman to the top of the triforium, except the two western bays, which are Perpendicular, (Abbot Morwent’s work). The Norman clerestory was altered, and the Norman portion of the nave was newly vaulted, in the first half of the thirteenth century. (The nave roof was completed in 1242. The monks themselves, according to Froucester’s Chronicle, laboured at it,—considering, suggests Professor Willis, that they could do the work better than common workmen.) The nave piers have plain bases and cushioned capitals. The arches have the zigzag in the outer moulding and a double cable in the soffete. A cable moulding runs along above them. In the triforium, two arches in each bay circumscribe four smaller ones, the tympana above which are quite plain. In constructing the new clerestory, the Norman work immediately above the triforium arches was entirely removed; and only the jambs of the side lights which extended beyond the triforium arches, with the wall between them, were allowed to remain. The jambs of these Norman lights, with zigzag moulding, may still be traced in each bay of the clerestory. The windows of the Early English clerestory were filled with Perpendicular tracery, possibly by Abbot Morwent.

The Norman portions of the nave may have belonged{G-12} to the church of Abbot Serlo, (completed in 1100); but it is impossible to say how much alteration or rebuilding was rendered necessary by the fires of 1122, 1179, and 1190. The red colour of parts of the piers where the stone has become calcined, still bears witness to the fierceness of, most probably, the last of these fires; by which the wooden roof of the Norman church was destroyed. This was replaced during the abbacy of Henry Foliot, (1228-1243,) by the existing vaulting; which is plain quadripartite, with a central rib and bosses at the intersections. The groining, of a light porous stone, is plastered on the underside. The vaulting-shafts, (of the same date as the roof,) in groups of three, are of Purbeck marble, with stone capitals of leafage, and Purbeck abaci. These rest on a series of brackets supported by shafts which descend between the pier-arches. The first five of these brackets, counting from the third (the first Norman) bay of the nave, are perhaps Transitional Norman, and the cable-moulding at the head of the pier-arches passes round them. The next three eastward have the cable-moulding cut away for them; and on either side is a shaft of Purbeck marble with foliaged capital, from which a moulding is carried round the bay of the clerestory. This part was perhaps more injured by the fire, so that the earlier work required greater alteration. (The peculiar arrangement, suggests Professor Willis, may have been one of the consequences of the monks’ amateur workmanship.) The capitals and corbels of the vaulting-shafts were richly co{G-13}loured[6]; and remains of painting were found on the great piers themselves during the late restorations. Against three of the piers on the north side are Perpendicular brackets, for lamps or for statues.

The two western bays of the nave were the work of Abbot Morwent, (1420-1437,) who pulled down the Norman front, which had towers north and south, intending to re-construct the entire nave,—a design fortunately prevented by his death[7]. The contrast between{G-14} the noble Norman columns and the Perpendicular piers is sufficiently striking. The westernmost bay is much wider than the others; there is no triforium; the clerestory windows resemble the others, all of which were probably inserted by Morwent; and the vaulting is a rich lierne, with bosses of leafage. The west end is filled with a large Perpendicular window of very good design, the glass in which, by Wailes, is a memorial of the late Bishop Monk, (died 1856,) erected at the sole expense of the Rev. Thomas Murray Browne, Honorary Canon of Gloucester, “in grateful remembrance of many years of sincere friendship.” (It should be remarked that the tracery heads and cusps, as seen from the inside of this window, are not repeated on the outside,—a plain transom only crossing the lights. This peculiarity is repeated in the great east, and in some other windows.) The glass is of unusually pictorial character; and if not entirely successful, is at least better than most recent attempts in a similar direction. The subjects are:—Lowest tier, beginning south—Noah passing out of the Ark after the Deluge; Moses dividing the Red Sea; the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch. In the second tier—The Annunciation to the Shepherds; the Nativity; the Adoration of the Kings. In the third tier—The Presentation in the Temple; the Baptism{G-15} of our Lord; St. John Preaching in the Desert. Above are the Baptism of St. Paul, of St. Peter, and of the Jailor of Philippi. Below the window is a brass plate with an inscription recording its erection as a memorial to Bishop Monk.

The west doorway and the panelling at its sides are very plain. At the angle between the nave and the south aisle is a statue of Edward Jenner, by R. W. Sievier. Dr. Jenner, the discoverer of vaccination, was born at Berkeley in Gloucestershire, in 1749; and died there in 1823.

The view eastward from this point is intercepted by the organ; but beyond the massive piers of the nave, portions of the light choir-roof are seen; and the superb glass of the east window terminates the choir with such a glow of colour as few other cathedrals can display.

VI. The north aisle of the nave is, like the nave itself, Norman, except the two western bays, which are Abbot Morwent’s. The half piers against the wall are of the same height as those of the nave, but are divided into several members with shafts at the angles, the capitals of which are in some cases enriched. In each bay the Norman window-opening remains, with zigzag mouldings and side-shafts. All are filled with Perpendicular tracery, which is continued on the Norman wall under the windows. A Perpendicular stone bench runs below. The windows in this aisle are raised high, in order to clear the roof of the cloister outside. The vaulting is ribbed, Norman.{G-16}

In the Perpendicular portion of this aisle (second bay) is a very fine doorway into the west walk of the cloister—(the monks’ entrance). A crocketed canopy rises above it, with panellings on either side, in which were painted figures of the Apostles. On each side of the door are niches for figures. In the easternmost bay of this aisle is the abbot’s entrance—also Perpendicular, but not so richly decorated. In both these doorways, the half-groined recesses, so constructed as to admit of the doors opening into them, should be noticed.

The Perpendicular window at the west end of this aisle has been filled (1862) with stained glass by Hardman; representing the story of the British King Lucius, who, according to one tradition, died and was buried at Gloucester. Under the window is a tablet for Bishop Warburton, (died 1779); “a prelate,” runs the inscription, “of the most sublime genius and exquisite learning.” The slab which covers his tomb is in the first bay between the nave and aisle. Two monuments in this aisle should be mentioned: that in the fifth bay by Flaxman, for Sarah Morley, who died with her young child, at sea, in 1784. She rises from the sea supported by three floating angels. Above are the words, “The sea shall give up its dead.” The figures are graceful, and the whole composition striking. And that in the last bay, by the choir-screen, for Thomas Machen, Alderman of Gloucester, and wife; 1614;—a very good example of the period, but by no means one to be imitated. The window above is filled with{G-17} excellent stained glass by Clayton and Bell, in which the white and neutral tints give great effect to the brilliant colour. The subjects are the three miracles of our Lord in raising the dead:—The Ruler’s Daughter, the Widow’s Son, and Lazarus.

VII. The south aisle of the nave was changed to its present state in 1318, during the abbacy of John Thokey, (1306-1329). The Norman south wall remains in the interior, together with the half piers, which resemble those in the north aisle. Abbot Thokey erected the present external façade against this Norman wall[8], and re-groined the roof. The exterior of this aisle (see § XX.) is a very fine example of early Decorated[9]. The deeply recessed windows are enriched with the ball-flower, and resemble one of the windows in Merton Chapel, Oxford, from which chapel (founded about 1280), or from that of Gloucester College, founded for student monks of this monastery in 1283, the windows here may have been directly copied. The ball-flower occurs again in profusion at Ledbury, in Here{G-18}fordshire; but it is rarely used to such an extent as in this aisle, and in the tower of Hereford Cathedral, which is nearly of the same date. At Gloucester a horizontal line drawn across the head of the window, just above the spring of the arch, cuts no fewer than thirty-two ranks of the ball-flower, sixteen within and sixteen without. All the windows of this aisle, as far as the south porch, have been filled with stained glass. The first (beginning from the east) is by Warrington; the second, by Clayton and Bell, contains the story of Edward II.;—his imprisonment in Berkeley Castle; his murder; the Abbot of Gloucester taking possession of the body; the procession of monks with the body to Gloucester; and the entombment. This window is good and interesting. The glass of the third window is by Bell of Bristol, and is very bad. The fourth, by Clayton and Bell, represents the coronation of Henry III. in Gloucester Cathedral. The fifth, by Warrington, and the sixth, by Bell of Bristol, are equally bad. The representations in the stained glass of the cathedral of the great historical events which have been connected with it is an excellent idea, provided such historical glass is not allowed to intrude itself unfittingly. The great defect of the glass in Gloucester Cathedral is its want of plan and uniformity,—owing to the various artists (some very indifferent) who have been employed.

In altering the south aisle, Abbot Thokey cut off the arches over the Norman windows, (those opposite should be compared,) and lowered the vaulting. This, in the{G-19} first four bays from the south porch, greatly resembles that of the nave, which is of much earlier date. The vaulting of the three last bays has its mouldings filled with the ball-flower.

The two western bays of this aisle are Abbot Morwent’s work, and differ very slightly from those opposite. Against the west wall is a coloured bust of John Jones, “Burgess of Parliament” at the time of the Gunpowder treason. In the aisle is a monument by Sievier for Sir George Onesephorus Paul, (died 1820,) who distinguished himself by his active exertions in reforming prisons.

The last bay between this aisle and the south transept is closed on the north side by the chantry of Abbot Seabroke, (died 1457,) the builder of the central tower, the south-west pier of which forms the head of his chantry. His effigy, in alabaster, was originally in a recess on the north side, but now occupies the place of the altar. Chantry and effigy have been much mutilated and shattered. In an arched recess under the opposite windows are effigies of a knight and lady, long assigned to one of the Bohun Earls of Hereford. There is every reason, however, to believe that the effigies represent members of the Brydges family, whose crest appears on the knight’s sword-belt[10]. He wears{G-20} a collar of SS., and his armour cannot be earlier than the reign of Henry V.

Against the wall on the north side of the entrance to the transept is a large canopied bracket for a figure.

VIII. Passing into the south transept, we enter that portion of the Norman cathedral which was transformed and re-cased during the fourteenth century. Both transepts, the choir and its aisles, were thus treated, between the years 1329-1377. The work, according to Froucester’s Chronicle, was begun in this transept, which was re-cased by Abbot Wygemore[11], (1329-1337).

In both transepts the original outline of the Norman work is complete, both in the interior and exterior. Both transepts had eastern chapels, below and in the triforium, which extends over the choir-aisles, opening into other chapels at the east end. Instead of the lofty piers of the nave, the transepts at their eastern sides, and the choir throughout, have low, massive piers and arches below, and piers and arches of nearly equal dimensions in the triforium. In the fourteenth century the Norman walls of both transepts were covered on their three sides with an open screen-work or panelling{G-21} formed by mullions and transoms, enriched with tracery and foiled headings. The forms of the triforium arches, of the clerestory, and of the arches opening into the chapels and choir-aisles, were changed from round to pointed; but within the triforium the round arches remain, and the wall on which the panelling is laid is the original Norman. The great distinction between the work here and that in the nave of Winchester, with which it may be instructively compared, is, that in the latter instance the Norman work was completely hidden, and re-cased with Perpendicular masonry: at Gloucester the later work was only laid on the Norman walls and arches. This is more evident in the choir than in the transepts.

The south transept, according to Abbot Froucester, was the first part of the Church to be thus treated. The panelling, however, although dating from the first half of the fourteenth century, (1329-1337,) has much of Perpendicular character; and the alterations in this transept may accordingly be regarded as perhaps the earliest approach to Perpendicular work in England. The design is indeed wanting in one chief characteristic of true Perpendicular; as the mullions are not carried straight up to the head of the arch, but branch off into arches before reaching it. But although the work in this transept retains much of Decorated character, the tendency to change is sufficiently marked; and in the rest of the cathedral (north transept and choir) the Perpendicular style is completely developed. According to Professor Willis, it may have commenced here.{G-22} “It must have begun somewhere; in some place the mullion must have been carried up for the first time, and no place is so likely as Gloucester to have produced the change of style[12].”

On the east side, the entrance to the choir-aisle is closed by an open screen, with two doorways in the lower part, one leading to the aisle, the other into the crypt. The form of their arches is very unusual, and deserves notice. The rib of a great buttress, supporting the wall of the choir, runs through the triforium above. In the south-east bay was an arch, now closed, leading into the Norman chapel, on either side of which are canopied brackets for figures. In the panel filling the first bay, just above the top of the crypt door, is the so-called Prentice’s bracket, [Title,] in form resembling a builder’s square. Two figures support it, curiously placed,—the lower with a bag at his waist. It is traditionally said to be a memorial of the master builder and his son, or prentice, but was in all probability a bracket for light. Filling the centre of the blank arch is a monument with medallion for Bishop Benson, (died 1755).

On the south side of the transept is a large Perpendicular window of good design, below which is a passage, behind an open arcade. The passage is entered from a Norman staircase-turret in the south-west angle, and leads upward to the triforium. The effect of this arcade, with its unusual depth of shadow, is very good.

THE “PRENTICE’S” BRACKET.

CONFESSIONAL.

IN THE SOUTH TRANSEPT.

{G-23}

In the wall under this passage are two doorways, now closed, above one of which (eastward) is a grotesque monster; the other forms what is called the confessional. [Plate II.] Three steps ascend to the door, between panels which slope like the sides of a chair, and are supported by figures which seem to be those of angels. The heads, however, are gone, and the figures are otherwise much defaced. The local tradition asserts that those who came to confess entered by the first door, with the monster’s head above it, typical of sin; and left by the other, with the sorrowing angels, representing penitence. How far the doorways were at all connected with a confessional is, however, quite uncertain.

Against this wall is an ugly Elizabethan monument for Richard Pates, (died 1588); and the high tomb with effigies of Alderman Blackleech, “who was admitted to the glory of eternity 1639,” and his wife Gertrude. The figures are in alabaster, and are wonderful examples of costume. All the details—boots, rosettes, sword-belt and sword-handle, and the lady’s lace and short jacket—deserve notice. It was not for her beauty that Dame Gertrude was thus commemorated.

In the west wall is a Perpendicular window, with blank panelling below. An open screen-work covers the arch into the nave, and the choir-buttress runs through its upper division. The roof is a plain lierne, without bosses, and “one of the earliest specimens of this complex class of rib-vaulting. Owing to the difference of the angles of the ribs, such a vault was very difficult of construction; most skilful workmanship was neces{G-24}sary to make the ribs join at the intersections; and this led to the use of bosses, which while they concealed defective work, greatly enriched the roof. But in this example there are no bosses. The ribs join perfectly; and it appears as if the masons desired that the skilfulness of their work should be shewn[13].” The very light and beautiful effect of the flying-arch apparently carrying the choir-vaulting, which crosses the main tower-arch, should here be noticed. The whole arrangement is singularly picturesque and original; (see § X.)

IX. In the north transept, cased by Abbot Horton, (1351-1377,) the new work differs in its mouldings, which are here angular instead of round; and in the greater richness of the roof. The mullions are here continued up to the roof, shewing the complete development of the Perpendicular. In this transept the eastern chapel is open. There is an ascent of seven steps to it, shewing what was the original arrangement of the chapel in the opposite transept. Within this chapel, looking west, the casing of the Norman work with the later is very evident.

Against the north wall of this transept, under the open arcade, is a structure of early Decorated character, which has been called, and probably with reason, a reliquary[14]. [Plate III.] It is in three divisions, the

THE RELIQUARY.

{G-25}

entrance being through the central arch. All the arches are enriched with foiled openings, and with intricate and very beautiful leafage. There are Purbeck shafts at the angles, heads at the spring of the arches, and a series of seated figures, under canopies, much mutilated, between the outer arch at the entrance and the trefoil within. Inside, the three divisions are groined, with bosses at the intersections; and each bay has three blind arches in the wall, between which piers project to some distance. The reliquary ends before reaching the north-west angle of the transept in which the square Norman turret projects, leading upward to the arcaded passage and to the triforium. (Compare the projecting turrets at the angles of the transepts in Worcester Cathedral.) At the north-east angle the Perpendicular work joins the reliquary; a bracket for a figure is placed between it and the steps leading to the chapel, and a shield bearing Abbot Parker’s arms has taken the place of the last corbel-head.

Three Norman windows remain at the east end of the chapel opening from this transept. Below them is a Perpendicular reredos, with three niches, from which the figures have disappeared. This chapel (as will be seen from the Plan) is of less size than that opening from the south transept, and the altar (owing to the polygonal apse) was not due east. A door opens south, into the choir-aisle; and in the opposite wall is a very good Perpendicular doorway, leading to rooms now used as vestries. The Perpendicular cresting, and the angels bearing scrolls in the hollow moulding, are good, and{G-26} should be noticed. The Norman arch in the wall above this doorway, and the Norman work in the opposite wall, (which should be examined from the choir-aisle as well as from the chapel,) apparently indicate changes in this part of the building before the alteration of the entire transept, which it is not easy to explain. The groin edges of the vault of this chapel are carried down the piers in a manner of which no example occurs elsewhere.

The steps into the chapel, and a similar ascent into the choir-aisle, were rendered necessary from the height of the crypt, (§ XVII.), which extends under the whole of the building east of the tower, with the exception of the Lady-chapel. The very peculiar doorways opening to the aisle resemble those in the opposite transept. Within the smaller of these arches, on a level with the top of the stairs, is a small stone lectern, from which, it is probable, the pilgrims were addressed as they passed upwards to the shrine of Edward II.[15]

The Perpendicular screen below the tower-arch opening to the transept enclosed a chapel, now used as a vestry. A similar chapel existed beneath the south tower-arch. Under a Perpendicular window on the west side of the transept is a monument for John

THE CHOIR.

{G-27}

Bower, (died 1615,) “who had nyne sones and seaven daughters by his wife Anne Bower.” Their names are on shields above this inscription, and their figures are painted on the wall at the back. Above are the words “Vayne, Vanytie. All is but Vayne. Witnesse Soloman.” The monument is curious from the manner in which painting is used in it.

X. A heavy organ-screen, erected in 1823 by Dr. Griffith, (for whom there is a tablet on the north side,) divides the nave from the choir, and materially interferes with the utility and beauty of both.

The choir, [Plate IV.], as in most Norman churches, extends one bay west of the central tower, under which the stalls are arranged. An ascent of three steps leads to the presbytery, three bays in length; and the altar is approached by two additional steps. The unrivalled east window at once attracts attention on entering the choir; but the whole view is rendered especially interesting and peculiar by the panelling and open screen-work covering the Norman walls and arches, the form of which is preserved; by the lofty clerestory; and by the exquisite lightness and grace of the lierne roof, which extends unbroken, except by a low ribbed arch, from the west wall of the tower to the east window.

The choir, according to Froucester’s Chronicle, was cased and vaulted by Abbots Staunton, (1337-1351,) and Horton, (1351-1377). Their work must also have embraced the lower portion of the tower, (as far as the roof,) since there is no break in the vaulting,{G-28} and the work is of the same character throughout. As far as the spring of the flying-arch that carries the groining, the piers of the tower are Norman; to this point the walls of the tower, choir, and presbytery were taken down. The pointed arches opening to the transepts, the slender arches that cross them, and apparently carry the groining, and rank among the most peculiar features of this cathedral, and the vaulted roof of the tower, all belong to the work of Staunton and Horton: the former of whom completed the western portion of the choir, with the vaulting; whilst the latter re-constructed the eastern end, with the high altar. The choir vaulting is one of the richest examples in England; and although its lines of ornamentation are thrown out in every direction like those of a spider’s web, “the complication is really the effect of perspective, since when reduced to drawing the lines form a simple geometrical figure[16].” The tower-vaulting is much higher than the roof of the nave, and admits of a window in the west wall of the tower, with niches carrying brackets for figures on either side. Over the arch is the inscription,—

which can only record the building of the upper part of the tower, in the time of Abbot Seabroke; (see § III.): or possibly, only the completion of the work, after the death of Abbot Seabroke in 1457, by Robert Tully,

MISERERES IN THE CHOIR.

{G-29}

a monk of the house. In 1460 Tully became Bishop of St. David’s, and died in 1481.

The light arches which, cross the main arches of the tower, north and south, and which look like “pieces of carpentry in stone,” do not in reality support the vault, which rests securely on the wall behind. They were not, however, intended to deceive. “Unless some resting-place was provided, the builders must have allowed the capital to hang down to a level with the others without anything to support it, or altered the arch above, and thus have disturbed the curvature of the vault. The flying-arch was contrived to get rid of these defects. All this appears to be characteristic of a school of masons who were extremely skilful, and glad of an opportunity of shewing their skill; as a modern engineer likes to carry his railway through a chain of mountains when he has a plain valley before him[17].”

The stalls ranged below the tower are Perpendicular, (those north the work of Abbot Staunton, those south of Abbot Horton,) with, rich projecting canopies. The misereres [Plate V.] below are of the usual character, but are so fixed that they can only be seen with difficulty. Behind the first stall on the north side is a fragment of Early English work, probably of the date of Elias de Lideford, who erected stalls in the choir, which were removed by Abbots Staunton and Horton.

The open screen-work which covers the Norman arches of the presbytery, is carried upwards into the{G-30} lofty clerestory windows, so as to cover the entire bay with a uniform panelling. Light vaulting-shafts run up between, and carry the lierne roof. The termination of the Norman choir was originally circular, as at Norwich; but in order to insert the great east window, the two last bays, eastward, were entirely removed, and the walls, from this point, now slope outwards north and south. This part of the work is, in Froucester’s Chronicle, assigned to Abbot Horton, (1351-1377). The tiling of the sacrarium, which displays the arms and devices of Abbot Parker, (1515-1534,) is no doubt of his time; as are the sedilia on the south side, which indicate the coming change in their arabesque ornaments. The frieze, a knotted stick passed through a riband, should be noticed. On the canopy above are three figures,—one with a drum or tambourine, the others with trumpets.

XI. The great east window, which terminates the choir, is the largest in England, and is, owing to the ingenious construction of this part of the choir, wider than the side walls which contain it: it is filled with what is, in many respects, the finest stained glass of the period in this country. The window itself, in its general design and tracery, corresponds with the panelling of the choir and with the windows of the clerestory, and is part of Abbot Horton’s work. The tracery-heads and cusps on the inside do not appear without, as usual, since the glass (probably to save expense) is fitted into a square-headed panel, sunk in the back of the window. A peculiar effect is produced by the roof of the Lady-{G-31}chapel beyond, which rises against the lower part of the window, (from which it is separated by the ante-chapel); the glass above is consequently always in brighter light than that below. The stone-work of the whole window has been repaired (1862) at a cost of £1,400; and £600 has been expended on the re-leading of the glass by Hughes[18], under the very careful supervision of Mr. Winston, one of the best authorities on the subject.

The window, like the rest of the choir-work, has decided Perpendicular features; but the glass “is in all respects thoroughly Decorated in character;... As a general rule, it is true that a change in the style of architecture has always preceded, by some years, the corresponding change in the style of painted glass....

“The two first tiers of lights from the ground are filled with coloured borders and ornamented white quarries; a shield of arms in a panel is inserted in each light, and a small ornamented roundel placed at some distance beneath it. The three next tiers of lights throughout the window are filled with figures and canopies, and, in the central part of the window, another tier likewise, the spires of this row of canopies running into the tier of lights above. This arrangement, as might be expected, imparts a grand pyra{G-32}midical character to the whole design. All the tracery lights of the window are filled with ornamented white quarries, and enriched with small roundels of ornament inserted here and there....

“The colouring of the lower lights—containing figures and canopies—is arranged on a principle not uncommon in early Perpendicular glass. The figures are almost entirely white, having yellow stained hair, and borders to their robes: the architectural work of the canopies is wholly composed of white and yellow stained glass. The positive colouring is confined to the spire backgrounds of the canopies, and the tapestry which lines the interior of the niche; and it is carried in uniform streaks, or columns, down the window. Thus the spire grounds and tapestries of the central column—which is two lights broad, all the other columns being only of the width of one light—are coloured red; those of the next column on each side the centre one are coloured blue; those of the next red, and so on. The large proportion of white used in the most coloured parts prevents any violent transition, from the figure and canopy part to the quarry part of the window....

“The full effect of the Gloucester window, no doubt, depends not only on the simplicity of the composition, the largeness of its parts, and the breadth of its colouring, but also on the excellence of the material of which the window is composed....

“The side windows of the choir-clerestory retain enough of their original glazing—which is precisely of the same date as that of the east window—to enable us{G-33} to perceive that their lower tier of lights was filled with figures and canopies, and their upper tier and tracery-lights with borders and quarry patterns, having small roundels of ornament inserted of the same character as the pattern-work in the east window: a corroborative proof, if any were necessary, of the originality of the arrangement of the glass in the upper part of the east window, with which the arrangement of the glass in the side windows so perfectly harmonizes[19].” The date assigned by Mr. Winston to the east window, and to those of the clerestory, is between 1345 and 1350.

XII. On the south side of the presbytery is a projecting bracket of Perpendicular date, on which is placed the earlier effigy of an abbot—perhaps that of Henry Foliot, (died 1243). It is too shattered, however, to be of much interest.

On the north side of the presbytery, beginning from the east, are:—

(1.) A high tomb with effigy of Osric, the Mercian “kinglet,” who is said to have founded the first religious establishment at Gloucester. (See § I., and Pt. II.) On the east end of the monument is the inscription,—“Osricus Rex primus fundator hujus monasterii—681.” The tomb and effigy are said to have been erected during the abbacy of William Parker, (1515-1539,) whose arms, together with those of the abbey, appear on it. The effigy is crowned and sceptred,{G-34} and carries the model of a church in the left hand. The ermine collar of the robe is unusual.

(2.) The superb tomb, with effigy of Edward II. [Plate VI.] It has been truly said that the whole of the choir, as it at present exists, is a memorial of the murdered King; since the alterations in it were commenced after his interment here, and their cost was mainly defrayed from the rich offerings made at his tomb. The tomb itself, however, is not unworthy a greater king than Edward II.

It was on the 21st of September, 1327, that King Edward was murdered in Berkeley Castle. The monasteries of Bristol, Kingswood, and Malmesbury refused to receive his body for interment, fearing the displeasure of the Queen and her party; but Abbot Thokey of Gloucester, more far-sighted, brought it from Berkeley in his own carriage, and caused it to be solemnly interred beneath the existing monument. This was erected at the cost of the King’s son, Edward III., and became at once an important place of pilgrimage. Offerings made here were thought to avert the Divine anger from the nation, and it is said that if all the oblations presented at the tomb during the reign of Edward III. had been expended on the church, it might have been built anew. Edward III. himself, when in danger of shipwreck, vowed an offering of a golden ship at his father’s tomb, which was duly presented, but afterwards redeemed, at the request of the Abbot and Convent, for £100. The Black Prince offered a golden crucifix, containing a portion of the holy Cross; the Queen of

MONUMENT OF EDWARD II.

{G-35}

Scots, a necklace with a ruby; and Queen Philippa, a heart and ear of gold. Such offerings were no doubt hung about the tomb, in the usual manner.

The monument itself consists of an altar-tomb with effigy, canopied by a mass of exquisite tabernacle-work, which fills up the entire arch. The great Norman piers on either side have been cut away, to give room for the lower part of the tomb, which has canopied niches for figures no longer existing, and on the side toward the choir-aisle (at which the oblations were made) a bracket for light. The effigy is of alabaster, and the King’s features were possibly chiselled from a waxen mask, taken after death. The head is very fine, and should be compared with those of Edward III. at Westminster, and of the Black Prince at Canterbury. In all these Plantagenet effigies there is a striking resemblance. The arrangement of the hair and beard should be noticed. At the head are angels, and a lion at the feet, finely rendered. On the side of the tomb (toward the aisle) is a shield, with an inscription recording the restoration of the monument by the society of Oriel College, Oxford, of which Edward II. was the founder, at the instance of his Almoner, Adam de Brome:—“Hoc fundatoris sui monumentum, situ vetustatis deformatum, instaurari curaverunt Præpos. et Soc. Coll. Oriel, Oxon. A.D. 1737-1789-1798.”

The capitals of the great piers are painted with the device of Richard II., the white hart, chained and collared. Hence a tradition has arisen that the body of the King was drawn by stags from Berkeley to Gloucester.{G-36}

(3.) The chantry, with effigy, of Abbot Parker, (the last Abbot of Gloucester,) 1515-1539. The chantry has been converted into a pew. The screen enclosing it has a good frieze of vine-leaves and grapes; and the niches for statues at the angles should be noticed. The effigy, of alabaster, has been much cut and injured. The Abbot wears the chasuble and jewelled mitre, (Gloucester ranked as the eleventh of the twenty-seven mitred English abbeys); the top of his staff is broken. There are small figures in the portion left. The base of the monument has shields with the Abbot’s arms, and others bearing the emblems of our Lord’s Passion.

XIII. The north choir-aisle is entered from the choir through a Perpendicular doorway in the bay below Abbot Parker’s chantry. The aisle itself is Norman, of the same date as the choir, but has the windows filled with Perpendicular tracery. The low enormous piers of the choir are here well seen, and the monuments already described should all be noticed from this side.

At the north-east angle of the aisle is one of the apsidal chapels, three of which terminated the Norman choir. The chapel forms a pentagon, the place of the altar being, very unusually, north-east. The whole chapel was altered as a memorial of Abbot Boteler, (1437-1450). It is enclosed by a Perpendicular screen, and the windows are filled with Perpendicular tracery. Behind the altar is a very rich Perpendicular reredos, having one central and eight smaller niches. Some of the small figures of the Apostles in the canopies above

TOMB OF ROBERT, DUKE OF NORMANDY.

{G-37}

are perfect; and there are also many shields of benefactors to the monastery. The whole is richly painted.

On the step of the altar is the effigy of Robert Courtehose, [Plate VII.,] eldest son of the Conqueror, who died in 1134, at the castle of Cardiff, where he had been a prisoner twenty-six years. He had been a great benefactor to the monastery at Gloucester, and was interred here before the high altar. His monument continued entire until 1641, when it was broken to pieces by Cromwell’s soldiers. The pieces were bought by Sir Humphrey Tracy, of Stanway, who kept them until after the Restoration, when they were put together, and replaced in the cathedral. The monument now consists of a high tomb or chest (on wheels), of Irish oak, on which is laid the effigy, also of oak. The shields on the tomb, and the figure itself, were partly re-coloured, and the former very improperly, during the present century. The tomb has a border of leafage, of late Decorated character. The effigy itself may be of the same period (since the material is the same), and may perhaps have been copied from an earlier figure. It is cross-legged, and has a surcoat and a coronet. Whatever may be its real date, it cannot possibly be older than Henry II.

The Norman pier remains at the north-east angle of the chapel, with the addition of a Perpendicular base, and a panelled ornament cut into it. Between the reredos and the east wall is a Perpendicular arch, which assists in carrying the east window, and is so contrived as to relieve the slight Perpendicular pier adjoining of{G-38} the weight of the superstructure, which it was not strong enough to bear. The construction of all this east end of the choir, which is very ingenious, is best seen in the triforium, (§ XVI.)

XIV. The termination of the Norman choir, as has already been mentioned, was polygonal, with a central and two side chapels. This original arrangement still remains in the crypt, (§ XVII.); but the central chapel at the east end of the choir, which had been undisturbed by the erection of the great east window, was altered about a century later, when the Lady-chapel was commenced. The walls of the ante-chapel, by which this is entered, are in fact those of the Norman apsidal chapel, pierced on either side by a Perpendicular window, and having a rich panelled lierne vault, crossed by a double row of pendants. The upper story of the ante-chapel was the Norman chapel of the triforium. This portion is separated from the Lady-chapel by a screen of open-work, through which is seen the vaulted roof, and three windows at the west and on either side. The west window looks across the low gallery intervening between it and the east window of the choir, (see § V.) The arch carrying the screen of the upper chapel, and forming the eastern termination of the lower roof, is bordered in front by a series of foiled panels, having shields in their centres.

All this work, together with the Lady-chapel itself, is due to Abbot Hanley, (1457-1472,) and his successor, Abbot Farley, (1472-1498). It was the last great work of the monastery, and worthily closes the{G-39} fine series of Perpendicular structures, (the re-casing of the choir, the cloisters, the tower, and the Lady-chapel,) which rank among the most interesting and important in England.

The Lady-chapel consists of four bays, with a square-sided eastern end, and small square-sided chapels of two stories, projecting from the third bay on either side. Each bay is nearly filled by a lofty Perpendicular window of four divisions. The lights of the two upper tiers are simply foiled. Those below are richer, with ornamented headings. In the wall below the window is a plain arcade of foiled arches, with a quatrefoil above. The narrow bit of wall which remains in each bay is panelled with tracery corresponding to the divisions of the windows; and in the three principal tiers has brackets and rich canopies for figures. The brackets are angels bearing scrolls. Vaulting-shafts run up between these panels; and above is a superb lierne roof,—one of the best and purest examples of such a roof in the Perpendicular period. The bosses are entirely of leafage, and are very numerous. Traces of colour remain on the walls, and on some of the canopies; and the headings of the window lights retain their original stained glass.

The effect of the side chapels is unusually picturesque. Each is of two stories; the roof of the upper on a level with the upper series of wall panellings on either side. A sharply-pointed arch, with pierced panellings above and an open parapet below, forms the front of the upper chapels; the lower are closed{G-40} in front by a rich screen-work, corresponding to the window divisions. The east end of the Lady-chapel is entirely filled by a Perpendicular window of three divisions, the design of which resembles those at the sides. The glass in this window is original, and very good, although not equal to that in the great east window of the choir. The extent to which white and yellow are employed in it should be noticed.

Below the window was a rich mass of tabernacle-work, now effectually smashed. Over the altar were three main niches, with pedestals for figures. There are fragments of brackets and canopies in the smaller divisions; and the whole shews remains of colour, gilding, and enamelling. The designs at the back of the principal niches should be especially noticed.

Much of the original tiling remains on this part of the floor. The tiles bear inscriptions, “Dũe Jhũ miserere;” and “Ave Maria grã. plẽ.” In the centre is a device of roses with leaves. Below the window on the south side are three sedilia, with graceful pendent canopies. The backs are panelled.

The side chapel on the north has a groined roof, in which the cusps of the foils and other portions are pierced with minute circular hollows, adding much to the elaborate effect. The panelling of the west wall has been filled by the upper part of the monument of Bishop Godfred, (died 1604). Below is an altar-tomb with effigy. The upper chapel, or oratory, is approached by a staircase on the west side, opening from the bay below; it has a lierne roof, with bosses of{G-41} leafage. The south chapel resembles the north; and contains a flat altar-tomb for Thomas Fitzwilliams, (died 1579: it was repaired by his descendants in 1648). The east window is covered by the hideous monument of Bishop Nicholson, (died 1671). The upper chapel resembles that opposite. These chapels were apparently the chantries of the two abbots who built the Lady-chapel; the upper stories, in which there is no trace of an altar, serving as oratories.

On the north side of the Lady-chapel is a monument with effigy for Elizabeth Williams, daughter of Bishop Miles Smith of Gloucester, (died 1622). Below, again, is a full-length statue of Sir John Powell, (died 1713)[20].

XV. The south choir-aisle resembles that opposite. The south-east chapel opening from it retains its Norman work more completely than the north-east. The Norman arches and windows remain; the latter filled with Perpendicular tracery. As in the chapel opposite, the altar did not front due east.

A door on the platform above the steps descending to the transept opens to what was originally the east chapel of the transept itself. The arrangement re{G-42}sembled that of the south-east chapel. The arch of entrance from the transept (transitional Norman, and pointed) remains, walled up. Under the three eastern windows is a rich Perpendicular reredos, with three niches for figures.

XVI. The triforium of the choir is reached by the staircases at the angles of the transepts, and through the open arcade at their north and south sides. The triforium originally extended quite round the choir, the whole width of the choir-aisles, opening into chapels corresponding with those below. With the exception of the east end—between the south-east and north-east chapels—it remains entire; of late Norman character, with some alterations made during the Decorated period.

In the chapel above the south transept the Norman windows have been replaced by Decorated, enriched with the ball-flower. The double piscina in the small window, and the brackets for figures, with rich canopies, are Decorated, and deserve notice. Looking toward the transept, the manner in which it was re-cased is here readily seen. The circular Norman arch of the triforium encloses a pointed arch, with shafts at the angles. This arch is crossed by the ribs of the screen-work. In this part of the triforium is preserved an ancient painting on panel, representing the Last Judgment. It dates apparently from the end of the fifteenth century, but is of no very great interest.

The massive piers of the triforium above the choir-aisle remain unaltered. The arches are crossed with Perpendicular tracery. The south-east chapel opens

PLANS OF TRIFORIUM AND CRYPT, GLOUCESTER.

{G-43}

above the corresponding chapel in the aisle: it is plain Norman, with late windows inserted.

The manner in which the east end of the choir was re-constructed, to admit of the insertion of the great east window, and to allow of its being wider than the original walls of the choir, is best seen from this point. The eastern piers of the choir, and the portion of the triforium above, were entirely removed; but the Norman eastern chapel (corresponding to those south-east and north-east) was allowed to remain entire, both in the triforium and below. The last bay of the choir was extended laterally, so as to admit the light freely from the great window; and as access to the eastern chapel was cut off by the removal of the triforium, it became necessary to construct the passage at the back of the window, known as the “Whispering Gallery.” Here three flying buttresses should be remarked, which spring from the outer walls of the cathedral at the bend of the apse, and meet in a point behind the wall of the choir. These really sustain the weight above the triforium, so that the slight Perpendicular pier below (§ XIII.) is not called upon to do more than half the duty. In the Whispering Gallery much Norman stone-work has been re-used—a practice of common occurrence throughout the cathedral. Sound is transmitted through this gallery, which is 75 ft. long, 3 ft. wide, and 8 ft. high, in a remarkable manner. The lowest whisper, or the slightest scratch with a pin, is distinctly heard from one end to the other. The chapel into which it opens was part of the Norman chapel, altered on the building{G-44} of the Lady-chapel, into which it looks. In it is a stone altar—perhaps that of the Norman chapel.

Chapel, Triforium

The north-east Norman chapel beyond the gallery has a Decorated window; and in that adjoining the north transept is a very beautiful Decorated double piscina. The foliated ornament round the inner arch of the windows here and in the chapel opposite should be noticed. Taking into account the many chapels in this triforium, and in the crypt, it may be reckoned that there were nearly twice as many altars in this church as were usually to be found in churches of even the same size and importance.

XVII. The crypt, which is entered from the south{G-45} transept, is one of five English eastern crypts founded before 1085; (the others are Canterbury, Winchester, Rochester, and Worcester). After that date (with one exception, the Early English crypt at Hereford—see that cathedral) they ceased to be constructed, except in continuation of former ones. The crypt of Gloucester extends under the whole of the choir, with its aisles and chapels; and the original form of the eastern end is here at once evident.

Crypt.

“The outer walls of the crypt are about 10 ft. thick, and the aisle floor is on an average 8 ft. deep below the level of the soil on the outside. The centre part is divided by two rows of small columns, from which{G-46} spring groined arches carrying the floor of the choir. The bases and capitals of these are much out of level, falling considerably from west to east, and from north to south.... It is evident that great alterations have from time to time been made in this part of the building: the large semicircular columns against the walls, though of great antiquity, are not part of the original structure, but are casings, in which are enclosed the former and smaller piers; and the ribs springing from their capitals are built under, and with a view to support the groins[21].”

Much soil has been cleared from the crypt, and the original floors of the chapels have been laid open. These are composed of a rough concrete. There is a step into each chapel, and the floors rise gradually toward the east end. All contain remains of altars and piscinas, generally of later date than the crypt itself. The chapel adjoining the north transept was groined and decorated in the latter part of the thirteenth century. The windows of the crypt have been opened and glazed.

XVIII. The cloisters, [Plate VIII.,] which are entered from the nave, rank among the finest examples in the kingdom. They were commenced by Abbot Horton, (1351-1377); and completed by Abbot Froucester, (1381-1412).

The view looking down either of the walks is very fine, mainly owing to the richness of the groined roof, which, is the earliest existing example of the fan-vault.

THE CLOISTERS.

THE “CAROLS” IN THE SOUTH WALK.

THE LAVATORY IN THE CLOISTERS.

{G-47}

This style of vaulting is entirely peculiar to England; and Professor Willis has suggested that the school of masons who were employed in this cathedral may have originated it[22]. The wall sides of the cloisters are panelled; and the windows, divided by a transom, have rich Perpendicular tracery. The lights above the transom were glazed. “The construction of the outer walls is peculiar as to the arrangement of the buttresses, and the projecting shelf of stone connected with the transoms of the windows, which was evidently meant as a protection from the weather for the lower half of the windows,—which was not glazed[23].” Each walk is divided into ten compartments. In the south walk are the ‘Carols’—places for writing or study, twenty in number, formed by a series of arches, running below the main windows. In each ‘carol’ is a small and graceful window, of two lights. (Similar stalls or ‘carols’ existed at Durham.) The very fine view at the angle of the south and west walks should especially be noticed. In the north walk are the lavatories, [Plate IX.,] projecting into the cloister garth: these are very perfect. Under the windows is a long trough or basin into which the water flowed. The roof is groined. Opposite, in the wall of the cloister, is the recess for towels, or manutergia.

In the east walk are some memorial windows of stained glass; and it is proposed to fill the whole of the cloisters with glass, forming, when completed, a History of our Lord. “This scheme was originated{G-48} with a view to check the disfigurement of the cathedral by monuments of any other description.”

XIX. The chapter-house opens from the east walk through a Norman arch enriched with zigzag ornament. The chapter-house itself (72 ft. by 34) is a long parallelogram of four bays, three of which are Norman, and the most easterly a Perpendicular addition. This part is finely groined, and has a large Perpendicular window. Round the Norman portion [Plate X.] is an arcade of four arches in each bay. The manner in which the shafts carrying the vaulting-ribs are set back in the wall, between the shafts of the arcade, should be noticed. The plain vault has large ribs, 15 ft. apart. Rude inscriptions and shields are traceable on the wall-arcade. The floor has been covered with encaustic tiles, copied accurately from the old work.

Between the chapter-house and the north transept is the short passage called the “Abbot’s Cloister;” and above it the Chapter Library,—probably the original library of the monastery. This is a long room, of Perpendicular character, with a roof of dark oak, a row of small windows on the north side, and a large Perpendicular window east. The room has been well and thoroughly restored, and the books properly arranged. The most important manuscripts are—a transcript of Abbot Froucester’s Lives of the Abbots of Gloucester, from the foundation of the monastery to 1381; (the original MS. of this work—unless it be that recently found under the Rolls Chapel—is no longer known to exist. It is said to have disappeared from the Chapter

THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.

(THE NORMAN PORTION.)

{G-49}

Library at the beginning of the present century. This transcript was made by Dr. Hall, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford. There are others in the library of Queen’s College, Oxford, and in the British Museum).—A Register of Documents relating to the Abbey, also made by Abbot Froucester; and another Register, compiled by the last abbot, Parker, or Malvern.

XX. Returning to the exterior of the church, the west front (Abbot Morwent’s work, 1420-1437, see §§ IV., V.) may first be visited. This is not very rich or striking, but the pierced buttresses of the window, and the parapets of open-work below and above, should be noticed. The composition of Abbot Thokey’s south aisle, with its massive buttresses and deeply recessed windows, is unusually fine. On the upper part of the buttresses is a series of figures, finely designed, and well deserving attention. At the transept commences the Perpendicular transformation. The turrets at the angles are Norman, with interlacing arcades above; the cappings are later. The gables are filled with a series of round-headed arches, rising one above another; and traces of the original Norman window-openings remain in the walls. The parapets and windows shew the later alterations. Buttresses of the central tower pass across the east and west sides of the transept.

The polygonal shape of the radiating chapels—very unusual in Norman architecture—should here be noticed from the exterior; as well as the manner in which the Lady-chapel is connected with the choir. At the north-{G-50}west angle of this chapel is a fragment of the original Norman work which belonged to the central apse, and was turned to account in Abbot Horton’s rebuilding of the east end. The light buttresses which support the great east window are pierced so as not to obstruct the light. The central gable of the open parapet above the window retains a figure of our Lord on the cross.

The last bay of the Lady-chapel has an open passage below it, which was rendered necessary at the time of the building of the chapel, from the fact that the boundary wall of the monastery passed north and south in a line with the extreme eastern buttresses. (The marks of this wall may still be seen on the buttresses.) The archway is picturesque in itself. A very striking view of the north-east portion of the cathedral opens beyond it; full of varied and intricate outlines formed by the projecting chapels and the walls of the cloister and chapter-house, and crowned by the great mass of the central tower with its deep shadows and its fretwork of grey stone.

The tower (see § III.) was (as appears from the inscription within, § X.) the work of Abbot Seabroke, (1450-1457,) and was, said one of the monks to Leland (temp. Hen. VIII.), “a pharos to all parts of the hills.” The singular beauty of its pinnacles of open-work has already been noticed.

A passage called the Abbot’s Cloister separates the chapter-house from the north transept. The cloister itself, however, extended beyond this passage eastward. The inner walls alone remain. The eastern wall has{G-51} entirely disappeared; and beyond it are some transitional Norman arches, which belonged to the infirmary of the monastery.

NOTE, (p. 33).

Since the foregoing pages were in type, Mr. Winston has arrived at some very important and interesting conclusions relating to the east window of the choir. The general design of the figure-work is the Enthronement of the Blessed Virgin. The original arms in the window were those of warriors who served in the Cressy campaign, and who were connected with the county of Gloucester by their landed possessions; and there is ground for a surmise that the donor of the glass was Lord Bradeston, Governor of Gloucester Castle. The conception of the work may be attributed to 1347 or 1348, and it was completed not later than 1350.

The saving of this noble relic from the destructive effects of a ‘restoration’ is due to the energetic remonstrances of the Archæological Institute; in the Journal of which Society the results of Mr. Winston’s investigations, briefly stated above, will soon, it is to be hoped, appear. They will be eagerly welcomed by all who are interested in the subject.{G-52}

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.

PART II.

History of the See, with Short Notices of the principal Bishops.

Gloucester, the British Cair glou, the Roman Glevum, had been walled during the Roman period, and was one of the strong “ceasters” of Mercia. In 681 it was granted by Ethelred of Mercia to Osric, as “underking” or viceroy of the district. Osric is said to have completed the establishment of a convent of nuns, which had been commenced in Gloucester by Wulphere, brother of Ethelred; and Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury dedicated it in honour of St. Peter. Osric was accordingly regarded as the founder of the monastery, which continued under the rule of an abbess until A.D. 767, between which year and 821 it lay desolate, and the nuns were dispersed. In A.D. 821, Beornulph of Mercia restored the convent, and established in it a body of secular canons. They remained until 1022, when Canute introduced Benedictines in their place. From that time until the dissolution the abbey increased steadily in wealth and importance. The reception of the body of Edward II. brought vast sums to its treasury; and under Abbot Froucester it was raised to the dignity of a mitred abbey, by Pope Urban VI. Its income at the Dissolution was, according to Speed, £1,550.

The first Parliament after the Conquest was assembled by Henry I. in this abbey, and the young King, Henry III., (then but nine years old,) was crowned in the church, October 28, 1216. Richard II. held a Parliament in the great hall of the abbey, in November, 1378.

The most important Abbots were—

Robert of Gloucester, whose rhyming “Chronicle of Englonde,” is important, both historically and as an example of “middle English,” was a monk of this abbey, during the reigns of Henry III. and John. His Chronicle was edited by Hearne.

Until 1541 the whole of Gloucestershire lay within the diocese of Worcester. In that year the see of Gloucester was erected, and the abbey church, which was re-dedicated to the “Holy and Individed Trinity,” became its cathedral. The first bishop was—

After the accession of Mary, Hooper was summoned to London, (August 1553,) and was for some time confined in the Fleet prison; his see was declared void, and after an examination before Bishop Gardiner and others, he was condemned to be burnt as a heretic. The sentence was accordingly carried out at Gloucester, Feb. 9, 1555. A monument has lately been erected on the scene of his death.

LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET.

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.

PREFACE.

In preparing the ‘Handbook of Hereford Cathedral,’ besides a careful personal survey, considerable use has been made of a pamphlet on the condition of the building, printed by Professor Willis before the restoration was commenced under Dean Merewether. Although due acknowledgment of this has been made in the notes, it is proper to mention it here also. The authority of Professor Willis is in no case to be disregarded.

Hereford Cathedral, which has been happily restored to its ancient beauty under the care of Mr. G. G. Scott, is, although not the largest, one of the most important in the West of England; and contains much of very high interest to the architectural student.

R. J. K.

August, 1864.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

{H-1}

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.

PART I.

History and Details.

I. The very interesting cathedral of Hereford, which represents an episcopal see existing, it is possible, before the arrival of St. Augustine, (see Pt. II.,) has suffered much from the hand of time, and more perhaps from so-called restoration. On Easter Monday, 1786, the western tower (a later erection than the Norman nave) fell, carrying with it the west front, and greatly injuring the first bay of the nave. The architect Wyatt was then at work on Salisbury Cathedral; and the restoration of Hereford was unhappily placed in his hands. With Wyatt, restoration meant destruction. Between the years 1788 and 1797 he expended a sum of £20,000 on this cathedral; shortening the nave by one entire bay; destroying the Norman triforium and clerestory, which he replaced by others of his own device; and constructing the present west front, which it is to be hoped will not be permitted to exist much longer. In 1841, at the request of the late Bishop Musgrave, a report on the actual condition of the cathedral was drawn up by Professor Willis; from which it appeared that the piers of the central tower{H-2} were in a condition of much danger, and that the eastern gable of the Lady-chapel would inevitably fall unless preventive measures were at once taken. Accordingly, these and other repairs and “restorations” were effected between 1841 and 1852, at a cost of £27,000. The architect employed was Mr. L. N. Cottingham; and the then Dean Merewether’s own superintendence—whose zeal for the restoration of the building cannot be mentioned with too great respect—was unremitting until his death in 1850. Mr. Cottingham was not so completely destructive as Wyatt had been, but he rebuilt rather than restored, and allowed his masons to re-work ancient sculptures. Since the year 1858 the final restoration of Hereford Cathedral has been in the hands of Mr. G. G. Scott, and it need hardly be said that the work has been of a very different character. Where reconstruction has been necessary, every stone has been preserved, and, if possible, replaced. Whitewash and other defects have been removed with a sort of wire comb, which effectually cleans the stone, but does not remove ancient tool marks; and the sculpture and foliage consequently remain uninjured. These last works, completed in the year 1863, (when, on the 30th of June, the cathedral was solemnly re-opened,) effectually set forth the original beauty of the building, which ranks among the most interesting cathedrals in England.

The extent and nature of the different restorations will be pointed out as we proceed. It is no doubt to be regretted that so much rebuilding should have been{H-3} necessary; but this has been partly owing to original defects of construction, and partly to the nature of the stone, which was taken, apparently without much care in selection, from quarries in the old red sandstone, near the city. This stone is so much weather-worn in parts as to resemble the face of a sea cliff. Throughout Wyatt’s rebuilding and all the restorations, the new stone has been brought from the Caplar quarries near Fawley; from Lugwardine; and from some quarries nearer Hereford; also in the old red sandstone, but yielding blocks of a much harder and more durable character.

II. The Saxon Bishop Ethelstan (1012-1056) built a church from the foundations; which shortly after the accession of his successor, Leofgar, (1056,) was burnt together with the greater part of the city, by the Welsh king Gryffyth. The first Norman bishop, Robert de Losinga, (1079-1096,) who found his cathedral in ruins, began to rebuild it, taking for his model the church of Aachen, or Aix la Chapelle,—the work of Charlemagne[30]. This building was so far completed as to be dedicated (in the names of the Blessed Virgin and of Ethelbert King of East Anglia, see § X. and Pt. II.) in 1110, during the episcopate of Reinhelm, (1107-1115). The Norman portions of the existing cathedral (the piers of the nave, the choir as high as the clerestory, and the south transept,) belong to Bishop Robert’s cathedral. With the exception of{H-4} its first foundation, however, and of the walls of the nave-aisles, “it is much to be regretted that the period of erection of no one part of this cathedral has been recorded[31];” and we are left to assign the various dates from the character of the architecture alone. They are probably as follows:—

It thus appears that (besides the Norman work) Hereford Cathedral is principally rich in the architecture of the Early English and Geometrical periods. The Norman portions are curious and important. The Early English Lady-chapel is an excellent example; but the most remarkable part of the building is unquestionably the north transept. Bishop Cantilupe, who died in 1282, (and was canonized in 1320,) was buried in the Lady-chapel, which was the first addition{H-5} to the Norman church. The north transept (into which the relics of the bishop were removed in 1287) was to all appearance built expressly for the reception of the Cantilupe shrine; and the further changes and additions during the early Decorated period may safely be assigned to the increase of riches and consequence which the possession of this shrine brought to the cathedral. In the same manner, at Gloucester (see that Cathedral) the possession of the remains of Edward II. was the cause of the entire alteration of the abbey church.

III. Hereford Cathedral is open on the north side, and a good general view may be obtained from the Close, [Frontispiece,] through which it is approached. On the south side the bishop’s palace and the college of the vicars choral fill the space between it and the river Wye. Eastward the cathedral was closely pressed on by the outworks of the castle, anciently one of the strongest on the Welsh marches, but of which only the foundations now remain. The Norman cathedral, built, as has been said, in imitation of that of Aachen, terminated eastward in a triple apse. (Compare Norwich, the most perfect example of a Norman ground-plan now existing.) The central apse was destroyed, in all probability, on the formation of the Lady-chapel; and the side apses, at a somewhat later period, were converted into the eastern transept, as it now appears. This double transept (possibly suggested by that at Worcester, which is a century earlier; see that Cathedral) combines, with Bishop Booth’s large projecting porch, in producing a degree of intricacy in the general outline, the effect of which{H-6} is not lessened by the various alterations and restorations, which, however necessary, render it difficult to distinguish between the new work and the old.

IV. The cathedral is entered, on the north side, through an elaborate Perpendicular porch, completed in 1530 by Bishop Booth. It is of two stages. The lower is formed by three wide, open arches, at the outer angles of which are octagonal buttress-turrets, capped by very picturesque lanterns. The parvise chamber, forming the second stage, is lighted by three large Perpendicular windows, with rich tracery. This porch projects beyond an inner and smaller one, of the Decorated period, to which the doorway opening to the church (the mouldings of which should be noticed) belongs. The doors themselves are modern, and are covered with very good iron-work, designed by Mr. Cottingham, jun., and executed by Messrs. Potter of London. The hinges alone cost £140.

V. On entering the nave, the visitor should pass at once to the west end, where he will obtain the best general view. The great piers are Norman, and part of the original church. The triforium and clerestory and the vaulting of the roof are Wyatt’s work, (1788-1797,) as is the western wall with its doorway. The nave-aisles belong to the Decorated period. Wyatt, it must be remembered, shortened the original nave by one entire bay. The eye is at once struck by the massive grandeur of the great Norman piers and arches, and by the unusual darkness of the choir. Beyond the lofty circular arches of the central tower, and the superb

ARCHES OF NAVE.

Plate I.

{H-7}

modern screen on its eastern side, is seen the eastern wall of the choir, pierced below with a wide circular arch, receding in many orders, and above by three broad lancet lights. The lower arch is divided by a central pillar, from which spring two pointed arches, the spandrel between which is sculptured from a design of Cottingham’s. Beyond, again, is seen the east wall of the Lady-chapel, with its enriched lancets, and foliated ornaments above them. The effect of these three receding distances, with their varying light and shade, is unusually fine, and is not a little increased by the solemnity of the darkened choir. This darkness results partly from the heavy Norman architecture of the choir itself, and partly from the lofty transepts, which abut on it on either side. The nave and choir are of the same width (73-1/4 ft., including aisles; actual breadth of vaulting to nave and choir 31-1/4 ft.) and height (70 ft.)

The nave [Plate I.] now consists of seven bays. The massive circular piers have double half-shafts set against their north and south fronts. (The greater part of these are restorations, the original shafts having been cut away.) The bases are plain. The capitals of piers and shafts are rich and varied, especially those of the four easternmost piers, which have some very rich knot-work and foliage. The main arches recede in three orders, and are much enriched with the billet and other mouldings. The Norman work throughout the cathedral, when compared with that of the great buildings of the same age in the eastern counties, (Ely, Peterborough, or Norwich,){H-8} displays a richer and more involved class of ornament; such as reaches its highest development in the elaborate doorways of Kilpeck and Shobdon Churches, both in Herefordshire.

The triforium, and clerestory, both of which are Wyatt’s work, need not detain us. They are imitated from the Early English of Salisbury; and to make way for them, Wyatt destroyed the original Norman work, of which only a small portion had been injured by the fall of the tower[32]. The vaulting-shafts run up in groups of three, between each bay. The shafts themselves are restorations of the originals, much of which had been cut away before the fall of the tower; the corbels, below the capitals, are modern, and were copied by Cottingham from ancient examples. The roof is of wood, vaulted in imitation of stone, a description which is itself a condemnation. It has been coloured, under Mr. Cottingham’s direction, in a manner which can by no means be called satisfactory. The pavement throughout the nave has been laid (by Mr. Cottingham) with plain red and slate-coloured tiles. Two rows of gas-standards, the work of Messrs. Skidmore, are placed under the arches at intervals, four on each side.

VI. The nave-aisles were almost rebuilt during the late Decorated period. The Norman walls were allowed to stand for about 2 ft. above the foundations;{H-9} and upon these bases the existing walls and windows were erected. The contracts for this work, dating between the years 1360-1364, were found by the late Dean Merewether, and are now preserved in the archive chamber. The vaulting of the roofs is coloured in the same unpleasing manner as that of the nave. The view looking up the aisle, into and beyond the transept, is remarkable, owing to the many receding stages. It terminates at the eastern end of the second transept.

In the second bay (counting from the west) of the south aisle is the font, of Norman design, and curious. The basin is circular, and has figures of the Apostles beneath arches, in the spandrels of which is a leaf-ornament. A lion projects from each corner of the base, an unusual and perhaps unique example. In the fourth bay is the very fine alabaster effigy of Sir Richard Pembridge, temp. Richard II. Sir Richard, an ancestor of the Chandos family, was one of the first knights of the Garter, and was present at Poictiers. The armour is an excellent example. Gold remains on the points of the cap to which the camail is attached, and on the jewelled sword-belt. The head rests on a tilting-helmet, with a sheaf of feathers coloured green. Between the feathers and the helmet is a coronet of open roses. The garter is on the left leg, and the feet rest on a greyhound. This monument was originally in the church of the Black Friars, and was brought thence to the cathedral after the Dissolution. The right leg, which had been destroyed, has been restored at the cost of the Rev. Lord Saye and Sele, Canon Residentiary.{H-10}

In the wall of this aisle, in the third bay from the east, is the headless figure of an ecclesiastic, under a Decorated arch, foliated. In the second bay is an effigy of a priest of the early Decorated period, much mutilated, under a foliated arch, at the crown of which is a bearded head wearing a cap. In the third bay is a door opening to the cloisters, with a square heading which rises above the sill of the window over it. A row of heads in the hollow moulding of the door,—a fac-simile of a former composition, which had become entirely decayed,—and the modern iron-work, by Potter, with which the door itself is covered, deserve notice.

A narrow and lofty Norman arch opens from this aisle into the transept.

VII. The north aisle is Decorated, of the same character as the south. In the third bay from the tower is the north porch, (§ IV.); and in the bay above it is the monument of Bishop Booth, (died 1535,) the constructor of the porch itself. The effigy lies under a foliated arch with canopy. The Bishop, mitred and fully vested, holds the crozier (the head of which has been broken) wrapped with the infula, or fillet. Much colour remains on this monument, which is protected by its original iron-work, banded with shields and heraldic ornaments.

In this aisle, a stained-glass window by Warrenton, with subjects from the life of St. John the Baptist, has been inserted as a memorial of Canon Clutton and his wife.{H-11}

VIII. Between the eastern piers of the central tower, but projecting from their bases more than 3 ft. toward the nave, is placed the magnificent screen of wrought iron-work, painted and gilt, executed by Messrs. Skidmore of Coventry, from the designs of Mr. G. G. Scott. This is the second great work of the kind which has been produced in England. It is in many respects finer and more important than the screen at Lichfield; but it is designed and constructed on precisely the same principles; and affords a complete vindication of the advantage and beauty of metal-work for the purpose to which it is here applied. Whilst the screen forms a sufficient division between the nave and choir, its extreme lightness permits the use of both tower and transept for congregational purposes.

The Hereford screen consists of five main arches, each subdivided by a slender shaft. The central arch, wider and higher than the rest, forms the entrance, and is surmounted by a lofty gable, on the summit of which is the cross. Panels of hollow tracery fill in the lower part of the arches on either side of the entrance, to the height of about four feet. The heads of the arches and the spandrels between them are enriched with elaborate tracery, chiefly formed by flowers and leafage; and the design of the cornice and cresting is of similar character. In the tympanum above the shaft which divides the arch of entrance is a figure of the Saviour, with hands outstretched in blessing. On either side, placed on brackets supported by the pillars of the main arch, are adoring angels, two in each group.{H-12} Single figures of angels, holding instruments of music, are placed on brackets at the terminations of the screen, north and south.

The screen is wrought by hand throughout. It is mainly constructed of iron; but copper and brass are largely used; the first in the capitals, figures, and cornice; the second in the shafts of the smaller columns, and in parts of the larger. Coloured mosaics have also been employed. The variety of metals is another source of colour; but the hammered iron-work, forming the whole of the foliage, has been painted throughout. No colours have been used, however, but those of the oxydes of iron and copper—the metals employed in the work. The result is entirely successful. The beauty of the capitals of leafage, in which fine effects of light and shade are produced, and of the foliage and flowers in other parts of the screen, is very great; and every band and line of ornament deserves notice. The forms of both leafage and flowers are to a certain extent conventional, but may easily be recognised. The passion-flower especially has been much used, and with admirable effect. On the whole it may safely be said that this screen is the finest and most complete work of its class which has been produced in recent times; nor would it be easy to mention any piece of ancient metal-work—at least of equal dimensions—which will bear comparison with it.

Near the south-west corner of the screen is placed an eagle-lectern, designed by Cottingham and executed by Potter. The projecting branches, for lights, are un{H-13}usual and picturesque. The cost of the lectern was defrayed by the Misses Rushout; but the money was misappropriated, and it was eventually paid for by subscription.

The old pulpit, of the seventeenth century, now stands against the north-west tower-pier; but will shortly be replaced by one more worthy of the cathedral.

The four great arches of the tower were in a condition of much danger when Dean Merewether commenced his restorations in 1841. The piers, and the four arches resting on them, were Norman; but owing to settlements in the foundations of the nave and tower, which had taken place at a very early period, they had been cased and otherwise repaired during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and still later (probably during the episcopate of Bishop Bisse, 1712-1721) the two smaller arches of the tower (north and south) were filled with so-called “ox-eye masonry[33],” supported by two segmental arches branching from an octangular central column; whilst nearly all the smaller Norman arches in connection with the tower-piers were closed with solid masonry, leaving only doorways. In spite of all that had been done, however, Professor Willis, in his Report of 1841, pronounced the masonry of the great arches, and of the spandrel walls above, to be “in such a state of ruin as to make an immediate repair absolutely necessary for the preservation of the tower.” The piers{H-14} themselves were in a condition of less danger; but Mr. Cottingham, to whom the work was entrusted, proceeded to remove all the additions that had been made to them since the Norman period, and, in effect, to rebuild them according to their original design. In this state they remain at present. The arches resting on them were at the same time reconstructed, and the ox-eye masonry which filled those north and south was entirely removed.

Before these restorations a vault of the fifteenth century rose immediately above the great arches, and concealed the upper part of the tower. This was removed. The whole of the tower above the arches dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century; and the interior walls, which are now visible from below, “are of a very singular construction; twelve piers of compact masonry on each side, beside angle piers, are carried up to the height of 26 ft., and connected half-way up by a horizontal course of stone, in long pieces, and by an iron bar, which runs all round immediately under this bonding course. Upon these gigantic stone gratings, if I may be allowed the expression, the interior wall of the tower rests; and they also carry the entire weight of the bell-chamber and bells. I believe this construction was entirely adopted for the sake of lightness[34].” This part of the tower, which has no decorative character, was not originally intended to be seen from below; and the fifteenth-century vaulting had replaced an earlier wooden ceiling. It is now{H-15} completely open, and the flat wooden floor of the bell-chamber above it is coloured in blue and gold. From this floor depends a superb corona of wrought iron, by Skidmore—a worthy companion of the great choir-screen, and coloured in the same manner.

IX. The peculiar darkness of the choir has already been mentioned. It results mainly (as will be seen from the Plan) from the arrangement of the transepts, which prevents the admission of light to the choir except from its clerestory.

The choir and sacrarium, as at present formed, consist of only three bays, eastward of the screen. (The Norman choir extended no doubt to the western arch of the tower, if not into the first bay of the nave.) As far as the top of the triforium, the choir is Norman: the clerestory and vaulting are Early English, and date, apparently, from the middle of the thirteenth century. No record of their construction has been preserved.

The main arches of the choir are of three orders, and spring from massive composite piers, with broad, square bases. The capitals of the semi-detached shafts are enriched with leafage and grotesque heads. The triforium, in each bay, consists of one wide Norman arch circumscribing two smaller, divided by a central shaft, and springing on either side from two massive semicircular piers, with small capitals. Both outer and inner arches spring from these piers. The capitals of the central shafts have square abaci, and are enriched. The tympana of the outer arches are covered with scallop, leaf, and billet-ornament. At the base of the triforium runs{H-16} a square stringcourse, enriched with minute carving. The lozenge ornament prevails round the main arches of the choir, as does the zigzag round those of the nave.

Broad square pilasters, with semi-detached shafts at their angles, fill the spaces between the piers. They terminate at the spring of the triforium arches in double triangular headings, with crocheted sides, and finials of leafage. These headings are Early English, of the same date as the clerestory and vaulting; and between each pair rises a group of so-called vaulting-shafts, with capitals of leafage, terminating at the base of the clerestory; and connected (under the actual base of the clerestory) by a band of open flowers. The clerestory consists of one lofty pointed arch in each bay, divided by a central shaft; on either side is a smaller trefoiled arch. The windows, of two lights, with a quatrefoil in the heading, are placed at the back of the wall-passage, and form in effect a double plane with the large inner arches. They are filled on each side with indifferent stained glass. The choir vaulting is plain quadripartite, with bosses of leafage at the intersections.

X. Before 1841, the east end of the choir was covered with an oaken screen, erected by Bishop Bisse in 1717; and above it was a Decorated window filled with a copy in stained glass of West’s picture of the Last Supper. The removal of the screen disclosed the great Norman arch of five orders, within which the reredos is now placed. Above this arch is a small blind arcade; and instead of the Decorated window,

THE ALTAR-SCREEN.

Plate II.

{H-17}

three lancets have been inserted at the back of the clerestory passage. Of these, the central window has been filled with stained glass by Hardman; too minute perhaps in design for the height at which it is placed, but very good. The subjects in this window are the Saviour in Majesty, the Resurrection, the Crucifixion. The subjects in the north and south lancets will comprise the principal events of our Lord’s Passion.

The reredos [Plate II.] below was designed by Mr. Cottingham, jun., as a memorial for Joseph Bailey, Esq., M.P. for the county of Hereford, who died in 1850. It is in oolite (Bath stone) and marble; and although too high for its position, is a fine work. Between the five canopied compartments rise small shafts, supporting angels, who carry the instruments of the Passion. The pierced leafage at the back of the canopies is very beautiful. The subjects in the panels are—the Agony in the Garden, Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, with floating angels above the Cross, the Resurrection, and the three Maries at the Sepulchre.

At the back of the reredos rises a pier from which spring two pointed arches, leaving a broad tympanum or spandrel, closing the upper part of the Norman arch. This is a restoration of Mr. Cottingham’s. The pier itself is ancient. The spandrel is covered with modern sculpture, having, above, the Saviour in Majesty, with the Evangelists holding scrolls; and below, a figure of Ethelbert, King of East Anglia, who was murdered by Offa, King of Mercia, and is said to have been interred in the first Saxon church on this spot. (See Pt. II.){H-18} Miracles were reported as having occurred at his tomb, and the second church here was dedicated to St. Ethelbert.

The very good brass of Bishop Trilleck (died 1360) is placed on the chancel floor. The graceful arrangement of the vestments—which do not include the tunic—and the architectural design of the canopy deserve special notice. The greater part of the inscription has been lost[35].

Against the easternmost pier on the south side of the choir is a small figure on a bracket, which possibly represents St. Ethelbert. It was found about the year 1700, buried at the entrance of the Lady-chapel, (where it is said to have been concealed during the siege of 1645,) and was replaced in what is believed to have been its original position. The figure wears a coronet terminating in leaves. The strings of the long mantle are crossed on the breast. Whatever the hands once held has been destroyed. The figure is certainly not earlier than the first half of the fourteenth century.

On the north side of the choir, in the easternmost bay, is the effigy of Bishop Stanbery, (died 1474,) whose chantry opens from the aisle opposite; (§ XIV.) The Bishop wears the alb, stole, and chasuble, the flowing ornament on which should be noticed. It should here be mentioned that Wyatt, following the same destructive course as at Salisbury, removed many{H-19} monuments in the cathedral from their original positions; thereby rendering even their identification a matter of some difficulty.

In the next bay is the effigy of a bishop, fully vested, holding the model of a tower. This is assigned to Bishop Giles de Bruce, (died 1215); and Godwin (De Præsulibus) conjectured that the model indicated this bishop as having been the builder of the central tower—a conjecture which has been assumed as a certainty by every succeeding writer. But whatever architectural work Bishop Giles may have done, the tower, as was pointed out by Professor Willis, is nearly a century later. His effigy is one of ten which were erected during the Perpendicular period as memorials of earlier bishops, and which are now scattered in different parts of the cathedral. (In the same manner, many effigies of earlier bishops were sculptured at Wells (see that Cathedral) in the first half of the thirteenth century, and are all of Early English character.)

In the same bay is the monument of Bishop Bennett, (died 1617). He wears the rochet, and a close black cap, and rests his feet on a lion; an unusual instance of the retention of an earlier form. The Bishop was buried on this spot.

The stalls of the choir range up to this bay. They are Decorated, and very good. The small heads and ornaments of the shafts which support the projecting canopies should especially be noticed. The misereres are interesting, but of no special excellence. Two on the south side represent a cook throwing a platter at an intruder, and{H-20} a pair of wrestlers with ropes about their necks. The whole of this ancient work has been carefully cleaned, and restored where necessary, under the direction of Mr. Scott. The new carving, which is very fine, and well worthy of its companionship with fourteenth-century wood-work, is entirely by Messrs. Ruddle and Thompson of Peterborough. Some of the new misereres, and the elaborately carved ends or heads, sixteen in number, deserve careful attention. The panel-work in front of the stalls is an exact reproduction of that before the episcopal throne.

The floor of the whole choir has been laid with tiles, manufactured (as are those throughout the church with the exception of the nave) by Godwin of Lugwardine. The pavement of the sacrarium is especially rich and elaborate.

The organ (by Renatus Harris, but remodelled and reconstructed by Davison under the direction of Sir Frederick Ouseley) is to be placed within the first archway on the south side of the choir.

XI. Through the north arch of the tower we pass into the north transept, [Plate III.]; one of the finest and most interesting parts of the church, which fortunately remained untouched until the cathedral was placed under the care of Mr. G. G. Scott, by whom this transept has been carefully restored. The date of its erection has not been recorded; but we cannot be wrong in assigning it to the period between the death of Bishop Cantilupe (1282) and his translation in 1287. The Bishop was at first buried in the Lady-chapel, but was

BAY OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT.

Plate III.

{H-21}

removed to this transept in 1287. The miracles reported at his tomb had already brought large sums to the Church; and the rebuilding of the transept for the reception of his shrine must have been completed before the removal of his body in 1287.

The Norman arches opening to the aisles of nave and choir resemble those which correspond to them on the south side of the church. The transept beyond them was, as we have seen, entirely rebuilt, and is one of the most remarkable examples of the period remaining in England. The unusual form of its arches, and its pure, lofty windows, are sufficiently impressive now; but their effect must have been wonderfully increased when the windows were filled with glass displaying the history and miracles of the sainted Bishop, and when the shrine itself was standing on its pedestal within the eastern aisle, rich with the gold and jewels offered by the numerous pilgrims who knelt daily before it.

The west side of the transept (which is of two bays beyond the aisle passage) is entirely filled by two very lofty windows, of three lights each. The heads of the narrow lights are sharply pointed; and the tracery above is formed by three circles enclosing trefoils. These windows are set back within triangular-headed arches. On the north side is a double window of the same character, divided by a group of banded shafts. The triple lights on either side of these shafts, and the foiled circles above them, precisely resemble the windows on the west side of the transept. The central{H-22} tracery of the window is formed by a foiled circle, with a larger circle, enclosing a sexfoil, above it. The whole window is set back within a segmental pointed arch, with banded shafts at the angles of the jambs. The eastern aisle of the transept is divided into two bays by a clustered pier, the shafts surrounding which are alternately of sandstone and dark marble. Their capitals are enriched with foliage, and small knots of foliage are placed between the bases. The main arches are sharply pointed, and have many plain mouldings, with one band of dog-tooth ornament, highly detached. The triforium above (which extends beyond the actual transept, over the Norman arch opening to the choir-aisle) is especially striking. In each bay are two sharply pointed arches, each subdivided into three lesser arches, with foiled headings; and with three open quatrefoils as tracery above. The main arch is surrounded by a row of dog-tooth. The large spandrel spaces between the arches are entirely covered with a diaper of leaf-ornament, in low relief. The clerestory windows are octofoils, set far back within pointed arches. On the exterior, the form of the window openings is triangular, like those of the triforium at Westminster and those in the clerestory of the nave at Lichfield. On the interior, the sills of the windows slope forward with overlapping courses of stone, to the stringcourse at the top of the triforium. The sills of the great windows in the transept are formed in a similar manner, with overlapping courses of stone.

PEDESTAL OF THE SHRINE OF BISHOP CANTILUPE.

Plate IV.

{H-23}

The shafts at the angles of all the windows are ringed, and the triangular arches, throughout the transept, are slightly stilted. Such arches are by no means common. They occur, however, in the clerestory on the south side of the nave in Worcester Cathedral, but of later date than this transept, which was possibly imitated by the Worcester architect.

This transept has been carefully and truly “restored,” under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott. The stone-work has been freed from whitewash and cleaned; and the plain quadripartite vaulting has been touched with colour, and the bosses gilt, with excellent effect. The vaulting springs from clustered shafts, the corbels supporting which, on the east side, are beautiful and singular, and resemble bunches of reeds, terminating in a small open flower. The small heads below these corbels, at the intersection of the main arches, should also be noticed.

The transept has been laid with red and green tiles in panels, the divisions being marked in grey sandstone.

XII. The eastern aisle is lighted by three very beautiful windows, each of three lights, with three quatrefoils in the tracery. They are set back within wider arches, as is the case with the windows in the main transept. In this aisle, in a line with the central pier, is the pedestal of the Cantilupe Shrine. [Plate IV.] (For a sketch of the life of St. Thomas Cantilupe, the last Englishman canonized before the Reformation, see Pt. II.) Bishop Cantilupe died on his way to Rome, at{H-24} Civita Vecchia, Aug. 25, 1282. His remains were divided. A portion was interred near Orvieto; the heart was brought to Ashridge in Buckinghamshire; and the bones were brought to his own cathedral at Hereford, where they were deposited in the Lady-chapel. The reputation of Bishop Cantilupe had been great during his life. Numerous miracles were recorded as having taken place at his tomb, which soon became one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in the west of England; and in 1286 (April 6) his remains were translated to a more stately resting-place in this transept, which had probably been rebuilt in his honour. The King, Edward II., was present at the translation. Bishop Cantilupe was not canonized until 1320[36]; but the pedestal of his shrine, which alone now exists, is (with the exception of the western end, which seems to be at least thirty years later) of the date of his translation.

This is a long parallelogram, narrowing toward the lower end, and is entirely of Purbeck marble. It has two divisions; the lower closed, like an altar-tomb, the upper a flat canopy, supported on small open arches. Upon this rested the actual shrine, containing the relics of the saint. Cantilupe was Provincial Grand Master of the Knights Templars in England; and round the lower division of the pedestal are fifteen figures of Templars in various attitudes, placed in the recesses of a foliated arcade. All are fully armed, in chain-mail, with surcoat, shield, and sword. All are{H-25} seated, and tread on various monsters, among which are dragons, and swine muzzled. The spandrels in this arcade, and the spandrels between the arches in the upper division, are filled with leafage of the most beautiful and varied character. It is the leafage of the first Decorated period, retaining some of the stiff arrangement of the Early English, but directly copied from nature. In the lower spandrels it is arranged in sprays; in the upper it is often laid in rows of leaves, among which occur oak, maple, and trefoil. The whole of this work will repay the most careful examination. (It should be compared with the foliage of the capitals of the shafts surrounding the central pier of the aisle, which is far more stiff and conventional.) On the top of the lower division of the pedestal was a brass of the Bishop, of which the matrix alone remains.

The position of the shrine in this transept may be compared with that of St. Frideswide at Oxford, and with that of St. Richard de la Wych at Chichester. All had an altar immediately adjoining the shrine, which was dedicated to the saint, and at which the offerings of pilgrims were made. In these cases, however, the usual position of a great shrine—at the back of the high altar—was, for some special reason, departed from. At Hereford, this position of highest honour was probably occupied by the shrine of St. Ethelbert; and the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe must have taken an inferior place, had it been fixed near that. This was avoided by the dedication of the entire transept to the sainted Bishop. In the same manner, the south transept{H-26} at Chichester seems to have been occupied by the shrine of St. Richard de la Wych; in whose honour the great south window was probably inserted.

On a bracket against the wall adjoining the shrine is a bust of Bishop Field, (died 1636). On the floor is a slab with effigy of John d’Acquablanca, Dean of Hereford, (died 1320). He was the nephew of Bishop d’Acquablanca, whose monument (see post) is close by. Under the north window of the aisle is a stone coffin, found under the centre of the north arch of the tower, during the restoration of the piers. It may be the coffin of Bishop John de Breton, (died 1275).

Under the great north window of the transept is a richly canopied tomb with effigy of Bishop Thomas Charlton, (died 1369). This effigy was not disturbed by Wyatt, and remains in its original position. West of this monument is the effigy of Bishop Westfaling, (died 1602). The canopy was destroyed by Wyatt. This is the bishop who is said so rarely to have smiled after his consecration to the episcopate; (see Pt. II.)

In the pavement adjoining the choir-aisle, a very good small brass has been inserted for John Philips, (died 1708, aged 32,) whose family were natives of Herefordshire, although the poet himself was born at Bampton in Oxfordshire, of which place his father was rector. His principal work, however, “Cider,” belongs essentially to Herefordshire. A monument to Philips was placed in Westminster Abbey by Lord Chancellor Harcourt, and bears an inscription written by Bishop Atterbury.

MONUMENT OF BISHOP D’AQUABLANCA.

(FROM THE NORTH TRANSEPT.) Plate V.

{H-27}

XIII. The north choir-aisle is entered through the original Norman arch; which (together with that opening from the nave-aisle) was cleared by Mr. Cottingham from the masonry with which it had been nearly closed, in order to strengthen the tower piers. Between this aisle and the eastern aisle of the transept is the very beautiful monument of Bishop d’Acquablanca, (1240-1268). [Plate V.] The effigy lies under a canopy supported by light shafts of Purbeck marble. The gables of the canopy are crowned with floriated crosses, the central cross bearing a figure of the crucified Saviour. The monument may be compared with that of Bishop Bridport at Salisbury, (died 1262,) which is, however, far richer and more elaborate. The tomb of Bishop d’Acquablanca was originally richly coloured; and an attempt at restoration was made by an amateur in 1861. It was soon, however, discontinued,—not unwisely, as the commencement remains to prove.

The Norman piers of the choir and the monuments described in § X. should be noticed from the aisle, the pavement of which has been laid in square panels of red and green tiles, with a border of grey stone. In the north wall of the aisle is a series of arched recesses, of Decorated character, with the open-flower ornament in the mouldings, episcopal heads at the crown of the arches, and heads of ecclesiastics at the intersections. In the first of these recesses east of the transept, is an effigy assigned to Bishop Geoffry de Clive, (died 1120). This is one of the series of Perpendicular effigies already noticed, (§ X.) Beyond this recess a door opens to{H-28} the turret staircase leading to the Archive Room and Chapter Library, (see § XXIII.,) above the north transept. The effigy in the next recess (also Perpendicular) is given to Bishop Hugh de Mapenore, (died 1219). The window above is filled with stained glass, by Clayton and Bell, as a memorial of John Hunt, organist, died 1842, and his nephew James, “who died of grief three days after his uncle;” as appears from an inscription on a small brass plate at the side of the window. Beyond the entrance to Bishop Stanbery’s chapel is an arch open to the chapel itself, under which is a Perpendicular effigy assigned to Bishop Richard, (called “de Capella,”) died 1127.

XIV. Bishop Stanbery’s Chantry (1453-1474) [Plate VI.] is a good example of rich late Perpendicular. It is 16 ft. by 8 ft.; with two windows on the north side, (filled with stained glass, which forms part of the Musgrave memorial; see post,) and on the south the entrance, and the arch with effigy already mentioned. The west end is covered with tracery and shields in panels; and the east has shields with emblems above the place of the altar. The ceiling is richly groined. The grotesque capitals at the angles of the chapel should be remarked; as should the shields with emblems of St. Matthias, St. Thomas, and St. Bartholomew, over the arch on the south side. Other shields bear the arms of the see and of the deanery, with those assigned to St. Ethelbert, and to Leofric of Mercia.

Bishop Stanbery’s monument (§ X.) is on the wall of the choir immediately opposite his chantry. On the

BISHOP STANBERY’S CHAPEL.

Plate VI.

BISHOP STANBERY’S CHAPEL.

Plate VI.

{H-29}

panels toward the aisle are figures of saints, and angels bearing shields. In the wall of the aisle above the chantry, which is only 11 ft. in height, is a Decorated window filled with stained glass as a memorial of the late Dr. Musgrave, Archbishop of York; who, as Bishop of Hereford, was among the first to set on foot the restoration of his cathedral. The glass, which is by Warrenton, exhibits the principal events in the life of St. Paul. The subjects are continued in the windows of the chantry, which form part of the memorial.

XV. The north-east transept opens immediately beyond Bishop Stanbery’s chantry. The main character of this lesser, or eastern transept, is at present early Decorated, (geometrical); but it retains traces of the original Norman ground-plan. The Norman cathedral, like most great churches in England of that period, seems to have terminated in a triple apse, of which the arrangement may have resembled the eastern apses of Norwich and Gloucester, (see those Cathedrals). Portions of the central apse remain in the walls of the vestibule to the Lady-chapel; and parts of the apses which opened from the choir-aisles have been retained in the existing transept. These are all of transitional Norman character; and are considerably later than the Norman choir or nave.

Extensive alterations had been made in this part of the Norman cathedral before the great north transept was rebuilt in order to receive the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe. The Lady-chapel, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century, was the first addition; and its{H-30} building must have followed very closely on the completion of the Norman retro-choir with its apses, the side walls of which were retained in the vestibule of the Lady-chapel. Considerably later, (at the beginning of the fourteenth century), after the completion of the north transept, the terminal apses of the choir-aisles were almost entirely removed, and the existing transept constructed. It is much to be regretted that none of these works have any recorded date.

A peculiar character is given to this transept by an octagonal pier, which rises in the centre, and assists in carrying the vaulting. The vaulting is quadripartite, with very good bosses of leafage. The windows are early Decorated. In the west wall of the transept are some Norman arches, which belonged to the original apse.

The transept has been restored under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott. The tiles of the pavement are laid in panels, in which red and yellow are the prevailing colours. In one of the panels is a good modern brass for members of the Terry family.

Under the north-east window is a monument which has been assigned to Bishop Godwin, (died 1633); but which is in reality much earlier. Under the adjoining window, west, is the canopied tomb of Bishop Swinfield, (1283-1317). The episcopal effigy has long disappeared, and that which is now seen on the tomb is the effigy of some unknown lay person, dug up in the cloisters. The arched canopy has the ball-flower in its mouldings; and at the back of the recess is a much

COFFIN SLAB IN THE NORTH-EAST TRANSEPT.

Plate VII.

{H-31}

mutilated sculpture of the Crucifixion, surrounded by vine-leaves and tendrils. The work resembles the leafage of the Cantilupe Shrine, and is possibly by the same hand. In a recess decorated with the ball-flower under the arch opening to the vestibule of the Lady-chapel, is the effigy of an unknown lady, (fourteenth century,) dug up outside the church during the restorations. Against the walls of the transept are ranged some coffin slabs, with floriated and enriched crosses, found at different times and in various parts of the cathedral. One of these (circa 1250?) is given in Plate VII.

XVI. From the transept we pass into the ambulatory, or retro-choir, at the back of the altar. This is transitional Norman, and its two bays are divided by a pointed arch, which springs from circular shafts, at the back of the altar and at the entrance to the vestibule of the Lady-chapel. The ribs of the quadripartite vaulting are enriched with chevron and diamond mouldings of late character. The arches at the back of the choir-screen were decorated (see § X.) by Mr. Cottingham. On the base of the central shaft is an inscription recording the erection of the screen as a memorial of the late Joseph Bailey, Esq.; (see § X.)

The existing arrangement seems to indicate (although this has not been directly proved) that the Norman ground-plan, like that of Norwich, comprised an ambulatory or “procession-path,” passing round at the back of the high altar, and giving access to the central and side apses, which opened from it.{H-32}

Window in vestibule of Lady-chapel.

XVII. The walls of this central apse are retained in the vestibule to the Lady-chapel. They are pierced north and south with transitional Norman window openings; pointed arches, with massive mouldings, one of which, an enriched diamond, runs round the soffete, and is carried on the capitals of triple side shafts. The foliage of the capitals is of completely Early English character. These windows (the glass in which, as is indicated by their rebated jambs, was fixed in wooden

EASTERN BAY OF LADY-CHAPEL.

Plate VIII.

{H-33}

frames) were built up in the wall, until the restoration of this part of the cathedral by Mr. Cottingham.

In the south wall of the vestibule is the very interesting monument, with effigy, of Dean Berew, or Beaurieú, (died 1462). The head of the effigy, delicately featured and full of expression, and the arrangement of the robe, especially at the feet, are very striking, and should be noticed. The feet rest on a boar; and in the hollow of the arch-moulding are boars and rue leaves, forming a “rebus” of the Dean’s name. Over the whole monument there are traces of painting, and at the back of the recess the kneeling figure of an ecclesiastic is distinguishable; possibly that of Dean Berew himself.

On the floor is the very fine brass of Richard Delamare (1435) and his wife Isabella. There is also here the brass of a priest in cope, circa 1450.

XVIII. An ascent of five steps (rendered necessary by the height of the crypt below; see § XXVI.) leads to the Lady-chapel, [Plate VIII.]; very rich Early English, and dating from the first half of the thirteenth century, (circ. 1220). It is 45 ft. by 24, and consists of three bays, in each of which, on either side, (except where the bay on the south side is filled by the Audley Chantry,) are two large windows. When Professor Willis made his report in 1841, the eastern gable of this chapel (then used as the Chapter Library) was in a state of “ruinous disintegration;” and one of the first works entrusted to Mr. Cottingham was the rebuilding of this eastern end. The pavement of the{H-34} Lady-chapel, and other restorations, have happily been completed under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott.

At the east end are five narrow lancets, set back within arches resting on clustered shafts, and much enriched with the dog-tooth ornament. The wall above these windows is pierced with five foiled openings; of which the three central are oval, the exterior on either side circular. The windows have been filled with stained glass designed by Cottingham and executed by Gibbs, as a memorial to the late Dean Merewether,—to whom the cathedral is so greatly indebted,—who is interred at the north-east angle of the chapel. The subjects commence with the early life of the Virgin, and proceed through that of our Lord, terminating with the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. The glass is good, but suffers from the want of white and neutral tints.

A black marble slab, with a brass plate by Hardman, has been placed over the grave of Dean Merewether. The inscription bears record that “to the restoration of this cathedral he devoted the unwearied energies of his life till its close on the 4th of April, 1850.”

The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are of Early English leafage; and there are small heads at the intersections and crowns of the arches. A circle enclosing a quatrefoil pierces the wall above these windows. The vaulting is plain quadripartite, and springs from shafts which descend upon a base raised slightly above the pavement.{H-35}

The modern pavement of the Lady-chapel is laid with red and green tiles, in large square panels. The whole design is broad and good in outline; and is somewhat richer at the altar end, which is raised on one step. The aumbry and double piscina on the south side of the altar are reproductions of the originals, which were in a state of extreme decay. Of the two stained windows on the south side, the most eastern (of late fourteenth-century character) was removed from St. Peter’s Church in Hereford, and was given to the cathedral by the late R. B. Phillipps, Esq. The window below is filled with Munich glass.

In the central bay on the north side of the chapel is a very fine Perpendicular monumental recess, within which is laid the effigy (much earlier than the recess) of a knight of the Bohun family. The recess itself has an upper stage or canopy, with open tabernacle-work, in the arches of which figures have been placed, none of which originally belonged to it, with the exception of the two central ones, now headless, representing the Saviour and the Blessed Virgin. The figures on either side were found imbedded in a mass of mortar behind the oaken choir-screen, on its removal by Mr. Cottingham. They represent St. John the Baptist, St. Thomas Cantilupe, and St. Thomas of Canterbury,—the latter distinguished by the pall and the patriarchal cross,—the fourth figure is uncertain.

The effigy placed in this recess has generally been assigned to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, temp. Edward III. He was not however interred in{H-36} this cathedral; and although the effigy is certainly of that date, it probably represents some less distinguished member of that great family. The features, uninjured, are fine. The chain-mail, the fringed poleyns at the knees, the surcoat, and all the details, should be noticed. The dog at the feet turns upward, licking his paw.

The monument, with effigy, in the most eastern bay on this side, is that of Joanna de Bohun, Countess of Hereford, (called Joanna de Kilpeck, from her castle there,) (died 1327). It has been painted in accordance with the remains of colour on its several portions; but with very indifferent success. The effigy is a good example of costume. Male and female heads project at the angles of the canopy; and the border of the slab on which the effigy rests has small human heads and roses with their leaves, alternately. The will of the Countess bequeaths a considerable estate to the cathedral.

XIX. In the central bay on the south side is the Audley Chapel or Chantry, [Plate IX.,] constructed by Bishop Edmund Audley, (1492-1502,) before his translation to Salisbury in the latter year. The chantry here was no doubt intended for the place of his own interment; but during his episcopate at Salisbury (1502-1524) he built a second chantry in the choir of that cathedral, (see Handbook for Salisbury,) within which he was buried.

The Audley Chapel at Hereford is of two stages, access to the upper being afforded by a circular staircase at the south-west angle. The lower story is separated

THE SCREEN OF BISHOP AUDLEY’S CHANTRY.

Plate IX.

{H-37}

from the Lady-chapel by a lofty stone screen with pierced panels. Figures of saints and of religious persons are represented on this screen, which has been restored and painted. The iron-work on the door opening to the staircase is excellent as an example, and should be noticed. The lock bears the Bishop’s initials.

The chapel is five-sided, and is lighted by two windows. There is a third window, opening through the screen into the Lady-chapel. The vaulted ceiling shews the remains of rich colour; and at the east end, over the place of the altar, are traces of a large painting with trees and figures. The upper story has five windows, in which are some good remains of the original glass. On the central boss of the groining is the Virgin, crowned, and surrounded by an aureole of rays. The arms of the Deanery, (Azure, five bends or,) and those of Bishop Audley, appear on other parts of the ceiling, with a shield bearing the initials (R. I.) of some unknown person. The top of the screen forms a parapet, dividing this story from the Lady-chapel. There are no traces of an altar here; and the upper story of this chantry probably served—like those of the chantries of Abbots Farley and Hanley at Gloucester, (see that Cathedral,) which are also attached to the Lady-chapel, and are constructed on a similar plan—as an oratory.

XX. The south-east transept resembles that opposite; but it was perhaps altered from the Norman apse at a somewhat later date. Its details are not so good{H-38} as those of the north-east transept; and the window tracery is of almost flamboyant character. Bases of the earlier work remain in the walls.

Under the wall dividing the vestibule of the Lady-chapel from this transept is the monument, with effigy, of Bishop Lewis Charlton, (died 1369). Above it is that of Bishop Coke, (died 1646). In a square recess, in the east wall, is the fine bust of a Mr. James Thomas, who is buried near this place; and under it the brass of Sir Richard Delabere, (1514,) and two wives. In the recess, with the bust, are placed some carved Norman capitals, of early character. Under the south wall of the transept are monuments for Bishop Lindsell, (died 1634,) and Dean Harvey, (died 1500); neither of any great interest. Some fragments of brasses are attached to the walls of this transept, but are of little importance. The north-east window has been filled with stained glass by Warrenton, at the sole expense of Lord Saye and Sele, as a memorial of Bishop Huntingford, (1815-1834). The subjects are from the life of St. Peter.

XXI. In the south wall of the south choir-aisle are four arched recesses, of the same date and character (Decorated) as those in the aisle opposite. They contain four Perpendicular effigies; assigned (beginning from the east) to Bishop William de Vere, (died 1199); Bishop Hugh Foliot, (died 1234); Bishop Robert de Betun, (died 1148); and Bishop Robert de Melun, (died 1167). On the floor is the fine brass of Dean Edmund Frowsetoure, (died 1529,) in a richly diapered{H-39} cope. Among the figures in the canopy are those of St. Ethelbert and of St. Thomas Cantilupe.

Between the two easternmost piers of the choir is the monument, with effigy, of Bishop Mayew, (1504-1516; see Pt. II.) The elaborate canopy has been restored, so far as any authority remained for the details. The panels in front of the monument are filled with figures of saints. The effigy, fully vested, and wearing a richly jewelled mitre, should be especially noticed. Under an arch opening to the choir, in the next bay, is a Perpendicular effigy assigned to Bishop de Losinga, (died 1096). Above it is a fragment of good wooden screen-work, of Decorated character.

A door in the westernmost bay of this aisle opens to two plain Norman rooms, now used as vestries. In the Perpendicular period an “eastern chamber” of two stories was added to this Norman building, and served as the treasury of the cathedral.

XXII. The great south transept retains much of its Norman work, but was much altered during the Perpendicular period. The east wall is entirely Norman, and is covered with five ranges of arcades, all of which are blank except those at the levels of the triforium and clerestory, which open to a wall-passage. The transept is only lighted on this side by two Norman windows in the clerestory. A large Norman arch, including two smaller, all much enriched, occupies the triforium space above the arch opening to the choir-aisle; and perhaps indicates that the Norman triforium{H-40}

BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY.

Plate X.

{H-41}

has been already mentioned, to the Archive Room and Chapter Library, above the great north transept. This room has been thoroughly restored by Mr. G. G. Scott. The Library contains about 2,000 volumes, many of great rarity and interest. Nearly all are chained to the shelves; and the general appearance of the carefully guarded treasures is sufficiently curious. [Plate X.] Among the most remarkable printed books are—A series of Bibles, ranging from 1480 to 1690; Higden’s Polychronicon, by Caxton, 1495; Caxton’s Legenda Aurea, 1483; and Lyndewode Super Constitutiones Provinciales, 1475. Of the MSS., by far the most interesting is an ancient Antiphonarium containing the old “Hereford Use.” This “sets forth not only the services of particular days, the chants to be used and the lectures to be read, but contains a treatise on music and an ample calendar, in which are noted the obits of the benefactors and bishops of the church; and by which, with the aid of the Dominical letter, we are enabled to assign to the volume the date of 1265[37]”. It was purchased at a book-stall in Drury-lane about the year 1820; and redeemed by the Dean and Chapter, who restored it to its original and legitimate resting-place. Here also is preserved, carefully protected by plate glass, the remarkable Map of the World, [Plate XI.,] which is one of the most valuable relics of mediæval geography. It was the work of a certain Richard of Haldingham and of Lafford, (Holdingham and{H-42} Sleaford in Lincolnshire,) who has commemorated himself in the following verses:—

The latter part of the thirteenth century is the date which has usually been assigned to it; but M. D’Avezac, President of the Geographical Society of Paris, who has recently examined the map with much care, arrives, from internal evidence, at the conclusion that it was designed at the beginning of the year 1314[38]. The map itself (drawn on thick vellum, and glued to a framework of oak) is founded on the mediæval belief that all geographical knowledge resulted from the observations of three philosophers, (here named Nichodoxus, Theodotus, and Policlitus,) who were sent forth by Augustus Cæsar to survey the three divisions of the world, when it was about to be taxed at the birth of our Lord. The Emperor is accordingly figured giving his directions to the philosophers. The world is represented as round, and surrounded by the ocean. At the top of the map, which represents the east, is Paradise,

ANCIENT MAP.

Plate XI.

{H-43}

with the Tree of Life, and Adam and Eve. Above is the Last Judgment, with the Virgin interceding for mankind. Jerusalem appears in the centre of the map; and near it, the crucifix is planted on “Mount Calvary.” Babylon has its famous tower; Rome bears the inscription, “Roma caput mundi tenet orbis frena rotundi;” and Troy is described as “Troja civitas bellicosissima.” (These four cities were regarded as the most important in the world: Troy, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was a favourite subject of romance.) The British Isles occupy a considerable space; and Hereford, with its cathedral, is by no means obscurely placed. A great part of the map is filled with inscriptions taken from Solinus, Isidore of Seville, and others; and with drawings of the monstrous animals and peoples which the mediæval cosmography supposed to exist in different parts of the world. The monkey is assigned to Norway; the scorpion to the banks of the Rhine; and the “oroc” (aurochs) to Provence. Lot’s wife, the labyrinth of Crete, the columns of Hercules, and Scylla and Charybdis, should also be noticed. “The portrait of Abraham is seen in Chaldæa, and that of Moses on Mount Sinai. Amid the deserts of Ethiopia St. Anthony is recognised, with his hook-beaked satyrs and fauns. St. Augustine in his pontifical habit marks the situation of his own Hippo[39].”

The history of this very remarkable map is uncertain. It was discovered, probably about a century ago,{H-44} under the floor of Bishop Audley’s Chapel; and Dean Merewether suggested (but apparently without the slightest authority) that it might have served originally as an altar-piece[40].

In the church is preserved a very curious chair of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, closely resembling those often represented in early sculpture and painting. It is formed in great measure of little turned balusters; and may be compared with a chair figured by M. Viollet-le-Duc[41] from sculpture at Auxerre. The Hereford chair (which at first sight looks like work of the seventeenth century, but is undoubtedly early, and a most valuable remnant of antiquity) may perhaps have served as the bishop’s throne, before the construction, in the fourteenth century, of that now in use;—or it may have been the bishop’s chair at the altar.

XXIV. A door at the eastern end of the south nave-aisle opens to the cloisters, of which only two walks, the east and south, remain. The west walk was pulled down in the reign of Edward VI. to make room for the

THE CLOISTERS, WITH THE LADIES’ ARBOUR.

Plate XII.

{H-45}

Grammar School, (taken down in 1836,) and a north walk never existed. (Hereford Cathedral, it should be remembered, had no monastic establishment attached to it; and this cloister, [Plate XII.] unlike that at Gloucester, was little more than an ornamental walk, connected with the Bishop’s Palace). The cloister is of Perpendicular date, with window-openings which deserve notice. The south walk is more richly groined than the east. At the south-east corner is a square turreted tower, called the “Ladies’,” or “Ladye Arbour,” the original purpose of which is not clear; nor has it been possible to trace the origin of the name, which apparently has some reference to the Virgin.

Some good old iron-work on a door between the cloister and the chapter-yard should be noticed. In the cloister are placed monuments for—Dr. Matthews, (with sculptured figures); Bishop Huntingford, (died 1832); and Bishop Grey, (died 1837).

Between the cloister and the Bishop’s Palace, a remarkable chapel, which seems to have been early Norman, existed until it was pulled down by Bishop Egerton, (1724-1746). It had an upper and a lower story, in which were altars dedicated respectively to St. Mary Magdalene and to St. Catherine. One wall alone remains, and deserves notice.

From the east walk of the cloister a door opened to the vestibule of the chapter-house. This was ruined by the Parliamentarian troops; and much of its stone-work was used by Bishop Bisse, (died 1721,) and by his successors until recently, for the repairs of the episcopal{H-46} palace. The foundations and fragments which remain shew that it was rich Decorated, in shape a decagon, with a projecting buttress at each angle.

At the south-west angle of the lesser transept is an entrance to the Vicars’ Cloister; (see § XXVII.)

XXV. The exterior of the great north transept should be especially noticed. The remarkable windows shew to great advantage from the outside, in connection with the massive buttresses, of which those at the angles are turreted, with spiral cappings. The clerestory windows are, as has already (§ XI.) been mentioned, triangular on the exterior, and resemble those in the outer wall of the triforium in the nave of Westminster. The upper window in the north wall opens from the Archive Room, (§ XXIII.) The external sills of all these windows resemble those of the interior, (§ XI.) They were walled up, but have been restored by Mr. Scott from original portions found embedded in the walls, partly in their places, and partly detached.

The date of the central tower, which rises above this transept, has not been recorded, but it may safely be placed between 1300 and 1310. It was probably undertaken immediately after the completion of the north transept, and the cost of its erection, like that of the transept, was no doubt defrayed from the sums which continued to be offered at the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe[42]. The tower (161 ft. high to the top of the{H-47} pinnacles) is of two stages above the roofs, with buttresses at the angles. (The pinnacles which cap these buttresses are modern, and date from 1830.) The arcades and window-openings, as well as the buttresses, are covered with the ball-flower ornament, which is scarcely anywhere found in such profusion as here, and in the south aisle of the nave of Gloucester; (see that Cathedral).

The Stanbery Chapel (§ XIV.) projects between the great and the eastern transept. The graceful Decorated window of the choir aisle, which rises above it, and the Early English arcades which cover the wall of the choir between the clerestory windows, as well as the windows themselves, (see § IX.,) should here be noticed.

XXVI. On the south side of the Lady-chapel a porch opens to a staircase leading to the crypt. The porch (which is finely recessed) is, like the crypt, of the same date—Early English (see § XVIII.)—as the Lady-chapel, under which it extends. The crypt extends under the whole of the Lady-chapel; and is the solitary example in an English cathedral of a crypt constructed after the end of the eleventh century[43]. It is lighted by plain lancets, and consists of a nave and{H-48} aisles 50 ft. long, and divided by plain clustered shafts. The crypt was repaired in 1497 by Andrew Jones, “Mercator hujus civitatis,” whose altar-tomb,—covered with an incised slab of large dimensions and elaborate decoration, representing the merchant and his wife—remains in the centre. This crypt is called the “Golgotha”—from its having been used as the charnel or domus carnaria—the place appropriated for the decent reception of disinterred fragments of the bodies of the defunct, and special services for the repose of their souls. Adjoining Worcester, Norwich, and some other cathedrals, a chapel, separated from the cathedral itself, was used for this purpose.

The east end of the Lady-chapel was, it must be remembered, rebuilt by Mr. Cottingham, (§ XVIII.) The gable above the five lancet windows is by no means an exact reproduction of the original, and the work is not too good. The Audley Chantry (§ XIX.) projects very picturesquely on the south side of the Lady-chapel. The side pinnacles were reproduced by Mr. Scott from old drawings; the finials are original, having been preserved in the crypt.

The existing west front of the cathedral is, as has already been said, a composition of Wyatt’s, and is unworthy of notice. The total exterior length of the church, including the buttresses, is 344 ft.{H-49}

XXVII. On the south side of the Lady-chapel is the entrance to the College of Vicars Choral, (incorporated in 1396,) a very picturesque quadrangle, with an inner cloister. It is for the most part Perpendicular, (circa 1474). A long cloistral walk (109 ft.) leading from the quadrangle of the college to the south-east transept of the cathedral has the oaken beams of its roof very finely carved.

The episcopal palace lies south between the cathedral and the river Wye. It is almost entirely formed out of an ancient Norman hall with pillars of timber, and is consequently of considerable interest. In the Deanery is preserved a small reliquary, of Limoges work, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century. On it is represented the martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury: on the lower part the murder, on the upper part the entombment of the saint. It no doubt contained a relic of the Archbishop. Similar reliquaries, with the same subjects, exist in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries, and of Sir Philip Egerton.

{H-50} 

{H-51} 

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.

PART II.

History of the See, with Short Notices of the principal Bishops.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET{H-74}

WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

TOMB OF KING JOHN.

{W-1} 

{W-2} 

{W-3}

WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

PART I.

History and Details.

I. The chief authorities for the architectural history of Worcester Cathedral are—the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester, and the Annales Ecclesiæ Wygorniensis, compiled by a monk of Worcester at the beginning of the fourteenth century[59]. From these it appears that in the year 1084 Bishop Wulfstan “began the work of the Minster;” into which the monks entered four years afterwards; and in 1092 Wulfstan held{W-4} a synod in the crypt, which he had “built from the foundations, and by the mercy of God had dedicated[60].” Wulfstan died in 1095. In 1113 the city of Worcester, with the cathedral church and the castle, were greatly injured by fire. In 1175 the “new tower”—probably the central tower of the cathedral—fell, as many other Norman towers had fallen; and in 1189 another great fire destroyed nearly the whole of Worcester. On this occasion the cathedral escaped; but in 1202, at Eastertide, it was burnt, (igne conflagravit alieno,) together with all the buildings and offices attached to it. During the whole of the year before, however, great miracles had been manifested at the tomb of St. Wulfstan, and many sick persons were said to be cured there daily. Accordingly, on St. Giles’s Day, (Sept. 1,) 1202, Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, came to Worcester with other bishops to enquire into the truth of the reported miracles. Certain monks of Worcester took his favourable judgment to Rome; and in the following year, 1203, St. Wulfstan was canonized by Pope Innocent III., who so far honoured the new English saint as to compose a prayer for his Office.

From this time offerings poured in daily at the tomb of St. Wulfstan; and it was no doubt with the wealth thus acquired by the monastery that the cathedral was restored. In 1207 King John visited Worcester; and{W-5} after praying at Wulfstan’s tomb, gave three hundred marks for the repair of the cathedral. He was interred in the church in the year 1216, (see § IX.); and in 1218 the cathedral was dedicated “in honour of the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter, and of the holy confessors Oswald and Wulfstan.” The young King, Henry III., was present, with a great company of bishops, abbots, and nobles; and after the dedication the body of St. Wulfstan was translated to its shrine near the high altar.

The cathedral, up to this period, had been a Norman and transition Norman building. In 1221, on St. Andrew’s Day, during a great storm, the two “lesser towers” of Worcester fell. There is no evidence that the Norman nave terminated in western towers; and Professor Willis has suggested that these “lesser towers” may have flanked the Norman choir of Worcester, like those still remaining at Canterbury. Their fall may have injured the choir, and the ruin thus effected may have assisted the determination of the Bishop and Convent to expend the wealth which was still pouring in before the shrine of St. Wulfstan, in the erection of a more sumptuous church. At any rate, in 1224 the existing choir and Lady-chapel were begun; Bishop William of Blois laying the foundations of the new work of the east front; (novum opus frontis[61]). In 1281{W-6} the sacrist of the monastery received from the executors of Nicholas of Ely, Bishop of Winchester, a sum of sixty marks, the Bishop’s legacy toward the “rebuilding of the tower,”—no doubt the central tower of the cathedral,—which was not, however, effected for nearly a century, (1374). In the meantime, the Norman nave was partly removed and rebuilt. Bishop Cobham vaulted the north aisle of the nave between 1317 and 1321; and in 1377 Bishop Wakefield vaulted the nave itself.

II. These dates will assist us in examining the existing cathedral. Of St. Wulfstan’s Church, begun as we have seen, in 1084, the crypt, which extends at present under the choir and aisles, is the only certain relic. But portions of Norman work, belonging, according to Willis, to the first three quarters of the twelfth century, remain in the nave, at the western end of the choir, and in the walls of the great transept. The two westernmost bays of the nave are transition Norman, and there is Norman work of the same period (the last quarter of the twelfth century) in the great transept.

The choir, retro-choir, and Lady-chapel, with the choir-aisles and the eastern transepts, are Early English, and were commenced in 1224. The nave, with the exception of the two western bays, is of later date, Decorated, (1317-1327,) on the north side; and Decorated with a strong tendency to Perpendicular (circ. 1360?) on the south. The central tower is also Decorated,{W-7} and was no doubt the tower for which the legacy of Bishop Nicholas of Winchester (1281) was intended. The cloisters are Perpendicular.

The Early English portion of the cathedral (the whole of the church east of the central tower) is by far the most interesting, and affords some very good examples of design and sculpture. On the whole, however, although the entire building deserves, and will repay, careful examination, it can hardly be said to rank among English churches of the first class. The Norman cathedral, which covered nearly the same ground as that which now exists, terminated eastward (as appears from the crypt, § XXII.) in a broad apse, with small apsidal chapels attached at the sides. The ground-plan of the existing building forms a double or patriarchal cross[62], with a square eastern end. The whole north front of the cathedral is seen at once as the Close is entered from the High-street; but although the length (450 ft.) and general mass are imposing, the view is hardly picturesque [Frontispiece]. The transepts do not project far enough to break the long line{W-8} satisfactorily, and the whole work of the exterior (including the central tower) is unusually plain. This view has, however, been greatly improved by the recent (1865) lowering of the ground on the north side of the church (including St. Michael’s churchyard) to the depth of at least four feet. No good general point of view can be obtained on the south side of the cathedral.

Since the year 1857 very extensive works, amounting in fact to a rebuilding of much of the eastern portion of the church, have been carried on under the superintendence of Mr. A. E. Perkins, architect to the Dean and Chapter. These will be pointed out as we proceed. It may be said here, however, that besides the great desecration and injury which the building suffered from the troops of Essex in 1642, and again from Cromwell’s soldiers after the battle of Worcester in 1651, it underwent much unfortunate “restoration” during the eighteenth century. Much of the work then done it was desirable to remove; and the condition of the stone in many parts of the cathedral was such as to render extensive repair absolutely necessary[63]. The{W-9} stone used by the Norman and Early English builders was from the Higley quarries, near Bridgenorth; these quarries are in the sandstone; as are those at Holt, which were used by the builders of the Perpendicular period. For the repairs and rebuilding (1857-1863) stone has been brought from Ombersley, near Droitwich.

III. The entrance in the west front of the cathedral is said to have been closed by Bishop Wakefield, (1375-1395); who re-opened the original north entrance, which had been closed, and built the present north porch, through which we enter the cathedral. This is plain and of little interest. The details of the original composition, which had been much mutilated by injudicious repairs, have been carefully restored under the direction of Mr. Perkins; and the lowering of the ground on this side of the cathedral has permitted the{W-10} removal of a flight of steps, within the porch, which formerly descended to the level of the nave. The roof is groined.

IV. The nave (which has undergone, 1863-1865, a complete restoration, externally and internally), is of nine bays, from the west front to the central tower. It covers the same ground as the original Norman nave, portions of which remain—at the north-east angle of the north aisle, (a shaft and capital); on the west side of the outer face of the north door, (a shaft and capital); and in the centre of the second piers from the west, from both of which great Norman shafts project. There is also a series of Norman arched recesses in the south aisle[64]. All these fragments are pure Norman, and belong to the first three quarters of the eleventh century. The two western bays are transition Norman, of the last quarter of the century, and remain in their original state.

The piers of the two western bays are recessed in three orders, and, together with the pointed arches that rest on them, have more Early English feeling than Norman. The capitals of the shafts are of plain Norman character. The triforium is very peculiar. A pointed arch (of which there are two in each bay) encloses three circular ones. Between and beyond these inner arches rise reeded shafts, from the capitals of which springs a zigzag moulding, repeating, in the{W-11} tympana, the forms of the circular arches. Below and above the zigzag are placed knots of curled leafage, giving a dotted appearance to the whole composition, which has neither the dignity of the earlier Norman nor the grace of the Decorated work east of it. The clerestory has three arches in each bay; the central arch round, with the zigzag moulding, and much higher than the pointed side arches. The window openings, at the back of the central arch, are filled with Perpendicular tracery. “In the pier arches and triforium arches a plain round molding is employed, which runs without a base up the pier, and continuously over the arch, forming an external order or frame to it. A similar molding in front of this runs by the side of a triple group of vaulting-shafts up to the clerestory string, but is there cut off by the later vaulting-shafts.... Continuous moldings are in Norman work usually confined to the inner arches of doors and to windows. But I have observed the molding just described, as framing a group of shafted pier arches, in several cases in the west of England—as at Gloucester, the north side aisle of the choir at Lichfield, and at Bredon Church, near Worcester—the latter evidently the work of the architect of the western compartments of the cathedral[65].” The clustered vaulting-shafts terminate in capitals of transitional character, at the base of the clerestory. The vaulting itself is of the same apparent character (Perpendicular) as that eastward of these two bays; but Professor Willis has shewn that it must have been{W-12} erected before (though perhaps not much before) the vaulting of the rest of the nave[66].

The west end of the nave was entirely altered by Bishop Wakefield, (1375-1395). He closed the western entrance; but the pointed arch, with a circular arch on either side, which, until the late restoration, were seen on the wall below the window, dated only from the last century. Traces of Norman doors, however, were discovered by Mr. Perkins at the ends of the aisles and in the central wall; proving that Bishop Wakefield retained the original wall, and shewing us the extent of the Norman nave. The space above the arches was entirely filled by a large debased window, the glass in which was inserted in 1792. This window has been happily replaced (1865) by an Early Decorated window of eight lights, of the same architectural character as the Decorated work on the north side of the nave, and equally enriched. (It is the gift of the Hon. and Rev. John Fortescue, Canon of Worcester.) The Norman portal beneath this window, the jambs of which were quite perfect, has been opened.

Beyond the two western bays the nave is Decorated on the north side, and early Perpendicular on the south, and the main arches rise much higher. The two sides differ in the capitals and bases of their piers, in the capitals of the vaulting-shafts, in the clerestory arches, and in the ornamentation of the triforium. The north side, which is the earlier, is also the richer.{W-13}

Leland asserts that Bishop Cobham (1317-1327) vaulted the north aisle of the nave. This fixes the date of the Decorated work on the north side. The bases of the piers differ from those opposite, and the capitals of the shafts are enriched with excellent leafage, much undercut. This “runs continuously round the pier, being inflected around the shafts, so as to distinguish the groups without separating them, and with the richest effect.” At the angles of the exterior hood-mouldings are small heads of kings and bishops. The triforium has two pointed arches in each bay, each arch enclosing two smaller ones. The shafts which support these arches have capitals of leafage, and the tympana in the heads of the larger arches are filled with sculptured figures. These, before the late restoration, were so greatly decayed as to be quite undecipherable. They have been re-worked as carefully as possible, but in most instances the original subject was completely uncertain. The clerestory consists of three pointed arches, with leafage on the capitals of the shafts, and at the angles of the outer mouldings. The windows at the back are Perpendicular insertions. Professor Willis has been the first to point out that the triforium and clerestory of the two bays adjoining the transition Norman work on this side of the nave, differ from the rest, and are in fact Perpendicular, of the same character as the entire south side. “We may conclude, therefore, that the north side of the Norman nave was taken down first, and that when the portion in the Decorated style had been completed, a pause in the work or a change of{W-14} architects happened, and the triforium and clerestory of these bays were then completed in a different style[67].”

The vaulting-shafts run upward between each bay in groups of three. The abacus from which the groining-ribs apparently spring, is partly a continuation of the stringcourse at the base of the clerestory, and is gracefully trefoiled.

The whole work on the north side of the nave is bolder and more effective than that on the south. We have no record of the construction of this side, but from its strong Perpendicular character it can hardly be earlier than 1360. The clustered pier-shafts have much smaller capitals of leafage than those opposite, and the leafage does not pass round continuously. The design of the triforium resembles that on the north side; but at the junction of the two smaller arches is a bracket, once no doubt the support of a figure which rose against the tympanum of the larger arch. All traces of these figures, however, had disappeared, and they have been replaced by modern sculpture, executed by Boulton, under the direction of the architect. Small ancient figures remain at the sides and intersections of the larger arches.

The clerestory is formed by three triangular-headed arches, of which the centre arch, much higher and wider than the other two, follows nearly the lines of the groining rib. The window at the back of the passage is filled with tracery of Decorated character. The triangular form, which is by no means usual, is{W-15} that which prevails in the north transept of Hereford, (see the Handbook for that Cathedral,) built at the end of the thirteenth century for the reception of the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe.

The groined vaulting of the nave—the work of Bishop Wakefield in 1377—has ridge and intermediate ribs, with bosses of foliage at the intersections. The nave, which was covered with whitewash by the “restorers” of the last century, has been thoroughly cleaned; and the rich foliage of its capitals is now properly displayed. The present flooring of the nave was laid down in 1748.

On the north side of the nave, in the fourth bay from the east, is the high tomb, with effigies, of Sir John Beauchamp, of Holt, in Worcestershire, (died 1388,) and his wife. The effigies, which are in alabaster, have been terribly defaced. The knight’s armour is a good example. The lady’s head rests on a swan with expanded wings—the crest of the Beauchamps. The panels of the tomb itself are filled with shields of arms. Immediately opposite, on the south side of the nave, is the tomb, with effigies, of Robert Wilde (died 1608) and his wife. His body rests in this cathedral, but his immortal part—

The sides of the tomb, divided into compartments by sun-flowers rising from vases, and the scroll-work at the lower end, deserve notice.

On the south side of the nave, toward the west, is{W-16} the canopied tomb, with effigy, of Richard Eedes, Dean of Worcester, (died 1608). The Dean is represented with moustache and beard, skull-cap, ruff, and gown open in front, with hanging sleeves. Opposite, on the north side, is the tomb, with effigy, of Bishop Thornborough, died 1641,—the latest recumbent effigy of a bishop in the cathedral: he wears the rochet and chimere with full sleeves.

V. The two western bays of the south aisle of the nave are transition Norman, like the western bays of the nave. The vaulting is quadripartite. The rest of the aisle has late Decorated windows, filled with a kind of flowing tracery, high in the wall, on account of the cloister which runs outside; and into which there are two plainly-arched entrances—the prior’s door in the bay nearest the transept, and the monks’ door in the third bay from the west end. The vaulting of this part of the aisle is lierne.

The wall of this aisle is, however, that of the Norman nave, as is proved by a series of five Norman arched recesses, one opposite to each of the present pier-arches. “Two of these at the east end are filled up with monumental arches of the period of the present south architecture of the nave. This is enough to shew that the semicircular arches existed previously.... They were probably meant to receive the monumental arches of distinguished persons, in the same way as at Hereford[68].”

The monuments in the south aisle are—in the second{W-17} bay from the transept, the much mutilated effigy of an unknown ecclesiastic,—probably one of the priors of the monastery, represented as vested for the eucharistic office,—under a canopied recess. The date, according to Mr. Bloxam, is late in the fourteenth or early in the fifteenth century. In the third bay, within a Decorated recess, is the effigy of Bishop Parry, (1610-1616,) “wearing the rochet and the chimere, the latter reaching a little below the knees;” in the fourth is a Perpendicular altar-tomb, with panelled front, of some unknown personage; in the fifth is the tomb of Thomas Littleton, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, died Aug. 23, 1481. The brass, which represented him in his robes as Judge, was destroyed in the civil wars of the seventeenth century. This is the celebrated Judge whose treatise on land tenures was commented on by Sir Edward Coke in the reign of James I., and has still, in Fuller’s words, an “authentical reputation.” Littleton was born at Frankley in Worcestershire, and was in great favour with both Henry VI. and Edward IV. The Lords Lyttelton, of Hagley, are descended from this family. In the sixth bay is an altar-tomb in a recess for Bishop Freke, (1584-1591,) with inscriptions in Greek, Latin, and English. In the two last bays are mural monuments, both by Bacon, for Sir Henry Ellis, Colonel of the 23rd Regt., (Welsh Fusileers,) who fell at Waterloo; and for Richard Solly, Esq., (died 1804); neither of which deserve much notice. In the westernmost bay has been placed the monument of Bishop Gauden,{W-18} (died 1662,) the probable author of the Icon Basilike. His effigy represents him with long hair, moustache, and beard, wearing the rochet and chimere. This monument was formerly against the wall on the north side of the choir, which has been removed. (See § VII.)

The two western bays of the north aisle are transition Norman, like those opposite; but the Decorated vaulting (plain quadripartite, with bosses) is carried throughout the aisle, and was the work of Bishop Cobham between 1317 and 1321. The rest of the aisle, including the windows, is Decorated. The west window contains some portions of ancient glass; but is chiefly filled with modern glass of the worst description. In the first bay counting from the west is a monument by Westmacott for the Earl of Strafford, and the officers and men of the 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment, who fell in the Indian campaigns of 1845-6. Unlike most memorials of this class, it possesses a little religious character. In the second bay is a monument for the wife of Godfrey Goldsborough, Bishop of Gloucester, (died 1613). In the third bay is a monument with small kneeling figures for the Moore family, of Worcester; date 1613.

The north porch opens from the fifth bay. From the eighth a small Decorated chapel, called the Jesus chapel, is entered; which was opened to the nave, as it now is, about 1750, when a new and singularly hideous font was placed in it. The Decorated window on the north side has been filled with stained glass by Wailes, as a memorial for the wife of the Rev. Canon Wood. The{W-19} east window of the chapel has been closed. Against the walls are tablets for Bishop Fleetwood, (died 1683); for Bishop Blandford, (died 1675); and for Bishop Bullingham, (died 1576). The upper and lower portions only of the effigy appear, the intervening wall and inscription dividing them. (Similar monuments exist at Lichfield and elsewhere.) “The dress is not very clearly developed, but it certainly does not appear to have consisted of the episcopal robes. Perhaps he was one interested in the vestiarian controversy of 1564[69].” This monument was removed from the choir wall. (See § VII.)

VI. The piers of the central tower are Decorated, with small capitals of leafage, of the same date and character as the south side of the nave. It is certain, however, that a core of Norman masonry remains within them, since Norman work is visible on the choir side of the eastern piers, (see § VII.,) in the roof of the triforium of the choir, and at the south corner of the east end of the north triforium of the nave. The vaulting resembles that of the nave.

The great transept has undergone much alteration. The walls, as high as the level of the clerestory, are Norman; and, as appeared when they were stripped of their plaster, are built of “uncoursed rubble work, roughly laid with wide joints of mortar[70].” They may belong to the first Norman church; but after the fall of the great tower in 1175 many repairs and changes were made, to which the Nor{W-20}man work now apparent evidently belongs. Further alterations were made in the thirteenth, and again (perhaps by Bishop Wakefield, died 1395) in the latter part of the fourteenth century. The transept, like the rest of the church, is narrow (32 feet) in proportion to its height (66 feet), and projects only 28 feet beyond the aisle wall. Like the transept at Gloucester, it is without aisles. The circular staircase-turrets which project into the transept at the north-west and south-west angles are peculiar, and are far more decided features than those at Gloucester (see the Handbook for that Cathedral) in the same situations. These are Norman as high as the clerestory, where the change to Perpendicular is marked by a difference of masonry. The masonry of the Norman portion is unusually good, and should be noticed. The scraping of the walls of these towers “disclosed the fact that they are built of stones of two colours, the one a white or rather cream-coloured stone, the other a green stone. These are laid in bands at the lower part, not regularly; but above the doorway the courses are for a short distance alternately white and green in horizontal stripes, after the manner of the cathedrals of Pisa, Siena, and other Italian examples of the eleventh and twelfth centuries[71].” The transition Norman work at the west end of the nave, and the chapter-house, also display this particoloured masonry.

In the south transept, the south end has three divi{W-21}sions. The lowest is plain, and shews the Norman wall. In the second are two transition Norman window-arches, now closed. The capitals of the side shafts are of Early English character, and the arches have a broad hollow zigzag moulding. In the uppermost division is a fine three-light lancet window, deeply splayed, and with a passage through the jambs. This has been filled with stained glass, which can hardly be called good, by Rogers, from designs by Preedy, as a memorial of Queen Adelaide. The subject is a tree of Jesse. On the east side of the transept the arch into the choir-aisle is Decorated; and in the adjoining bay a very fine Norman arch, long closed, opens to an eastern chapel. This archway was re-opened in 1862, and through it a very picturesque view is obtained of the chapel beyond. The bays on this side of the transept are divided by a group of transition Norman vaulting-shafts, which terminate at the level of the clerestory, and support later groining.

The east and west walls of this transept were altered in the Perpendicular period, in a manner which recalls the work in Gloucester Cathedral, although the screen of tracery with which the Norman walls have been overlaid is not so complete. On the east side this work begins in the triforium, the openings in which are formed by a series of narrow pierced panels, with transoms and foliated headings. As at Gloucester, the wall behind this screen-work is Norman, and in the course of restoration here the remains of the ancient triforium were discovered, (1863). They are of transitional{W-22} Norman character, much enriched. The clerestory above is entirely Perpendicular. A pierced parapet runs along at the base, and slender Perpendicular vaulting-shafts pass through both the triforium and clerestory stages. The west wall has been overlaid more completely with a Perpendicular screen-work, pierced for window openings in all three stages. There is also a Perpendicular clerestory window above the arch of the nave-aisle. Remains of two arches of the Norman triforium have been found on this side of the transept. They are plainer than those opposite, but may possibly be of the same date. The vaulting of the transept is a plain lierne.

On the south side of this transept is a monument designed by Adams, and executed by Nollekens, for Bishop Johnson, (1759-1774). The bust is fine. There is also a memorial of Bishop Hurd, (1781-1808.)

In the east wall of the north transept a Norman arch has been discovered during the late restorations, occupying the same position as that in the transept opposite, and of the same date. It now remains open, to the thickness of the outer wall. The vaulting-shafts here are Early English, banded, with capitals of Early English foliage. On the north side was a modern Perpendicular window, which has been removed, and replaced by a new window of early Decorated character. The east and west walls have been overlaid with Perpendicular work in the same manner as the opposite transept. The triforium panelling on the east side,{W-23} which had been built up, has been re-opened and restored. The screen-work on the west wall is only pierced for a window in the clerestory stage.

In this transept are monuments for—(north wall), Bishop Stillingfleet, (1689-1699,) “jam tibi, quicumque hæc leges, nisi et Europæ et literati orbis hospes es, ipse per se notus;” and (east wall), Bishop Hough, (1717-1743,) by Roubiliac. A full-length effigy of the Bishop reclines on the top of a sepulchre, upheld by a figure of Religion. The inscription gives due praise to the “unbounded charity, the courteous affability, and the engaging condescension” of the Bishop,—the “ever-memorable President of Magdalen College, Oxford, who providentially for this nation opposed the rage of Popish superstition and tyranny.” A small bas-relief below the effigy represents the President’s expulsion from Magdalen. There is also a tablet for Dean Hook, (died 1828,) brother of the more celebrated Theodore Hook.

VII. A flight of steps, rendered necessary by the elevation of the crypt, which extends eastward from this point, ascends to the choir-screen, between the two eastern piers of the tower; an atrocious composition of lath and plaster, erected in 1812, and shortly, no doubt, to be removed. Some of the small figures in the frieze were taken from misereres in the choir, and will eventually be returned.

Passing beyond the screen, we enter the most interesting portion of the cathedral. The whole building, east of the tower, is far richer and better in detail{W-24} than any part of the nave. The convent, in all probability, was receiving larger sums from the pilgrims to the shrine of St. Wulfstan during the thirteenth century, when the choir and the parts connected with it were built, than during the fourteenth, when the nave was erected. By that time the neighbouring churches of Hereford and Gloucester had each their great shrine[72], which must have attracted much of the wealth that would otherwise have found its way into the treasury of Worcester.

Bishop William of Blois is recorded as having “begun the new work of the front” in the year 1224. The plan of the new building involved a great extension of the cathedral eastward. Beyond the site of the crypt, the work was carried “to a length equal to double that of the Norman presbytery, (exclusive of the probable Lady-chapel of the latter,) and so adjusted as to place the central tower of the church exactly midway between the east and west extremities of the entire building[73].” Eastern transepts were also adopted. Professor Willis has been the first to shew the order in which, in all probability, this new work was erected. This is indicated by a difference in the moulding of the vaulting-ribs. “The transverse vault-ribs of the side aisles and centre of the work between the great tower and the small transepts (namely, the present choir) have a hollow mold in their soffits; and this is also the case

PART OF CHOIR AND LADY-CHAPEL.

{W-25}

in those pier-arches of the work which have the dog-tooth. But the transverse vault-ribs throughout the remainder of this work, namely, the eastern transepts and Lady-chapel, have a projecting rib in their soffit, corresponding to the moldings of their pier-arches[74].” “The ribbed soffit, in fact, is confined to the portion of Early English work which is founded upon the open ground of the cemetery, and was capable of being erected complete, without disturbing any more of the existing Norman presbytery than the circumscribing aisle and radiating chapels. The hollow soffit, on the contrary, is used throughout the part of the Early English work, which is based upon the walls of that portion of the crypt which was allowed to remain. I conclude, therefore, that the ribbed soffit-work was begun in 1224, and carried on without disabling the Norman presbytery and the high altar; so that the services of the Church continued in their original place, until the completion of this first portion of the work made it necessary to pull down the Norman presbytery, and erect the hollow soffit-work in its room, by which the Early English structure was connected with the tower[75].”

The choir, [Plate I.,] like all the cathedral eastward of the tower, has been restored under the direction of Mr. Perkins, architect to the Dean and Chapter. (A design has (1866) been supplied by Mr. G. G. Scott, for the stalls and fittings of the choir, a reredos and a western screen, to be of metal and wood combined. This, it{W-26} is hoped, may soon be carried into execution.) The choir consists of five bays, the easternmost of which, in a line with the eastern transepts, is considerably wider than the others. The destruction of the Norman choir was not complete; a portion of its walls was allowed to remain; and in the present triforium, which extends over the aisles, Norman buttresses exist, of the same character as those in the triforium of the two western bays of the nave. Except at the southern surface of the north wall of the choir, however, where it joins the tower, whatever Norman masonry remained was entirely hidden by the rich Early English work of the new choir. This has been compared to the Early English of Salisbury Cathedral, begun in 1220, with which, no doubt, there is a certain general resemblance. On the other hand, Lincoln Cathedral—probably the first great Early English church built in England—was far advanced at the death of St. Hugh in 1200; and there are some peculiarities at Worcester—especially the ornamentation of the tympana in the triforium arches, and the sculpture in the spandrils of the wall-arcades—which strongly recall Lincoln. At any rate, Worcester Cathedral was one of the earliest churches in England built in the new style, which, there is much reason for believing, was invented by St. Hugh’s architect at Lincoln.

The design first seen in the transition Norman portion of each bay of the nave—one arch below, two in the triforium, and three in the clerestory, (see § IV.)—was followed in this Early English work, as it was in all the{W-27} later portions of the cathedral. The octangular piers of the choir have large shafts of Purbeck marble, alternating with white stone; the Purbeck shafts ringed half way up. The shafts have foliaged capitals; and the dog-tooth ornament is used (as at Salisbury) in the mouldings of the main arches. The triforium in each bay consists of two large arches, each enclosing two smaller, divided by a slender shaft, with a plain capital of Purbeck. The groups of shafts between and at the sides of the larger arches have capitals of leafage worked in oolite, with Purbeck above. In the spandrils or tympana above the small central shafts are sculptured figures. At the back of the outer triforium arches is a wall, covered by an arcade with semi-detached shafts, so arranged that the crowns of the arches are nearly on a level with the capitals of the shafts in the main arcade. A very rich and intricate effect is thus produced, which may be compared with that of the double arcades in the choir-aisles of Lincoln Cathedral,—in all probability part of St. Hugh’s work. The triforium passage itself, which extends over the aisles, is shut out, by this arcaded wall, from the choir, which was no doubt rendered much warmer by this arrangement. The clerestory has in each bay three sharply-pointed arches; that in the centre being much higher than the two others, with slender shafts and capitals of Purbeck marble. The windows at the back, which had been filled with mean Perpendicular tracery, have been restored to their original Early English condition. A single vaulting-shaft of Purbeck rests on a corbelled{W-28} head at the intersection of the main arches, and terminates in a capital of leafage at the base of the triforium. A second shaft rises through the triforium stage, and terminates in a small capital at the base of the clerestory. The vaulting itself is quadripartite, with carved bosses.

The restoration of the choir, under Mr. Perkins, was begun in 1859. Much of the stone-work was in so ruinous a condition that it was necessary to replace it with new; but although the building has thus lost something of its interest in the eyes of archæologists, it should here be said that the repairs have been made with good judgment, and that no unnecessary destruction of ancient work has taken place. Wherever it was possible the old stone-work has been carefully cleaned, and is otherwise untouched. This is the case with nearly all the leafage of the capitals, which is unusually good and varied. The greater part of the figures in the tympana of the triforium arches, however, were unfortunately sculptured in the local stone, and had crumbled away so completely, partly from the effects of time and partly perhaps before the matchlocks of Cromwell’s troopers, that their subjects were hardly to be deciphered. They have been restored, in accordance, as far as could be ascertained, with the original design, by Boulton of Worcester, under the direction of Mr. Perkins.

VIII. Evidences remain in the choir of earlier alterations and additions. The piers adjoining the north-east transept had been thrown greatly out of the per{W-29}pendicular by the thrust of the arches. These piers have now been reconstructed with the old materials in a sound manner; and a wall pierced with quatrefoils, which had been built for their support, between the two easternmost piers on the north side, has been removed. The second pier from the organ, on the same side, also appears to have shewn signs of weakness, and has been re-cased and enlarged in Jacobean Gothic, with a curious base of masonry in the shape of a tulip.

The stone pulpit, on the north side of the choir, was removed from the west end of the nave about the middle of last century. It is late Perpendicular work, with the emblems of the Evangelists placed on truncated shafts in the panels. The sculpture at the back of the pulpit apparently represents the Heavenly Jerusalem, with the Tree of Life in the centre. The ancient stalls were partly destroyed by the Puritan soldiery, the seats alone remaining. The present canopies date from the reign of Charles II., but are of no great interest.

It is proposed to replace the present (modern) reredos by one of better design and character; and to erect a low stone screen, allowing a view into the transept beyond it, between the piers on the north side of the altar.

In December, 1861, a leaden coffin, moulded to the shape of a body, which had been enclosed in an outer coffin of wood, was discovered beneath the flooring at the east end of the choir. It no doubt contained the{W-30} embalmed body of William, fourth Marquis and second Duke of Hamilton, who was mortally wounded at the battle of Worcester in 1651, and was interred here,—since his body was not allowed to be conveyed to Scotland.

IX. The monuments of especial interest in the choir, are the tomb with effigy of King John and the chantry of Prince Arthur.

The tomb of King John [Title-page] stands in the centre of the second bay from the east, immediately before the step ascending to the sanctuary. In 1797 a coffin with the remains of the King, was found below the pavement. It is expressly said that King John was buried between the shrines of SS. Oswald and Wulfstan, (see Pt. II. for short notices of both saints,) and that a prophecy of Merlin (who is constantly mentioned by the chroniclers of this period) was thereby fulfilled:—“Et inter sanctos collocabitur.” The King was buried, it must be remembered, in the Norman presbytery, the apse of which terminated nearly in a line with the third piers (counting from the east) of the existing choir. On the reconstruction of the choir and presbytery by the Early English builders, the altar was removed to nearly its present position, and the King’s coffin and tomb were also carried eastward, so as to occupy the same position with respect to the high altar and the shrines as they had done in the Norman Church. In both the Norman and the Early English presbyteries the shrines of the two saints “were deposited in front of the high altar, in{W-31} the same manner as St. Dunstan and St. Elfege in the cathedral of Canterbury[76].” In either case the King might be said to have been laid “between” them. King John died at Newark, October 19, 1216, commending his body and soul to God, and to St. Wulfstan, the last great English saint who had been canonized. His body, arrayed in royal apparel, was accordingly conveyed to Worcester, where it was interred by the Bishop, Silvester of Evesham[77].

The high tomb on which the King’s effigy rests is a work of the sixteenth century, and was probably constructed when Prince Arthur’s chantry was erected[78]. “The sides of the tomb are divided into three square compartments by panelled buttresses; each compartment contains a shield, bearing the royal arms, within a quatrefoil richly cusped; the spandrels are also foliated and cusped. Though of no unusual design it has{W-32} a rich effect, and the base mouldings are numerous[79].” On this tomb rests the effigy of King John, the earliest effigy of an English monarch remaining in this country. It was no doubt originally the cover of the stone coffin in which the King’s remains were discovered in 1797. The effigy was evidently sculptured soon after the interment of the King; and represents him in the regal habiliments. “First, the tunic, yellow, or of cloth of gold, reaching nearly to the ancles, with close-fitting sleeves, little of which is apparent. Over the tunic is worn the dalmatic, or outer robe, of a crimson colour, with wide sleeves, edged with a gold and jewelled border: this is girt about the waist by a girdle, and buckled in front; the pendent end of the girdle, which is jewelled, falling down to the skirt of the dalmatic. At the back is worn the mantle; but little of this is visible. On the feet are sandals, to the heels of which are affixed spurs. On the hands are gloves, jewelled at the back; the right hand has held a sceptre, the lower portion of which only is left; the left hand grasps the hilt of the sword. On the head is worn the crown; the face has both the moustache and beard, and the hair is long. On either side of the head is the figure of a bishop holding a thurible or censer, perhaps intended to represent St. Oswald and St. Wulfstan. Roger de Hoveden, in his Annals, treating of the coronation of Richard I.,{W-33} enumerates the regal vestments, and how worn, and his description may be applied to this effigy. In the crown, in the mitres of the bishops, and on different portions of the robes appear cavities for stones, paste, or glass, imitative of jewels. The feet of the effigy rest against a lion, in whose jaws the point of the sword is inserted[80].”

The coffin in which the King’s remains were discovered in 1797 (at the beginning of some repairs in the cathedral) was found at the bottom of the tomb, level with the pavement. It was cut out of Higley stone, and only covered with two elm boards. “Part of the royal apparel was firm in texture, but the colour was gone; part of the sword and leather sheath were lying on the left side of the body, but much mouldered; the boots on the feet were more perfect; part of one of the robes appeared to have been embroidered: the head was covered with a close-fitting scull-cap, which appeared to have been buckled under the chin. A quantity of a sort of white paste, which lay in lumps, was, I think, the salt of which Matthew Paris speaks, used for preserving the body for a time. The tomb was shortly after closed. It is hardly to be doubted that the body of the King had been arrayed in the same apparel as that exhibited on his effigy[81].”

X. Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII., born at Winchester in 1486, died at Ludlow Castle April 2, 1502, and was brought to this cathedral for interment. His chantry fills the whole bay on the south{W-34} side of the altar, and is a very rich example of late and elaborate Gothic. [Plate II.] The sides are formed of open and closed panel-work, enriched with figures and heraldic devices, among which occur the rose, fetter-lock, and portcullis. The small figures, however, are rudely executed, and have been greatly injured. Within, the chantry has a flat groined roof, with curious flying supports. In the central panel are the arms of the Prince, with stags as supporters. At the west end is a small seated figure of Henry VII. The east wall is covered by a rich mass of tabernacle-work, with niches. In the central niche is a small figure of the Saviour on the Cross, with censing angels at the head. On either side are figures of saints, one of which is apparently St. George. The whole has been terribly shattered, but the details deserve attention. In the centre of the chantry is the high tomb of the Prince, with shields and armorial bearings in the side panels. There is no effigy.

XI. Passing out of the choir we ascend from the transept into the south choir-aisle by a flight of five steps, rendered necessary by the crypt below. The aisle is of the same date and character as the choir, and an Early English chapel, which, has been restored in the same manner as the choir, opens from the two westernmost bays. The view into this chapel from the south transept has already (§ VII.) been noticed. From within the chapel the fine and lofty Norman arch, receding in three orders, which opens to the

CHANTRY OF PRINCE ARTHUR.

{W-35}

transept, is well seen. It is of late Norman character. A doorway in the south wall, close to this arch, now opens to the apartments formerly used as treasuries, over the narrow ‘slype’ or passage between the great south transept and the chapter-house.

XII. A descent of five steps, indicating the termination of the crypt, which extends only beneath the choir and its aisles, leads into the south-east transept. The bay on the north side is filled by the screen of Prince Arthur’s Chapel. The transept itself is Early English, of the same general character as the choir. The northern bay is precisely similar to the choir in the arrangement and design of its lower arches (opening to the aisles east and west), the triforium, and clerestory. The southern bay has its three sides pierced with two tiers of triple lancet windows set back in the wall, with a passage through the jambs. The inner arches are supported by clustered shafts of Purbeck marble, ringed. An arcade, with sculptures in the spandrils, runs below the windows. The vaulting is quadripartite, with bosses of leafage, of unusual beauty, at the intersections.

The south, east, and west walls, with the windows of this transept, were in so ruinous a condition before the late restoration, that it was found necessary to take it entirely down. Every stone was marked, and it has been rebuilt precisely as before. The sculptures in the spandrils of the arcade were also much shattered, and those on the east side are in effect modern works by Boulton of Worcester. They are, however, direct reproductions{W-36} of the old ones, as far as they could be deciphered. It has been suggested, and apparently with truth, although the arrangement is by no means clear, that the entire series was intended to represent the life present, and that to come. Beginning at the north-west angle, the subjects are—A bishop giving his benediction; knights fighting with lions and centaurs, (the world and its temptations); St. Michael weighing souls; demons torturing souls over flames, (purgatory); the mouth of hell—demons drawing in souls. North side—Two figures carrying a body, (the burial of Adam?); the expulsion from Paradise; an angel dismissing souls to punishment(?). (From this point the figures look in the opposite direction.) The Resurrection; the dead breaking their coffin-lids; an angel sounding a trumpet; an angel bearing the cross; the Saviour in judgment. East side—An angel with a trumpet; a seraph; an angel with a lute; the coronation of the just(?); St. Gabriel with a lily; St. Michael with the dragon; an angel bearing a crown.

The sculptures may be compared, for both design and execution, with those on the west front of Wells Cathedral, which are nearly of the same date. The imagery used here is not of so refined or dignified an order as that at Wells, but the whole work deserves careful attention.

There is a piscina in the south wall, and aumbries remain in the walls east and west.

XIII. Against the south wall of this transept, and connected with the arcade in a remarkable manner, is{W-37} the effigy of a knight, on a raised tomb of comparatively recent date. The effigy is that of a knight of the Harcourt family, and belongs to the early part of the fourteenth century. The armour is of ringed mail, with the exception of the poleyns at the knees, which are of plate. The shield has the arms of Harcourt—Gules, two bars or. The small brass plate below, with the inscription “Ici gist sur Guilliamme de Harcourt,” is not coeval with the effigy, which is slightly raised on the left side.

In the centre of the transept is a high tomb, of good character, from which the brasses had been removed, for Sir Gryffyth Ryce, (died 1523). The ancient inscription remains; and brasses by Hardman have taken the places of the originals.

Inclosed within the screen-work of Prince Arthur’s chantry are two high tombs, with effigies, which deserve especial attention. They are both apparently of the same date, (early in the fourteenth century,) and have been assigned, the westernmost to Bishop Giffard, (died 1302,) and the eastern to Audela, wife of John de Warren. The fronts of the tombs, which are of Purbeck, have quatrefoiled compartments, in which are sculptures, now much mutilated. Bishop Giffard’s effigy “represents the chin close shaven. The mitre is ornamented with quatrefoiled and other concavities, in which stones, glass, or paste have been set, to represent jewels.” The square apparel of the amice in front of the breast, the collar, and the episcopal boots, seem also to have been set with stones.{W-38} “The folds of the chasuble are well and tastefully arranged[82].”

The effigy of Audela de Warren, “which is beautifully executed, represents her in the veiled headdress, and the wimple or gorget, ... the latter perhaps a sign of widowhood, leaving but a small portion of the face visible. The veil is very tastefully disposed.... Over the gown is worn a mantle, on the left side of which is a lozenge-shaped fermail, to fasten the mantle in front, in a somewhat unusual fashion. The left arm is gone; the right arm reclines on the breast, and in the hand is held a string of prayer-beads, or, as they were anciently called, a pair of paternosters, with larger ones at intervals; an early and singular instance of their being thus represented, the beads being gracefully disposed, and not hanging down formally. The feet rest against a whelp. The admirable manner in which this effigy is treated is worthy of all praise. The mantle and gown were formerly covered with painted shields, representing the arms of Warren, Checky, argent and sable, and those of Blanchminster, Argent, fretty gules[83].” Audela was the daughter and heiress of Griffin de Blanchminster.

XIV. Immediately beyond the transept a good general view occurs of the retro-choir and Lady-chapel. The aisles extend to the end of the retro-choir, which is three bays in depth. The Lady-chapel forms an additional eastern bay. All this part of the cathedral is of{W-39} the same general design as the choir; but, as a result of the lower level, the main arches are loftier than those of the choir, and a much finer effect is consequently produced. Together with the eastern transepts, this part of the church was, as has been already shewn, constructed before the western end of the choir; and besides the difference of mouldings, it is distinguished by the rich wall-arcade which runs round below the windows. Bishop Giffard (1268-1302) is said to have ornamented the columns “of the east part of the church” with brass rings, (which still remain, occupying the usual place of stone bands in Early English shafts,) but the main work was probably completed long before his accession. The brass rings occur on the intermediate piers throughout choir, presbytery, and Lady-chapel. Similar rings occur in Westminster Abbey, (in that portion of the nave which contains the choir stalls,) where they are probably of the same date as those at Worcester. Professor Willis has shewn that the shafts in this cathedral were originally fixed to the piers by iron cramps, such as may still be seen in the church at Pershore; and that the brass rings were additions for covering the joint[84].

The dog-tooth moulding does not occur in the arches of the retro-choir, and there are some slight differences between the foliage of the capitals in this part of the cathedral and of those in the choir. The restoration has included this part of the church, and the sculptures in the spandrils of the triforium (which were little more{W-40} than shapeless masses of stone) have been restored by Boulton, under the direction of the architect.

The windows in the aisles are triple lancets, at the back of inner arches, supported by slender shafts of Purbeck marble. The dilapidated Perpendicular tracery with which the lights were filled has been removed, leaving the windows in their original state. Under the windows runs a wall-arcade resembling that already described in the transept, with trefoiled arches, and sculptures in the spandrils. Many of these have been restored, but all deserve careful notice. The subjects are—masses of foliage; knights fighting with monsters; mystic animals, such as the basilisk and cockatrice, and others described in early bestiaries. In the north aisle is a bishop offering a church, and in the south the Crucifixion. Nothing like a definite arrangement can be traced throughout the series. The vaulting of both aisles is quadripartite, with small bosses.

The east window of the north aisle has been filled with very good stained glass by Hardman, in memory of the late Hon. and Rev. Canon Cocks. That in the south aisle is a memorial of the Rev. Allen Wheeler, B.D.

The eastern bay, in which stood the altar of the Lady-chapel, was disfigured by a large debased window, inserted early in the present century; and was, before the restorations, in a dangerous condition. It was found necessary to rebuild the east wall entirely; and two tiers of lancet lights, five in each tier, have been inserted, in strict keeping with the architecture of all this part of the cathedral. Two lancets, one above{W-41} another, are placed in the north and south walls. A very beautiful wall-arcade, of the same character as that in the aisles and transepts, but more enriched, runs round below the windows. This is entirely new, and the very good sculptures in the spandrils were executed, under direction, by Boulton of Worcester. The subjects at the east end are—Isaiah; Abraham and Isaac; the selling of Joseph; the brazen serpent; Jonah; and Jeremiah. Foliage and grotesques, copied from the older spandrils, are repeated at the sides. The eastern lancets have been filled with stained glass by Hardman, given to the cathedral by the citizens of Worcester. In the central lower light is the Crucifixion; above, the Ascension. A series of medallions, representing the principal events in the life of our Lord, fill the remaining lancets. The glass is very good, though perhaps a little thin in quality. The spandrils above the lights in both tiers have been filled with sculpture by Boulton; chiefly figures of angels.

XV. On the north side of the chapel is a small mural slab, with flowers at the sides and an urn above, for Anne, wife of Izaac Walton, who no doubt wrote the inscription, which is as follows:—“Ex terris ... M.S. Here lyeth buried so much as could die of Anne, the wife of Isaac Walton, who was a woman of remarkable prudence, and of the Primitive Piety. Her great and generall knowledge being adorned with such true humility, and blest with so much Christian meeknesse as made her worthy of a more memorable monument. She died (alas that she is dead!) the 17th of April, 1662, aged{W-42} 52. Study to be like her.” The wife thus commemorated was the sister of Bishop Ken. Walton himself survived until 1683, and was interred in Winchester Cathedral.

XVI. In the arcade of the south aisle are monuments for John Banks Jenkinson, Bishop of St. David’s, who died at Malvern in 1840; and for Prebendary Davison, Fellow of Oriel, who died in 1834, the author of a well-known work on Prophecy. On the floor of this aisle is the recumbent effigy of an unknown lady, of the fourteenth century. The head is covered with a veil. “The folds of the gown are disposed with great breadth, taste, and skill.... The feet rest against a whelp or dog. This effigy is sculptured in high relief out of a slab somewhat coffin-shaped, and is one of the most beautiful mediæval monumental relics in the cathedral. It is indeed well worthy of artistic study[85].” This effigy is not in its original position. The much mutilated figure near it, also of the fourteenth century, was found recently at the foot of the steps of the south-east transept.

At the back of the choir-screen, to which place it was removed within the last century, is a high tomb with an effigy, which probably represents the last Abbot of Evesham, Philip Ballard de Hawford, who died between 1550 and 1558. The tomb is of earlier date. The Abbot, who wears the mitra preciosa, is fully vested. The pastoral staff, placed on the left{W-43} side, is covered with the veil. The effigy is of alabaster.

On the floor, and immediately in front of the easternmost bay which contained the altar of the Lady-chapel, are three episcopal effigies, two of which are of much interest. The most northernly, which according to Mr. Bloxam is the earliest episcopal effigy in the cathedral, is assigned by him to Bishop William of Blois, (died 1236,) who laid the foundation of this part of the church. “The effigy is sculptured in low relief, on a coffin-shaped slab, and was probably set originally on the stone coffin which contained the remains of the Bishop.... On the head is the low mitre; about the neck is seen the amice. In front of the breast, on the chasuble, is a lozenge-shaped ornament like a morse, in which stones, glass, or paste have been inserted.” Under the chasuble appears the alb, above which one of the fringed extremities of the stole is visible. The maniple hangs on the left arm. The pastoral staff crosses the body diagonally, from the left shoulder to the right foot. On each side of the head is Early English foliage. The southernmost effigy is assigned by Mr. Bloxam to Bishop Walter de Cantilupe, who died Feb. 12, 1266. It is sculptured in Purbeck marble, and represents the Bishop with a moustache and beard, wearing the low mitre, the alb, the stole, the dalmatic, and the chasuble. The amice is round the neck. “I believe,” writes Mr. Bloxam, “this effigy to have been originally placed as the lid to and on the stone coffin of Bishop Walter de Cantilupe, and to have been{W-44} sculptured and prepared during the lifetime of that bishop. Great care has evidently been taken in its execution, and as a specimen of the monumental sculpture of the middle of the thirteenth century it is not without considerable merit[86].” A coffin, containing the remains of a bishop in his episcopal vestments, in all probability Walter de Cantilupe, was found in December, 1861, under the wall on the north side of the choir, near the east end. On measuring this coffin, and comparing it with the effigy described above, they were found to correspond exactly. The central effigy, which is much mutilated, is either that of Bishop Brian (died 1361) or Bishop Lynn (died 1373).

In the central bay of the north aisle is the effigy of an unknown lady, of the thirteenth century, and the earliest female effigy in the cathedral. It “is not of much merit as a work of art, but if the lady is here represented of the natural size, she must have been 6 ft. 3 in. in height. I think, however, from the examination of not a few examples, that many early sepulchral effigies were greatly exaggerated as to size[87].” In the adjoining bay is the effigy (also 6 ft. 3 in. in height) of an unknown knight, temp. Henry III. He wears mailed armour, with the long surcoat over it.

XVII. The north-eastern transept precisely resembles that opposite. The windows have been rebuilt, and restored where necessary, but without any alteration of the original design. The sculptures in the wall-{W-45}arcade are curious and interesting, but no principle of arrangement is evident.

On a high tomb in the centre of the transept is a full-length figure, by Chantrey, of Charlotte Elizabeth, wife of the Rev. William Digby, who died in 1820. The sculpture is fine, but the design is scarcely appropriate, and suffers infinitely when compared with the repose and dignity of the earlier effigies in this cathedral.

Against the south wall of the transept, between it and the choir, under a Decorated arch, is an effigy which has been ascribed to Bishop Cobham, (died 1337). “The head, which is mitred, reposes on a square double cushion, supported by much mutilated figures of angels. The vestments, consisting of the chasuble, dalmatic, tunic, and alb, are not well defined[88].” Below this, “on a high tomb of the seventeenth century, and under a pointed arch of the fourteenth century,” is an effigy assigned to Bishop Wulstan Bransford, died 1349. He wears the chasuble, the dalmatic, and the alb. “The chasuble is enriched with the orfrey, or super-humerale, an ornament not unlike the archiepiscopal pall, hanging down in front, and fringed at the lower extremity[89].”

XVIII. The north choir-aisle, of the same general character as that opposite, has also been restored. The beauty of the capitals and bosses of foliage is here especially noticeable. In the last bay toward the west, on the west side of the window, and high in the wall, is{W-46} a small oriel window, of Perpendicular date, formerly communicating with the sacrist’s lodgings. There is now no access whatever to it; but Norman arches in the wall (evident from without) indicate the existence of a sacrist’s chamber, and probably of a window afterwards replaced by that now existing, before the rebuilding of the choir in the thirteenth century. From the window the position of the great shrines at the head of the choir was commanded, and it perhaps served as a watching-chamber.

In this aisle (removed from the south transept) is the monument of Bishop Maddox, (1743-1759,) who had “an exact knowledge of the constitution of this national Church.”

XIX. In the easternmost bay of the south aisle of the nave a door (the Prior’s entrance) opens to the cloisters. These are of Perpendicular date, but their construction has not been recorded. They are (1866) undergoing a complete restoration, externally and internally; and the debased stone-work, inserted in the windows in 1762, has been removed. The exterior was so dilapidated that an entire re-casing was necessary; but the ancient details have been most carefully decyphered and restored. Although very perfect, however, the cloisters are of no great interest or beauty. The arrangement of the vaulting-shafts on the piers between the windows should be noticed, as well as the flowing tracery on the sides of the arches. The use of the squared openings in the piers, on three sides of the cloisters, is quite uncertain, and Professor Willis{W-47} has suggested that it may have been a mere caprice of the builder[90]. The vaulting of the cloisters is lierne, with bosses of foliage. In the west walk the ancient lavatory remains.

In the north walk is the well-known sepulchral slab, with the single word Miserrimus. This “most wretched one” was the Rev. Thomas Morris, Minor Canon of Worcester, and Vicar of Claines, about two miles north of the city. At the Revolution he refused to take the oaths to William III., and consequently lost his preferments. He was supported by the richer Nonjurors, and in allusion to his destitute condition ordered this single word to be engraved on his tomb-stone. The inscription thus really intimates a very different feeling from that suggested in Wordsworth’s sonnet:—

XX. Although the cloisters are not in themselves of any unusual interest, they afford one of the best illustrations remaining in England of the manner in which the chief monastic buildings were grouped about them.{W-48} On the east side is a passage formerly leading to the prior’s house, and beyond it the chapter-house. On the south side is the refectory, now used as a school-room. On the west side, close to the lavatory in the wall, is the entrance to the dormitory, which has itself been destroyed; and beyond again is a narrow passage (in which are staircases communicating with the triforium of the nave, and with the upper part of the dormitory) by which the west front of the church was approached from the cloisters.

The slype, or arched passage in the east walk, is Norman, (with some details, on the north side, of very early character,) and separates the chapter-house from the south wall of the great transept. Between the entrance to this passage and the chapter-house are two recesses in the wall, which may be compared with those in a similar position at Norwich; (see the Handbook for that Cathedral). Their original use is unknown.

The chapter-house [Plate III.] is circular within, (as it was without until the Perpendicular casing was added,) but is divided into ten bays by vaulting-ribs which spring from a central column, and from shafts at the sides. Without, the building is decagonal, with a buttress between each bay. The lower part of the chapter-house, the central column, and the vaulting, are transition Norman, of nearly the same date as the two western bays of the nave. Early in the sixteenth century, however, a Perpendicular window was inserted in the upper part of each bay, and the exterior of the building was entirely cased with Perpendicular masonry. The doorway

THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.

{W-49}

opening from the cloisters is Perpendicular. A plain circular arcade, slightly recessed, runs round the interior, above a stone bench. A second arcade, of interlacing arches, covers the upper part of the wall, and is surmounted by a stringcourse with the billet-moulding, the whole being in alternate courses of grey and white stone. Above this are the Perpendicular windows. The chapter-house has shared in the late restoration.

XXI. At the end of the east walk of the cloisters is a passage under the refectory, to the Close beyond. The refectory (120 ft. long) extends the whole length of the south walk. There is an entrance to it near the south-west end. The lower part, or crypt, is early Norman; the room above, a long parallelogram, is Decorated, of the reign of Edward III. It is now used as the school-room of the “King’s school,” founded by Henry VIII. after the dissolution of the priory.

In the west walk is the lavatory (Perpendicular), already mentioned, and the entrance (Perpendicular) to the dormitory; this, like the refectory, was a long parallelogram. The foundations of the walls have been traced, and portions of a row of columns (Perpendicular) which ran down the centre of the undercroft.

At the north-west angle of the cloister is the monks entrance to the cathedral. The cloister terminates nearly in a line with the third bay of the nave. Parallel with the last two, or transition Norman bays, is a narrow arched and vaulted passage, also transition Norman, of very good character, with a doorway of the{W-50} same date at the western end. On the south side of this passage there is a staircase which led to the dormitory, and at the north-west angle one which leads to the triforium of the south aisle of the nave.

Beyond this passage a view is obtained of the very plain west front, with its Norman portals and modern Decorated window.

XXII. On the north side of the cathedral, between the north porch and the west front, stood the “Carnerie,” or charnel-house chapel, built by Bishop William de Blois in the thirteenth century, and demolished in 1677. The crypt is still remaining, although no trace of it is visible above ground. The two transition Norman bays on this side had apparently shewn signs of weakness in the Perpendicular period, when the existing flying buttresses were erected. A third occurs between the two transepts, and close beyond it is the entrance to the crypt. [Plate IV.]

This is by no means the least interesting portion of the cathedral, since it is unquestionably the work of Wulfstan, and the only part of the building which can be assigned to him. In 1084 Wulfstan began the rebuilding of the monastery, and in 1094 he held a synod in the crypt of the cathedral, “which he had built from the foundation.” This was no doubt the existing crypt, which extends under the choir and its aisles. The main piers, which are solid masses of masonry, stand immediately below those in the choir. In the central division of the crypt, the vaulting is carried on three rows of pillars, with plain cushioned capitals and

THE CRYPT.

{W-51}

square abaci. There are also semi-detached shafts, of similar character, connected with the main piers on either side. In the aisles of the crypt the vaulting springs from semi-detached shafts on either side, and rests on a single row of columns in the centre. The east end of the central division (which remains entire) is apsidal; and the curious and intricate arrangement of the vaulting at this point (arising “from the complicated slopes which had to be adjusted there”) should be especially noticed. The aisles of the crypt terminate at present nearly at the bend of the apse, but they were originally carried quite round it, so as to form a circular procession-path. “There are but four apsidal crypts in England, which in chronological order are,—Winchester (1079), Worcester (1084), Gloucester (1089), and Canterbury (1096). In all these the side aisles run completely round the apse. Amongst them, Worcester is remarkable for the multiplicity of small pillars employed to sustain the vaults. The side aisle has a row of small pillars running along the centre, which are not employed in the other examples. The central portion has three rows of intermediate pillars, whereas Gloucester and Canterbury have but two rows, and Winchester but one. Yet the width of the central crypt of Worcester is less than the others. The increased number of pillars, by diminishing the span of the arches, and dividing the weight of the vault upon so many supports, enables the diameters of the pillars to be reduced, and gives greater lightness to the architecture. For the height of all these crypts is nearly{W-52} the same; so that at Winchester and Gloucester the arches are flattened into ellipses, the pillars are low and squat, and the crypts appear as sepulchral vaults; while at Worcester, where the arches are semicircular and the pillars more slender, the crypt is a complex and beautiful temple[91].” It has been compared to the mosque (now the cathedral) of Cordova. We may re-people this crypt in imagination with the venerable abbots and priests of the synod convened by Wulfstan[92].

It is probable that small apsidal chapels flanked the crypt at its western termination, on both sides. On the south side such a chapel still exists, immediately under that which opens from the south aisle of the choir. The western, and part of the southern, wall of this chapel is Norman, as are the central pillars. The{W-53} square eastern end, however, is Early English, of the same date as the chapel above it.

In the crypt are preserved the ancient north doors of the cathedral, removed about the year 1820. They date from the fourteenth century, and are coeval with Bishop Wakefield’s work. These doors are said to have been covered with human skin. Tradition asserts that a man who stole the sanctus-bell from the high altar was flayed alive for the sacrilege; and portions of skin, which the late Mr. Quekitt, Assistant Conservator of the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, declared to be human, remain fixed to the inside of the doors, under the iron-work.

The west doors of Rochester Cathedral, and the north doors of Hadstock and Copford Churches, both in Essex, were also covered with skins, said to have been those of piratical Northmen. The Rochester doors have entirely disappeared. Those of Copford have been removed, but portions of them are still in existence. The doors of Hadstock Church remain in place. Fragments of skin from Hadstock and Copford were examined by Mr. Quekitt, who pronounced it human in both cases[93].{W-54}

XXIII. The great Norman tower fell in 1175, “a circumstance of such common occurrence that there is some evidence against a tower being Norman work if it had not fallen down[94].” The existing central tower dates from 1374, but the general design alone remained before its restoration (still, 1866, in progress) was commenced. The soft sandstone of which it is built had crumbled away to such an extent, that all the details had perished. The tower, which is 196 ft. in height, is of good proportion. It was by no means improved by the modern parapet and pinnacles which were placed on it in the last century, and somewhat altered in the early part of this. A new peal of ten, or possibly twelve bells will be hung in the tower after its complete restoration.

Close beyond the north-east transept stood an octangular “clocherium,” or bell-tower, which was taken down in 1647. It was of very early character. The east end of the cathedral has been rebuilt, as already described, (§ XIV.,) by Mr. Perkins. The walls of the south-east transept have also been rebuilt, and its very{W-55} fine buttresses with open turrets deserve special notice. A little west of this transept, and between it and the chapter-house, are the remains of the Guesten Hall. This was a very fine hall of the fourteenth century, built for the entertainment of noble guests of the priory and of the more illustrious pilgrims to the shrine of St. Wulfstan. Like “La Gloriole” at Canterbury, and the guest-chambers of other great monasteries, it closely adjoined the prior’s lodgings. These were assigned to the Dean on the creation of the Dean and Chapter after the dissolution, and the Guesten Hall formed part of the deanery until 1842, when the Ecclesiastical Commissioners made over the episcopal palace to the Dean, and the former deanery was pulled down. The Guesten Hall was then disclosed, and attracted much attention, not only from its own beauty, but as a very interesting historical relic. It was, however, much out of repair, and a considerable sum would no doubt have been required to effect its restoration. Accordingly, in 1860, the greater part of it was pulled down, and the roof was given by the Dean and Chapter to a new church which it is proposed to erect in the city of Worcester.

The Guesten Hall was commenced in 1320 by Wulstan Bransford, then prior of the monastery, and afterwards Bishop of Worcester. The beauty of the Decorated tracery, which still remains in the windows, calls for especial notice; and the oaken roof was a very fine example. It is evident that nothing but absolute necessity could justify the destruction of such a relic. “This magnificent guest-chamber of the four{W-56}teenth century was an historical monument of considerable importance, as shewing the splendid hospitality of the clergy of those days, and as illustrating in a remarkable manner the manners and customs of the time of Edward III. It was the last of these structures that we had remaining, and with it we have erased a chapter out of the history of England[95].”

XXIV. The College Green, on the south side of the cathedral, is entered through an archway under the Edgar tower, which tradition asserts to have been erected by Ethelred II., son of Edgar. It may possibly occupy the site of an older building, but the present tower is late work, and of little interest. In a niche on the east front is a much shattered figure of King Edgar. The rooms in the tower are now used as the chapter library, and as offices of the diocesan registry. Among the MSS. of the chapter library is one of great interest—An Epitome of Roman Law by Vacarius, an Italian who was brought to this country by Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, and who introduced the study of Roman or “Civil” Law at Oxford in the reign of Stephen. This is the only copy of the work of Vacarius known to exist in England, and only four copies are known on the continent—in{W-57} the libraries of Konigsberg, Prague, and Bruges, and one in the possession of the Emperor of Russia[96].

The deanery, north-west of the cathedral, was the episcopal palace until 1842. It contains a fine hall, and some ancient portions. The east front was built by Bishop Hough in 1723.{W-58}

WORCESTER CATHEDRAL.

PART II.

History of the See, with Short Notices of the principal Bishops.

PRINTED BY JAMES PARKER AND CO., CROWN-YARD, OXFORD.