The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:: A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.Silloway, Thomas W. (Thomas William)
History
The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland:: A Description of Cities, Cathedrals, Lakes, Mountains, Ruins, and Watering-places.
Silloway, Thomas W. (Thomas William)
Great Britain -- Description and travel
A number of monuments are scattered about the interior, among them a
tablet to the memory of the Duke of Schomberg, with an inscription by
Jonathan Swift, at one time Dean of the cathedral. In another part are
mural tablets, high up from the floor, to the memory of the Dean, who
died Oct. 19, 1745, and was here buried. Near by is the monument to
Mrs. Hester Johnson, the _Stella_ of his poetry. A monument of note
near the door commemorates Boyle, Earl of Cork, who died 1629. It is of
a peculiar design, and attractive by its quaint oddity. It is of black
marble, ornamented in parts by wood mouldings and carving, which were
painted in positive colors, but are now dull and somewhat obscured. It
represents the earl and his wife in recumbent positions, surrounded
by their sixteen children. These figures are of wood, and carved in a
grotesque style, barbaric enough to be pleasing examples of sculpture
to a "Heathen Chinee."
The exterior of the cathedral presents a very aged appearance, and the
two parts of the structure, erected by the two bishops in 1190 and
1370, are distinctly marked. The tower has plain buttresses at the
corners, each ending in embattled turrets. A low, stone spire above
this is attached to the section built by Bishop Comyn, and was erected
some time after the other parts of the cathedral. Each part is of
Gothic architecture, and is of the style prevailing at the period of
its erection. Elaborate decoration does not appear in any part, and
as the edifice fronts on a cramped, narrow street, and is near the
surrounding buildings, no extended view of it can be obtained.
In 1860 the late Sir B. L. Guinness,--the noted brewer of Dublin, whose
celebrated ales and porter are known the civilized world over,--at his
own expense, undertook a complete restoration of the cathedral; and
after years of continued labor, by a large body of workmen, the whole
was finished at a cost of $720,000. Changes were made in the interior
by the removal of modernish screens, and the exterior, while it has the
same antiquated look, is in perfect repair. The interior with its lofty
groined ceiling and arches, its stately columns, its rich oaken stalls,
its beautiful stained glass windows, the great organ at the left of the
communion table, the rich pulpit,--especially dedicated by Mr. Guinness
to the late Dean Peckham as a memorial,--these combine to make the
venerable structure rank well with many of the cathedrals of England.
We hardly need to say that it is under the administration of the Church
of England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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