Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory: A Short History of Their Foundation and a Description of Their BuildingsPerkins, Thomas, Rev.
History
Bell's Cathedrals: Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory: A Short History of Their Foundation and a Description of Their Buildings
being devoted to this object, the parapet will doubtless in course of
time be extended along the walls of the choir, and will certainly add to
the beauty of the church; and as nothing will be destroyed to make room
for it, such an addition will not be open to the same objection as much
of the work done by restoration committees.
[Illustration: THE NORTH TRANSEPT.]
The buttresses at the east angles of the Lady Chapel are set diagonally,
and rise in five stages; the upper stage of each is square, in section,
with the faces parallel to the walls of the church, and reaches a higher
level than the parapet, and is finished with a flat cap. The large east
window is a Perpendicular one of five lights. From the base of the
south-east buttress runs a wall dividing the burying-ground from the
gardens of the house, to the south of the church, which stands on the
site of the domestic buildings of the priory. The portion of the wall of
the Lady Chapel beneath the eastern-most window on the north side is
modern. Here Mr Ferrey, the architect, by whom much of the restoration
was carried out, discovered traces of an external chantry and the marks
of an arcading corresponding to that still remaining on the inside.
[Illustration: THE SOUTH AISLE OF NAVE.]
The object of the chamber above the Lady Chapel is uncertain,--in
1617 it is described as "St Michael's Loft," in 1666 the parishioners
described it as "heretofore a chapter-house," when petitioning the
bishop to allow it to be used as a school. But if it was ever used as
a chapter-house, it could only have been for a short time, as there is
evidence that there was a chapter-house to the south side of the choir
in the twelfth century, and that this remained as late as 1498. The
south side of the Lady Chapel and choir correspond very closely with the
north side, but there are several differences to be noticed between the
south and north transepts. On the eastern side of the #South Transept#
the Norman apsidal chapel still remains. This has a semi-conical roof
with chevron table moulding under it, and two windows--one of original
Norman work, the other a three-light Early English window. A sacristy
of Early English date stands to the east of the apsidal chapel, and
occupies the space between the apse and the south choir wall. At the
south-east corner of the transept there is a circular stair turret
corresponding to some extent with the turret at the north-east angle
of the north transept; this, in the second stage, becomes octagonal in
section, and rises above the parapet of the transept. In the south face
is a depressed segmental window, much smaller than the corresponding
window on the north side, under a gabled parapet. The pitch of the roof
of the south transept is much higher than that of the north transept,
and the upper part of the transept does not abut against the walls of
the church. Two tiers of corbel brackets on the south wall, and traces
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