Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lincoln: A History and Description of its Fabric and a List of the BishopsKendrick, A. F. (Albert Frank)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lincoln: A History and Description of its Fabric and a List of the Bishops
Kendrick, A. F. (Albert Frank)
Lincoln Cathedral
The two small =chapels= which stand to the right and left of the doorway
are those built as chantries by Bishops Russell and Longland. The one on
the eastern side is that of Bishop Russell (d. 1494). The mullions which
run from top to bottom of the three windows, dividing them into vertical
strips, are sufficient to mark this building as of the Perpendicular
period. Between the windows there is only just room for the panelled
buttresses which separate them. The embattled parapet, far more conspicuous
and elaborate than one of an earlier period would have been, is covered
with tracery, and broken by crocketed pinnacles. The whole shews on a
small scale the extravagance into which Gothic architecture had lapsed,
and contrasts unfavourably with the sober dignity of the structure to
which this small chapel is attached. The other chapel to the west was
built half-a-century later by Bishop Longland (d. 1547). Although an
imitation of Bishop Russell's, it shews points of difference both inside
and outside. Leaving these chapels, we notice on the second buttress
from the east a queenly figure. On the eastern buttress is a statue of
Edward I., trampling on a Saracen, and by his side is his Queen, Eleanor
of Castile, whose effigy is to be seen inside this choir.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE SOUTH-EAST.
_Photocrom Co. Ltd., Photo._]
The =east end=, in spite of its defects, is perhaps the finest in the
country, and the broad expanse of the minster green offers exceptional
opportunities for seeing this part of the building to advantage. An
excellent general view may be had from the south-east, in the direction
of Pottergate. The main feature is the magnificent central window in the
geometrical Decorated style. Above this is another fine window of the same
period. The latter looks somewhat awkward on account of its position,
balanced, so to speak, on the apex of the window below; like the window
over the "bishop's eye," it is far too large for the gable in which it
is placed. In the trefoil over the top is a figure of the Virgin with
the Infant Saviour, and on either side of the gable is a turret with a
richly crocketed pyramidal roof. The aisle windows (the two which are
filled with the beautiful early stained glass) look very small when
compared with the giant central window, from which they are separated
by panelled buttresses of bold projection. We have already noticed the
insincerity of the west front of the minster, and the same charge must
be brought against this eastern end, although the deception here is not
so extensive. The two panelled gables over the aisle windows are shams;
there is nothing behind them, and they appear to have been only designed
for the sake of effect. The northern gable is higher than the other,
and the tracery is not quite the same. An arcade runs right across the
lower part of the front, beneath the three principal windows. Another
short arcade is seen beneath the sham gables.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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