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
of the second stoppage, marked by a second slight change of detail,
probably caused, as I have already said, by the fall of the vault in
1248. Still, notwithstanding all these smaller differences, the whole
work, except the west front, is essentially in one style, and is
evidently built from one general design. And though the repair which
followed the fall of the vault must have happened after Jocelin was
dead, yet I think we may fairly speak of the thirteenth century work at
Wells as being, as a whole, the work of that great Prelate. This is a
case in which I see no reason to depart from the received tradition and
the received manner of speech.
Still, when I speak of the work as being the work of Jocelin, I ought
perhaps to pause and explain, and in some sort to qualify, my meaning.
As regards the design of the building, Jocelin may or may not have been
his own architect. In some of our great churches there is no doubt that
the Bishop, the Abbot, or some other member of the society, really was
the architect. William of Wykeham, long after Jocelin's time, really
designed his own nave at Winchester, but we read of some of the works
in Saint Alban's Abbey that they were designed by one of the other
officers of the monastery, but that it was held right to attribute them
to the Abbot, on account of his higher dignity.[36] While Jocelin's
nave was building, the vault over the nave of Gloucester Abbey was
actually made by the hands of the monks themselves.[37] In other cases
there can be no doubt that professional architects and masons were
employed, just as they are now.[38] The vault which fell in at Wells
was being made, not by the hands of the Canons or of their Vicars, but
by those of skilled workmen. One thing is certain, that the designer
of the local work at Wells must have been a local man; whether he was
actually Jocelin of Wells in his own person I cannot say. Another thing
is equally certain, that, before the work was done, the local style was
forsaken and another style was adopted in its stead. And that this was
the personal act of Jocelin is shown by the new style being used, not
only in the west front of the church, but in his own domestic buildings
both at Wells and at Wookey. And as to another point, when I call the
work Jocelin's work, I do not necessarily mean that he paid out of
his own pocket for everything that was done. We must remember that in
Jocelin's day we are just at a moment of transition in the history of
our own and of other churches. The earlier Bishops, who did what they
pleased, no doubt paid for whatever they did. At any rate, we cannot
suppose that the Canons of Wells in the eleventh century did, out of
their poverty and beggarly estate, contribute much either towards the
erection of Gisa's buildings or towards their pulling down by John of
Tours. In our own day, as we all know, any works done to the cathedral
are done by the Chapter, either out of their own funds, or out of funds
collected by them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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