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
The piers are octagonal with clustered shafts. The capitals are
enriched with foliage. Birds, animals and monsters twine and perch
among the foliage. The triforium arcade is continuous, and composed of
lancet openings. The clerestory windows have Perpendicular tracery
inserted by Beckington. The roof is vaulted, with bosses of foliage.
The _Music Gallery_ stands in the central bay on the south side
erected in Perpendicular style, and near it formerly was another
gallery supported by two brackets, on which are carved the heads of a
king and bishop. The curious and grotesque carvings should be
carefully studied. The west end has an arcade of five arches. Above
are three lancets with dog-tooth moulding and Perpendicular tracery.
The glass was collected by Dean Creyghton on the Continent during his
exile with Charles II., and represents the life of St. John Baptist.
Its date is 1507. The other windows have the figures of King Ina and
Bishop Ralph. The north and south aisles correspond with the nave in
their architecture. Perpendicular tracery has been inserted in the
windows. Under the north-west tower is the Chapel of the Holy Cross,
now used as a vestry, and the opposite Chapel is now used by the
ringers. There are two beautiful chantries in the nave--one is Bishop
Bubwith's Chapel (1421), with much mutilated east end; the other is
Sugar's Chantry, formerly dedicated to St. Edmund. Hugh Sugar, dean of
Wells, died in 1489. The fan-tracery of the roof, the niches and the
cornice of angels are worthy of notice. The _Pulpit_ was erected by
Bishop Knight (1541-1547). The lectern is by Bishop Creyghton, who
erected the west window, and shared Charles II.'s exile. The
_Transepts_ are rather earlier than the nave, and are part of
Reginald's work. They have aisles, and the capitals of the piers are
richly sculptured. In the _South Transept_ we see on the west Elias, a
woman extracting a thorn from her foot, a man with toothache, the
grape-stealers and their fate. On the east there is only foliage and
no figures. The Chapel of St. Calixtus is on the east, containing the
beautiful monument of Dean Husse (1305), with its finely-carved
panels. The subjects are the Annunciation, God the Father, and some
ecclesiastics. The other Chapel is that of St. Martin, now a vestry,
and has the tomb of a Chancellor of Wells (1454). In the transept are
the monuments of Lady Lisle (1464), wife of the Earl of Shrewsbury,
and of Bishop William de la Marchia (1302). The _Font_ is Norman, and
probably the only remaining link with the early church built by Bishop
Robert (1136-1166). The cover is Jacobean. The _North Transept_
resembles the south. Here we see again a series of strange carvings,
amongst which are Moses and Aaron, man with goose, woman with
toothache. The reason why so many representations of this distressing
malady occur is that the shrine of St. William Bytton (1274) was
famous for its cures of persons so suffering. On the east are the
Chapels of St.
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