“The Bishop’s Throne (A.D. 1316), intended for his Lordship with a chaplain on either side; ‘a magnificent sheaf of carved oak, put together without a single nail, and rising to a height of 57 feet. The lightness of its ascending stages almost rival the famous _sheaf of fountains_ of the Nuremberg tabernacle. The cost of this vast and exquisitely carved canopy (about twelve guineas) is surprisingly small, even for those days. The carved work consists chiefly of foliage, with finials of great beauty, surmounting tabernacled niches, with a sadly untenanted look, however, for lack of their statuettes. The pinnacle corners are enriched with heads of oxen, sheep, dogs, pigs and monkeys.’ Next came what is perhaps the most exquisite work in stone in England, as the throne is unparalleled in woodwork--the SEDILIA; the seats of the priest to the east and to the west of him, those of the Gospeller and Epistoler. The sedilia have been preferred even to the shrine of Beverley and the Lady-Chapel of Ely. ‘The canopy of the seat nearest the altar,’ says Mr. Garland, ‘deserves particular attention. It is adorned with a wreath of vine leaves on each side, which meet at the point and there form a finial; and never did Greek sculptor of the best age trace a more exact portrait of the leaf of the vine, nor design a more graceful wreath, nor execute his design with a more masterly finish.’ It is regrettable that the carving of the sedilia is attributed to a Frenchman.”--(F. B.) Of the high altar and reredos, perhaps the most magnificent in Europe, carved at the same period, not a fragment remains. The two most important tombs in the choir are those of =Bishop Lacey=, who died in 1455, and =Walter de Stapledon=, who was murdered in London in 1326. Lacey has but a plain slab at which many miracles are said to have been done. Bishop Stapledon lies under a Perpendicular canopy, a fine figure holding a crozier with his left hand and a book with his right. Under the canopy is a figure of the Saviour, and at its side the small figure of a king crowned and wearing a scarlet robe, supposed to be Edward II. Bishop Stapledon’s body was removed from London to Exeter Cathedral by the Queen’s command and interred with great magnificence. From the choir two chapels open. On the north, =St. Andrew’s=, very early Decorated, is exactly like the opposite one, =St. James’s=. Beneath the latter is the ancient =Crypt=. Both chapels have chambers above them. Beyond the Choir, the ambulatory, or procession-path (Early Decorated), with =Speke’s Chantry= on the left or north and =Bishop Oldham’s= on the right or south, leads to the =Lady Chapel=. This was built by Quivil, and is remarkable for its beautiful foliage carvings, old reredos, graceful openings to the chantries on either side and magnificent east window.