How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
the marriage of Philip and Mary took place, and the chair in which
she sat is still to be seen in the church. The Stuart Kings loved
the place. Here in the great rebellion was enacted that strange
scene when, after the capture of the city, the mob rushed into the
Cathedral, wild for booty and mischief, and finding in the chests
nothing but bones, amused themselves by throwing them at the
stained windows of the choir. It was at this time that Colonel
Nathaniel Fiennes, a Parliamentary officer and an old Wykehamist,
stood with drawn sword at the door of Wykeham’s chantry to protect
it from violence. Since the days of the Merry Monarch, who was
often at Winchester, and loved it so well that he built his palace
here, no striking historical events have been enacted within its
walls. The church by degrees recovered from the ruin of the
Commonwealth time, and has had a quiet, happy life from that time
onward, a tranquil grey building sleeping amidst its trees, in the
heart of the most charming of all south English cities.”--(G. W.
K.)
The best view of Winchester Cathedral is from the top of St. Catherine’s
hill, where the great mass rises solemnly over the distant city. Its
enormous length is broken by the bold transepts, which extend three bays
beyond the aisles. People are, as a rule, disappointed with their first
view of the exterior, because of its lack of decoration and the lowness
of the heavy Norman tower in the centre. The bright-green turf of the
Precincts and the trees, however, make with the grey walls an impressive
picture. A short avenue of trees leads through the Close to the western
door.
The =West Front= was originally the work of Edington (1345-1366). It is
118 feet in breadth and composed of a panelled gable of Perpendicular
style with hexagonal turrets. Immediately under the window in a gallery
over the entrance, the bishop used to give his benediction to the
people. The figure of William of Wykeham stands in the gable, replacing
an ancient bishop removed in 1860. No one seems to know whether it
represented William of Wykeham, Bishop Edington, or St. Swithun. Very
probably it was the latter, as its companions on the gable were St.
Peter and St. Paul, the three patron saints of the Saxon Cathedral.
The great =West Window= is divided by cross mullions into three
perpendicular and six horizontal compartments. It is said to be filled
with glass, collected from different parts of the building, after the
general smashing by the Parliamentary soldiers in 1646. Winston says
these pieces are very early Perpendicular glass, and may have been
placed together in the window, as we now see them, in Bishop Edington’s
time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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