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 Pavement# of this part of the church is of plain stone. In the floor
are still to be seen many #Memorial slabs#, but more have been either
covered up or lost. In the centre of the south transept there still
remains the matrix of what was once a splendid brass, representing a
bishop, in his episcopal robes and with his crozier, beneath a rich
canopy with a shield of arms on either side of his head. In the great
recess in the north transept there is placed against the wall,
lozenge-wise, the matrix of a brass of several figures. We are told, by
Mr. Spence, of the existence, as recently as 1840, of three matrices in
the south aisle, six in the nave, one in the north aisle, nine in the
north transept, besides a tenth on the wall, and five in the south
transept. Of the six in the nave, one near the steps at the west end had
evidently held a fine episcopal brass, and another very ancient, had
once contained the figure of a knight. There was also here a slab with a
hollow, said to have been a socket for an axe, but evidently due to a
wearing of the stone, a piece of Sussex marble. The death of Cardinal
Fisher was said to have been commemorated by this. The specimen in the
north aisle was very elaborate, intended for the figure of a bishop, in
whose dress it was noticeable that both peaks of the mitre were intended
to be shown. The matrix that Mr. Spence especially described in the
south transept is evidently the one that still remains there. Besides
all these matrices or sockets of brasses he mentions a slab to the north
of the steps leading to the choir which he thought to be, probably, a
coffin-lid reversed.
#The Stained Glass# in the western part of the church is all modern. In it
we see specimens of the work of Messrs. Clayton and Bell, whose later
windows are certainly finer than their earlier ones. Even with their
best before us we cannot, however, help wishing for old work. We hope to
see soon all the clerestory and aisle windows bright with colour. They
will then be more beautiful in themselves, and they will also moderate
the glaring light which detracts much from the effect of the nave.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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