Bell's Cathedrals: St. David'sRobson, Philip A. (Philip Appleby)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: St. David's
Robson, Philip A. (Philip Appleby)
St. Davids Cathedral
One thing caused us a little puzzle: we found the remains of windows in
_all four bays_, though the westernmost of them would be blocked up by
the eastern aisle of the transept. On close scrutiny, however, we found
that the place of this aisle was at first only occupied by a single
chapel,[104] with a space between it and the aisle of the choir, which
had been at a later period built over, so as to form the aisle which
stopped the window in question. This we have restored to its older form,
at the same time repairing the adjoining stair turret of the transept,
which was in a dangerous state.
I will now return to the space beneath the tower, which in this church
is the _choir_ proper, as containing the stalls; the eastern arm of the
church being more correctly the _presbytery_.
The great engineering works already described necessitated the temporary
removal of the stalls. They have subsequently been restored to their old
position, and have undergone a most careful process of reparation. On
close examination they were found to have been deprived of many of the
more delicate of their decorative details. These have been or still are
in process of being restored from fragments, more or less extensive,
which have been discovered; the greatest care being taken to preserve
the ancient work as nearly untouched as is possible. The whole is a very
excellent and interesting specimen of ancient woodwork, and retains
traces of coloured decoration, including some armorial bearings.
The same process of careful reparation has been applied to the Bishop’s
throne, and the unique screen, which severs the choir proper from the
presbytery, neither of which have been moved from their positions, but
have been repaired as they stood. The similarity of the panels of the
lower parts of the screen and the throne, show them to be practically
one work. I suppose their date to be late in the fourteenth or early in
the fifteenth century. Both are very curious and valuable ancient works.
I am aware that the conservative manner in which they have been dealt
with has provoked some criticism from those who undervalue these relics
of ancient workmanship. For myself, I do not hesitate to express my high
satisfaction at the manner in which they have been both preserved and
restored; and I trust that the hand of spoliation and innovation will
never be permitted to tamper with the works I have thus endeavoured to
hand down in their integrity to future generations.
(For extract here see pp. 30-32, _ante_.)
One thing I will mention which stands, I think, alone, as a deliberate
deviation on my part from the old work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account