Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Salisbury: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the See of SarumWhite, Gleeson
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Salisbury: A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the See of Sarum
White, Gleeson
Salisbury Cathedral
=Monuments in the Nave.=[8]--The peculiar arrangements of the ancient
monuments in two long rows on the continuous plinth that connects the
bases of the pillars on each side of the nave is another of Wyatt's
freaks during his terrible innovations in 1789. Not only did he sever
the historical associations of centuries by these arbitrary removals,
but paid so little attention to consistency that portions of monuments
belonging to entirely different periods were combined with curious
results, and remains transferred to other "receptacles" than those
designed for them. It is true that the effect of the present
arrangement is not entirely bad, but it was not worth achieving at
such a cost.
The first monument on the south side as we enter by the great west
door, is in memory of Thomas Lord Wyndham of Finglass, Lord Chancellor
of Ireland, (1) who died in 1745; the marble figure of Hibernia which
surmounts it is by Rysbrack. At the western base of the first south
pillar is a Purbeck marble slab, (2) coffin-shaped, probably the
oldest monument in the building. This is usually assigned to Bishop
Herman, whose tomb it is supposed to have covered in Old Sarum; but no
evidence exists to support this theory. In the first place his
original burial-place is entirely unknown, and William de Wanda, who
chronicles minutely the removal of the bodies of other bishops from
the old cathedral, does not even mention Herman's name.
[Illustration]
The next (3) is an effigy of a bishop in full pontificals, also
believed to have been originally at Old Sarum. The carving is rich,
and the design a fine example of the early Norman style. The chasuble
is decorated with stars, and the dalmatic has a rich border.
Elaborately carved foliage, with birds, frames the figure, which has
its right hand raised in the attitude of benediction, and grasps a
pastoral staff in the left. It is usually believed that it
commemorates Bishop Jocelin, who died in 1184, and was probably
removed from Old Sarum at the translation of the bodies of the three
bishops. The head of the effigy is evidently a much later restoration,
probably, from the style of the richly ornamented mitre, about the
time of Henry III. or Edward I. As the face is cleanly shaven, while
the seal of Bishop Jocelin depicts him as bearded, some antiquaries
hold this monument to belong to Bishop Roger, and assign to Bishop
Jocelin the one formerly attributed to Bishop Herman. If, however,
differences of opinion exist concerning the identity of these two
effigies, they are as nothing compared to the uncertainty regarding
the next, (4) which represents a bishop holding a pastoral staff. Down
the front of this cope are the words, "Affer opem devenies in idem."
Hatcher and Duke believe that it represents Bishop Jocelin. Britton,
Gough and Planche, prefer to think that it commemorates Bishop Roger.
Its inscription on the edge of the slab runs:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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