Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal SeeDearmer, Percy
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
Dearmer, Percy
Wells Cathedral
Next to de Marchia's tomb on the other side, the monument of Joan
Viscountess _Lisle_ (_ob._ 1463) gives a good illustration of the
change of architecture in a hundred and fifty years. The crockets are
less free, and straight lines and square members abound; the fine ogee
curve of its single arch is weakened by the rather weedy cusps, its
shafts have become tiny mouldings, and their capitals mere knops. It
is coloured, too, all over, in green and red and yellow, but heavily
in comparison with its neighbour. The colour has been unusually well
preserved, owing to the fact that the tomb was plastered over, and not
discovered till 1809. There is no effigy, but a brass of apparently
recent date bears this inscription:--_Hic jacet Joanna Vicecomitilla
de Lisle una filiarum et haeredum Thomae Chedder, armiger quae fuit
uxor Joannis Vicecomitis de Lisle, filii et haeredis Joannis Comitis
Salopiæ et Margaretæ u[=x] ejus unius filiarum et haeredum Ricardi
comitis Warwici et Elizabethae uxoris ejus filiæ et haeredis Thomæ de
Berkley militis, domini de Berkeley, quæ obiit xv^{mo} die mensis Julii
A[=n][=n] D^i MCCCCLXIII._ Lady Lisle's husband was killed at the
battle of Chastillon (1453), when he was serving under his father, the
famous Earl of Shrewsbury. The painted designs above the three niches
should be noticed, and also those of the moulding and fleurs-de-lys at
the side. The monument was evidently used as a chantry chapel; but it
did not originally stand here. The brass by the north side of the
screen (p. 89) may mark the site.
The eastern aisles of the transepts are divided off into chapels by
two Perpendicular stone screens, that of the south transept having a
doorway in it for each chapel. These chapels are thus dedicated,
beginning from the south--St. Martin, St. Calixtus, St. David, Holy
Cross. From the last-named chapel the chapter-house is reached through
an Early English doorway, and a similar doorway (now partly blocked by
Biconyll's tomb) led from St. Martin's to a small building, supposed
to have been a vestry, which once stood outside. In the south transept
there are also--a small door to the tower, a small door with ogee head
(p. 96), a rather larger doorway with modern lintel leading to the
library (two shafts just above this door have been cut off, and faces
very roughly cut on their extremities by way of corbel), and the large
doorway leading to the cloister. The principal windows belong to the
original work, having been merely filled with Perpendicular tracery.
The windows of the south-east aisle contain Decorated tracery, but the
tracery of the north-east aisle is not good.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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