How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“The lower lights are separated by vine tendrils into oval panels,
twenty-one in all. In the lowest tier in the centre is Jesse with
David on the right and Solomon on the left hand. To the left of the
latter are the prophets Micah, Haggai, Malachi; to the right of
David are Jeremiah, Daniel and Amos. In the next tier the central
figure is the Virgin and Child with Hezekiah on the left and Ahaz
on the right, the four kings, David, Solomon, Hezekiah and Ahaz,
representing the descent of the promise. To the left of Hezekiah
are the prophets Jonah, Habakkuk, Zechariah; and to the right of
Ahaz are Isaiah, Ezekiel and Hosea. Above these two rows of regular
panels are three panels, containing four subjects--the central one
giving us the Crucifixion, with our Lord in glory in the upper part
of the light. In the right hand light is the Virgin Mary, in that
on the left is St. John.
“In the head of this window there are now seventeen blazons of
arms. In the quatrefoil at the top--the arms of England as used
before the time of Edward III., viz., the three lions; in the two
trefoils immediately below are Berkeley of Stoke Gifford (L),
Berkeley of Berkeley Castle (R).
“Most of the glass in this upper part is original and is supposed
by Mr. Winston to date between 1312-1322, as the arms of Gaveston,
who was murdered in 1312, are not in the window, while the arms of
De Bohun, who was slain in open rebellion in 1322, are clearly
here. The glass, then, is of Knowle’s time, and being contemporary
with the masonry, affords a rich example of the harmony of form and
colour about which one hears so much but which one so seldom sees.
It is probable that the tracery of the window may have been
designed for Abbot Knowle by the builder of the window at Carlisle,
also an Augustinian house. There is a strong resemblance in the two
windows, both of which are excellent work.”--(H. J. L. J. M.)
The four side windows contain rich and interesting glass of the same
date. The one bearing the arms of Mortimer, Earl of March, has a picture
of the _Martyrdom of St. Edmund_, the last of the native kings of East
Anglia, who taken prisoner by the Danes in 870 refused to abjure his
faith. He was put to death. Here we find, according to legend, the grey
wolf watching over the severed head. The costume of the soldiers gives
us 1320 as the date of this magnificent window. Beneath St. Edmund are
an archbishop and two knights, bearing the arms of the Berkeleys.
The tracery of the large north window was inserted in 1704.
The =South Transept= contains the tomb of Bishop Butler, more famed as the
author of the _Analogy of Religion_ than as Bishop of Bristol
(1738-1750). The epitaph is by Southey.
The =Cloisters=, on the south side of the cathedral, are entered from the
south transept. From them the =Chapter-House= is entered.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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