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
The _North Transept_ is entered by a Perpendicular arch, by Bishop
Beauchamp (1450-1481). It was designed to support the tower. The style
of this transept resembles that of the nave. The two-light windows,
which take the place of the triforium on the north side, and the
beautiful clerestory windows, with their slender pilasters, should be
noticed. There is an eastern aisle, divided into chapels, which Wyatt
robbed of their screens. The monuments here are:--Brass to John
Britton, the eminent antiquary; James Harris, author of _Hermes_, by
Bacon; Earl of Malmesbury, by Chantrey; W.B. Earle, by Flaxman; Bishop
John Blythe (?) (1499); Sir R. Hoare, the Wilts historian, by Lucas;
Richard Jefferies, the charming modern writer on country life; Walter
and William Long, by Flaxman; Bishop Woodville (1484).
The _South Transept_ resembles the north. Here are monuments
of:--Bishop Mitford (1407), a fine tomb of white marble; Bishop Fisher
(1825); Edward Poore (1780).
The _Choir-Screen_ is good modern work, and replaced a patchwork
structure of Wyatt's handiwork, made up of spoil taken from his
destroyed chantries. The organ is modern.
The _Choir and Presbytery_ differ in no way from the architecture of
the nave. The east end is beautifully designed. At the base of the
reredos are three arches, and above five arches, with cinquefoil
headings, and above these a triplet window. The roof is painted with
an interesting series of designs, which are modern reproductions of
thirteenth-century work. First there are series of Old Testament
saints, the Forerunner of our Lord being ranked with the prophets.
Then come the Apostles, with the figures of our Lord and the
Evangelists; and further east are representations of the months, which
are curious and interesting. January is represented by a man warming
his hands; February, a man drinking wine; March, digging; April,
sowing; May, hawking; June, flowers; July, reaping; August, threshing;
September, gathering fruit; October, brewing; November,
timber-felling; December, killing a pig.
The _Choir Stalls_ are a patchwork composition. There is some old
Perpendicular work; some of the work is by Wren. Happily Wyatt's
productions have been removed. The reredos is modern, is a very
elaborate piece of work. All the other fittings of the choir are new.
In the choir are the chantries of Bishop Audley (1524), a fine piece
of Late Perpendicular work, which has a fan-vault and some traces of
colour, and of Walter, Lord Hungerford (1429), removed here from the
nave, and made into a family pew by Lord Radnor. The iron-work is
good, and such chapels are rare, the Chantry of Edward IV. at Windsor
being the finest of its kind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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