How to Visit the English CathedralsSingleton, Esther
History
How to Visit the English Cathedrals
Singleton, Esther
Cathedrals -- England
“The most beautiful monument now remaining in the church is that
which is said to represent Maud, Countess of Arundel (1270). The
modelling of the whole figure and the long flowing lines of her
robes are worthy of careful study. The hands are clasped over the
breast with the forearms bent upwards slightly towards the face. On
each of the long sides of the base supporting the figure are six
elongated quatrefoil panels, containing in all six female figures
and six shields. Between the quatrefoils are winged heads of ten
angelic figures. The blazoning of the shields is entirely gone, and
the brilliant colouring that once covered the entire monument is
only to be traced in a few places. The outer robe still shows
[Illustration: CHICHESTER.]
[Illustration: CHICHESTER: NAVE, EAST]
some signs of the rich blue with which it used to be covered. The
face of the figure appears to be badly mutilated, but the damage to
the features has been done principally by an endeavour to preserve
them.”--(H. C. C.)
In the =choir= we find stalls that have been in use since the Fourteenth
Century. On the backs of the =choir-stalls= pictures by Bernardi represent
Ceadwalla and Henry VIII. confirming privileges to the bishops of their
day.
In the =south transept= is a beautiful window, better seen from the
Cloisters because the bad glass spoils the effect of the tracery.
At the end of the south side in the =Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene= St.
Richard’s head was preserved in a silver reliquary in the aumbry in the
north wall.
The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene is balanced by the =Chapel of St.
Katherine= at the end of the north-choir-aisle. In the =south-choir-aisle=,
two curiously carved =Slabs=, representing the _Raising of Lazarus_ and
_Martha and Mary meeting Jesus_, are supposed to have been brought from
the first Cathedral in Selsey when the See was transferred to Chichester
in 1082.
A doorway in the north-choir-aisle leads to the old =Chapel of St. John
the Baptist and St. Edmund the King=. The vaulting is unlike any other in
the Cathedral. The zigzag, or chevron, occurs upon the moulding of the
ribs. A finely carved head appears on the spring of the arch. This
chapel is now used as the =Library=.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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