History of the Cathedral Church of Wells: As Illustrating the History of the Cathedral Churches of the Old FoundationFreeman, Edward A. (Edward Augustus)
History
History of the Cathedral Church of Wells: As Illustrating the History of the Cathedral Churches of the Old Foundation
Freeman, Edward A. (Edward Augustus)
Wells Cathedral
Willis and Professor Stubbs, and some nearer to ourselves, possess in
the highest degree, but it is a work for which I have neither time nor
inclination.
Let us now look, in a general historical way, without attempting to
enter into any very minute detail, at the church of Wells, as it
was designed and begun, if not absolutely finished, during the long
episcopate of Jocelin. That episcopate reached over twenty-four years
from the settlement of the Glastonbury controversy, over thirty-six
from Jocelin's first consecration. That any part of the church is older
than Jocelin I see no reason to believe; but if anybody holds that the
porch may be a little earlier than his time, I will not dispute against
him. The church of Jocelin, thus understood, takes in the nave, the
transepts, and what is now the choir proper, that is, the three western
arches of the eastern limb. It takes in the three towers, up to the
point where they rise above the roof of the church, but no higher. With
the present presbytery, that is, the three eastern bays of the eastern
limb, with the Lady chapel and the other small eastern chapels, with
the Chapter-house and the tops of the towers, we have as yet nothing
to do. Now within these limits, that is, between the west door and the
Bishop's throne, I think that every one of common observation must
have remarked that there are two styles of architecture in use. I do
not speak of certain small changes and insertions made at later times,
such as the tracery which has been put into the nave windows, or of the
changes which were made when it was found needful to add new props to
the great central tower. Of these I shall have to speak further on. I
speak of differences of style in the original fabric itself. The west
front, within and without, differs widely in its architectural detail
from the arcades of the nave and transepts. If there is any one here
who has never remarked the difference, I can only say, let him go into
the church to-morrow and use his eyes for himself. Both parts are built
in the style which is called Gothic, the style which uses pointed
arches with an appropriate form of ornament; both are built in that
variety of Gothic which is called Lancet or Early English, that is,
the first form of Gothic, which in England is mainly distinguished by
the use of long narrow windows without tracery. But, notwithstanding
this general likeness, there is a wide difference between the two. To
those who have never marked the difference I am not sure that I could
make it perfectly intelligible, except either on the spot or with the
help of large drawings. But go, I say, into the building itself, go
especially under either of the western towers, at the point where the
two styles join, and I think any one of common observation will easily
see the difference. The west front is built in that form of Early
Gothic which is common in other parts of England, the style of Ely,
Lincoln, and Salisbury.
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