How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“The colour is, in spite (or rather because) of its radiant
variety, not so immediately attractive to every one as that of the
other Burne-Jones windows; but when one has sat down for five or
ten minutes and deciphered the various scenes, its unapproachable
beauty becomes apparent, and each succeeding visit deepens the
impression of the splendour and poetry of this incomparable work.
“The scenes depicted are, by the artist’s own account, as
follows:--
“_First Light_: St. Frideswide and her companions brought up by St.
Cecilia and St. Catherine; St. Frideswide founds her first convent;
A messenger from the King of Mercia demands her in marriage; The
King comes to take her by force, and the first convent is broken
up.
“_Second Light_: Flight of St. Frideswide to Abingdon; The King of
Mercia and his soldiers in pursuit; The Flight continued; The
Pursuit continued; St. Frideswide takes refuge in a pig-sty.
“_Third Light_: Flight of St. Frideswide to Binsey; The King of
Mercia in pursuit; St. Frideswide founds a new convent at Binsey;
Her merciful deeds.
“_Fourth Light_: Return of St. Frideswide to Oxford; The Siege of
Oxford by the King of Mercia; The Siege continued; The King struck
blind; The Death of St. Frideswide.
“In the tracery above are the trees of life and of knowledge, and a
ship of souls convoyed by angels.”--(P. D.)
Passing into the north transept we note that the eastern aisle has been
merged into the Lady-Chapel and Latin-Chapel of which it forms the
western bays; but that the western aisle remains.
The north window (modern glass) was restored back to its original design
by Sir Gilbert Scott. Beneath it is a panelled tomb of Henry VII.’s
period. It is supposed to be that of a monk named =Zouch= (died 1503),
probably a scribe, because his ink-horn and pen-case appear on the
shields of his tomb. He left a bequest to pay for the vaulting.
The =Tower= is not perfectly square. The nave and choir sides are wider
than those of the transepts, and therefore the north and south arches
are pointed and the east and west arches are round. Foliage decorates
the capitals of the shafts. The lantern is open and is ornamented with
arcades and arches. At the south-east pier the break in the masonry
indicates, in the opinion of some students, the place where the builders
stopped work when Sweyn drove Ethelred out of England.
The fine Jacobean =Pulpit= (1635), elaborately carved with grotesques on
the panels, deserves at least a passing glance.
The south transept has no aisles, for the western aisle was cut off by
the cloisters and the eastern aisle became =St. Lucy’s Chapel=, in the
second bay. Though there are many old royalist tombs the chief interest
here is the beautiful =Window= of three lights, the Flamboyant tracery of
which frames the most splendid glass in the whole cathedral. It dates
from about 1330.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account