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
Returning we traverse the _North Ambulatory_, from which open the
Chapels of SS. Paul, John Baptist, Erasmus and Abbot Islip. St.
Erasmus was a Bishop of Campania, martyred in the time of the
Diocletian persecution. His chapel has a fine, Late Decorated doorway.
Abbot Islip died in 1532, and had previously adorned this chapel for
his tomb, of which only the base remains. A curious eye will discern
his rebus. In the upper chapel are preserved some remarkable wax
effigies of deceased monarchs and others, which were used in ancient
times in funeral processions. Charles II., Elizabeth, William and
Mary, Anne, Duchess of Richmond, General Monk, and a few others have
survived the wreck of time.
The _North Transept_ resembles the south and is remarkable for its
noble architecture. It is part of Henry III.'s construction. The
carving is rich and beautiful, especially the famous sculptures of the
_censing angels_, which are best seen from the triforium. On the east
are the three Chapels of SS. John the Evangelist, Michael and Andrew,
which are now filled with monuments.
We will now visit the _monastic buildings_, which may be entered from
the south aisle of the nave. The east walk of the cloisters was
finished in 1345, and the south and west walks a few years later under
the rule of Abbot Litlington. The north walk is a century earlier.
From the east walk we enter the _Chapter-House_. The doorway is
remarkably fine, with its sculptured figures in the mouldings. This is
one of the finest and largest chapter-houses in England, and was built
by Henry III. in 1250. Its plan is octagonal. There is a central,
slender, clustered shaft from which the vaulting springs. This vault
is a restoration. The windows have beautiful tracery, and are filled
with modern glass. The old paintings representing the Second Advent
are very interesting. This room has been devoted to many uses. Here
the House of Lords used to meet, and here the Records were once kept.
The Chapel of the Pyx, a fine Early Norman structure, where "the trial
of the Pyx" took place, is not open to the public. Above this and the
vestibule was the dormitory, now the library and schoolroom of the
famous Westminster School founded by Henry VIII. The cloisters have
many monuments. On the south-east lies the little cloister formerly
the infirmary, approached by a passage from the east cloister. The
refectory was on the south side of the cloister-court, and on the west
was the abbot's house, now the Deanery. Permission should be obtained
to see the famous _Jerusalem Chamber_, probably so called from the
tapestry which once hung here. Here Henry IV. died, which fact
Shakespeare mentions in his play, _Henry IV._, and many other
historical scenes have these walls witnessed.
[Illustration HENRY V.'S CHANTRY]
KINGS BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
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