Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal SeeSergeant, Philip Walsingham
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See
Sergeant, Philip Walsingham
Winchester Cathedral
Close to Edingdon's chantry is the #Nave Pulpit#, which is in itself a
good piece of Jacobean work, though not happily situated in the nave of
Winchester. It stood formerly in the chapel at New College, Oxford, and
did not appear at Winchester until 1884, when it was presented by
members of the Mayo family. If one stands facing east in the aisle to
the right of this pulpit, one of the most picturesque views in the
cathedral lies before one, through part of the south transept and up the
southern ambulatory of the retro-choir to the bright colours of
Langton's chapel window at the end. It will readily be noticed how out
of the perpendicular are the piers of this ambulatory as one approaches
the east end of the church. This seems to have arisen through a slight
subsidence of the ground here.
The original rood-screen exists no longer, and in its place we have but
a modern copy, by Sir Gilbert Scott, of the work in the Decorated choir
stall canopies. This oak #Choir Screen#, which is all that breaks the
view between west porch and reredos, has not met with much approval, and
the pallor of its wood does not contrast agreeably with the rich colour
of the old choir stalls. This, however, cannot with justice be made a
ground for complaint against the architect, who modelled his work as far
as possible on the original.
As one enters the #Choir#, which is raised above the level of the nave
by the two sets of four steps, the stalls above-mentioned will be found
to reach on either side from the eastern piers of the central tower to
the first piers of the nave. They are of carved oak and are possibly the
best existing examples of their date in England. The style is Early
Decorated, and Willis points out the similarity between their canopies
and gables and those of Edward Crouchback's chapel in Westminster Abbey.
The details are varied and graceful, with the design of each pair
coupled under a pointed arch with a cinquefoil in its head, which is
again surmounted by a high crocketted gable. The oak has turned a superb
hue with age, very different from the colour of the modern screen which
is banked by the reveals of the old bishop's throne. The _misereres_
below are much earlier in date than the canopies, but do not go quite so
far back as those at Exeter, which may be assigned to about 1230. The
desks and stools of the upper tier show the date 1540 and bear also the
initials of Henry VIII., Bishop Gardiner, and Dean Kingsmill. The pulpit
on the north side of the choir was given by Prior Silkstede, whose name
it bears, and is also of finely carved work. Above the choir stalls on
the northern side is the organ, which was repaired this year.
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST. _H.W. Salmon, Photo._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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