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
_Restoration!_ what evils have been wrought in your name."
The church is cruciform. At the west end is a large Decorated window,
and a deeply-recessed doorway of six orders, with buttresses on either
side, which have crocketed pinnacles; a wooden cross surmounts the
gable. It will be noticed that the shafts supporting the arch of the
doorway have no capitals, the wave moulding making a complete sweep
round the arch, with no capitals intervening. This arrangement we
shall notice in the church. The great central tower was the latest
addition to the mediæval church, and was constructed late in the
fourteenth century. The embattled parapets were added in 1714.
It is 93 feet high. The nave consists of five bays, and at once we
notice the same peculiarity observable in the west doorway. The
mouldings are carried up the piers and round the arches without any
break. They are very plain, and of two orders, and are of the Early
Decorated style, the work of Bishop Anian. Formerly there was a
clerestory, but during one of the tasteless restorations a ceiling was
erected, which shuts it out from view. The windows of the clerestory
were in the Perpendicular style, and exist still in the south.
Grotesque carvings appear on the brackets supporting the roof. The
windows of the aisles have been much restored, and are in the style of
the Early Decorated. The south transept was once the Lady Chapel, the
consistory court and chapter-house. The windows are of five lights,
and were finished about 1336. Here is a much mutilated effigy of a
bishop, which is of great beauty, especially the figures of censing
angels. It is supposed to represent Bishop Anian.
The north transept has the monument of Bishop Luxmore (1830). In the
south aisle are some monuments of the relatives of Mrs. Hemans, the
poetess, and a tablet has been erected to the memory of that lady, who
died in 1835. Under the central tower stand the old finely-canopied
stalls. The throne is modern.
The style of the old choir was almost entirely changed at the
eighteenth-century "restoration." It was of Early English design, and
Sir G. Scott wisely resolved to restore it to its primitive form. This
proceeding was somewhat drastic, but such was the condition of the
choir, and so severe was the treatment it received in 1780, that
perhaps no other course could with advantage have been taken. He
discovered the old sedilia, and the door leading to the old
chapter-house. The east window has entirely modern tracery, and the
reredos is modern. Bishop Barrow's tomb outside the west door is
worthy of notice.
The Bishop's Palace is a large modern building. At the foot of the
hill is the parish church. From the summit of the tower of the
Cathedral a fine view can be obtained of the Vale of Clwyd, with the
Castles of Denbigh and Rhuddlan, and a long line of sea coast. Robert
Montgomery sang sweetly of this wondrous view:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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