Part 29

“Now the windows of this church were very fair, being adorned and beautified with several historical passages out of Scripture and ecclesiastical story; such were those in the body of the church, in the aisles, in the New Building, and elsewhere. But the cloister windows were most famed of all, for their great art and pleasing variety. One side of the quadrangle containing the history of the Old Testament; another, that of the New; a third, the founding and founders of the church; a fourth, all the kings of England downwards from the first Saxon king. All which notwithstanding were most shamefully broken and destroyed. Yea, to encourage them the more in this trade of breaking and battering windows down, Cromwell himself (as ’twas reported) espying a little crucifix in a window aloft, which none perhaps before had scarce observed, gets a ladder and breaks it down zealously with his own hand.

“Thus, in a short time, a fair and goodly structure was quite stript of all its ornamental beauty, and made a ruthful spectacle, a very chaos of desolation and confusion, nothing scarce remaining but only bare walls, broken seats and shattr’d windows on every side.”--(P.)

The old story of neglect--“scarce any cathedral in England is more neglected,” wrote Browne Willis in 1742--is told of Peterborough in the Eighteenth Century; but in 1764-1791 Dean Tarrant collected all the fragments of stained glass and inserted them in the two central windows of the apse. They deal chiefly with scenes in the life of St. Peter. The late history of the Cathedral is only that of repairs, restorations, and gifts.

We enter the Minster Precincts by the western gateway, built by Abbot Benedict, in the Norman style, in the Twelfth Century. It was altered at the end of the Fourteenth Century. The approach is monastic in the extreme. The room over the gate was once the Chapel of St. Nicholas. After passing through this gate, on the left hand we see all that remains of the Chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury (Fourteenth Century). The various gateways, doors, arcades, and remains of ancient buildings harmonize well with the venerable and elegant Cathedral.

“A fine view of the best feature of Peterborough, the west front, is immediately opened with a foreground of smooth turf. The great portico, with its three arches, eighty feet high, of pure Early English style, is unlike anything else in England, and inspires universal surprise and admiration. It was built on the old Norman church, but does not actually touch the western walls.

“The spires of the portico are of different sizes and designs. The northern does not group well with the transeptal tower behind it, and there is a certain confusion to the eye when so many towers are in our view. The southern transeptal tower was never carried above the roof. The central tower over the choir after being repeatedly repaired and restored, fell in 1884, destroying the interior fittings and stalls, but, on the whole, doing less damage than might have been expected. The tower has been rebuilt, but not to the old pattern, and the four corner turrets have disappeared.”--(W. J. L.)

The =West Front=, with its three magnificent doorways and original wooden doors, was the work of Abbots Zachary and Robert of Lindsay (about 1200 to 1222).

“Immediately before us we see the noble West Front ‘the pride and glory of Peterborough,’ the finest portico in Europe. With the exception of the porch, the style is pure Early English. On the north and south are two lofty turrets, flanked at the angles with clustered shafts, and crowned with spires. Between these are three pointed arches, supported by clustered shafts, six on each side with foliated capitals. The central arch is narrower than the rest, but its mouldings are ornamented with crockets and dog-tooth. A string-course runs along the top of the arches, and the spandrels have trefoils, quatrefoils and niches with statues. Above the string-course is a series of trefoiled arches, some of which have statues. Between the three gables are pinnacles much ornamented. The gables have circular windows of beautiful design and a cross on the apex; they are ornamented with dog-tooth and have niches with statues--St. Peter in the centre, with SS. John and Andrew on either side. The turrets on the north and south have six stages panelled with arches. The spires are good examples of the difference between those of the Early Decorated and Perpendicular periods. The south spire is connected with the pinnacles of the tower by clustered pinnacles springing from an arch; these are decorated with crockets, and the spire belongs to the early Fourteenth Century; whereas the spire on the north has no such connection and is Early Perpendicular.

“We now notice the Porch with the parvise over it. This was built late in the Fourteenth Century in order to give additional strength to the west front and act as a kind of buttress to the piers of the central arch. The design is very beautiful. The entrance has an obtuse arch, and above a Perpendicular window with elliptical arch. Buttresses empanelled with niches stand on each side. It has a stone vault of good design. One boss is curious, representing the Trinity. The attitude of the Saviour shows that the figure was designed by a freemason, and bears witness to the antiquity of that fraternity. The parvise is now a library.”--(P. H. D.)

In the latter years of the Fourteenth Century the central porch, with its upper room, =Parvise=, was added between the two middle piers of the west front. It has been regarded by some critics as a blemish and by others as an improvement, but it was probably a necessity for the purpose of extra stability.

“The construction of this elegant little edifice is extremely scientific, especially in the matter in which the thrust is distributed through the medium of the side turrets so as to fall upon the buttresses in front. These turrets being erected against one side of the triangular columns, on the right and the left hand, support them in two directions at once, viz., from collapsing towards each other, and from falling forward. The latter pressure is thrown wholly upon the buttresses in front, which project seven feet beyond the base of the great pillars.”--(F. A. P.)

Turning now to a description:

“It is vaulted in two bays, the first being of the same dimensions as the inner width of the portico; the western bay (of the same size) thus reaches beyond the two great piers and the corner turrets and buttresses in all project about seven feet. This gives a very substantial support to the piers. The whole composition is very fine, and quite worthy of the great portico to which it is an adjunct. It must be left to each spectator to decide for himself if it improves or diminishes the effect of the whole. It is of late Decorated date, highly enriched with profuse carving. The staircase turrets, as well as the great window, are embattled. The spaces north and south, and within the portico, have tracery on the walls similar to the window. The groining is very fine. One of the central bosses has a representation of the Trinity. The Father is represented as the Ancient of Days, with a Dove for the Holy Spirit above the shoulder and the figure of the Saviour on the Cross in front. Freemasons are recommended to look for a special symbol which they alone can understand and appreciate. The floor of the portico is paved with gravestones, some apparently in their original position. The place was at one time appropriated as a burial-place for the Minor Canons.”--(W. D. S.)

This porch hides the fine central doorway, which is divided by a central pillar. A Benedictine monk tortured by demons--probably a hint to the brothers--is carved upon it.

“With a few exceptions, the whole of the interior of the Cathedral is in the Norman style, and many judge it to be the most perfect specimen in England. The plan consists of a nave of ten bays, with aisles and a western transept; transepts of four bays, terminating in an apse, nearly semicircular, with aisles; and beyond the apse a large square-ended addition for more chapels having a groined stone-roof of fan-tracery, now known as the New Building. The ritual choir, as distinguished from the architectural choir, extends two bays into the nave. This arrangement is a return to the ancient one used by the Benedictines, the choir in Dean Monk’s alterations having been limited to the position east of the central tower.

“As we enter at the west door we see at a glance the entire length and the whole beauty of the admirable proportion of the several parts. While many may wish that the great arches of the tower which can be seen from the west end had never been altered from the round form of the Norman builders, few will regret that the Decorated arches which took their place were retained when the tower was rebuilt, instead of having new arches in the Norman style substituted. The want of colour which is so marked a defect in many English cathedrals is not so conspicuous here, because of the painted ceiling.”--(W. D. S.)

There is no Norman work at the west wall. The great doorway has a round arch, but the arcade at the base consists of pointed arches. The mouldings here are Early English; and it is inside an Early English arch that the =West Window= of Perpendicular tracery is set. We may note that the glass is modern and a memorial to officers and soldiers who were killed in the South African War.

The =West Transept= extends beyond the aisles. The enormous pointed arches have Norman mouldings. In the south end is a =Font= of the Thirteenth Century; the north end is a vestry.

“As we enter we notice the distinctive character of the Norman work of which this Cathedral is a notable and excellent example. In the extreme west there is a blending of the two styles of Norman and Early English, but the monks of Peterborough clung tenaciously to their old ideas and to Norman and Romanesque models, and right up to the end of the Twelfth Century built in this style, not from any desire to imitate the work of their predecessors (as some writers assert), but from an obstinate adherence to conservative tradition. Even when the glorious tide of English Gothic was rising, and they could no longer resist the flood, they clung to the old zigzag mouldings. It is evident from the construction of the third column that they intended to end their church there; but happily the Thirteenth Century brethren decided to rear the noble twin-towered front and the perfect portico. Some of the later columns show Transition work; on one side we see a Norman base or capital, on the other an Early English.

“There is a grand uninterrupted view of the whole length of the Cathedral from west to east. It will be observed that the lower arch is Decorated, and this adds to the beauty of this view. Before leaving the west we notice some dog-tooth carved in wood, which is somewhat rare.”--(P. H. D.)

The =Nave= consists of ten bays, with Norman arches. The triforium arches are Norman; the clerestory windows are Perpendicular. The ceiling is very peculiar and very interesting, and is, moreover, original Norman.

“All agree that the style of the painting is perfectly characteristic of the period. The divisions are of the lozenge shape; in each lozenge of the central line is a figure, and in each alternate one of the sides. The middle set has more elongated lozenges than the others. The borders are black and white, with some coloured lines, in odd zigzag patterns. The figures, which are mostly seated, are very quaint and strange. Some are sacred, some grotesque. We can see St. Peter with the keys, kings, queens and minstrels; we find also a head with two faces, a monkey riding backwards on a goat, a human figure with head and hoof of an ass, a horse playing a harp, a winged dragon, a dancing lion, an eagle, and other curious devices.”--(W. D. S.)

The =Choir= begins with the two east bays of the nave (the same arrangement occurs at Norwich), and runs through the space under the tower and

takes up four bays east of the tower. The piers are alternately round and polygonal.

“This portion was the earliest part of the Cathedral, and was constructed by Abbot de Sais (1114-1125). The hatchet moulding is conspicuous. The triforium arches are double like the nave, and the clerestory has triple arches, the centre one being the highest. The apse is particularly fine. The Decorated style is evident in the windows, which were inserted in the Fourteenth Century instead of the old Norman ones, and the hanging tracery of graceful design was then added. The roof of the choir is late Fourteenth Century work except at the east end where the roof is flat. Here Cromwell’s soldiers discharged their muskets at the figure of our Lord in glory, which they deemed to be an idol. This ceiling was decorated in 1884 by Sir Gilbert Scott. The bosses of the rest of the roof are curious. Nearly all the old glass was destroyed in the Puritan desecration; the remaining fragments have been placed in the two highest east windows. The fittings of the choir are modern except an ancient lectern of Fifteenth Century date, given by Abbot Ramsay and Prior Malden, as the inscription testifies, though it is now scarcely legible. The choir-stalls are remarkably fine. The carved figures contain a history of the Cathedral written in wood.”--(P. H. D.)

Passing behind the High Altar we come to the Retro-Choir, or =New Building=:

“The New Building built beyond the apse is a very noble specimen of late Perpendicular work. It was begun by Abbot Richard Ashton (1438-1471) and completed by Abbot Robert Kirton (1496-1528): the works seem to have been suspended between these periods. The roof has the beautiful fan tracery, very similar on a small scale to that at King’s College Chapel at Cambridge. The building is of the width of the choir and aisles together.

“The junction of this addition with the original Norman apse is admirable, and should be specially noticed. Parts of the original external string-course of the apse can be seen. The ornamentation on the bosses of the roof and in the cavetto below the windows, and round the great arches from the choir aisles, is very varied.

“It must be sufficient here to indicate some of the designs. Most need little explanation, but a few are hard to understand. On the roof may be seen the three lions of England, a cross between four martlets, three crowns each pierced by an arrow, and another design. The smaller designs include four-leaved flowers, Tudor roses, fleur-de-lys, the portcullis, some undescribable creatures, crossed keys, crossed swords, crossed crosiers, crosses, crowns, crowns pierced with arrows, crowned female head, an eagle, the head of the Baptist in a charger, an angel, mitres, three feathers rising from a crown, St. Andrew’s cross, and perhaps others. There are also some rebuses and some lettering. On the north wall, in six several scrolls, the letters AR before a church and a bird on a tun occur more than once. This certainly refers to Abbot Robert Kirton; but what the bird means is not clear. In the moulding over the large arch to the south choir are four sets of letters. They form the last verse of the psalter. The words are contracted: they stand for _Omnis spiritus laudet Dominum_.”--(W. D. S.)

The relic of greatest interest in the New Building is the famous =Monks’ Stone=, which, according to tradition, was constructed in commemoration of the massacre of Abbot Hedda and his monks by the Danes in 870. Critics are divided in opinion. Some think it Norman, but many accept the theory that it is Saxon work. In 1887 remains were found of the original Saxon church, which was sacked by the Danes, rebuilt and visited by King Edgar and Dunstan. Traces of the fire that destroyed it were also found. The east wall stood at the piers of the present south transept.

Queen Katherine of Aragon was buried in the north-choir-aisle outside the most eastern arch (1535). This was violated by the Puritans. Dean Patrick says: “First they demolish Queen Katherine’s tomb; they break down the rails that enclosed the place and take away the black velvet pall which covered the hearse; overthrow the hearse itself, displace the gravestone that lay over her body, and have left nothing now remaining of that tomb, but only a monument of their own shame and villainy.” A few slabs were recently found beneath the floor; and a marble stone bearing coats-of-arms and inscription has lately been placed over this spot.

In the south-choir-aisle a tablet tells us that here Mary Stuart was buried in 1587, just within the choir. The body was removed to Westminster Abbey in 1612. Remains of the hearse between the pillars were seen as late as 1800. These royal arms and escutcheons were also defaced and torn by the Puritans.

The =Transepts= are Norman, and characteristic Norman mouldings are universal. A Perpendicular screen in each separates the transept from a sort of eastern aisle, divided by pillars into chapels. In the =North Transept= the two chapels of St. John and St. James have been thrown into one--now the =Morning Chapel=. Some old Saxon coffin lids are preserved here.

The chapels of St. Oswald, St. Benedict, and St. Kyneburga and St. Kyneswitha still remain in the =South Transept=. West of the South Transept we come to the old =Chapter-House= (very small), now a music room. It is late Norman, but it has a Perpendicular doorway.

At the north-east corner of the close we come to the =Deanery Gateway=, leading to the Deanery. It is a fine specimen of Late Perpendicular, and was erected by Abbot Kirton (Kirkton), whose rebus (a church on a tun) appears over the side-door. It has a Tudor arch, with the arms of the See in spandrels, and is also ornamented with the Tudor rose and portcullis and the Prince of Wales’s feathers. We gain here a very good view of the north side of the Cathedral.

The north side is very fine. The arcading on the side of the tower is identical with that on the west front. Next we must notice the big windows of the western transept, early and fine specimens of cusped and traceried windows. The jambs are very peculiar because one side is Norman with square capitals, and the other side Early English. The arch of the window reaches as high as those of the triforium. Above is a round-headed window, and the gable, surmounted by a cross and bordered with the wavy ornament, contains a rose-window. Pinnacles, resembling those on the west front, adorn the sides of this west transept. The nave rises in five stages: a tier of small lights separates the triforium from the aisle.

The =Dean’s Door= on this side of the nave is Norman. The three shafts on either side, with their cushion capitals, carry round arches with characteristic and different mouldings. There are ten windows, very broad, of five lights each, under depressed arches. They were inserted in the Thirteenth Century. The parapet at the top is Early English.

The north transept has seven stages of windows (Perpendicular), and blind arcades and a battlemented gable, flanked by octagonal turrets.

Here we gain a view of the lantern tower, rebuilt in 1884. Then we come to the choir, and lastly to the =New Building=. The Decorated windows of the apse are particularly fine.

“The east end of Peterborough is rather peculiar. There remains the old Norman apse with Decorated windows inserted, and this is surrounded by what is called the New Building, though it is 400 years old, formed by extending the walls of the choir and building a square end to the Cathedral. This was erected by Abbot Kirton. His work possesses the best features of Perpendicular style. It is richly ornamented and when we examine his work we cannot say that the glories of Gothic achievement had quite departed. We see the twelve buttresses, each terminated with a seated figure, usually said to be one of the Apostles.”--(P. H. D.)

Turning round the east end we come to the ruins of the Infirmary, erected about 1260. Some fine arcading is still to be seen. Afterwards we come to the =Slype=, once vaulted, but now open to the sky, which formerly connected the Refectory with the Chapter-House, on the east side of the =Cloister=. Only the south and west walls of the =Cloister Court= remain. This is always called =Laurel Court=, though the origin is unknown.

The south side of the Cathedral is more beautiful than the north, from which it differs by having two doorways into the nave from the cloisters, and a very fine south-west spire, early Fourteenth Century work. A beautiful view of this spire and the bell-tower is obtained from =Laurel Court=.

ELY

DEDICATION: ST. ETHELREDA. CHURCH OF A BENEDICTINE MONASTERY.

SPECIAL FEATURES: THE OCTAGON; GALILEE PORCH; LADY-CHAPEL; BISHOP ALCOCK’S CHAPEL; BISHOP WEST’S CHAPEL; MONK’S DOOR.

Ely is perhaps the most singular and beautiful of English cathedrals, when seen from a distance; for the massive building, with its turrets, buttresses, and pinnacles, rises with splendid majesty from the green meads that make a perfect foreground.

“The first glimpse of Ely overwhelms us, not only by its stateliness and variety of its outline, but by its utter strangeness, its unlikeness to anything else. Ely, with its vast single western tower, with its central octagon unlike anything else in the whole world, has an outline altogether peculiar to itself.”--(E. A. F.)

About 655 Etheldreda, daughter of the King of East Anglia, went to live in the fen-land district, known as the Isle of Ely, that had come into her possession according to the terms of her marriage settlement with Tonbert, one of the noblemen of her father’s court. The civil government of her territory she gave to a steward named Ovin, while she devoted herself to good works. She was induced to marry Egfrid, son of Oswy, King of Northumberland, who became king in 670. Etheldreda, wearied of court life, became a nun; and when Egfrid determined to force her to return to court she fled from Coldingham to the Isle of Ely, where she established a religious house. She began to build in 673. The monastery over which Etheldreda presided as abbess was a mixed community. Bede calls it a nunnery. Etheldreda died in 679 and was buried, according to her own request, in the nuns’ graveyard. Her body was, however, removed into the church on October 17, 695. When the body was placed in a marble sarcophagus it was found in perfect preservation, and miracles took place. Two hundred years later the Danes ravaged Ely and destroyed the monastery (870), which was rebuilt in 970 by King Edgar and Bishop Ethelwold, of Winchester. The prior of Winchester, Brithnoth (970-981), was appointed its first abbot. There were no nuns in the new monastery.