How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“On the south side is seen the porch; the nave (a beautiful
design); and the charming pinnacle of the south-west transept. East
of the Warrior’s Chapel is the projecting end of Stephen Langton’s
tomb. East of this, the two lower rows of windows are those of
Conrad’s Choir; the upper row that of William of Sens. The middle
windows in the south-east transept were the clerestory windows of
Conrad; the windows above them are those of William of Sens. The
three upper stages of the tower on the south of this transept are
late Norman work; one of the prettiest bits in Canterbury. Farther
east we have French design, pure and simple; here, for the first
time in English architecture, the flying-buttresses are openly
displayed; notice how flat and plain they are; it had not yet
occurred to architects to make them decorative. The grand sweep of
apse and ambulatory seems to send one straight back to France. Then
comes the broken rocky outline of the _corona_--the great puzzle of
Canterbury. North-east of the _corona_ are two groups of ruined
Norman pillars and arches discoloured by fire; once they were
continuous, forming one very long building, the Monk’s Infirmary,
of which the west end was originally an open dormitory, open to the
roof, and the east end, separated off by a screen, the Chapel;
which has a late Geometrical window. On the north side of Trinity
Chapel is seen the Chantry of Henry IV.; then St. Andrew’s Tower
and the barred Treasury; the lower part of the latter is late
Norman work, largely rebuilt.”--(F. B.)
The =Porch= on the south side of Chichele Tower is the work of Prior
Chillenden. It has a central niche on which the _Martyrdom of Becket_
was represented on a panel of the Fifteenth Century. The niches are
filled with statues. Through it we now pass into the Cathedral.
The =Nave= (Perpendicular) resembles the bolder nave of Winchester, built
at the same period. The most striking feature is the manner in which the
Choir is raised above the level of the floor, owing to the fact that it
stands over the crypt. The
[Illustration: CANTERBURY: SOUTH PORCH]
[Illustration: CANTERBURY: NAVE, EAST]
flight of steps placed between the Nave and the Choir adds to the
effect.
“The nave, of eight bays, has no triforium. Each bay consists of a
huge arch resting on filleted pillars, and is subdivided into the
pier-arch, with the clerestory and panelling reaching to the
string-course above. It is paved with Portland stone. The vaulting
and vaulting-shafts are the prominent features of the nave, and the
pier-arches are quite subordinate; these shafts are banded, as at
Bath, like Early English. The main transept has no aisles.”--(W. J.
L.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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