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 approach the Cathedral from the west and obtain a good view. At the
foot of the west end the river flows. The _West Front_ need not detain
us; it is plain and unpretentious. There is a large modern window in
Decorated style, and above three lancets, and a cross crowns the
gable. The doorway is Norman much restored, and has figures of our
Lord in glory, angels and the Virgin and Holy Child. The _North Porch_
was built by Bishop Wakefield (1375-1394), and belongs to the period
when the Decorated style was merging into the Perpendicular. There is
a parvise over it with Perpendicular battlements, and figures of our
Lord and the twelve Apostles in niches. Above is a row of small
figures. Between the porch and the west front was formerly the
charnel-house, built by Bishop William de Blois in the thirteenth
century and demolished in the seventeenth. The crypt still exists. The
two west bays are Transition Norman. The rest is Decorated work. A
small Decorated chapel, called _Jesus Chapel_, juts out from the
aisle on this side. The lower part of the walls of the north transept
is Norman work, but the transept was much repaired in the fourteenth
century and the windows are Perpendicular, and that in the north wall
is a modern antique. Strong flying buttresses support the main walls
on the east of this transept. There is a choir transept. The east end
is plain. The east window is of Early English design but modern
workmanship. The south side is very similar to the north, but
enclosures and buildings prevent us from a close inspection. The
cloisters are as usual in Benedictine monasteries on the south side,
and these we shall enter from the church. The _Tower_ dates from 1374,
but the details are modern, as the tower was very much restored. It is
of good proportion, has two storeys with crocketed pinnacles, a
parapet adorned with lesser spires, and the whole effect is not
unpleasing.
THE INTERIOR
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