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 present generation of merchants of Manchester and the Cathedral
authorities have done much for their Cathedral, and striven to make it
worthy of its name and position as the Mother Church of the diocese,
and all the resources of modern art have been lavished on the
building. We shall see this better in the interior. The exterior also
shows that very much has been done in building and decoration. There
is first the new _West Porch_, which has just been finished with a
statue of Queen Victoria in the niche over the doorway. Just as the
burghers of the Middle Ages loved to enrich their churches with the
triumphs of architectural art, so do the modern merchants of
Manchester strive to adorn their Cathedral with elaborate handiwork.
This new piece of work is richly carved. The style follows that of the
Cathedral and is mainly Perpendicular. There is rich panel work, an
open-work battlemented parapet, and a richly-crocketed pinnacle crowns
a turret on the south side. The door itself is a very handsome piece
of work. On each side of the main porch there are rooms. The _Tower_
stands at the west end above the porch. There is a good west window in
the lowest stage with an ogee label richly crocketed. Above is the
clock. In former days this clock was not noted for keeping correct
time. An old gentleman was observed each morning setting his watch by
it. "Excuse me," said a bystander, "that clock is five minutes late."
"Sir," he replied, "I have set my watch by that clock for forty years,
and right or wrong, I shall go by it for the rest of my life." At each
corner of the tower there are three pinnacles. The windows of the
church, we observe, as we pass to the south, are all Perpendicular,
but there is a pleasing variety in the tracery. The _South Porch_ has
a parvise, and was built by Mr. James Jardine, a distinguished citizen
of Manchester, in 1891. On this side there are several chapels--the
Brown Chapel, St. George's, St. Nicholas or Trafford Chapel, Jesus
Chapel, the chapter-house with its pyramidal roof, the Fraser Chapel,
a new building erected in memory of Bishop Fraser. The battlemented
parapet on this side of the church is modern. On the east side is a
tiny Lady Chapel with a Decorated east window, which has been
reproduced from the earlier design. Proceeding onwards we notice the
Ely Chapel, the Derby or John the Baptist's Chapel, the St. James's
Chapel, and that dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The _North Porch_ is
similar in character to that on the south, and was erected in memory
of James Craven in 1888.
THE INTERIOR
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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