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 glass of the east window, and of those on each side of it, is
fourteenth-century work (_circa_ 1330). The east window is very fine,
and is a Jesse window, showing the genealogy of our Lord from the
"Stem of Jesse," with figures of kings and prophets, the Virgin, and
finally the Crucifixion and the Judgment. In the north-east window is
a figure of St. George. The _South Choir Aisle_ is of the same
character as the choir; the windows are Decorated. Here is the famous
monument of Bishop Bytton (1274), who was canonised, and whose tomb
was much resorted to by pilgrims, especially by those who suffered
from toothache. This is the most ancient example of an incised slab in
England. Near the saint lie Bishop Beckington (1464), (who did so much
for this Cathedral), and Bishop Hervey (1894). Below the effigy is a
skeleton-like figure, which was intended to proclaim the moral maxim,
_memento mori_. The iron-work should be noticed. Here also are the
tombs of Bishop Harewell (1386), Bishop Hooper (1727), and Bishop Lake
(1626). In the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist are buried Dean
Gunthorpe (1498), the builder of the Deanery, and Dean Jenkyns (1854),
who was responsible for the "restoration" of the choir. There is a
fine Decorated piscina here. The _Retro-Choir_ is very beautiful.
Slender piers of Purbeck marble support the fine vault. The carving of
the capitals and bosses is very excellent. All is in the Decorated
style. The _Lady Chapel_ is of the same date and style, finished in
1326. Its shape is pentagonal, and it is of rare beauty. The glass is
of the same date as that of the choir, but has been restored. Angels
bearing the instruments of the Passion appear in the east window, and
in the tracery of the other windows are the Evangelistic emblems and
heads of patriarchs and saints. At the south-east corner of the
retro-choir was St. Catherine's Chapel. The glass is old and rich.
There is a monument by Chantrey of John Phelips, and that of Bishop
Drokensford (1329), who was bishop during the building of the Lady
Chapel, and part of the choir is a graceful structure. At the opposite
corner is St. Stephen's Chapel, and then we enter the north-east
transept or Chapel of St. John Baptist, which contains Bishop
Creyghton's tomb (1672), also monuments of John de Myddleton (1337),
Bishop Berkeley (1581), Dean Forrest (1446). The _North Choir Aisle_
has the tomb of Bishop Ralph (1363), and an effigy, attributed to
Bishop Giso (1088). Bishop Jocelyn caused several of these effigies to
be executed, in memory of his predecessors. On the north is a door
leading to a vaulted passage, which conducts us to the crypt of the
chapter-house. Notice the curious carved heads in this passage. There
is a curious stone lantern in the wall near the inner door. This crypt
or undercroft is on the same level as the floor of the church, and was
used as a treasury. It was finished about 1286, and is Late Early
English.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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