Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Rochester: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal SeePalmer, G. H. (George Henry)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Rochester: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
Palmer, G. H. (George Henry)
Rochester Cathedral (Rochester, Kent, England)
The so-called #Lady Chapel# was really built as a nave to the Lady Chapel
proper in the south transept. On the east side a single broad arch opens
into the transept, and in the wall above are to be seen traces of the
outer mouldings of the two arches (like those on the north side) that
this single wide one replaced. A tablet on the south wall records that
the chapel was restored, in 1852, by M. E. G., _i.e._, the wife of Canon
Griffith. It is now used for morning prayers by the Grammar School, and
for some sparsely-attended services. From 1742 until well into the
present century the Bishop's consistory court sat here, after having
been held formerly at the western end of the south aisle of the nave.
The chapel seems to have been vaulted, and we have, perhaps, to regret
here the loss of a fine fan-traceried roof.
[Illustration: THE NAVE FROM THE NORTH TRANSEPT
(FROM A DRAWING BY R. J. BEALE).]
#The South Transept# is of the Early Decorated period, and rather later
than its fellow. In the east wall, opposite the wide arch leading into
the so-called Lady Chapel, two bays were, about 1320, included under one
arch to form a larger recess for the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The king and queen corbel heads of this arch were once painted, and the
colours are said to have been still tolerably fresh in 1840. The
clerestory windows on each side are two-lighted, with quatrefoil heads.
They have a gallery running before them, but the screens to this vary.
On the east side the screen before each window has a broad pointed arch
of the width of the window, flanked by a pair of narrow ones; on the
west it copies the window. The occurrence of the dog-tooth moulding
should be noticed. The transept end has an upper range of five
single-light pointed windows, graduated in height towards the centre,
divided by narrow blind arches, and having a screen arcade of five
arches in front, one arch before each light. The whole arrangement of
the end is shown in our illustration. Figures in fresco could, in 1840,
in spite of coats of whitewash, still be traced on the lower part of the
wall.
The roof of the transept is almost entirely of wood, though in the form
of a quadripartite stone vault with longitudinal and transverse ridge
pieces. The springings of the ribs are indeed of stone but otherwise the
ceiling is of wood throughout. Sir G. Scott found the whole greatly in
need of repair,--the ribs rotten and decayed, and the spaces between
them filled principally with plaster,--and thoroughly restored it.
This part of the church, and all the rest to the east of the nave, is
enriched with shafts of the famous dark marble from the quarries of the
Isle of Purbeck. The vaulting shafts of this material are generally
carried to the ground, but over the head of the wide outer arches in the
east and west walls here, they rise from finely carved console heads.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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