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
The Lady Chapel has been fitted up for the use of the Theological
College, and its furniture contrasts favourably with that of the
choir. A litany desk, stalls, and credence-table in oak have recently
been given, and a retable carved by Miss Neville; the altar cross,
however, is too stunted for its position. The eagle lectern, in spite
of its dark appearance, is modern, of Dean Goodenough's time. The
doorway on the south side led to the old vestry, so wantonly destroyed
in the present century: now that the chapel is in daily use the need
of the vestry is much felt, and a cupboard in St. John's chapel has to
serve for a makeshift. The gas-brackets are of later and more pleasant
work than those elsewhere.
Mr Ferrey discovered fragments of a reredos at the east end of the
chapel, and set them up as best he could to form the present reredos:
the original arrangement seems to be lost, for some of the pedestals
are on the level of the floor, while some of the niches at the top are
cut in half. Mr Ferrey restored the whole chapel at the same time, and
paved it with tiles.
GLASS IN LADY CHAPEL.--The large windows of this chapel are all filled
with beautiful fourteenth-century glass, but alas! in a marred
condition. The side windows contain fragments packed together anyhow.
The eastern window was made up out of old pieces by Willement at Dean
Goodenough's restoration, and its colour almost completely spoilt by
modern insertions. The harm, however, is not irreparable, for the
figures are almost entirely genuine, and the bad effect is mainly due
to Willement's blue background. A careful examination would easily
separate the new from the old, and it would be quite easy at the
present day to remove the bad work and replace it by glass that would
carry out the old harmony of colour. The lower lights are filled with
two tiers of figures in canopies, David and other patriarchs in the
upper tier, and the following well-chosen series in the lower:--The
Madonna in the midst, on her right the Serpent and Eve, on her left
the Brazen Serpent and Moses. The upper lights of this window contain
angels bearing the instruments of the Passion, which are unspoilt, as
are also the busts of patriarchs in the north-east window, and of
bishops in that on the south-east. Three of the topmost lights contain
emblems of the Evangelists, the fourth is lost. One inscription
remains, _Ista capella constructa est_ ... but the date is gone.
A tall and light monument stands between the Lady Chapel and St.
Catherine's; its crocketed finials, filled with tracery, rise almost
to the ceiling. The canopy is open at the sides and western end, but
the eastern end forms a niche; this part has been restored in colour
and gilding, it is powdered with _fleurs-de-lys,_ and bears a shield
containing the _Agnus Dei_. No other part shows any trace of colour.
The base is much higher than that of an ordinary tomb, and the canopy
seems to have been somewhat altered at Ferrey's restoration.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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