CHAPTER III
DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERIOR
If the exterior of Durham is in any way disappointing, the interior more than compensates for its shortcomings. The general impression on entering the church is one of simple dignity and solemnity. The great massiveness of the structure and absence of elaborate ornament no doubt contribute to this feeling. The pious builders of old have certainly contrived to stamp on their work their own feeling of awe in the presence of the All-Powerful and Eternal God. Whatever has been lost through vandalism and the restorer, this remains unaltered. The general design of the church, exclusive of detail, which, of course, changed and developed with the progress of Gothic art, has undoubtedly been carried out on the plan intended by Bishop Carileph, the only important variation being the addition of the transept at the east end, known as the Nine Altars Chapel. The original plan consists of a nave and aisles, transepts with aisles on their eastern side, a choir also with aisles, and the three apses of the east end, with a central tower over the junction of transepts, nave, and choir, and towers flanking the west end.
Each bay of the #Nave# is divided into two sub-bays. The main bays have massive piers with engaged shafts on the recessed faces. The bases of these are cruciform in plan, though the arms of the cross are very short. At the height of the springing of the arch the shafts are surmounted by plain cushion capitals. The division into sub-bays is effected by the introduction midway of a massive round column on a square base. These columns are ornamented in various ways, by channels cut on the face. Some take the form of a zig-zag, some a spiral, others a spiral in two directions, forming a trellis-like pattern, and others again are reeded vertically. Their capitals are octagonal cushions. The arches of the sub-bays are recessed square, with the usual Norman roll moulding, decorated with chevrons, and on the wall face a square billet. The chevron ornament is absent in the earlier work in the choir and transepts. The triforium is almost uniform throughout the whole church. In each sub-bay it consists of two small arches under one larger one, with the tympanum solid. Here also the capitals are cushions and perfectly plain.
Above the triforium is the clerestory, which contains one light to each sub-bay, and surmounting all is the vaulting, which springs from the piers and from grotesquely carved corbels between the triforium arches. The vaulting ribs are ornamented with chevrons on either side of a bold semi-circular moulding. So much for the general arrangement of the bays. Some idea of the massiveness of the structures may be gathered when it is known that each group of the clustered pillars separating the bays covers an area of two hundred and twenty-five square feet at its base, while those of the cylindrical columns of the sub-bays are twelve feet square, and the columns themselves have a circumference of over twenty-three feet. There is little room to doubt that the effect obtained by the old builders of Durham was intentional. The masterly way in which great masses of solid masonry, greater than was constructively necessary, are handled, and the reticence and delicacy of the ornament combine to prove this. There is in the whole scheme a delightful union of great power and vigour in the masses, and of tenderness and loving care in the detail.
The #Choir# is the earliest part of the church. Its two western bays show Carileph's work, but the eastern piers have been considerably altered owing to the addition at a later period of the eastern transept, when Carileph's apses were taken down. This bay contains some very rich and beautiful detail. The piers on either side of the choir are decorated with arcades, the lower stage having six arches, and the upper three, all richly carved with foliage in the caps and hood moulds, and with heads and half figures. There is also a square aumbry on each pier. Above the upper arcade, which breaks through the level of the triforium string course, which is also carried round it, there is on each pier a figure of an angel beneath a canopy. These are the only two figures remaining of many which formerly added to the beauty of the interior of the church. The vaulting of the choir is thirteenth-century work, quadripartite, the ribs decorated with dog-tooth ornament and square leaves, and has fine bosses at the intersections of the diagonal ribs. The choir of Durham is especially interesting to the student of architecture, showing as it does the Early Norman work of Carileph, combined with the Early English and Early Decorated work of the newer eastern portion.
On the south side of the choir stands the monument of Bishop Hatfield, who directed the see of Durham from 1345 until 1381. This monument is beneath the Episcopal Throne, which was erected by Bishop Hatfield himself. It consists of an altar tomb surmounted by a recumbent effigy of the bishop, in richly-worked robes, beneath a canopy, richly groined, with foliated bosses at the intersections of the ribs. On the walls at the east and west ends may still be seen the remains of fresco painting, representing in each case two angels. Beneath the staircase leading up to the throne is a very fine decorated arcade, containing several shields bearing the bishop's and other arms. The whole structure was originally richly coloured and gilded, and remains of this work can still be made out. It is a noble specimen of the work of its date.
Immediately opposite the tomb of Bishop Hatfield, on the north side of the choir, the visitor will notice the recently-erected memorial to the late Bishop Lightfoot. This is an altar tomb of black and coloured marble. The sides are ornamented with panels of Perpendicular tracery containing shields. Round the upper mouldings runs a Latin inscription in brass. The whole is surmounted by a recumbent figure of the bishop in white marble, his hands on his breast, and his feet resting against three books. Originally designed by Sir Edgar Boehm, R.A., at his death the monument was completed by Alfred Gilbert, R.A.
The beautiful altar screen is usually known as the #Neville Screen,# and was erected about the year 1380, mainly from moneys supplied by John, Lord Neville of Raby. It spans the whole of the choir, and is continued along the sides of the sacrarium, forming sedilia of four seats on either side. It is pierced by two doors, which lead to the shrine of S. Cuthbert, immediately behind the screen. Though very light and graceful in appearance, the screen, as it is at present, can give the beholder little idea of what its appearance must have been when each of its canopied niches contained a figure aglow with gold and colour. There were originally 107 of these statues, the centre one representing Our Lady, supported on either side by S. Cuthbert and S. Oswald. Unfortunately none of the figures remain _in situ_.
Immediately in front of the steps of the high altar will be seen the matrix of a large brass. It covers the grave of Ludovick de Bellomonte, Bishop of Durham from 1318 to 1333. The slab, which is in two pieces, measures fifteen feet ten inches by nine feet seven inches, and an examination will show the brass to have been an elaborate and sumptuous composition. Unfortunately all the metal work has disappeared.
The #Stalls,# as they originally existed, were destroyed in 1650 by the Scottish prisoners, who were kept in the cathedral after the battle of Dunbar. The present stalls we owe to Bishop Cosin (1660 to 1672), and they are remarkable pieces of carving for that date. In general character they imitate Perpendicular work, though the details do not adhere altogether to that style.
Before leaving this part of the church a note may be devoted to the alterations and additions made during the years 1870 to 1876. A new screen between the nave and choir was then erected; the choir floor relaid with marble mosaic; the stalls replaced in their old positions, and new portions made to replace those destroyed in 1846. A new organ, pulpit, and lectern were also added.
The new #Choir Screen# is very much open to criticism. Though no doubt beautiful in detail, and of excellent workmanship, its effect, as a whole, is not pleasant, when seen from the west end silhouetted against the light of the choir. A screen previously existed in this position erected by Bishop Cosin. This was removed in 1846, with the idea of improving the appearance of the church from the west end by obtaining a "vista" through to the Neville screen and rose window of the eastern transept. The effect seems, however, to have been disappointing, hence the erection of the present screen, which may or may not have improved matters. In the two western piers of the choir holes may be seen cut in the stonework. These received the rood-beam from which, during Lent, the Lenten curtain was suspended.
The #North Aisle of the Choir,# again, shows the joining and harmonising of the "new work" of the eastern transept with the earlier Norman work. Inside the church the most easterly bay appears to be altogether of Early English date; but on the exterior it will be seen that the Norman wall runs right up to the western wall of the eastern transept. The interior of the bay, however, is enriched with a wall arcade similar to that in the Nine Altars Chapel, and the arch and vault are decorated with foliage and dog-tooth ornament.
Along the side wall of this aisle runs a stone bench bearing the arms of Bishop Walter de Skirlaw (1388 to 1405), near which he was buried, but his monument and brass, erected by himself, have disappeared.
Slightly westward of the bench is a doorway which at one time opened into the Sacrist's Exchequer, erected by Prior Wessington, but it has long ago been destroyed.
The piers of the west end of this aisle bear marks which were originally holes cut in the stone. These served to support a porch, having a rood and altar, which is thus described in the "Rites of Durham":
"Right over the Entrance of this North Alleye, going to the Songe Scoole (the Exchequer mentioned above) there was a porch adjoyninge to the quire on the South, and S. Benedick's altar on the North, the porch having in it an altar, and the roode or picture of our Saviour, which altar and roode was much frequented in devotion by Docteur Swalwell, sometime monk of Durham, the said roode havinge marveilous sumptuous furniture for festivall dayes belonginge to it."
The #South Aisle Of the Choir# is similar architecturally to the north aisle. Here may be seen a doorway, of late thirteenth-century work, which originally led to the revestry, now destroyed.
Here again the eastern piers bear marks left by holes in the stonework, which originally earned the supports of a screen, in front of which the Black Rood of Scotland, which was taken from King David at the battle of Neville's Cross (1346), was placed. The rood is described as having been brought from Holyrood by David Bruce, and was made of silver, with effigies of our Saviour, S. John, and Our Lady, having crowns of gold on their heads. The Black Rood was restored to its original possessors at the close of the war.
The windows of both the choir aisles originally contained very fine old stained glass, representing various saints, and scenes in the life of S. Cuthbert.
The #Transepts.#--Leaving the choir by its western end the visitor at once enters the transepts. A large portion of these, including the great piers and arches which carry the central tower, are, without doubt, of the time of Carileph. The eastern side of both is certainly his work, while the western is probably the building which was carried on by the monks in the interval between Carileph's death, in 1096, and the appointment of Flambard to the see in 1099. The work on the eastern sides differs little from that of the choir, while that of the western sides, being plainer, has been thought by some to indicate a want of means on the part of the monks, while carrying on the work in the interval just alluded to. Each transept consists of two bays, with an aisle on the eastern side, access to which is gained by the ascent of three steps.
Each of the three sub-bays nearest the north and south extremities originally contained an altar, those in the north transept being dedicated to S. Nicholas and S. Giles, S. Gregory and S. Benedict. Over the site of the latter may still be seen remains of fresco painting. The altars in the south transept were dedicated--one to S. Faith and S. Thomas the Apostle, one to our Lady of Bolton and the other to our Lady of Houghall. The north transept is closed by a large window, which is the work of Prior Fossor, probably about the year 1362. The window is of six lights, and the head contains late geometrical tracery. The architectural feature of this window, especially for its date, is the transom which crosses the mullions, and which is not visible from the exterior. Below the transom is a second inner set of mullions supporting a small gallery, by means of which access may be had to the triforium. In the year 1512 the window was repaired by Prior Castell, who filled it with stained glass containing large figures, among others of S. Augustine, S. Ambrose, S. Gregory, and S. Jerome. From this circumstance the window became known as the window of the Four Doctors of the Church. Prior Castell also contrived to introduce a figure of himself kneeling at the feet of the Virgin. The large window at the end of the south transept, also named from the glass it contained, the _Te Deum_ window, is in the Perpendicular style, and is of six lights. It may possibly have been the work of Prior Wessington, 1416 to 1446. Along the sill of this window also access may be had to the triforium.
Both the north-west and south-west corners of the transepts contain stairways, opening at their various levels on to the triforium, clerestory, and the space between the vaulting and the roof. That in the south transept also gives access to the central tower and belfry, an ascent of which, if the day be clear, will repay the visitor for his fatiguing climb of three hundred and forty steps by the magnificent view spread at his feet. The transepts were no doubt the earliest part of the building to be vaulted; that of the northern arm being plain is probably the earlier, while that of the south arm, though of similar character, has zig-zag ornaments. Several of the priors of Durham were buried in the transepts, the first, Prior Fossor, 1364, and the last, Robert Ebchester, who died in 1484.
On the piers of the transepts projecting brackets may be noticed. These are of Perpendicular date, and originally carried statues.
The crossing, or space between the four piers supporting the central tower, gives us a fine view of the interior of the lantern.
The #Tower# is carried on four large clustered Norman piers with semi-circular arches. Over the arches, and seventy-seven feet above the floor of the church, is the lower stage of the lantern, round which is a gallery with an open pierced parapet. It rests on corbels, each alternate one being carved with a grotesque head. The walls are panelled up to the base of the great windows,--each panel having two cinquefoiled arches under a crocketed canopy and final; while between them are small buttresses, also panelled, and ending in a finial which reaches the same height as the canopy. Over the panelling is a string course ornamented with that characteristic ornament of the Perpendicular period, the Tudor flower, and above this on each face two tall windows near together. Each window has two lights, and is divided by a transom. The roof of the lantern is groined, with fine bosses at the intersections of the ribs. The whole seen from below has a very fine effect, and must be very different in appearance from the original Norman structure. The whole of the lantern was refaced, and the statues which had been removed from their niches were replaced, some thirty years ago, by the Dean and Chapter of Durham.
The #Norman East End.#--The original form of the Norman east end has long been the subject of discussion and conjecture. It was practically safe to assume that the choir ended in an apse, though whether the aisles were also apsidal, or continued round a great apse as an ambulatory, was a debatable point. This question has now been finally settled.
The apses of Durham are of considerable depth from east to west, the oblong bay previously mentioned, which is fourteen feet wide in that direction, adding greatly to this effect. The width of the foundations is fourteen feet, and the width of the wall has been seven feet. The diameter of the choir apse from north to south was about thirty-two feet.
These discoveries are specially interesting, completing as they do the whole chain, and leading us with very little imagination to see in its original condition what must have been, and may even now claim to be, the most noble example of Norman architecture in our country.
The #Nine Altars Chapel.#--Leaving the consideration of what once occupied the site of the east end of Durham, we will turn our attention to the beautiful erection which now stands there, the eastern transept, or, as it is named from the altars of the saints it once contained beneath its windows, the Chapel of the Nine Altars. It is approached from the aisles by steps, the floor level being lower than that of the church proper. It is altogether a remarkable and interesting structure. With its lightness and loftiness contrasting grandly with the massive Norman nave and choir, its clustered columns of polished marble alternating with stone, its fine bold sculpture, its splendid vaulted roof and rich arcading, it forms a perfect example of the Early English style. Though regular and symmetrical in general design, the detail shows great variety, and even irregularity, a quality so often present in old work, and so much to its advantage. In general character it may be compared with that at Fountains Abbey, which was built during the same time.
The circumstances leading to its erection have been already referred to. The Norman apses having been partly removed, owing to their dangerous condition, the "New Work," as it was always called, was commenced in the year 1242. The eastern wall, with its rose and nine lancet windows, is the earliest part of the chapel, the north and south walls being later. The joining and blending of the work with the Norman of Carileph's choir had evidently been accomplished when the chapel was almost completed. The eastern wall is of three bays, each bay having three lofty lancet windows. The bays are not of equal width, the centre one being regulated by the width of the nave of the church, and narrower than the north and south bays.
A very beautiful arcade runs completely round the walls. It is of trefoil arches, deeply and richly moulded, supported on marble columns carved with foliage. Over the arches is a hood mould terminating with heads. In the spandrels are a series of deeply-sunk and moulded quatrefoils, two of which contain sculpture. The bases of the columns rest on a plinth. Surmounting this arcade is a moulded string, from the level of which rise the windows, and above the windows another string course and a second range of windows. In the centre bay, however, is the large rose window, which is over thirty feet in diameter.
The division of the chapel into three bays is effected by two main vaulting arches, which spring on the western side from the piers of the east end of the choir, and on the eastern side from responds of clustered shafts alternately of marble and stone, banded at intervals and having richly carved capitals. The arches themselves are deeply moulded and ornamented with dog-tooth ornament and foliage. The vault of the central bay has eight ribs--two springing from each of the clusters just described, and two from each of the choir piers. The vaulting of the remaining bays is quadripartite, but has peculiarities which are worthy of notice, arising from inequality of width. We must not omit to call attention to the exquisite sculpture of the vaulting. The centre has figures of the Four Evangelists, while in the north is a beautifully executed carving of vine and grapes, and in the south, figure subjects. Among the sculptured heads on the wall arcade at the south end, at the western side of the two bays into which the south wall is divided, are two which are portraits of the men to whom we owe the design and execution of the beautiful sculpture of this chapel. One is an elderly man, the other much younger, and both wear linen dust-caps over their heads.
The nine lancet windows were originally filled with ancient stained glass, which, as the reader will remember, was removed, Below each window was an altar. They were dedicated a follows, beginning at the south end of the chapel:--
1. S. Andrew and S. Mary Magdalene. \ 2. S. John the Baptist and S. Margaret. > South bay. 3. S. Thomas of Canterbury and S. Catherine. /
4. S. Oswald and S. Lawrence. \ 5. S. Cuthbert and S. Bede. > Middle bay. 6. S. Martin. /
7. S. Peter and S. Paul. \ 8. S. Aidan and S. Helen. > North bay. 9. S. Michael the Archangel. /
The rose window over the lancets of the middle bay is Wyatt's "restoration" of the original one. It consists of an outer circle of twenty-four and an inner circle of twelve radiating lights, the mullions of which are received on a foliated circle in the centre.
In the north wall of the chapel is a very fine window, known as the Joseph window, on account of the stained glass it originally contained, which illustrated the life-history of Joseph. It is a beautiful example of Early Decorated or geometrical Gothic, and is of six lights. There is an inner plane of tracery resting on clustered shafts, which is connected to the mullions of the window proper by through stones. The window occupies the complete width of the north end of the chapel. The painted glass which it once contained is thus described in the "Rites of Durham":
"In the North Alley of the said Nine Altars, there is another goodly faire great glass window, called Joseph's Window, the which hath in it all the whole storye of Joseph, most artificially wrought in pictures in fine coloured glass, accordinge as it is sett forth in the Bible, verye good and godly to the beholders thereof."
This window deserves the attention of the architectural student, as it is an exceedingly fine specimen of the tracery of its date.
The south wall of the chapel contains two windows, each divided by a central mullion, and having an inner mullion connected by through stones. They are widely splayed inwards, and separated by a group of vaulting shafts. One or both of these windows contained stained glass, with the history of the life and miracles of S. Cuthbert. As seen at present, they contain tracery of the Perpendicular period, a restoration of that inserted by Prior Wessington. Each window is of two lights, crossed by a transom. Entry to the nine altars was provided for, as well as from the choir and aisles, by two doors on the western side of its north and south walls. The northern doorway is now walled up. They enter through the wall arcade. The writer of the "Rites of Durham" says the north door was made in order to bring in the body of Bishop Anthony Bek, who is buried in the chapel. The architectural features of the doorway would, however, seem to contradict this theory, and there is little room to doubt that both north and south doorways formed part of the original design of the structure.
Before leaving this interesting portion of the building we must direct our attention to its most important contents, the #Tomb of S. Cuthbert#. This, as at present to be seen, is a great oblong platform, thirty-seven feet long by twenty-three feet wide, and its upper surface or floor six feet above the floor of the chapel. Beneath a slab in the centre the bones of the patron saint rest. The shrine of S. Cuthbert at one time stood upon this platform, but of that no vestige remains.
The floor of the platform is reached by two doors through the Neville screen in the choir, and by a small stairway from the south aisle. The wanderings of the monks of Lindisfarne with the body of their saint, their many difficulties and trials, and their ultimate settlement at Dunholme or Durham, have already been described. The shrine was eventually set up in its present position by Bishop Carileph, in 1104, when he brought it from the cloister garth from the tomb he had there set up for its temporary reception, until his church was sufficiently advanced to permit of its removal thither. It was visited by large numbers of pilgrims, and many important personages were among them. Of these may be mentioned William the Conqueror, Henry III. (1255), Edward II. (1322), and Henry VI. (1448). The shrine was destroyed soon after the surrender of the monastery to the Crown, in 1540, when the body was buried beneath the place where its former receptacle had stood. There have since this time been traditions that the exact place of the burial was secret, and known only, according to one account, to three Benedictine monks, who each handed the secret down to a successor. The other tradition places the knowledge of the place of burial in the hands of the Roman Catholic bishops of the Northern Province. One of these traditions was made public in the year 1867, and gave the place of interment as being under the second and third steps leading to the tower from the south transept. This place was excavated and examined, but no trace of any burial could be found there. It is to these traditions that Scott refers, in _Marmion_, in the following lines:--
Chester-le-Street, and Ripon saw His holy corpse, ere Wardilaw Hailed him with joy and fear; And after many wanderings past, He chose his lordly seat at last, Where his cathedral, huge and vast, Looks down upon the Wear. There deep in Durham's Gothic shade His relics are in secret laid; But none may know the place, Save of his holiest servants three, Deep sworn to solemn secrecy, Who share that wondrous grace.
In May 1827 the grave in the Nine Altars Chapel was opened in the presence of two of the church dignitaries and other persons. Dr Raine, who was also present, has left a careful account of the discoveries then made.[3] The outer coffin, that made in 1542, was first removed, revealing a second and much decayed coffin and many bones. After the removal of these relics the lid of a third oak coffin was revealed, in a very advanced state of decay. This innermost coffin was covered over its entire surface with carvings of human figures, the heads surrounded by a nimbus. When this coffin was removed the skeleton was exposed to view, wrapped in coverings, the outer of which had been of linen. The robes beneath were much decayed, and only portions of them could be preserved. On the breast of the body, among the robes, a comb was found, answering exactly to that described by Reginald in 1104. Among the most interesting of the finds were a stole and maniple.
[3] Raine. S. Cuthbert.
The stole is of very early date, and is of needlework in colours and gold. The centre design is a quatrefoil, inside which is a lamb with nimbus, and the letters AGNV DI. On either side are figures of Old Testament prophets, with their names. Near the ends the embroidery occurs on both sides of the stole, on the back of one of which among foliage is the inscription AELFFLAED FIERI PRECEPIT, which is continued on the back of the opposite end, thus--PIO EPISCOPO FRIDESTANO. The translation of this inscription is to the effect that Aelfled commanded the stole to be made for the pious Bishop Frithestan. The maniple is of a similar character, and also bears ornament, figures, and inscriptions.[4] Frithestan was made Bishop of Winchester in 905. Aelfled, who was Queen of Eadward, the son and successor of Alfred, died in 916. It was therefore during these ten years that she caused this stole and maniple to be made for the Bishop Frithestan. It is recorded that the son and successor of Eadward, by name Athelstan, when on a journey in the north visited Chester-le-Street and the shrine of S. Cuthbert, which was then at that place. Among other presents he left as offerings a stole and maniple, and a girdle and two bracelets of gold. It is a curious fact that a girdle and two gold bracelets were found along with the stole and maniple in the grave, in 1827, and leaves very little doubt that they are the ones mentioned above. The bones of the saint were quite intact, and none were missing. They were, with the other relics, placed in a new coffin, and the grave re-covered. Some portions of the inner coffin, with the stole, two maniples, the girdle and bracelets and fragments of the robes are now carefully preserved in the Dean and Chapter Library. A large gold cross found among the robes, decorated with garnets, and of workmanship of the time of S. Cuthbert is also preserved in the library. These discoveries seem to speak for themselves, and to leave very little room for doubt that the body exhumed and examined in 1827 was really that of the patron saint of the church.
[4] Photographs, coloured by the late J.I. Williamson, are exhibited in the South Kensington Museum.
There were also found in the grave bones of infants, supposed to be relics of the Holy Innocents, and a skull, most probably that of S. Oswald, which was known to have been placed in the coffin of S. Cuthbert.
Two smooth grooves may be observed on the platform, which are _said_ to have been worn into the stone by the knees or feet of generations of pilgrims visiting the shrine.
There are several other tombs and monuments in this chapel, chiefly wall tablets of not exceptional interest. At the north end, however, is a colossal statue of the last of the prince bishops, Bishop van Mildert, who died in 1836. The monument is of white marble, the figure seated on a throne and holding a book. It was erected by public subscription, the sculptor being John Gibson, R.A. Near this monument is a blue slab covering the remains of Bishop Anthony Bek, patriarch of Jerusalem, who died in 1310. It was to bring in the body of this bishop that some writers have thought the north doorway of the Nine Altars Chapel was constructed. This is, as we have seen already, extremely improbable.
The student of architecture will find very much to interest him in this Chapel of the Nine Altars. The beautiful sculpture and variety in the capitals of the shafts of wall arcading, not to mention the rich carving of the vaulting bosses and capitals of the vaulting shafts, will well repay his earnest study.
The #Galilee# or #Lady Chapel# is situated at the west end of the nave. It is well known that for some reason women were not allowed to enter any church where S. Cuthbert's shrine stood, nor even any church dedicated to him. At Lindisfarne a separate church was provided for them, and at Durham the Galilee Chapel was added for the same purpose. It was alleged that S. Cuthbert himself had made this rule, but there is no proof that he ever issued such a command. The Venerable Bede makes no mention of any special feeling of antipathy to women on the part of the saint. Bede was contemporary with, and survived S. Cuthbert forty-eight years. Whatever may have been the origin of the practice, it is certain that in later times women were jealously excluded from the churches of S. Cuthbert, and to this circumstance we owe, in the chapel under our consideration, the most beautiful and perfect example of Transitional Norman architecture existing in England.
Let us recall briefly the circumstances attending its erection. Hugh Pudsey, who occupied the episcopal throne, 1153 to 1195, commenced to build a Lady Chapel at the east end of the church. The work had not gone far before accidents happened, and cracks and fissures appeared in the walls, which the builder thought "gave manifest indication that it was not acceptable to God and His servant S. Cuthbert."[5] The work was therefore abandoned, and another chapel was commenced at the west end of the church, "into which women might lawfully enter, so that they who had not bodily access to the secret things of the holy place, might have some solace from the contemplation of them" (Geoffrey de Coldingham). Pudsey caused to be moved here the marble shafts and bases he had previously brought from "beyond the sea," and intended to be used in the construction of his chapel at the east end. Entering the chapel by the steps leading from the Norman nave, the visitor is at once impressed with the lightness and delicacy of the work before him, as compared with the massive grandeur of the Norman cathedral behind. Here we have, in fact, one of the latest uses of the round arch influenced by the rapidly developing Early English Gothic. In plan the chapel consists of a nave with double aisles, which perhaps might be more properly called five aisles. These are divided by arcades, each of which is of four bays. These arches and the columns which support them are the chief beauty and characteristic of the chapel. The arches are semi-circular, of one order, with three lines of chevron, one on each face, and one on the soffit between two roll mouldings. The capitals are light and graceful and carved with a volute, and the columns clusters of marble and freestone shafts. The arches, however, rest on the marble columns, which are, no doubt, those previously alluded to. The whole seems to have been coloured in fresco, and remains of this are still to be seen. The stone shafts, which alternate with those of marble, do not carry any of the weight of the arch, and are, undoubtedly, an addition, probably in the time of Cardinal Langley, when they must have been added, with a view to improving the appearance. The dimensions of the chapel are forty-seven feet from east to west, and seventy-six feet from north to south. The existing roof and the three perpendicular windows on the west end are also additions by Cardinal Langley. On the walls above what were once the altars of the Virgin and Our Lady of Pity, remains of fresco painting may be noticed, all that remains of what has evidently been beautiful work. These were only brought to light by the removal of successive coats of whitewash with which they had been covered.
[5] Geoffrey de Coldingham.
When the Galilee was erected, access from the church was by the great west door of the cathedral. This was, however, closed up by Cardinal Langley, who constructed the two doorways at the end of the aisles by which the chapel is now entered. Those portions of the Norman wall arcading, which had to be removed by reason of the breaking through of the new doorways, were used to fill up the lower part of the great west door. The latter was again removed in 1846, when the west doorway was re-opened. Langley's two doorways have four centred arches enclosed beneath a square label moulding, with shields bearing the Cardinal's coat-of-arms in each spandrel. To Langley also may be attributed the five massive buttresses on the exterior of the western wall of the chapel, which partly cover the arcading and panelling with which it was decorated. In adding the new roof Langley raised the walls above the arches to carry it, giving a somewhat peculiar effect to the interior. The original roof lines can still be made out on the west wall. Of the contents of the chapel remaining, perhaps the most interesting to the visitor is the grave and site of the shrine of the Venerable Bede. The shrine, like that of S. Cuthbert's, is gone, and all that remains is the stone slab on which it once stood, and which bears the inscription (placed there in 1831):
Hac sunt in Fossa Baedae Venerabilis Ossa
This remarkable man was contemporary with S. Cuthbert, whom, as we have said, he survived forty-eight years. His holiness and piety, together with his great learning, earned for him the title Venerable, and after his death, in 735, his bones were enshrined. Of his parentage we know nothing, except that, from his own writings, he was born in the territory of the Abbey of Wearmouth. At the age of seven he was being educated in that monastery, and by the time he was ten years old he moved to the newly-founded Abbey on the Tyne, at Jarrow. He had able and learned teachers in Benedict Bishop and Ceolfrid, and appears to have turned his advantages to the best account. Deacon at nineteen, and priest at twenty-nine years of age, he led a holy and studious life. After his ordination he wrote his "Commentaries on the Scriptures," and writings on all the known sciences--geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. The greatest work of his life is, however, his "Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation," to which we owe all our knowledge of the introduction of Christianity into Great Britain, and the early history of the English Church. It is dedicated to King Ceolwulf. His information was collected from various sources--by letter as to Canterbury, by communication with bishops and priors as to England generally, and from personal knowledge and very recent tradition as to Northumbria. He lived most of his long life between the monasteries of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, and was buried at the latter. In the year 1022 his remains were secretly removed from Jarrow by Elfrid, who was the most unscrupulous relic-hunter of that time, who deposited a portion of them in the same coffin with those of S. Cuthbert. From here they were removed by Bishop Pudsey, and placed in the newly-erected Galilee Chapel, where he caused them to be enclosed in a magnificent shrine. "There, in a silver casket gilt with gold, hee laid the bones of Venerable Bede, and erected a costly and magnificent shrine over it."[6] When the shrine was destroyed at the suppression of the monastery, in 1542, the bones were interred beneath the place it occupied, where they remained undisturbed till the year 1831. In that year they were exhumed and examined, and, after being enclosed in a lead-lined coffin, were replaced in the tomb, with a parchment giving full details of the exhumation. Some coins and a ring which were found at this time are preserved in the Dean and Chapter Library. The inscription previously quoted was then cut on the upper slab of the tomb.
[6] "Rites of Durham."
In the Galilee Chapel is also the tomb of its restorer, Cardinal Langley, which was erected by himself in front of the principal altar. On its head may be seen three shields bearing the arms of the cardinal.
Four of the western windows of the chapel originally contained beautiful stained glass, a most careful description of which may be found in the "Rites of Durham."
Why this chapel has always been known as the "Galilee" Chapel has been the subject of much discussion and conjecture, and is still a matter of uncertainty. That it was erected for a Lady Chapel there can, however, be no doubt. In the nave of the church, between the piers immediately to the west of the north and south doorways, the visitor will notice a dark-coloured marble cross, beyond which no woman was allowed to pass eastward.
#Monuments in the Nave and Transepts.#--The church of Durham is not rich in tombs and monuments to the dead. This is to be accounted for partly by the fact that for some centuries the Bishops of the diocese were interred in the chapter-house, and even most of these tombs have been lost or destroyed. Another reason for the scarcity of monuments is that no layman was allowed to be buried in the church until 1367, when Lord Ralph Neville obtained that distinction for himself and his wife, the Lady Alice de Neville, who was buried in 1374. This monument occupies the third sub-bay from the east, on the south side of the nave. It is an altar tomb, and though it has suffered severely from mutilation during the unsettled times of the Reformation, sufficient remains to enable us to see that it was once a well-designed and noble monument. Its mouldings are bold, and there are indications of the places where figures were once attached to the sides. The recumbent effigies of the noble lord and his wife, on the top of the tomb, are, however, hopelessly smashed. It is probable that Lord Ralph Neville obtained this honour for himself through his services and victory at the Battle of Neville's Cross, near Durham, in 1346. In the next bay westward is the tomb of Lord John Neville, who died in 1386. This is also an altar tomb, and has suffered severely, though it remains in a better state of preservation than the one just described. Its sides each have six niches, with elaborately ornamented canopies, and containing figures, while the ends have three similar niches with figures. The carving of the canopies is exceedingly beautiful. Between each of the niches are two square panels with trefoiled heads, each panel bearing a shield with the arms of Neville and Percy. Both above and below the niches much delicate carving may be noticed. Surmounting all are the broken effigies of Lord John and his wife, who was the daughter of Lord Henry Percy, the well-known Hotspur. All the figures on this tomb, including the recumbent figures, are headless, but sufficient remains to show that they were of great excellence. Remains of colouring and gilding can also be distinguished in places on the monument.
Close to this is the slab and matrix of a brass to Robert Neville, who was bishop of the diocese from 1438 to 1457. The brass has all been removed, but the matrix shows a dignified figure of the bishop holding a crozier and a scroll, while an inscription formerly existed on a plate at his feet. Bishop Neville was known for his generous qualities, as well as for his high descent.
In the western wall, on its south side, near to the entrance to the Galilee, is a mural tablet to a former Prebendary in the cathedral, and a well-known antiquary, Sir George Wheler, who died in the latter part of the seventeenth century. On the northern side is a slab to the memory of Captain R.M. Hunter, who was killed while charging a Sikh battery at Ferozeshah.
Opposite to the monument of Ralph Neville is a modern altar tomb to a former headmaster of Durham Grammar School, the Rev. James Britton, D.D., erected by his pupils. It is surmounted by a reclining figure of Dr. Britton, in academic robes, reading a book.
In the south transept is a fine monument, by Chantrey, to the memory of Bishop Barrington, who held the see from 1791 to 1826, dying at the advanced age of 92 years, beloved by all. He was a great prelate, and used his immense powers as Prince Palatine with great wisdom. The kneeling figure, with bowed head, the left hand resting on a book, in an attitude of deep reverence, is worthy of the name of its sculptor. On the west wall of the same transept is a tablet to the memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Durham Light Infantry who were slain or died during the Crimean War.
Near to this is a recently inserted brass to the memory of the officers and men of the 2nd Durham Regiment who died in Egypt and the Soudan.
In the north transept we may give some attention to a monument to the Rev. John Carr, a former headmaster of Durham School. It was erected to his memory by his pupils. The monument was designed by Rickman, and is in the style known as Decorated Gothic.
The #Font# stands at the west end of the nave. It is a comparatively modern work, covered by a tall wooden canopy which was erected by Bishop Cosin in 1663. The original Norman font was destroyed by the Scottish prisoners in 1650, and was replaced by a large marble basin by Bishop Cosin. This font, in its turn, was removed to Pittington Church, where it is now in use, its place being filled by the present modern one. It is designed in the Norman style, and is square, supported on short columns. The sides are carved with medallions, copied from illuminated MSS., which represent scenes from the life of S. Cuthbert. The cover deserves attention as a specimen of the woodwork of the seventeenth century, exhibiting a curious and characteristic mixture of Classic and Gothic forms and details.