Part 20

The south side shows the buttresses of the choir; then the turrets of the sacristy with their crocketed pinnacles; and then the =South Transept=, the gable of which contains a beautiful rose window. The =South Door=, much restored, resembles the northern one, only it is not so fine. The heavy buttresses on this side are Wyatt’s. Now we have again come to the Jesus tower (south-west), in which the ten bells are hung.

Entering by the west door, the beauty of the interior bursts upon us. We have an unbroken vista and the Cathedral therefore impresses us as immensely long. The beautiful arches of the roof carry the eye straight down to the windows of the Lady-Chapel.

The =Nave= is transitional from Early English to Decorated and is dated by various authorities from 1250 to 1280.

The large piers are composed of clustered shafts with richly carved capitals of foliage. From these spring mouldings. The top of each arch touches the string-course, and then comes the triforium, so beautiful here with its row of double arches, each one sub-divided into two lights, above which is geometrical tracery. Dog-tooth ornament decorates the mouldings of these triforium arches, and also the string-course that separates the triforium from the clerestory. The clerestory windows are curious: spherical triangles enclosing three circles with quatrefoil cusps. Dog-tooth ornamentation runs around the windows. A large circle with five cusps ornaments the spandrels of most of the pier-arches across which the vault shaft passes. At the intersection of the various ribs (five ribs) are finely carved bosses. Much of the effect is obtained from the size of the triforium.

The glass in the big west window dates from 1869, a memorial to Canon Hutchinson, who was a zealous worker for the Cathedral’s restoration, by Sir Gilbert Scott.

In the north aisle of the nave we note the tablet placed there by Ann Seward to the memory of her father, Canon Seward, his wife and daughter, upon which Sir Walter Scott added lines to the memory of the poetess. There is also a neighbouring tablet to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who was born in Lichfield.

In the =north transept= we find a curious monument to Dean Heywood (died 1492) showing the skeleton of this worthy. The upper part (which represented him in full canonical costume) has gone. Similar monuments are in Exeter and Lincoln. In the =South Transept= there are busts and memorials to Dr. Samuel Johnson, a native of Lichfield (died 1784), and to David Garrick (died 1779), an early resident of Lichfield. In the first bay of the aisle, there is a monument to the officers and men of the 80th Regiment (Staffordshire Volunteers), over which hang colours taken from the Sikhs. At the south end we note a fine altar to one of Nelson’s captains, Admiral Sir William Parker (died 1866). Note the big south window (Perpendicular) in which there is some Herkenrode glass (see page 212).

There is another memorial window in the south aisle of the nave to the officers of the 64th (2d Staffordshire Regiment) who fell in the Indian Mutiny.

The =Transepts=, as we have seen, were built before the nave. Each consists of three bays with eastern aisles. Most of the windows are Perpendicular.

“At the south end was probably a large five-light Early English window, surmounted by a rose window. The rose window still remains, but, being above the present groining, cannot be seen from inside the cathedral; the five lights are replaced by a nine-light obtuse-headed window, which seems much too large for the transept; and this effect is increased by the extreme whiteness and transparency of its glass. At the north end, the five-light window is surmounted with three small lights, but these last again are hidden in the roof.”--(A. B. C.)

Now we come to the =Choir=, which, including the presbytery and retro-choir, has eight bays. It has no triforium.

The splays of the windows are beautifully decorated with quatrefoil ornamentation. There is only one of the original Decorated windows (east on south side). The others are Perpendicular.

“The vaulting is very much the same as in the nave, but the vaulting-shafts divide into seven instead of five ribs; the bosses, as everywhere else in the cathedral, are very deeply and richly carved.

“On the four eastern sets of piers long slender shafts run up from the base of the piers in the same way as in the nave, and similarly the spandrels are ornamented with foliated circles, of which nearly all trace had disappeared before the recent restoration. This, however, is not the arrangement on the three western pairs. It was found here that these shafts did not reach the ground; and so Sir Gilbert Scott, having discovered a portion of the sculptured wing of an angel just above the dean’s present stall, decided upon finishing the shafts with corbels in the form of angels occupied in minstrelsy. Above each of these angels--which were innovations--he placed, under richly crocketed canopies and standing on very finely-carved brackets, the figures of six saints.”--(A. B. C.)

Architects love to study the merging of the two styles in this part of the Cathedral, and one of the best illustrations is the entrance to the vestibule of the Chapter-House. The arch at the west end of the north-choir-aisle is very old and interesting and so is the arcading in the aisles.

“In the first three western bays in both aisles the large arcading, with its plain trefoiled arches, is clearly Early English. The arcading in the other bays is equally clearly of the Decorated period, and is considerably smaller. In the four eastern bays in each aisle the arches go right up to the course which forms the top of the arcading, and the triangular spandrels thus formed are ornamented each with a curious little head, having queer headgear; the rest of the spandrel is carved with foliage, and in the plates of the foliated arches are quaint animals. The arcading in the remaining bay is similar, but angels’ heads with wings take up the whole spandrel. Some of the arcading, notably that in the three easterly bays of the south aisle, is unrestored. The inferiority of the modern work in the next bay is only too patent.”--(A. B. C.)

The window over the tomb of Bishop Hackett in the =South-choir-aisle= is adorned by lovely foliage. Here, too, we find the very interesting =Minstrels’ Gallery=. It was probably placed here in the Fifteenth Century because the arcading has been cut away to make room for it. The little gallery rests upon fan-shaped vaulting. As it stands directly in front of the chapel of the Head of St. Chad, it may have been used for the purpose of exhibiting this relic to the devout in the aisle below. (See page 213.) It is similar in style to the minstrel gallery of the Mediæval halls: hence its name. A staircase in the wall leads to the gallery.

The =Choir-screen=, of ornamental metal-work, designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, is similar to those of Salisbury, Hereford and Worcester. The Choir-stalls, Bishop’s Throne and elaborate Reredos are all modern. The south-choir-aisle contains a number of interesting monuments. There is a monument to “=Hodson of Hodson’s Horse=,” killed in the Indian Mutiny. Under the cross is the King of Delhi surrendering his sword to Major Hodson, with figures of Justice, Fortitude, Temperance and Mercy and statuettes of Joshua, David, St. Thomas of India and St. George of England. Here is also the monument of =Bishop Langton= (died 1296) with mutilated effigy. Opposite is the curious monument to =Sir John Stanley= of Pipe, the effigy representing the knight naked to the waist, and the legs in armour. It seems that Captain Stanley had been excommunicated for some offence, and, after atonement, had been allowed burial here on condition that evidence of his punishment should appear on his effigy. The most famous monument of all, however, is that of =The Sleeping Children=, by Sir Francis Chantrey in 1817. It established his fame and is an early example of the natural style just coming into favour. It represents two young daughters of William Robinson, Prebendary of the Cathedral, sleeping in each other’s arms.

We must notice in the north-choir-aisle one window in which King David is teaching the singers of the House of God. The glass is old Flemish.

Now we have the =Lady-Chapel=, the gem of the whole Cathedral, rendered exceptionally beautiful because of the old glass in the windows.

“In shape it forms a symmetrical extension, both in height and width, to the choir, but without aisles; and it has an octagonal apse--the only example, it is said, of such a termination in the country. It is lighted by nine high windows, with Decorated tracery. This tracery has recently been restored in the style of that in the three end windows; until this was done most of the windows contained Perpendicular tracery.

“The windows rest on an arcade of very beautiful design. The arcade may be said to consist of a series of small decorated canopies, supported by shafts with carved capitals, and separated by ornamented buttresses. The canopies, which bow forward, have trefoil ogee arches, surmounted with crockets and finials. Above the arcade is a similar embattled parapet to that in the choir, with a similar passage round the chapel behind it.

* * * * *

“The vaulting of the roof is like that in the choir; the same number of ribs diverging from the slender shafts which run right down to the bends of the arcade. Halfway up these shafts are niches, the brackets and canopies to which are beautifully carved. These are old, but until recently were empty, and no authentic record remained as to what were the characters represented.”--(A. B. C.)

In 1895 ten virgin saints and martyrs, by C. E. Kempe, were placed here.

Of course, all the glass was crashed during the siege of Lichfield; and, therefore, the windows are filled with other than the original. The seven most eastern windows contain what is called the =Herkenrode glass=, originally in the Abbey of Herkenrode near Liège. The designs are supposed to be by Lambert Lombard of the Sixteenth Century. Two of the windows depict founders and benefactors of the abbey, and the other five, scenes in the life of Christ. The Herkenrode glass (340 pieces) was bought by

Sir Brooke Boothby in Belgium in 1802, for £200, now valued at £15,000. What remained was used to fill other windows in the Cathedral. On the south side of the Lady-Chapel are three “Mortuary Chapels,” with groined roofs. In the central one lies the effigy of =Bishop Selwyn= (buried outside), Bishop of New Zealand, who organized the church in that far-away country. This accounts for the frescoes showing the Maoris. The two end windows are also old glass supposed to have come from the Low Countries. One is a symbolic picture of _Baptism_; the other, the legendary _Death of the Virgin_.

We have yet to examine the =Sacristy= of the Chapter-House. The sacristy is on the south side (Early English). Its upper floor was the =Chapel of St. Chad=, which, as we have seen, was entered from the minstrels’ gallery (see page 211). The restored chapel was re-dedicated on St. Chad’s Day (March 2), 1897.

“The Chapel of St. Chad, first Bishop of Lichfield, and, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of our Cathedral Church, was destroyed in all probability when the rest of the Cathedral was laid in ruins in 1643, the siege beginning on St. Chad’s Day, March 2nd of that year. Little was left: the four walls remained in a broken condition, with the vaulting-shafts and caps for the springers of the stone groining, and the wall-ribs, to mark its original lines; also the very beautiful Early English windows--twelve lancets in groups of three--which, singularly enough, were little injured. Externally these are very plain, but internally they are full of interest, and there is nothing better of the kind in the Cathedral. The site of the old altar is clearly marked; indeed, a small portion of it has been preserved. The piscina also still remains. The aumbry remains in which antiquarians suppose that St. Chad’s relics were preserved.”--(L.)

The =Chapter-House= and the vestibule leading to it were built about the middle of the Thirteenth Century (Early English). The vestibule contains beautiful arcading; the capitals of the pillars are finely carved. The entrance door into the Chapter-House is very handsome, with deeply cut mouldings, and capitals of the grouped shafts richly carved with leaves. Dog-tooth and trefoils are also used as ornamentation. The Chapter-House is octagonal. The central pillar, composed of clustered shafts with richly carved capitals of foliage, carries the eye upward, where the ribs spread out beautifully over the roof and bosses mark their intersection. The windows are Early English, of two lights. Below them runs a fine arcading.

CHESTER

DEDICATION: CHRIST AND THE BLESSED VIRGIN. ORIGINALLY THE CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE ABBEY.

SPECIAL FEATURES: CHOIR; CHOIR-STALLS; CHAPTER-HOUSE.

Chester was the church of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Werburgh when Henry VIII. founded the See after the dissolution of the monasteries. It had been originally an establishment of secular canons. The patron saint, St. Werburgh, was a niece of St. Etheldreda of Ely; and she took the veil at Ely, where she eventually became abbess. St. Werburgh was buried at Hanbury; but when the Danes were ravaging Mercia, the monks of Hanbury fled with the relics of St. Werburgh to Chester, where they were richly enshrined in the old church of St. Peter and St. Paul. This church was rebuilt in the Tenth Century; and when a new foundation was made in 1095 by Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, at the desire of St. Anselm, the church was rebuilt, the canons replaced by Benedictine monks and the house called the Abbey of St. Werburgh.

Rebuilding was again necessary in 1194 and was continued for centuries. The eastern portion of the church is Early English, the rest is Decorated with alterations and additions in the Perpendicular style.

Ancient and royal Chester is one of the most picturesque cities in England. It was so important in Roman times that it was called the “City of Legions.” It was also a stronghold of Saxons and Danes. From the Norman Conquest until the reign of Henry III. the Earls of Chester had their own courts and parliaments at Chester. Since Henry III. bestowed the title of Earl of Chester upon his oldest son, the heir to the throne has always held the earldom. The old church did not become a cathedral until 1541.

Chester Cathedral, being built of soft red sandstone, suffered from the weather. Restoration was a necessity. Consequently the exterior is almost exclusively of the Nineteenth Century. It is handsome and effective, though, unfortunately, owing to the situation, somewhat below the level of the street, and the crowding of buildings, a good view of the Cathedral is hard to obtain.

At one time it was one of the most beautiful, as well as the richest, in England. It was terribly defaced during the Civil War, when the Puritans used it for a stable and broke the windows. Subsequent repairs and restorations have greatly transformed it.

One of the curious features of the Cathedral is the south transept. It was claimed as the Parish church of St. Oswald until 1881. Oswald (604-642), be it remembered, was the son of King Ethelfrid, and became King of Northumbria. He was a convert to Christianity, which he introduced among the Anglo-Saxons. Killed by Penda, the King of Mercia, he was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church.

“On approaching the cathedral on the south side, the transept, or church of St. Oswald, is a remarkable feature. Projecting to nearly the same length as the nave, with its lofty clerestory and great south window, it attracts attention as well by its own importance as by the unusual ground-plan which it gives to the entire building.”--(R. J. K.)

Let us look at the chief features of the exterior:

“The WEST FRONT consists of an eight-light canopied Perpendicular window, with a band of elaborate tracery succeeded by ordinary tracery of the period in the head, set between two banded octagonal turrets, which are battlemented. The west door is peculiar; it consists of an arch under a square head, with foliated spandrels and a range of angels in the mouldings, deeply recessed under a larger arch with another square head. On each side are four crocketed niches, with pedestals denuded of their statues. To the west is a four-light canopied window, under a panelled band and flanked by a rich but empty niche on either side.

“The door of the SOUTH PORCH is Tudor with two-light, square-headed windows and a canopied niche, and an intervening rich band. The windows of the aisles and clerestory of the nave are Perpendicular; the parapet is shallow. The SOUTH TRANSEPT, as long as the choir and as broad as the nave, has a Perpendicular clerestory and south windows, the former of four lights and with two transoms. The windows of the aisle are Late Decorated and of four lights separated by buttresses. This description applies to the south side of the choir, but the aisles are extended within one bay of the east end of the Lady-chapel, which has Perpendicular windows; the great east window is of the same date. Traces of Early English architecture appear in the north side of the choir and Chapter-house. The north window of the transept and windows of the nave are Perpendicular.”--(Wal.)

We can enter, as we prefer, by the west door, or the south porch. The =Nave= is uninteresting. It consists of six bays, the piers are groups of attached shafts terminating in foliage capitals. The roof is modern.

Decorated windows light the =South aisle=. The =North aisle= contains some old Norman work. Here we find an ancient Italian font, presented in 1885, and an old piece of tapestry that has been in the Cathedral since 1668.

The =North transept= is small, owing to the monastic buildings on this side. Here we find Norman work. Some of the windows exhibit Perpendicular tracery. The roof is Perpendicular.

Until 1881 the =South Transept= was, as we have said, the Parish Church of St. Oswald. It has Decorated windows. Perpendicular windows light the west aisle.

We now enter the =Choir=. The screen is modern and by Sir G. Scott.

“The choir is remarkable for the great beauty of the wood-work which it contains, as well as for its architectural merits. The style is that of the transition between the Early English and Decorated. The north side differs from the south, especially in regard to the mouldings. The north side is earlier than the south, the building having been commenced at the east end of that side. The mouldings on the north are bold rounds, while those on the south are shallow and small hollows. The triforium has a series of elaborately-carved cusped arches, and the clerestory windows are light and graceful with geometrical tracery. The vault is modern, constructed of good English oak. At the east there are figures of the sixteen prophets and at the west are angels playing musical instruments. There are some curious grotesque corbels, from which the vaulting shafts spring.

“The carving of the CHOIR STALLS is equal, if not superior, to anything in England. These are Fourteenth Century work and rival the noble stalls of Amiens. They have been restored with much accuracy and taste. The carving of the dean’s stall should be noticed, as it represents the Jesse tree, surmounted by the Coronation of the Virgin. That representing Jacob’s Dream is modern. The _misereres_ are extremely interesting and curious and full of religious instruction, though often conveyed in the way of sarcastic reproof. There are forty-eight, of which three are modern. Some of the most curious are: a pelican feeding her young; St. Werburgh and the stolen goose; a wife beating her husband; the strategy of the fox; stag hunt; Richard I. pulling out the heart of a lion; a fox in the garb of a

monk presenting a gift to a nun; various wild men; wrestlers; unicorn resting its head on a virgin’s knee, and numerous grotesques.”--(P. H. D.)

The =Altar= is modern and is made of oak of Bashan, olive-wood from the Mount of Olives and the cedar of Lebanon. The Reredos, a mosaic of the Last Supper, the Pulpit and the Bishop’s Throne are all modern.

For many years the =Shrine of St. Werburgh= was used for the latter. We pause to look at this interesting piece of Fourteenth Century work, remembering how many eyes of Mediæval pilgrims have gazed with reverence upon it.

“At the end of the stalls on the south side is the Bishop’s Throne. This has been formed from the base of the shrine of St. Werburgh, which seems to have served its present purpose since the foundation of the See in the Sixteenth Century. It has, however, so greatly altered during the late ‘restoration,’ that it is difficult to ascertain the ancient arrangement. The lower part, with niches for figures, is ancient. The part resting on this, as high as the small gilt figures, is modern. The figures themselves are old, and before the alteration they rested on the ancient base. The pinnacles and all the upper portion are modern. The ancient portions are early Decorated work of the Thirteenth Century. The niches in front and at the sides of the base are lined with a small arcade and vaulted. Above them are foliaged canopies. The gilt figures hold scrolls, once perhaps bearing names. They are conjectured to represent kings and queens of Mercia, connected either directly or collaterally with St. Werburgh. It is possible that when the shrine itself was perfect, the lower part, with niches, formed a portion of the base, whilst the small figures may have been a canopy supported by marble shafts. Under this canopy and on the base the feretory or actual shrine, with the relics, may have rested. This, however, is but conjecture, since no drawing or description exists of the shrine before the Reformation.”--(R. J. K.)

The =North aisle= of the choir will detain the student because there is much Norman work here. Here can also be traced the termination of the old Norman apse. The arch in the east wall of the transept is also Norman, and early, too. The doorway from the north aisle is Fourteenth Century work. The apse was rebuilt in the Early English period and made to end in a square. In the Perpendicular period it was extended further. Note the gates of old Spanish workmanship across both aisles. They date from 1558.

At the end stands the =Lady-Chapel=.