How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“This great east window is the largest painted window in
England--the largest, the writer believes, in Europe. Its stonework
exceeds in size the magnificent east window of York, which stands
next to it. The respective measurements are Gloucester, seventy-two
feet high by thirty-eight wide; York, seventy-eight by thirty-three
feet. The lower parts of the centre compartments at Gloucester are
not completely glazed, owing to the opening into the Lady-chapel.
The glass of Gloucester is, on the whole, light-coloured, the
designers being evidently anxious that the beautiful stone panels
and screen-work should be seen in all their exquisite details. The
glass has suffered marvellously little from the ravages of weather
and the fanaticism of revolutionary times; the busy restorer, too,
has dealt gently with it. There are forty-nine figures, and of
these thirty-seven are pronounced by our lynx-eyed experts to be
absolutely genuine. Of the eighteen armorial shields in the lower
lights thirteen are certainly the identical shields inserted by the
survivors of Cressy. The whole of the gorgeous canopy-work has been
untouched. The subject of the paintings is the _Coronation of the
Virgin_ and the figures consist of winged angels, apostles, saints,
kings and abbots. The coats-of-arms are those borne by King Edward
III., the Black Prince, and their knightly companions, such as the
Lords of Berkeley, Arundel, Pembroke, Warwick, Northampton, Talbot
and others who took part in the famous campaign in which occurred
the battle of Cressy, and who in some degree were connected with
Gloucestershire. The window was, in fact, a memorial of the great
English victory, and may fairly be termed the Cressy window.”--(S.)
The =Vestibule= to the Lady-Chapel is a beautiful work. The lower portions
of the west wall, parts of the old Norman apsidal chapel, are pierced by
the opening for the door and by two perpendicular windows.
The lierne vaulting is very delicate (the ribs are run differently in
the four quarters of the roof), and the pendants form a cross. Over the
vestibule is the small chapel which is entered from the Whispering
Gallery.
The beautiful =Lady-Chapel= was built between 1457 and 1499 on the site of
a smaller one.
The Lady-Chapel, 91 feet 6 inches long, 25 feet 6 inches high, and 46
feet 6 inches high, consists of four bays, which, as the wall of the
chapel is so low, are chiefly composed of fine tracery and glass.
“All the wall below the windows is arcaded with foiled arches, with
quatrefoils above them. The wall between the windows is panelled
with delicate tracery like that in the windows, and in its three
chief tiers contains brackets for figures, with richly carved
canopies overhead. Many of these canopies (like the walls) show
traces of colour.
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