Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Norwich: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal SeeQuennell, C. H. B. (Charles Henry Bourne)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Norwich: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Episcopal See
Quennell, C. H. B. (Charles Henry Bourne)
Norwich Cathedral (Norwich, England)
#The South Transept# projects boldly forward from under the tower;
without aisles, its ridge and parapet correspond in height to those of
the nave; this narrowness, with the tower and spire showing over
behind, gives it an appearance of height, as approached from the lower
close. This effect of height is emphasised by the partition of the
design in its width, by flat Norman buttresses, with shafts in the
angles, and by the flat faces of the flanking turrets. The work,
however, is without interest, from the fact that, though the _ensemble_
in some measure has been retained, the whole of the exterior face of the
stonework was re-cased by Salvin, 1830-40, during which period various
restorations were effected. Before these alterations, the Norman
flanking turrets finished with a "Perpendicular" battlementing, enriched
with shields and quatrefoils, and with crocketted pinnacles set at the
four angles; this battlementing was removed, and the present
uninteresting pepper-boxes took their place. No doubt they have it in
their favour that they _may_ be more like the original Norman
terminations than were those they replaced, which were, however, real
"Perpendicular," and these are only sham Norman. Originally, from the
eastward side of the south transept, projected a semi-circular chapel,
shown on plan by dotted lines, and corresponding to that still remaining
on the north side of the cathedral. It was part of the original plan,
and though we believe no record exists of its destruction, it can safely
be premised that its fate came about through the _cultus_ of the saint
to whom it was dedicated declining, and consequent neglect and ruin
following made its destruction cheaper than its reparation. It was
replaced by a sacristy in the fifteenth century, the lines of roof to
which can still be seen over on the stonework. This later sacristy was
destroyed by the fire of 1509, that burned as well the wooden roofs of
the transepts, and necessitated the stone vaults added by Bishop Nykke.
#The Diocesan Registry Offices# now occupy the space on which once stood
the Norman chapel, and later the Sacristy.
The building projecting eastward, south of this space, and marked A on
plan, was once a chapel, said by Blomefield to have been dedicated to
St. Edmund. It is now used as the #Dean's Vestry# in the lower storey,
and as the #Chapter Clerk's Office# in the upper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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