How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“In the uppermost compartment of the tracery is a figure of our
Lord seated in glory; below there are angels with censers, and next
two Augustinian monks in blue and white robes, kneeling with
outstretched arms; then come coats-of-arms, and various grotesque
beasts, all most richly coloured in ruby and blue and green and
gold. Below, in the principal spaces, are (1) St. Martin on
horseback giving his coat to the beggar; (2) the martyrdom of St.
Thomas à Becket: St. Thomas’ head has been knocked out by some
fanatic, and replaced with white glass; the armour and shields of
the knights should be noticed; (3) St. Augustine, who holds a
pastoral staff, is teaching his monks and others. In the next four
spaces are:--The head of a king; St. Cuthbert, carrying the head
of St. Oswald, and wearing a green chasuble; St. Blaise, in a
mulberry-coloured chasuble; the head of a queen. The glass in the
three main lights was destroyed, and then replaced by some of
Seventeenth Century work, but this too is now gone, all except a
portion of the upper part which shows that the design was
architectural in character and the colour that of fog-smitten
stone-work.”--(P. D.)
The =South-Choir-Aisle= is of earlier date than the nave and transept
aisles. Scott rebuilt the southern windows in the Norman style. Heads of
men and monkeys decorate the corbels that support the vault. The
original half-flower moulding adorns the Decorated east window
(restored) which contains one of Burne-Jones’s famous designs. It is a
memorial to =Edith Liddell= (1876), whose portrait appears in the central
figure as St. Catherine. In the tracery above angels are playing musical
instruments and in the panels below are scenes from the life and death
of St. Catherine.
The third window in the wall near St. Lucy’s Chapel is of great
interest. It is the only one of the original Romanesque windows that
remains. The old glass shows a portrait of =Bishop King=, Abbot of Oseney
and first Bishop of Oxford. He died in 1557 and was buried in Christ
Church Cathedral.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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