The choir well merits the attention of every visitor of taste. From the organ-loft to the Bishop’s throne, the sides are ornamented with rich spiral tabernacle work, underneath which are massive and highly ornamented stalls. The choir is separated from the nave and broad aisle by a Gothic stone screen; there are five pointed arches on each side; above them is an arcade of pointed arches, resting on slender shafts, and above it are the clerestory windows. The pavement of the choir is of black and white marble. At the west end of it are four stalls on each side of the entrance, and there are twenty others on each side of the choir; over these are rich canopies, with pinnacles and pendants in great profusion. Above the stalls on the right hand, opposite the pulpit, is the Bishop’s throne, which formerly stood at the east end in St. Mary’s Chapel, and is said to have been the shrine of St. Werburgh, or, as suggested by Pennant, the pedestal on which originally stood the real shrine which contained the sacred relics. At the Reformation it was removed to its present position, and converted into a throne for the Bishop. It is a rich specimen of Gothic architecture, decorated with carved work, and embellished with a range of thirty curious small statues, variously habited, holding scrolls in their hands, and originally inscribed with their names, but now defaced. Dr. Cowper published, in 1799, an elaborate history of these figures, and was of opinion that they represented kings and saints of the royal Mercian line, ancestors or relations of St. Werburgh. Very great improvements have recently been effected within the choir. The restoration of the Bishop’s throne was effected by the munificence of the Rev. Canon Slade, as an obituary testimonial to his late father-in-law, Bishop Law, in memory of whom the following incription, engraven upon a brass plate, is affixed to the throne:— In gloriam Dei hanc cathedram reficiendam curabit A.D. MDCCCXLVI. Jacobus Slade, A.M. hujus ecclesiae Canonicus. Recnon in piam memoriam Georgii Henrici Law, S.T.D. per xii. annos Episcopi Testriensis, dein Bathoniensis. At the back of the throne is a magnificent stone screen, the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The altar screen was presented by the Rev. Peploe Hamilton, of Hoole, near Chester; the chair within the communion table by the Rev. Canon Blomfield; the new Bible desk, of carved oak in the form of an eagle, by the Rev. Chancellor Raikes; the new stone pulpit, from a beautiful design by Mr. Hussey, was the liberal gift of Sir Edward S. Walker, of Chester. Towards the restoration of the Cathedral, Her Majesty the Queen also contributed a donation of £105, in the name of the Prince of Wales as Earl of Chester.