Highways and Byways in LincolnshireRawnsley, W. F. (Willingham Franklin)
History
Highways and Byways in Lincolnshire
Rawnsley, W. F. (Willingham Franklin)
Lincolnshire (England) -- Description and travel
The view from here of the perfect Geometrical Gothic east window, with
its eight lights, is very striking; beneath it are the three chapels
of St. Catherine, St. Mary, and St. Nicholas, and on either side of it
are two monuments, those on the south side to Wymbish, prior of Nocton,
and Sir Nicolas de Cantelupe; and on the north side to Bishop Henry
Burghersh, Chancellor of Edward III., 1340, and his father, Robert. On
each tomb are canopied niches, each holding two figures, among which are
Edward III. and his four sons—the Black Prince, Lionel Duke of Clarence,
John of Gaunt, and Edmund of Langley. Adjoining the chapel of St.
Catherine, which was founded by the Burghersh family, is a fine effigy
of Bartholomew Lord Burghersh, who fought at Crécy, in full armour with
his head resting on a helmet. A fine monument of Queen Eleanor once stood
beneath the great window where her heart was buried before the great
procession to London began. The effigy was of copper gilt, but, having
been destroyed, it has been recently replaced by a generous Lincoln
citizen from drawings which were in existence and from a comparison with
her monument in Westminster Abbey. A stone at the west of St. Catherine’s
chapel shows a deep indentation worn by the scrape of the foot of each
person who bowed at the shrine. A similar one is to be seen at St.
Cuthbert’s shrine, Durham.
In the east windows of both the choir aisles is some good Early English
glass.
[Sidenote: THE PRESBYTERY]
We will now turn westwards, past the south porch, and come to the
south-east transept; here the line of the old Roman wall and ditch runs
right through the cathedral, the apsidal chapels of the eastern transepts
and the whole of the presbytery, as well as the chapter-house, lying
all outside it. Two apsidal chapels in this transept are dedicated to
St. Peter and St. Paul. It was in St. Peter’s that sub-dean Bramfield
was murdered by a sub-deacon, September 25, 1205, who paid the penalty
immediately at the hands of the sub-dean’s servants. The exquisite white
marble tomb and recumbent figure of John Kaye, bishop 1827 to 1853, by
Westmacott, is in this chapel. Opposite to these apsidal chapels are
the canons’ and choristers’ vestries; under the former is a crypt; the
latter has the monks’ lavatory, and a fireplace for the baking of the
sacramental wafers by the sacristan. Passing along the south choir-aisle
we reach the shrine of little St. Hugh, and here the work all around
us, in choir, aisles, and transepts, is that of the great St. Hugh. The
whole of the centre of the cathedral, with its double transept and the
choir between them, being his; and we must notice in two of the transept
chapels his peculiar work in the double capitals above slender pillars of
alternate stone and marble, and projecting figures of saints and angels
low down in each spandrel. We now enter the choir, and pause to admire
the magnificent work and all its beauty. On either side are the sixty-two
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account