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
this chapel and the Ely Chapel were built. His tomb remains, of grey
marble, with a small brass figure of the bishop in his robes, with the
inscription:--"Off yur charite pray for the soul of James Stanley,
sutyme Bushype of Ely and Warden of this College of Manchestir, which
decessed out of this transitore world the xxxi. daye of March, the yer
of our Lord MCCCCC. and XV., on whos soul and all Christian souls
Jhesu have mercy."
Westward of this Derby Chapel stands the Ducie Chapel, dedicated to
St. James, founded in 1507, and next comes the Radcliffe Chantry,
dedicated to the Holy Trinity, founded by W. Radcliffe in 1498. The
Radcliffes of Radcliffe, near Manchester, were an ancient race, and
the ballad of "Fair Ellen," the daughter of one member of this family,
who was slain by a cruel stepmother and her body cooked in a pie, is a
gruesome legend of old Lancashire.
The east end of the nave is used for services, and there is a fine
modern pulpit. Manchester Cathedral possesses some very fine carved
woodwork, of which the ancient rood-screen is a good example. The
organ is placed above it. On entering the _Choir_ we notice the
magnificently-carved stalls with rich tabernacle work, and quaint
_misereres_. This is the work of James Stanley (1485-1509) afterwards
Bishop of Ely, assisted by a Manchester merchant named Beck. The
bishop's throne is modern, and also the reredos. The three Patron
Saints-SS. Mary, George and Denys--appear in the niches. In accounting
for this triple dedication Randle Holme states that to St. Mary was
the earlier church dedicated, and that Thomas Delaware, "being partly
a Frenchman, and partly an Englishman," selected St. Dionysee, ye
Patron Saint of France, and St. George, the Patron Saint of England,
as patrons of his new Cathedral. This does not seem probable, and it
is more likely that the claim of Henry V. to the crown of France at
the time of the founding of the college suggested the additional
dedication.
The windows have all modern glass. Formerly there was some curious
ancient glass; in the east window of the south aisle, Michael and his
angels fighting with the dragon; in the east window of the north
aisle, SS. Augustine and Ambrose chanting the _Te Deum Laudamus_; in
the clerestory were pictures of the Virgin; and then there were some
curious representations of the Trinity. These have all disappeared. Of
the modern ones, the most interesting, perhaps, is the Gordon window
in the north aisle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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