Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the SeeSweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ely: A History and Description of the Building with a Short Account of the Monastery and of the See
Sweeting, W. D. (Walter Debenham)
Ely Cathedral
The way in which the octagon and lantern combine in producing a
perfectly harmonious composition is in great part due to two points of
difference, points which very few observers detect. These are, firstly,
that the lantern is a regular octagon, having all its sides equal, in
this respect being unlike the stone octagon beneath it; and, secondly,
that the eight faces of the lantern are not parallel to the eight faces
of the octagon. The new windows of the lantern are similar to the large
ones below, but are not mere copies of them. The upper stage of the
lantern, above the roof as seen from within, was once a bell-chamber;
its lights are not, and never have been, glazed. The whole of the
lantern is of wood, covered with lead. Two flying buttresses rise from
the corners of the nave and transept aisles to the corbel table of the
clerestory range. There are also eight elegant flying buttresses, one to
each of the angles of the lantern. These are part of the new work, the
originals having long disappeared.
#The North Transept# retains its original Norman windows in the lower
stage of its western aisle, though we must remember that the
north-western angle of this transept fell down in 1699, and was
rebuilt[9] under the superintendence of Sir Christopher Wren. It is
said that an earthquake had occurred some few years before, and had
caused some damage which was not suspected at the time. However much we
may admire Wren's constructive genius, we cannot justify the incongruous
door in the north wall of the transept, for which we take it for granted
he was responsible. It is in the classical style, utterly out of keeping
with the architecture near. The arch and jambs of the Norman window
above it were replaced; but this again is spoilt by the insertion of
rude unadorned mullions. The corresponding window over the eastern aisle
is original and unaltered. The north end of the transept has also Norman
lights, larger than those below, on the second range; while above are
two large Perpendicular windows, each of three lights, with transoms. To
see the east wall of the transept we have to go round the lady-chapel.
Here both triforium and clerestory are in their original Norman
condition. The lower windows are Decorated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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