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
In the south transept there are the slender remains of the once famous
tomb of Bishop Dalderby (d. 1320), to which there was great resort of
pilgrims in mediæval times. His shrine was destroyed at the
Reformation. This bishop built the upper part of the tower.
The _Screen_ is good Decorated work, and consists of arches ornamented
with figures of ecclesiastics and grotesques. It has been somewhat
severely handled by fanatical destroyers, but, in spite of mutilation
and restoration, it remains a noble example of the workmanship of the
period. The organ stands above this screen. The doorways on each side
of the screen are Early English, and are very beautiful.
Entering the _Choir_, we see the earliest known example of pure Lancet
Gothic or Early English, free from the trace of Norman influence. It
was built by Bishop St. Hugh. The first stone was laid in 1192. The
perfection of the ornament is wonderful. This part of the church
suffered severely from the fall of the tower in 1237, and many traces
of the disaster may still be seen. Screens divide the choir from the
aisles, and were erected to strengthen the building. The _Choir
Stalls_ are very fine, and were erected by Treasurer Welbourn in 1370.
The carving is most elaborate and beautiful, and the _misereres_ are
extremely curious and interesting. Behind each stall is a list of the
Psalms which, according to the constitution of Lincoln, each
prebendary is bound to repeat daily. The pulpit and bishop's throne
are fairly modern. The brass lectern bears the date 1667. The
_Reredos_ was restored about the middle of the eighteenth century, but
contains some thirteenth-century work. A very interesting feature of
the north side is the _Easter Sepulchre_, fashioned for the deposition
of the consecrated elements of the Eucharist from the evening of Good
Friday until the morning of Easter day; during which time it was
watched by a quasi-guard. Three figures of sleeping soldiers appear in
the carving. The style is Decorated. This tomb has been very
doubtfully assigned to Remigius. There are the monuments of Katherine
Swinford, third wife of John of Gaunt (d. 1403), from whom King Edward
is descended in a direct line, and of her daughter, the Countess of
Westmoreland (d. 1440), much mutilated by the soldiers. In the _North
Aisle_ of the choir the beautiful double arcade work of Bishop Hugh is
seen on the wall. In the _South Aisle_ are the remains of the _Shrine
of Little St. Hugh_, the Christian boy with whose crucifixion the Jews
were charged in 1255. The style is Decorated, but the shrine was
mutilated by the soldiers in the Civil War. The great chronicler,
Henry of Huntingdon, also lies buried here.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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