A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of ShrewsburyLeighton, W. A. (William Allport)
History
A guide, descriptive and historical, through the Town of Shrewsbury
Leighton, W. A. (William Allport)
Shrewsbury (England) -- Guidebooks
The present parochial church of THE HOLY CROSS embraces within its walls
the nave, side aisles, north porch, and western tower of the Abbey
church. It is principally constructed of red stone, and though bearing
deep marks of mutilation, is still venerable and spacious, and exhibits
many curious and interesting features of ancient architecture. The
principal entrance is at the west end under the tower, through a pointed
doorway, richly laced with mouldings, skilfully inserted within a deeply
recessed semicircular arch, the exterior rib of which springs on each
side from a Norman pillar with indented capital. Immediately above rises
a magnificent and elegantly proportioned window, its sides and arch
enriched with delicate mouldings; in the deep hollow soffits of which is
a series of pannels, having foliated arch heads. The outer mouldings of
the arch rise high above it, forming a spring canopy, enriched with
crockets, and ending in a flower; from which again springs very elegantly
a niche or tabernacle, with a high straight-sided canopy, flanked with a
small pinnacle at each impost, containing a figure of Edward III. in
complete armour. The body of the window to the spring of the arch
contains two stories, divided horizontally by embattled transoms, and
perpendicularly by six upright mullions into seven compartments. The two
central mullions, as they approach the spring of the arch, bisect the
head into smaller arches on each side, and these are further subdivided
into others, which are uncommonly acute, the interstices of all filled
with several tiers of small open pannelled tracery, mingled with
trefoiled and quatrefoiled foliage, in beautiful and varied profusion.
To the angles of the tower are attached square shallow piers, ending in
pointed canopies, and midway of each is a niche, containing statues of
St. Peter and St. Paul. Two small double windows light each side of the
upper story of the tower, the summit of which is terminated by an
unsightly battlement of brick.
[Picture: Abbey Church, or Church of the Holy Cross]
The eastern portion of the nave is separated on either side from the
side-aisles by three semicircular arches, resting on short massive round
pillars, with shallow bases and filletted capitals, in the plainest and
earliest Anglo-Norman style. Above, the remains of the triforium of the
ancient church may be distinctly traced. The western portion has, on
each side, two pointed arches in the pure Gothic of the 14th century,
delicately lined with mouldings, and rising from well-proportioned
clustered pillars, with capitals composed of a series of small horizontal
mouldings. A clere-story, pierced with handsome Gothic windows, crowns
this part of the edifice; and similar windows are continued along the
north and south sides of the tower.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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