Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Chichester (1901): A Short History & Description of Its Fabric with an Account of the Diocese and See — John Shaqi
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Chichester (1901): A Short History & Description of Its Fabric with an Account of the Diocese and SeeCorlette, Hubert C. (Hubert Christian)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Chichester (1901): A Short History & Description of Its Fabric with an Account of the Diocese and See
Corlette, Hubert C. (Hubert Christian)
Chichester Cathedral
transept was a gallery too. To this last there was access from the
staircase that led to the chamber above the east chapel of the
transept close by. These drawings show what the interior of the church
was like up to the time when that extraordinary revival of activity in
matters ecclesiastical began in the nineteenth century.
[25] See illustrations, pp. 33 and 125.
[26] Supposed to be by Carter, an architect of Winchester.
Like other churches, that at Chichester felt the sting of controversy
in unnecessary vandalism. But it may be admitted that destruction,
like a storm, carried at least some virtue in its clouds. In
attempting to sweep away the accumulated refuse heaped within the
building, some precious things fell before the broom of zealous
furnishers, and were lost for ever in the dust raised by this new
cleansing dream.
[Illustration: THE NAVE, ABOUT 1836. _From Winkles's Cathedral
Churches_.]
The removal of the gallery above the old fifteenth-century reredos in
1829 was the beginning of a serious attempt to repair, restore, and
reanimate the fabric. This revival of faith began to try to do good
works--but not always with discretion, not always with knowledge,
wisdom, and taste. Here was rash ardour, often without the hesitation
of true reverence.
[Illustration: THE RETRO-CHOIR AND REREDOS, ABOUT 1836. _From
Winkles's Cathedral Churches_.]
It is certain the building was not all it should have been when these
works were begun; it is not what it might have been had some of them
been deferred. Consequently any illustrations which show its condition
before the middle of the nineteenth century are of interest and value
to those who would know what changes have been made.
In Winkles's essay on Chichester, in his "Cathedrals of England,"
published between 1830 and 1840, are many beautiful drawings of the
fabric. There is one which shows the Arundel screen still in its
original position with the organ above it; and in another the complete
design of the back of the reredos appears. These careful studies of
the building, which were made before it became so changed by the
removal of its best remaining treasures, help to convey some idea of
what the place was before it was so radically "restored."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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