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
=The Reredos= is modern. It was given by Earl Beauchamp in memory of
Bishop Beauchamp (1450-81), whose chantry Wyatt swept away. Its design
is adapted from the old choir screen, now in the Lady Chapel, and the
monument of Bishop Bridport. A large centre panel, eight feet in
height, has a bas-relief of the Crucifixion, with the Virgin and St.
John; in the head of the central arch are angels amid foliage. On each
side are two storied canopied niches, containing statues of the two
Maries, and of St. Osmund and Bishop Beauchamp. The whole rises up to
a gable terminating in a gemmed and floriated cross. The back facing
the Lady Chapel is richly panelled. The sides are also elaborately
decorated with birds. The design by Sir Gilbert Scott was executed at
a cost of about L1,800 by Messrs. Farmer and Brindley.
[Illustration: THE HIGH ALTAR AND REREDOS.
_From a Photograph by Messrs. Poulton._]
=The High Altar=, the credence table, and sedilia, are excellent
examples of modern work. The altar itself is of English oak. Its
design comprises an arcade with seven openings, divided into three
panels, with much elaborate carving. It was given by those who had
received confirmation at the hands of Bishop Hamilton. The altar
cloths, worked and given by Mrs. Sidney Lear, are highly finished
examples of modern ecclesiastical needlework. The credence table, of
somewhat elaborate design, is of carved oak with a marble top. The
altar rails are of brass, the grills of wrought iron, at each side of
the reredos screen the choir partially from the Lady Chapel.
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.
_From a Photograph by Messrs. Poulton._]
The definitely planned order of the subjects of the ceiling decoration
is held to indicate originally a different place for the high altar
than its present site, which is the same as that reported by Leland
two hundred years ago, and until attention was drawn to this fact was
generally accepted as its original position. From the rood screen the
sequence of the figures of the patriarchs and prophets leads up to the
climax of "Our Lord in Glory." At this point the capitals of the
Purbeck shafts surrounding the pillars supporting the arch on which
this figure is painted, are carved in foliage, unlike the others
throughout the building, which are invariably moulded only. The whole
subject is discussed at length in a paper printed in the "Wilts
Archaeological Magazine," vol. xvii., in a way that supports the
hypothesis advanced. A somewhat important piece of circumstantial
evidence came to light during the late restoration, namely a windlass
close to the pier on the north side of the supposed original site of
the altar, which was possibly intended to raise and lower a
baldichino, or ciborium that hung originally over the altar, or still
more probably the pyx, which as many instances show was usually
suspended above it.
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