Part 36

“The exquisite carvings of Grinling Gibbons in the stall-work of the choir were not merely in themselves admirable, but in perfect harmony with the character of the architecture. They rivalled, if they did not surpass, all Mediæval works of their class in grace, variety, richness; they kept up an inimitable unison of the lines of the building and the decoration. In the words of Walpole ‘there is no instance of a man before Gibbons who gave to wood the loose and airy lightness of flowers and chained together the various productions of the elements with a fine disorder natural to each species.’”--(M.)

The =Organ= is one of the finest in the world. It was reconstructed by Willis in 1897, and still contains parts of the original organ built by the German, Schmidt, in 1697. It consists of 4,822 pipes and 102 stops and is divided into two parts, placed on either side of the choir. These are connected by pneumatic tubes beneath the floor. The keyboard is on the north side.

The older part of the case with its foliage, figures and architectural devices was also designed by Grinling Gibbons.

The =Altar= stands between the great eastern piers and is surmounted by a tall reredos of white marble.

“The symbolism is expressed in the frieze above the Crucifixion, ‘Sic Deus dilexit mundum’ (‘God so loved the world’). The lower part is pierced with doors on either side; and ‘Vas Electionis’ (‘A chosen vessel’) over the north door refers to St. Paul, and ‘Pasce oves meos’ (‘Feed my sheep’) over the other to St. Peter; and here are the crossed swords, the arms of the diocese. The section above has the Entombment in the centre, and the Nativity and Resurrection on either side. A Crucifixion occupies the central position. The framework is of Roman design, with pilasters and a round arch; and remembering Wren’s conception, it is interesting that the columns of Brescia marble, supporting the entablature above, are twisted. This is flanked with a colonnade; the figure on the north being the Angel Gabriel, and to the south the Virgin. Above the pediment is a canopy with the Virgin and Child, and St. Peter and St. Paul to the north and south; and above all, and nearly seventy feet from the ground, the Risen Christ completes this most reverent design.

“The altar cross is adorned with precious stones and lapis lazuli; and the massive copper candlesticks are imitations of the original four said to have been sold during the Protectorate.”--(A. D.)

The apse behind the altar cut off by the reredos is now called the =Jesus Chapel=. Over the altar here is a copy of Cima de Conegliano’s _Doubting Thomas_ (in the National Gallery).

The apse and the vaulting and the walls of the choir and ambulatory have in recent years been decorated by Sir William Richmond with richly-coloured mosaics. The chief panels of the apse represent our Lord enthroned, with recording angels on either side. In the choir the three “saucer domes,” or cupolas, represent three Days of Creation: Beasts, Fishes and birds. The four pendentives of each bay are decorated with herald Angels, with extended arms. Mosaics of the Crucifixion, Entombment, Resurrection and Ascension, also by Sir William Richmond, adorn the “quarter domes.”

The eight paintings by Thornhill, of scenes from the life of St. Paul, can be viewed properly only from the Whispering Gallery. In the niches above this Gallery are statues of the Fathers of the Church. The spandrels between the great arches are decorated by eight large mosaics representing apostles and prophets: St. Matthew and St. John are by G. F. Watts; St. Mark and St. Luke, by A. Brittan; and the four prophets are the work of Alfred Stevens.

The =Transepts= are of one arch only. The windows are modern and represent bishops and kings of early days. In the south transept aisle there is a window commemorating the recovery of the Prince of Wales (Edward VII.) in 1872; and a bronze tablet by Princess Louise in memory of “4,300 sons of Britain beyond the seas” who were killed in the South African war of 1899-1901.

To the left of the chief entrance is =St. Dunstan’s Chapel=, sometimes called the =North-West=, or =Morning Chapel=. It is richly decorated and contains a Salviati mosaic representing the _Three Marys at the Sepulchre_.

In the south aisle, opposite, is the =Chapel of the Order of St. Michael and St. George=, a Colonial order, conferred only for distinguished services beyond the seas. The Sovereign’s stall is at the western end; and on each side of it is that of the Grand Master (Prince of Wales) and the Duke of Connaught. From these diverge the oak stalls of the Knights Grand Cross of the Order, over each of which is suspended a silk banner with his personal arms. The richly-gilded ceiling is decorated with the arms of the King, the Prince of Wales, the late Duke of Cambridge and Sir Robert Herbert, who were responsible for the scheme. In the south window is a kneeling figure of the donor, Sir Walter Wilkin. The chapel was dedicated on June 13, 1906, in the presence of King Edward, the Prince of Wales and many Knights.

Above this chapel the Library is situated to which the curious =Geometrical Staircase= leads. This is circular, of a diameter of twenty-five feet, and each step is supported by the one below it. This is in the South tower.

St. Paul’s is second only to Westminster Abbey in the number of Monuments to the celebrated dead. Immediately within the west door stands a gilt monument to the officers and men of the =Coldstream Guards= who fell in the South African War. In the north aisle of the nave we come to monuments of =General Gordon=, a recumbent figure on a sarcophagus by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm; =Wellington=, by Alfred Stevens; =Lord Leighton=; =Lord Melbourne=. In the north transept =Sir Joshua Reynolds=, by Flaxman; and =Admiral Rodney=, by Rossi; in the south transept =Nelson=, by Flaxman, who thus describes his work:

“Britannia is directing the young seamen’s attention to their great example, Lord Nelson. On the die of the pedestal which supports the hero’s statue are figures in basso-relievo, representing the Frozen Ocean, the German Ocean, the Nile, and the Mediterranean. On the cornice and in the frieze of laurel wreaths are the words, Copenhagen, Nile, Trafalgar. The British Lion sits on the plinth, guarding the pedestal.”

In the South transept: =Lord Cornwallis=, by Rossi, commemorates his Indian career. He appears in his mantle of the Garter, with an allegorical female figure of the Eastern Empire and a male figure representing an Indian river.

At the east side of the south transept is the entrance to the =Crypt=, sombre, dimly lighted and sepulchral. In the centre a circle of pillars surrounds the tomb of =Nelson=, whose remains lie in a plain tomb under a black-and-white sarcophagus (Sixteenth Century), which was made for Cardinal Wolsey’s monument and confiscated with his other possessions. Through a grating here the dim light from the far-away dome sifts down upon England’s great admiral. To the left of Nelson lies =Collingwood=, and, to the right, =Cornwallis=. Not far away we come to the simple tomb of =Arthur, Duke of Wellington=, a great block of porphyry on a granite base.

In the east recess of the south-choir-aisle is the grave of Sir Christopher Wren marked by a plain black marble slab. On the wall is the celebrated inscription: “_Lector, si monumentum requiris, circumspice_.” Then comes =Painters’ Corner= with Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, Lawrence, Turner, Landseer, Millais, Leighton and others.

We have yet to make the ascent of St. Paul’s. The way is long and grows more tedious and steeper as we ascend. It will be well to stop at the Stone Gallery (200 feet high), for although the Golden Gallery, at the top of the dome, is a hundred feet higher, the view is not so distinct. The Stone Gallery is safe, and delightful views are to be had in the spaces between the balustrades. The view extends from Harrow on the north-west, to the Crystal Palace, Shooter’s Hill and Greenwich Observatory in the south-east. The tourist will, however, take more pleasure in looking over the territory covered by the Great Fire of 1666 and all the Wren steeples (there are thirty at least) that rise through the mists below us. Here we again think of Sir Christopher’s genius and remember again his epitaph: “If you wish an estimate of his genius, look around.” It is interesting, too, to trace Fleet Street, Cheapside and the other great arteries of traffic and travel, to look at the Thames and understand its peculiar windings and to view from this height the grim old Tower half a mile below London Bridge--the oldest building in England and the most romantic. Without the Tower of London and without St. Paul’s what would London be? Westminster Abbey is the church of the King and the government; St. Paul’s is the church of the citizens, the church that, as we have seen, has been a central point for the stirring events of the City of London. Whenever the traveller thinks of London, he sees its majestic dome rising above London Bridge or Ludgate Hill, or Cheapside, purple in the mists, golden in the sunlight--the emblem of London’s antiquity and its present immensity.

“I always endow St. Paul’s Cathedral with life and human nature and sympathy. I cannot well explain what early associations and chances have made St. Paul’s a more living influence to me than the much grander and nobler Westminster Abbey; but so it is and I feel as if St. Paul’s were a living influence over all that region of the metropolis which is surveyed by its ball and its cross. But in another sense it is unlike other buildings to me. It is not one long-lived, long-living cathedral; it is rather a generation of cathedrals. Westminster Abbey takes us back in unbroken continuity of history to the earlier days of England’s budding greatness. Westminster itself, nevertheless, was only called so in the beginning to distinguish it from the earlier East Minster, which was either the existing St. Paul’s or a cathedral standing on Tower Hill. It would seem, then, that St. Paul’s rather than Westminster Abbey ought to represent the gradual movement of English history and English thought and the growth of the metropolis. But observe the difference. Westminster Abbey has always since its erection been sedately watching over London. It has been reconstructed here and there, of course--repaired and renovated, touched up and decorated with new adornments in tribute of grateful piety; but it is ever and always the same Westminster Abbey. Now observe the history of St. Paul’s. St. Paul’s has fallen and died time after time, and been revived and restored. It has risen new upon new generations. It has perished in flame again and again, like a succession of martyrs, and has come up afresh and with new spangled ore flamed in the forehead of the morning sky. St. Paul’s is a religious or ecclesiastical dynasty rather than a cathedral. It has been destroyed so often and risen again in so many different shapes, that it seems as if each succeeding age were putting its fresh stamp and mint-mark on it and so commending it to the special service of each new generation.”--(J. McC.)

ST. SAVIOUR’S, SOUTHWARK

FORMERLY THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. SAVIOUR; AND ST. MARY OVERIE, SOUTHWARK.

SPECIAL FEATURES: CENTRAL TOWER; CHOIR-SCREEN; TOMB OF JOHN GOWER; HARVARD WINDOW; WINDOWS TO ELIZABETHAN DRAMATISTS.

Although St. Saviour’s, Southwark, is one of the oldest buildings in London, it is one of the youngest of cathedrals in England, having been formally inaugurated as a Cathedral by King Edward on July 3, 1905. It was recently restored at a cost of £40,000. Parts of the Norman nave, dating from the Twelfth Century, were incorporated by Sir Arthur Blomfield in the new nave built in 1891-1896.

St. Saviour’s stands on the south or Surrey side of London in the Borough, a district of very little interest in comparison with London north of the Thames; but very rich in historical associations. After crossing London Bridge we find this church on our right on a lower level than the road, which sunken situation prevents a good view of the venerable pile. Adjoining the church is the Borough Market for fruit and vegetables and west of it in Park Street, close to Southwark Bridge, is Barclay’s Brewery on the site of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Going down Borough High Street we pass the site of the old _Tabard Inn_, from which Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims started on their journey; and still lower down the street, the successor to the _White Hart_, where Mr. Pickwick found the immortal Sam Weller. In the vicinity the Marshalsea prison stood until the middle of the Nineteenth Century, within the sound of St. Saviour’s bells.

St. Saviour’s is now almost the only remaining landmark of “Old Southwark.”

Its early history is lost in legend. Stow, on the authority of Linstede, the last of the priors, attributed the building of the original London Bridge to the profits made by a ferryman here, who left his money to his daughter Mary. He tells the story as follows:

“East from the Bishop of Winchester’s house, directly over against it, standeth a fair church called St. Mary-over-the-Rie, or Overie; that is, over the water. This church, or some other in place thereof, was, of old time, long before the Conquest, a house of sisters, founded by a maiden named Mary; unto the which house and sisters she left, as was left to her by her parents, the oversight and profits of a cross ferry, or traverse ferry over the Thames, there kept before that any bridge was built. This house of sisters was after by Swithun, a noble lady, converted into a college of priests, who in place of the ferry built a bridge of timber, and from time to time kept the place in good reparations; but lastly, the same bridge was built of stone; and then in the year 1106 was this church again founded for canons regular by William Pont de la Arch, and William Dauncey, Knights, Normans.”

Modern historians have made a few corrections in this statement, particularly as regards the person who changed the nunnery into a college of priests. This was not a “noble lady,” but St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester (832-856) (see page 46). It became a monastery of the Augustinian order in 1106, and the Norman knights who aided in its foundation also built the new Norman nave. After a severe fire that occurred early in the Thirteenth Century, when much of Southwark was destroyed, the church suffered greatly. Repairs were, of course, necessary; and the Bishop of Winchester, who took charge, rebuilt the nave in the lighter Early English style and also the choir and retro-choir.

Another fire in the reign of Richard II. occasioned other repairs in the new Perpendicular style which was continued by Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester (1405-1447), who restored the south transept. The Cardinal was the son of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford. In this church he married his niece Jane Beaufort to James I. of Scotland in 1423, with whom the royal poet fell in love during his imprisonment at Windsor.

After the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1536 St. Mary Overy, which had already been united with St. Mary Magdalene, was now combined with St. Margaret’s and in the year of Linstede’s surrender to Henry VIII. (1540) the three parishes were united under the name of the Collegiate Church of St. Saviour.

St. Saviour’s was several times repaired and altered in the Eighteenth Century, and then fell into neglect.

The East End is an enlargement or addition to the choir. It consists, as we see, of four bays separated by buttresses and surmounted by gables. Each gable is lighted by a triplet of lancet windows. Larger windows of the same general style light the bays below. At the north-east corner is a short hexagonal stair turret. Above the Lady-Chapel rises the East End or gable of the choir. This has also a three-light lancet window, with a small circular window with seven cusps above. On the north-east corner the turret is capped by a pinnacle. Above rises the venerable square tower--St. Saviour’s best feature.

The =Tower= at the intersection of the nave and transepts was partly built by Bishop Fox in the Perpendicular style.

“At the intersection of the nave, transepts and choir, rises a noble tower, thirty-five feet square and one hundred and fifty feet in height, resting on four massive pillars adorned with clustered columns. The sharp-pointed arches are very lofty. The interior of the tower is in four stories, in the uppermost of which is a fine peal of twelve bells. Externally the tower, which is not older than the Sixteenth Century, somewhat resembles that of St. Sepulchre’s Church, close by Newgate. It is divided into two parts, with handsome pointed windows, in two stories, on each front; it has tall pinnacles at each corner, and the battlements are of flint, in squares or chequer-work.”--(E. W.)

The South transept, like the north transept, was built in the Decorated style in the first half of the Fourteenth Century, but was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort. It has been restored in the style of his time, and the window of five lights is Transitional in style from Decorated to Perpendicular.

We enter by the =Doorway= at the south-west, the principal entrance to the Cathedral.

“In all probability the door was placed in this position when the Norman nave was built by Bishop Giffard (_circa_ 1106); but its character was altered by Peter de Rupibus, a century later, to bring it into harmony with the rest of his Early English work, when he remodelled the nave in that style.

“The porch that we now have agrees in its main features with the drawings taken of the earlier one before it was destroyed. A deeply recessed and acutely pointed arch is divided into two by a central shaft, with moulded base and foliaged capital. The jambs contain five shafts on each side, which differ from that in the centre, in that they are of Purbeck marble, and banded, in pleasing contrast to the plain stone of their own bases and capitals, and of the (unbanded) central shaft. In the tympanum of the double doorway thus formed, there is a pointed arcading, consisting of a central arch and two smaller arches on either side. The deep soffit of the arch in which this elegant arcading is enclosed, is adorned with a series of quatrefoil panels.”--(Geo. W.)

On entering we get a fine view of more than two hundred feet.

The =Nave= was rebuilt in 1890-1897 and is a reproduction of the Early English nave in nearly every detail. As we look down the long vista we are reminded of Salisbury. Here, however, we have the magnificent screen and the handsome East window above it. The clerestory is lighted by plain lancet windows, enclosed in an elegant arcading.

Walking down the north aisle of the nave we soon come to the most interesting monument in the Cathedral--the tomb of =John Gower=, who died in 1408, eight years after his friend Chaucer, to whom the window above (1900) is appropriately enough a memorial and bears the latter’s portrait.

“He had been a liberal benefactor to the Church, and founded a chantry in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist, where he was eventually buried. The chapel and chantry are no more, but the monument marks the spot, having been restored in 1894 to its first position. It is in the Perpendicular style, and consists of an altar-tomb, with a dado, ornamented by seven panels in front, on which lies the effigy of the poet, surmounted by a canopy of three ogee arches, with an inner order of five cusps, and terminating in crocketed pinnacles. There is a pilaster set angle-wise at each end, banded at the separate divisions of the monument, and also rising into crocketed pinnacles. There are similar pinnacles between the arches of the canopy. Behind the canopy is a screen, divided into open panels of three trefoil-headed lights. The cornice at the top is modern, and the hands and nose of the figure are restorations.

“The poet is represented lying on his back, with his hands joined in prayer, and his head resting upon the three volumes on which his fame depends, the _Speculum Meditantis_, _Vox Clamantis_, and _Confessio Amantis_. He is vested in a long dark habit, buttoned down to the feet, after the manner of a cassock, the ordinary dress of an English gentleman at the time. There is a garland of four roses round his head, and at his feet a lion couchant. The SS. collar adorns the neck, with a pendant jewel, on which a swan is engraved--the device of Richard II., to whom Gower was Poet Laureate. On the wall of the canopy, at the foot of the tomb, there is a sculptured and coloured representation of the poet’s own shield of arms, crest and helmet. On the back wall of the recess, above the effigy, there were formerly three painted figures, representing Charity, Mercy, and Piety, each bearing a scroll with an invocation, in Norman-French, for the soul of the departed. After undergoing repainting more than once, with modifications, the figures were scarcely recognisable in 1832, when the monument was repaired, but the figures were unfortunately obliterated. The inscription along the ledge of the tomb, which had also been destroyed, is now replaced: ‘Hic jacet I. Gower, Arm. Angl: poeta celeberrimus ac hoc sacro benefac. insignis. Vixit temporibus Edw. III., Ric. II., et Henri IV.’”--(Geo. W.)

Now we have reached the =North Transept=, supposed to have been originally a chapel dedicated to St. Peter. It is now used as a sort of museum for the relics and antiquities of the church--old bosses, chests, stone-coffins, etc. The large north window was unveiled in 1898 to commemorate doubly the Prince Consort and Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Its four lights depict Gregory the Great, King Ethelbert, Stephen Langton and William of Wykeham.

Passing to the tower we can now look upward as far as the floor of the bell-ringers. The bosses on the new oaken roof date from the Fifteenth Century. From it hangs a fine =Chandelier= of 1680.

The =South Transept= was rebuilt by Cardinal Beaufort, whose arms we see on a pier by the transept door. The great south window of five lights, described by Sir Arthur Blomfield, the designer, as “transitional between Flowing Decorated and Perpendicular,” is filled with modern glass. The design is a “Tree of Jesse.”

Returning now to the =Choir= we pause here to study it in detail. It was built by Peter de Rupibus in the Thirteenth Century, and is Early English. It consists of five bays. The piers are alternate circular and octagonal, with plain capitals and well-cut base mouldings. Four arched openings occur in each bay of the triforium. Corbels with sculptured heads occur on the arches of the south side.

The =Altar= stands on a platform and above it rises the wonderful =Screen=, erected by Bishop Fox in 1520. It almost fills the entire eastern end of the choir.