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
We now visit the north transept and find ourselves in the earliest
portion of the Cathedral, built by Bishop Walkelin in the old Norman
style. The windows were inserted in the Decorated period, and the
ceiling belongs to the last century. The transepts have aisles on the
east and west sides and also at each end, over which is a gallery.
This is not common in England. At St. Alban's there is a similar
arrangement, and in several Normandy churches. The Norman work of the
transepts is of two periods. The earlier part by Walkelin (1070-1098)
is distinguished by the smaller piers and plain groined vaulting; the
later (1107) by the ribbed vaulting and larger piers. When we visit
Ely Cathedral we shall notice the similarity of design, the transepts
of that building having been erected by Simeon, Walkelin's brother.
Under the organ-loft is the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. Notice the
curious mural paintings representing the Passion of our Lord which
date from the thirteenth century, and the Decorated canopies built
against the Norman piers.
We now enter the north aisle of the presbytery and proceed to the
extreme eastern portion of the Cathedral. Here seven chantries and
chapels are seen which record the memory of illustrious prelates. "How
much power and ambition under half-a-dozen stones! I own I grow to
look on tombs as lasting mansions, instead of observing them for
curious pieces of architecture," wrote Walpole. Almost all the east
end was built by Bishop Godfrey de Lucy (1189-1204) at the beginning
of the Early English period and is of exquisite design. The north
chapel is called that of the Guardian Angels, and is so named from
figures of angels in the vaulting. There is a bronze figure of the
Earl of Portland here, the treasurer of Charles I. Notice the figure
holding a heart. It represents Bishop Ethelmar, half-brother of Henry
III., who died in Paris but directed that his heart should be conveyed
to this Cathedral.
The Lady Chapel has work of divers periods--north and south walls
Early English (De Lucy), east wall and window with small eastern parts
of north and south walls Perpendicular (Prior Hunton, 1470-1498, and
Prior Silkstede, 1498-1524). The rebuses of these two priors on the
vault are curious: T. _Hun_ and a ton (Thomas Hunton), and 1 and _Por_
for Prior; T. _Silk_ and a horse (Thomas Silkstede). Mural paintings
by the latter prior representing the legends of the Virgin adorn the
walls. The panelling is the work of Bishop Fox.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account