The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal SeeWithers, Hartley
History
The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal See
Withers, Hartley
Canterbury Cathedral
In the immediate precincts, a delightful picture is presented from the
Green Court, which was once the main outer court of the monastery. Here
are noble trees and beautifully kept turf, at once in perfect harmony and
agreeable contrast with the rugged walls of the weather-beaten cathedral:
the quiet soft colouring of the ancient buildings and that look of
cloistered seclusion only to be found in the peaceful nooks of cathedral
cities are seen here at their very best.
[Illustration: "BELL HARRY," THE CENTRAL TOWER.]
The chief glory of the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral is the central
#Angel or Bell Tower#. This is one of the most perfect structures that
Gothic architecture, inspired by the loftiest purpose that ever stimulated
the work of any art, has produced. It was completed by Prior Selling, who
held office in 1472, and has been variously called the Bell Harry Tower
from the mighty Dunstan bell, weighing three tons and three hundredweight,
and the Angel Tower from the gilded figure of an angel poised on one of
the pinnacles, which has long ago disappeared. The tower itself is of two
stages, with two two-light windows in each stage; the windows are
transomed in each face, and the lower tier is canopied; each angle is
rounded off with an octagonal turret and the whole structure is a
marvellous example of architectural harmony, and in every way a work of
transcendent beauty. The two buttressing arches and the ornamental braces
which support it were added at the end of the fifteenth century by Prior
Goldstone, to whom the building of the whole tower is apparently
attributed in the following quaint passage from a mediaeval authority: "He
by the influence and help of those honourable men, Cardinal John Morton
and Prior William Sellyng, erected and magnificently completed that lofty
tower commonly called Angyll Stepyll in the midst of the church, between
the choir and the nave--vaulted with a most beautiful vault, and with
excellent and artistic workmanship in every part sculptured and gilt, with
ample windows glazed and ironed. He also with great care and industry
annexed to the columns which support the same tower two arches or
vaults of stone work, curiously carved, and four smaller ones, to assist
in sustaining the said tower" ("Ang. Sac." i. 147, translated by Professor
Willis). The western front of the cathedral is flanked by two towers of
great beauty; a point in which Mediaeval architecture has risen above that
of all other ages is the skill which it displays in the use of towers of
different heights, breaking the dull straight line of the roof and
carrying the eye gradually up to the loftiest point of the building.
Canterbury presents an excellent example of the beauty of this
subordination of lower towers to the chief; we invite the visitor, when
looking at the exterior, to compare it mentally, on the one hand, with the
dull severity of the roof line of a Greek temple, and on the other, to
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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