The Three Choirs: A Handbook to the Cathedrals of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester: A Complete Description of the Buildings, a History of Each Diocese and Biographical Notices of the BishopsKing, R. J. (Richard John)
Religion
The Three Choirs: A Handbook to the Cathedrals of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester: A Complete Description of the Buildings, a History of Each Diocese and Biographical Notices of the Bishops
[62] The eastern transept, forming the second transverse limb of the
cross, was an addition of the Early English builders. Such a transept,
“equal in height to the central alley of the presbytery, is only to be
found elsewhere in England in the late Norman of Canterbury (c. 1096),
and York (c. 1160); and in the Early English of Lincoln (c. 1186),
Salisbury (c. 1220), Beverley, and Rochester. On the Continent the only
known examples of this feature are S. Benoit sur Loire (c. 1080), and
Cluny (c. 1089), the former of which was doubtless the prototype of
the English examples.”--_Willis’s Architectural History of Worcester
Cathedral._
[63] On this subject it may be well to quote the remarks of Professor
Willis:--
“In criticizing these repairs and restorations, it is necessary to
recollect that the crumbling material of the cathedral had decayed
to such an extent on the exterior as to destroy the whole of the
decorative features; and that, in the interior, settlements of the
piers and arches in the Early English work had attained so alarming a
magnitude as to threaten the stability of the structure. Attempts had
been made to mitigate these settlements by the introduction of walls
and arches in 1712; but these, beside disfiguring and obstructing the
interior, were themselves giving way, having served rather to change
the direction of the settlements than to stop them.
“The outside of the cathedral had been also overloaded and disfigured
by additional buttresses to prop up its falling walls. Most of these
have been removed or repaired, and the walls themselves thoroughly
and skilfully restored to soundness by renewing the whole of the
exterior ashlar, and pointing the interior, resetting it when
required. This process has necessarily destroyed all appearance of
antiquity in the exterior of the choir and Lady-chapel; but it must
be remembered that all the decorative features of the original had
vanished long since, and given place to the mean and uninteresting
botchings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; and that we
have now a reproduction of its original aspect, as far as that can be
determined.”--_Archit. Hist. of Worcester Cathedral_, p. 123.
[64] These relics of the Norman nave have been carefully pointed out by
Professor Willis, _Arch. Hist. of Worcester Cathedral_, p. 93.
[65] Willis.
[66] See Arch. Hist. of Worcester Cathedral, p. 112.
[67] Willis, p. 110.
[68] Willis, p. 94.
[69] M. H. Bloxam.
[70] Willis.
[71] Willis, p. 97. The white oolite was obtained from Bredon Hill at
Bath; the green stone from Higley on the Severn.
[72] That of St. Thomas de Cantilupe at Hereford--translated 1287; and
of King Edward II. at Gloucester, _circa_ 1330.
[73] Willis, p. 100.
[74] Willis, p. 102.
[75] Id., 103.
[76] Willis.
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