How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“Entering the Choir we see on each side of the doorway three
prebendal stalls with _misereres_, on which are carved some
foliage. The Bishop’s Stall was once occupied by Cardinal Wolsey.
The choir was built by Archbishop Grey in Early English style
(1230-1250). There are six arches, with piers of eight clustered
shafts. The dogtooth moulding is conspicuous in the arches and on
the vaulting of the roof. It will be noticed that the triforium and
clerestory are blended together. The east window consists of two
rows of lancets, the lower ones containing old glass brought from
Paris in 1815, where it was formerly in the Chapel of the Knights
Templar. The Baptism of Our Lord; Raising of Lazarus (Francis I. is
to be seen in a crimson cap); Christ entering Jerusalem (Luther is
near Our Lord, Louis XI. and the Duke of Orleans); the Mocking of
Our Lord (the figure of Dante appears).
“The Sedilia were erected in 1350 and are good Decorated
[Illustration: SOUTHWELL: CHAPTER-HOUSE AND DOOR]
[Illustration: PETERBOROUGH: WEST FRONT]
work. They have the unusual number of five seats on the same level.
The arches are ogee-shaped and are richly carved. The sculptured
figures are remarkable, and represent the Creation and the
Redemption. Beginning at the east we see the Father holding the
world (two groups uncertain), Joseph’s Dream, the Nativity and
Flight into Egypt.
“The Lectern belonged to the monks of Newstead Abbey, who threw it
into the lake to hide it from the commissioners of Henry VIII. Its
date is about 1500.”--(P. H. D.)
Entering a beautiful doorway in the north-choir-aisle we pass through a
vestibule into the =Chapter-House=.
“The transition between the Early English work of the choir and the
Decorated style of the Chapter-House is very gradual. The doorway,
with its two arches and shafts of Purbeck marble, is remarkably
fine. There is a small cloister court, with a stone-covered well.
In the vestibule we see the walls covered with beautiful arcading
of lancet arches of an Early English character. The capitals are
beautifully carved with foliage. There is a curious boss of
sculpture representing a secular priest shaking the regular monk by
the hair, which figuratively depicts the supremacy of the former in
the church of Southwell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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