The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and Architecture

At the dawn of the Reformation period we will pause in order to try and realise what kind of scenes took place daily in the great Cathedral, and what vast numbers were employed...

The south wall of the south aisle of the presbytery is Late Perpendicular work. Another instance of heart burial is recorded on the wall opposite, that of Bishop Nicholas of Ely...

The _West Front_ has been altered in character from its original Norman work. We see a huge Perpendicular window with an embattled parapet over it, an alteration made in the fif...

The _Chapter-House and Library_ occupy a room which is a modern addition. The library has some treasures, amongst which may be mentioned _Textus Roffensis_, a collection of reco...

We must now journey to the ruined shrine of Iona, the cradle of Western Christianity, the place whence flowed the stream of missionary enterprise which watered the dry furrows o...

We now enter the _Choir_ by the door in organ-screen. This is one of the finest in England--spacious, lofty, well-proportioned and rich in all its details. The arches of the mai...

Another interesting tomb is that of Henry IV. (1413), and his second wife, Joan of Navarre (1437). The tomb was opened in 1832, and the body of the dead king discovered in wonde...

The presbytery occupies the space between the tower and the Wallingford screen, and retains its Norman walls as far as the third bay. The rest is the work of Abbot John de Hertf...

The Chantry of the Holy Ghost in the south-west corner of this transept is a Norman structure. It has a font which was first used at the baptism of Henrietta, daughter of Charle...

We now pass to the _South Transept_, which is earlier than the north, and was begun about 1220. The north transept and chapter-house were built twenty years later. Doubtless for...

Total length 393 ft. Length of nave 155 ft. Width of nave 90 ft. Height of nave 61 ft. Length of choir 115 ft. Length of transept 131 ft. Height of spire 277 ft. Area 28,000 sq....

St. Albans, the ancient Verulam, is one of the most ancient towns in England, and is replete with historical associations. It was the home of the British chieftain Cassivellaunu...

John Dryden, bust. H. Wadsworth Longfellow, bust. Abraham Cowley. Geoffrey Chaucer. Lord Tennyson, bust. Robert Browning (no monument). Michael Drayton. Ben Jonson, monument bea...

At the Reformation great spoils of treasure were carried off by the infamous Commissioners of Henry VIII., who purloined a goodly store of jewels and nearly 9000 oz. of precious...

Entering the choir we see before us the high altar with a fine reredos behind it, so called from the French _L'arrière-dos_, meaning "embroidered hangings." On the south of this...

The history of the Cathedral is full of interest, and carries us back to the early days of Christianity in England. The heathen King of Mercia, Penda, long withstood the teacher...

The _Elder Lady Chapel_ is Early English and therefore earlier than the choir, and was probably built by Abbot John (1196-1215); it is therefore, as the architectural details te...

The _Nave_ consists of five bays, and is of Early English design. There is no triforium. The clerestory windows are lancets, and a passage runs in front of them. We notice the g...

Thomas de Cantilupe (1275-1282) was a noted bishop, who attained to the honour of canonisation, and was, moreover, Chancellor of England. He was by no means a meek-spirited sain...

The _Reredos_ is a noble example of modern work, and is worthy of close examination. Behind it is the Jesus Chapel, containing a monument of Canon Liddon. The mosaic decorations...

Leaving the nave, we enter the _Transepts_, which were part of Carileph's work. The large window in the north transept was inserted by Prior Fossor (1341-1374), and is in the De...

In the _North Choir Aisle_ and _Transept_ there are two monuments of the _memento mori_ type, the large tomb of a thirteenth-century bishop, either Bingham or Scammel, Bishop Wy...

And thus the church continued for some time ruined and desolate. A relative of Cromwell, Oliver St. John, was granted the possession of it, and converted it into a parish church...

The _East End_ is modern, and is a fine conception of Sir G. Scott based upon early models. The _Reredos_ is a fine modern work, and the altar, lectern and throne are also new....

The _Choir_ is very beautiful, but it is only a shadow of what it was before the evil hand of the restorer rested heavily upon it. It is terrible to contemplate the mischief whi...

Having finished their church, the monks turned their attention to their domestic buildings, and to the Lady Chapel, which stands here in an unusual position. It was erected by A...

The _Chapter-House_ is one of the most beautiful in England. The entrance is an arch, divided into two arches by a canopied pier, which bears a mutilated statue of the Virgin an...

The _Transepts_ retain, with the exception of the east wall of the southern member, Archbishop Roger's Transitional work, when Norman architecture was slowly developing into Ear...

The _South Aisle_ retains some of its Norman style, but was remodelled by Abbot Thokey (1306-1329) in the Decorated style. The ball-flower ornament is much used on the windows....

The interior of the Cathedral is full of interest. We enter by the south porch, and we are at once struck by the extraordinary width of the church. On each side of the nave ther...

In a storm is 1221 the two "lesser towers" fell. Happily the offerings at the shrine of St. Wulfstan, which was soon repaired, were very numerous, and in 1224 the present choir...

The lofty spire was blown down by a fierce hurricane in 1361, and rebuilt by Bishop Percy, who rebuilt also the clerestory. His successor, Henry de Despencer, was a very warlike...

The _North Transept_ is small, and is of the same size as the original church, there being no room for expansion on this side because of the monastic buildings. The lower walls...

In this volume I have attempted to give an architectural description of all the cathedral churches of England, Wales, and Scotland, together with a brief history of each see. In...

In the inscriptions described on page 197, the letters a, e and u which have macrons in the original text, have been represented in this version using circumflexes, i.e. grâ, pl...