The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and ArchitectureDitchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
History
The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and Architecture
Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Cathedrals -- Great Britain; Church architecture -- Great Britain
We now enter the _Cloisters_. As we have said, only the north and east
walks remain; the north is entirely new, and the east has been much
restored. The vestibule and chapter-house are, however, part of the
original Norman building, and the work is of Transitional character.
It is oblong in shape. The east wall is modern and has three windows.
The north and south walls have beautiful arcades, and above lattice
work and zigzag mouldings. The west wall has three rows of arcading.
Twelve stone coffins were found here and a curious piece of ancient
sculpture representing our Lord wounding the head of Satan and
rescuing a child by means of the Cross. Adjoining the chapter-house
was the dormitory. The refectory was on the south side of the cloister
garth. It still exists after many transformations and is the house of
the master of the Cathedral School.
The _Great Gateway_ should be visited. The lower part is of Norman
character, and was part of the founder's work; the upper is
Perpendicular and was the work of Abbot Elliot. He probably renewed
the rich Norman ornamentation, so much so that in the opinion of Mr.
Godwin, the great authority on Bristol architecture, "the so-called
Norman gateway of College Green is no Norman gateway, but a
Perpendicular restoration of the old work."
Another gateway, which formerly led to the palace destroyed in 1831,
exists, which is part of the original Norman work of the Cathedral. At
the south-west corner of the cloister is an Early English doorway,
which formerly led to the refectory. It is a sad pity that so much of
the old monastery has been destroyed.
DIMENSIONS
Total length 300 ft.
Length of nave 125 ft.
Width of nave 69 ft.
Height 52 ft.
Area 22,500 sq. ft.
PRINCIPAL BUILDING DATES
Norman (1142-1170)--Part of transepts, chapter-house,
lower part of gateway.
Early English (1196-1215)--Elder Lady Chapel, parts of
transepts and Berkeley Chapel.
Decorated (1306-1332)--Choir, Lady Chapel and stalls.
(1332-1341)--Newton Chapel.
Perpendicular (1428-1481)--Great Tower, upper part of
gateway, roof.
Modern--The nave.
The city has a large number of interesting churches. The noble Church
of St. Mary, Redcliffe, one of the finest in England, chiefly
fourteenth century; All Hallows' (Norman and Perpendicular); Temple
Church (Decorated and Perpendicular); St. Philip's, St. Stephen's, St.
John's, are the most important.
WELLS CATHEDRAL
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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