How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
one side is the first ordination of deacons, and on the other the
descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples. The whole style of
this window is later than that of the Becket series.”--(W. J. L.)
[Illustration: CANTERBURY: CHOIR, EAST]
[Illustration: ROCHESTER: WEST FRONT]
Passing west, down the steps worn by the pious pilgrims we reach =St.
Anselm’s Tower= and =Chapel=. Anselm’s Tower (like St. Andrew’s opposite)
is Prior Ernulf’s work. The elaborate south window (1336) is Decorated
of five lights.
St. Anselm’s Tower is entered through splendid gates of ancient wrought
iron.
At the east end behind the Altar of SS. Peter and Paul, the great Anselm
(1093-1109) was buried. Over the chapel is a small room with a window
looking into the Cathedral. This was the =Watching Chamber=, in which, as
we have seen, a monk was stationed at night to keep watch over the
Shrine of St. Thomas. There is a tradition that King John of France was
imprisoned here.
We now reach the =South-east Transept=, the work of both William of Sens
and English William on Ernulf’s walls.
At the corner of the =South-west choir-aisle= architects love to notice
the round arch and double zigzag of the Norman style fitted into the
Pointed Arch and dogtooth of the restoration of 1180. Under the windows
are the tomb of =Archbishop Reynolds= and the monument to =Hubert Walter=,
the latter the warrior-prelate and Crusader who kept the Realm for
Richard Cœur de Lion and raised the ransom for his release.
The steps leading down into the great =South Transept= are similar to
those of the opposite Transept of the Martyrdom.
Opening east from this Transept is =St. Michael’s=, or =The Warriors’
Chapel=, so named because of the martial monuments and tombs contained in
it.
The famous East Kent Regiment “The Buffs” place their memorials here.
This Chapel is particularly notable for containing the tomb of =Stephen
Langton=, the author of the Magna Charta, which is of earlier date than
the chapel. A very beautiful alabaster monument of =Lady Margaret Holland=
with her two husbands, John Beaufort, son of John of Gaunt, and the Duke
of Clarence, son of Henry IV., beautifully represents the armour and
dress of the Fifteenth Century.
The Warriors’ Chapel is Perpendicular (about 1370), with a complex
lierne vault. The architect is unknown.
Directly opposite, on the other side of the Choir, is the =Transept of
the Martyrdom=. Here was erected a wooden altar to the Virgin, where a
portion of the Martyr’s brains were exhibited under a piece of
rock-crystal and fragments of Le Bret’s sword.
Before this altar Edward I. was married to Queen Margaret in 1299. A
rude representation of the altar may be seen over the south-west door of
the Cathedral.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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