PART I.

History and Details.

I. The very interesting cathedral of Hereford, which represents an episcopal see existing, it is possible, before the arrival of St. Augustine, (see Pt. II.,) has suffered much from the hand of time, and more perhaps from so-called restoration. On Easter Monday, 1786, the western tower (a later erection than the Norman nave) fell, carrying with it the west front, and greatly injuring the first bay of the nave. The architect Wyatt was then at work on Salisbury Cathedral; and the restoration of Hereford was unhappily placed in his hands. With Wyatt, restoration meant destruction. Between the years 1788 and 1797 he expended a sum of £20,000 on this cathedral; shortening the nave by one entire bay; destroying the Norman triforium and clerestory, which he replaced by others of his own device; and constructing the present west front, which it is to be hoped will not be permitted to exist much longer. In 1841, at the request of the late Bishop MUSGRAVE, a report on the actual condition of the cathedral was drawn up by Professor Willis; from which it appeared that the piers of the central tower were in a condition of much danger, and that the eastern gable of the Lady-chapel would inevitably fall unless preventive measures were at once taken. Accordingly, these and other repairs and “restorations” were effected between 1841 and 1852, at a cost of £27,000. The architect employed was Mr. L. N. Cottingham; and the then Dean MEREWETHER’S own superintendence--whose zeal for the restoration of the building cannot be mentioned with too great respect--was unremitting until his death in 1850. Mr. Cottingham was not so completely destructive as Wyatt had been, but he rebuilt rather than restored, and allowed his masons to re-work ancient sculptures. Since the year 1858 the final restoration of Hereford Cathedral has been in the hands of Mr. G. G. Scott, and it need hardly be said that the work has been of a very different character. Where reconstruction has been necessary, every stone has been preserved, and, if possible, replaced. Whitewash and other defects have been removed with a sort of wire comb, which effectually cleans the stone, but does not remove ancient tool marks; and the sculpture and foliage consequently remain uninjured. These last works, completed in the year 1863, (when, on the 30th of June, the cathedral was solemnly re-opened,) effectually set forth the original beauty of the building, which ranks among the most interesting cathedrals in England.

The extent and nature of the different restorations will be pointed out as we proceed. It is no doubt to be regretted that so much rebuilding should have been necessary; but this has been partly owing to original defects of construction, and partly to the nature of the stone, which was taken, apparently without much care in selection, from quarries in the old red sandstone, near the city. This stone is so much weather-worn in parts as to resemble the face of a sea cliff. Throughout Wyatt’s rebuilding and all the restorations, the new stone has been brought from the Caplar quarries near Fawley; from Lugwardine; and from some quarries nearer Hereford; also in the old red sandstone, but yielding blocks of a much harder and more durable character.

II. The Saxon Bishop ETHELSTAN (1012-1056) built a church from the foundations; which shortly after the accession of his successor, LEOFGAR, (1056,) was burnt together with the greater part of the city, by the Welsh king Gryffyth. The first Norman bishop, ROBERT DE LOSINGA, (1079-1096,) who found his cathedral in ruins, began to rebuild it, taking for his model the church of Aachen, or Aix la Chapelle,--the work of Charlemagne[30]. This building was so far completed as to be dedicated (in the names of the Blessed Virgin and of Ethelbert King of East Anglia, see § X. and Pt. II.) in 1110, during the episcopate of REINHELM, (1107-1115). The Norman portions of the existing cathedral (the piers of the nave, the choir as high as the clerestory, and the south transept,) belong to Bishop Robert’s cathedral. With the exception of its first foundation, however, and of the walls of the nave-aisles, “it is much to be regretted that the period of erection of no one part of this cathedral has been recorded[31];” and we are left to assign the various dates from the character of the architecture alone. They are probably as follows:--

_Norman_, 1079-1115. Piers of nave, choir as high as clerestory, and south transept, (which has had Perpendicular alterations).

_Early English_, _circ._ 1190. Vestibule of Lady-chapel.

_Early English_, _circ._ 1220. Lady-chapel.

_Early English_, _circ._ 1260? Clerestory and vaulting of choir.

_Transitional_, from Early English to Decorated, 1282-1287. North transept.

_Geometrical_, (Early Decorated,) 1287-1320. Eastern transept. Upper part of central tower.

_Late Decorated_, 1360-1364. Outer walls and windows of nave-aisles.

_Perpendicular_, 1492-1502. Bishop Audley’s chantry. 1516-1535. The north porch.

It thus appears that (besides the Norman work) Hereford Cathedral is principally rich in the architecture of the Early English and Geometrical periods. The Norman portions are curious and important. The Early English Lady-chapel is an excellent example; but the most remarkable part of the building is unquestionably the north transept. Bishop Cantilupe, who died in 1282, (and was canonized in 1320,) was buried in the Lady-chapel, which was the first addition to the Norman church. The north transept (into which the relics of the bishop were removed in 1287) was to all appearance built expressly for the reception of the Cantilupe shrine; and the further changes and additions during the early Decorated period may safely be assigned to the increase of riches and consequence which the possession of this shrine brought to the cathedral. In the same manner, at Gloucester (see that Cathedral) the possession of the remains of Edward II. was the cause of the entire alteration of the abbey church.

III. Hereford Cathedral is open on the north side, and a good general view may be obtained from the Close, [_Frontispiece_,] through which it is approached. On the south side the bishop’s palace and the college of the vicars choral fill the space between it and the river Wye. Eastward the cathedral was closely pressed on by the outworks of the castle, anciently one of the strongest on the Welsh marches, but of which only the foundations now remain. The Norman cathedral, built, as has been said, in imitation of that of Aachen, terminated eastward in a triple apse. (Compare Norwich, the most perfect example of a Norman ground-plan now existing.) The central apse was destroyed, in all probability, on the formation of the Lady-chapel; and the side apses, at a somewhat later period, were converted into the eastern transept, as it now appears. This double transept (possibly suggested by that at Worcester, which is a century earlier; see that Cathedral) combines, with Bishop Booth’s large projecting porch, in producing a degree of intricacy in the general outline, the effect of which is not lessened by the various alterations and restorations, which, however necessary, render it difficult to distinguish between the new work and the old.

IV. The cathedral is entered, on the north side, through an elaborate Perpendicular _porch_, completed in 1530 by Bishop BOOTH. It is of two stages. The lower is formed by three wide, open arches, at the outer angles of which are octagonal buttress-turrets, capped by very picturesque lanterns. The parvise chamber, forming the second stage, is lighted by three large Perpendicular windows, with rich tracery. This porch projects beyond an inner and smaller one, of the Decorated period, to which the doorway opening to the church (the mouldings of which should be noticed) belongs. The doors themselves are modern, and are covered with very good iron-work, designed by Mr. Cottingham, jun., and executed by Messrs. Potter of London. The hinges alone cost £140.

V. On entering the _nave_, the visitor should pass at once to the west end, where he will obtain the best general view. The great piers are Norman, and part of the original church. The triforium and clerestory and the vaulting of the roof are Wyatt’s work, (1788-1797,) as is the western wall with its doorway. The nave-aisles belong to the Decorated period. Wyatt, it must be remembered, shortened the original nave by one entire bay. The eye is at once struck by the massive grandeur of the great Norman piers and arches, and by the unusual darkness of the choir. Beyond the lofty circular arches of the central tower, and the superb

modern screen on its eastern side, is seen the eastern wall of the choir, pierced below with a wide circular arch, receding in many orders, and above by three broad lancet lights. The lower arch is divided by a central pillar, from which spring two pointed arches, the spandrel between which is sculptured from a design of Cottingham’s. Beyond, again, is seen the east wall of the Lady-chapel, with its enriched lancets, and foliated ornaments above them. The effect of these three receding distances, with their varying light and shade, is unusually fine, and is not a little increased by the solemnity of the darkened choir. This darkness results partly from the heavy Norman architecture of the choir itself, and partly from the lofty transepts, which abut on it on either side. The nave and choir are of the same width (73-1/4 ft., including aisles; actual breadth of vaulting to nave and choir 31-1/4 ft.) and height (70 ft.)

The nave [Plate I.] now consists of seven bays. The massive circular piers have double half-shafts set against their north and south fronts. (The greater part of these are restorations, the original shafts having been cut away.) The bases are plain. The capitals of piers and shafts are rich and varied, especially those of the four easternmost piers, which have some very rich knot-work and foliage. The main arches recede in three orders, and are much enriched with the billet and other mouldings. The Norman work throughout the cathedral, when compared with that of the great buildings of the same age in the eastern counties, (Ely, Peterborough, or Norwich,) displays a richer and more involved class of ornament; such as reaches its highest development in the elaborate doorways of Kilpeck and Shobdon Churches, both in Herefordshire.

The _triforium_, and _clerestory_, both of which are Wyatt’s work, need not detain us. They are imitated from the Early English of Salisbury; and to make way for them, Wyatt destroyed the original Norman work, of which only a small portion had been injured by the fall of the tower[32]. The vaulting-shafts run up in groups of three, between each bay. The shafts themselves are restorations of the originals, much of which had been cut away before the fall of the tower; the corbels, below the capitals, are modern, and were copied by Cottingham from ancient examples. The roof is of wood, vaulted in imitation of stone, a description which is itself a condemnation. It has been coloured, under Mr. Cottingham’s direction, in a manner which can by no means be called satisfactory. The pavement throughout the nave has been laid (by Mr. Cottingham) with plain red and slate-coloured tiles. Two rows of gas-standards, the work of Messrs. Skidmore, are placed under the arches at intervals, four on each side.

VI. The _nave-aisles_ were almost rebuilt during the late Decorated period. The Norman walls were allowed to stand for about 2 ft. above the foundations; and upon these bases the existing walls and windows were erected. The contracts for this work, dating between the years 1360-1364, were found by the late Dean Merewether, and are now preserved in the archive chamber. The vaulting of the roofs is coloured in the same unpleasing manner as that of the nave. The view looking up the aisle, into and beyond the transept, is remarkable, owing to the many receding stages. It terminates at the eastern end of the second transept.

In the second bay (counting from the west) of the _south_ aisle is the _font_, of Norman design, and curious. The basin is circular, and has figures of the Apostles beneath arches, in the spandrels of which is a leaf-ornament. A lion projects from each corner of the base, an unusual and perhaps unique example. In the fourth bay is the very fine alabaster effigy of Sir RICHARD PEMBRIDGE, _temp._ Richard II. Sir Richard, an ancestor of the Chandos family, was one of the first knights of the Garter, and was present at Poictiers. The armour is an excellent example. Gold remains on the points of the cap to which the camail is attached, and on the jewelled sword-belt. The head rests on a tilting-helmet, with a sheaf of feathers coloured green. Between the feathers and the helmet is a coronet of open roses. The garter is on the left leg, and the feet rest on a greyhound. This monument was originally in the church of the Black Friars, and was brought thence to the cathedral after the Dissolution. The right leg, which had been destroyed, has been restored at the cost of the Rev. Lord Saye and Sele, Canon Residentiary.

In the wall of this aisle, in the _third_ bay from the east, is the headless figure of an ecclesiastic, under a Decorated arch, foliated. In the _second_ bay is an effigy of a priest of the early Decorated period, much mutilated, under a foliated arch, at the crown of which is a bearded head wearing a cap. In the _third_ bay is a door opening to the cloisters, with a square heading which rises above the sill of the window over it. A row of heads in the hollow moulding of the door,--a fac-simile of a former composition, which had become entirely decayed,--and the modern iron-work, by Potter, with which the door itself is covered, deserve notice.

A narrow and lofty Norman arch opens from this aisle into the transept.

VII. The _north_ aisle is Decorated, of the same character as the south. In the _third_ bay from the tower is the north _porch_, (§ IV.); and in the bay above it is the monument of Bishop BOOTH, (died 1535,) the constructor of the porch itself. The effigy lies under a foliated arch with canopy. The Bishop, mitred and fully vested, holds the crozier (the head of which has been broken) wrapped with the infula, or fillet. Much colour remains on this monument, which is protected by its original iron-work, banded with shields and heraldic ornaments.

In this aisle, a stained-glass window by WARRENTON, with subjects from the life of St. John the Baptist, has been inserted as a memorial of Canon CLUTTON and his wife.

VIII. Between the eastern piers of the _central tower_, but projecting from their bases more than 3 ft. toward the nave, is placed the magnificent _screen_ of wrought iron-work, painted and gilt, executed by Messrs. Skidmore of Coventry, from the designs of Mr. G. G. Scott. This is the second great work of the kind which has been produced in England. It is in many respects finer and more important than the screen at Lichfield; but it is designed and constructed on precisely the same principles; and affords a complete vindication of the advantage and beauty of metal-work for the purpose to which it is here applied. Whilst the screen forms a sufficient division between the nave and choir, its extreme lightness permits the use of both tower and transept for congregational purposes.

The Hereford screen consists of five main arches, each subdivided by a slender shaft. The central arch, wider and higher than the rest, forms the entrance, and is surmounted by a lofty gable, on the summit of which is the cross. Panels of hollow tracery fill in the lower part of the arches on either side of the entrance, to the height of about four feet. The heads of the arches and the spandrels between them are enriched with elaborate tracery, chiefly formed by flowers and leafage; and the design of the cornice and cresting is of similar character. In the tympanum above the shaft which divides the arch of entrance is a figure of the Saviour, with hands outstretched in blessing. On either side, placed on brackets supported by the pillars of the main arch, are adoring angels, two in each group. Single figures of angels, holding instruments of music, are placed on brackets at the terminations of the screen, north and south.

The screen is wrought by hand throughout. It is mainly constructed of iron; but copper and brass are largely used; the first in the capitals, figures, and cornice; the second in the shafts of the smaller columns, and in parts of the larger. Coloured mosaics have also been employed. The variety of metals is another source of colour; but the hammered iron-work, forming the whole of the foliage, has been painted throughout. No colours have been used, however, but those of the oxydes of iron and copper--the metals employed in the work. The result is entirely successful. The beauty of the capitals of leafage, in which fine effects of light and shade are produced, and of the foliage and flowers in other parts of the screen, is very great; and every band and line of ornament deserves notice. The forms of both leafage and flowers are to a certain extent conventional, but may easily be recognised. The passion-flower especially has been much used, and with admirable effect. On the whole it may safely be said that this screen is the finest and most complete work of its class which has been produced in recent times; nor would it be easy to mention any piece of ancient metal-work--at least of equal dimensions--which will bear comparison with it.

Near the south-west corner of the screen is placed an eagle-lectern, designed by Cottingham and executed by Potter. The projecting branches, for lights, are unusual and picturesque. The cost of the lectern was defrayed by the Misses Rushout; but the money was misappropriated, and it was eventually paid for by subscription.

The old pulpit, of the seventeenth century, now stands against the north-west tower-pier; but will shortly be replaced by one more worthy of the cathedral.

The four great arches of the tower were in a condition of much danger when Dean Merewether commenced his restorations in 1841. The piers, and the four arches resting on them, were Norman; but owing to settlements in the foundations of the nave and tower, which had taken place at a very early period, they had been cased and otherwise repaired during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; and still later (probably during the episcopate of Bishop BISSE, 1712-1721) the two smaller arches of the tower (north and south) were filled with so-called “ox-eye masonry[33],” supported by two segmental arches branching from an octangular central column; whilst nearly all the smaller Norman arches in connection with the tower-piers were closed with solid masonry, leaving only doorways. In spite of all that had been done, however, Professor Willis, in his Report of 1841, pronounced the masonry of the great arches, and of the spandrel walls above, to be “in such a state of ruin as to make an immediate repair absolutely necessary for the preservation of the tower.” The piers themselves were in a condition of less danger; but Mr. Cottingham, to whom the work was entrusted, proceeded to remove all the additions that had been made to them since the Norman period, and, in effect, to rebuild them according to their original design. In this state they remain at present. The arches resting on them were at the same time reconstructed, and the ox-eye masonry which filled those north and south was entirely removed.

Before these restorations a vault of the fifteenth century rose immediately above the great arches, and concealed the upper part of the tower. This was removed. The whole of the tower above the arches dates from the beginning of the fourteenth century; and the interior walls, which are now visible from below, “are of a very singular construction; twelve piers of compact masonry on each side, beside angle piers, are carried up to the height of 26 ft., and connected half-way up by a horizontal course of stone, in long pieces, and by an iron bar, which runs all round immediately under this bonding course. Upon these gigantic _stone gratings_, if I may be allowed the expression, the interior wall of the tower rests; and they also carry the entire weight of the bell-chamber and bells. I believe this construction was entirely adopted for the sake of lightness[34].” This part of the tower, which has no decorative character, was not originally intended to be seen from below; and the fifteenth-century vaulting had replaced an earlier wooden ceiling. It is now completely open, and the flat wooden floor of the bell-chamber above it is coloured in blue and gold. From this floor depends a superb corona of wrought iron, by Skidmore--a worthy companion of the great choir-screen, and coloured in the same manner.

IX. The peculiar darkness of the _choir_ has already been mentioned. It results mainly (as will be seen from the Plan) from the arrangement of the transepts, which prevents the admission of light to the choir except from its clerestory.

The choir and sacrarium, as at present formed, consist of only three bays, eastward of the screen. (The Norman choir extended no doubt to the western arch of the tower, if not into the first bay of the nave.) As far as the top of the triforium, the choir is _Norman_: the clerestory and vaulting are _Early English_, and date, apparently, from the middle of the thirteenth century. No record of their construction has been preserved.

The _main arches_ of the choir are of three orders, and spring from massive composite piers, with broad, square bases. The capitals of the semi-detached shafts are enriched with leafage and grotesque heads. The _triforium_, in each bay, consists of one wide Norman arch circumscribing two smaller, divided by a central shaft, and springing on either side from two massive semicircular piers, with small capitals. Both outer and inner arches spring from these piers. The capitals of the central shafts have square abaci, and are enriched. The tympana of the outer arches are covered with scallop, leaf, and billet-ornament. At the base of the triforium runs a square stringcourse, enriched with minute carving. The lozenge ornament prevails round the main arches of the choir, as does the zigzag round those of the nave.

Broad square pilasters, with semi-detached shafts at their angles, fill the spaces between the piers. They terminate at the spring of the triforium arches in double triangular headings, with crocheted sides, and finials of leafage. These headings are Early English, of the same date as the clerestory and vaulting; and between each pair rises a group of so-called vaulting-shafts, with capitals of leafage, terminating at the base of the clerestory; and connected (under the actual base of the clerestory) by a band of open flowers. The _clerestory_ consists of one lofty pointed arch in each bay, divided by a central shaft; on either side is a smaller trefoiled arch. The windows, of two lights, with a quatrefoil in the heading, are placed at the back of the wall-passage, and form in effect a double plane with the large inner arches. They are filled on each side with indifferent stained glass. The choir _vaulting_ is plain quadripartite, with bosses of leafage at the intersections.

X. Before 1841, the east end of the choir was covered with an oaken screen, erected by Bishop Bisse in 1717; and above it was a Decorated window filled with a copy in stained glass of WEST’S picture of the Last Supper. The removal of the screen disclosed the great Norman arch of five orders, within which the reredos is now placed. Above this arch is a small blind arcade; and instead of the Decorated window,

three lancets have been inserted at the back of the clerestory passage. Of these, the central window has been filled with stained glass by HARDMAN; too minute perhaps in design for the height at which it is placed, but very good. The subjects in this window are the Saviour in Majesty, the Resurrection, the Crucifixion. The subjects in the north and south lancets will comprise the principal events of our Lord’s Passion.

The _reredos_ [Plate II.] below was designed by Mr. Cottingham, jun., as a memorial for JOSEPH BAILEY, Esq., M.P. for the county of Hereford, who died in 1850. It is in oolite (Bath stone) and marble; and although too high for its position, is a fine work. Between the five canopied compartments rise small shafts, supporting angels, who carry the instruments of the Passion. The pierced leafage at the back of the canopies is very beautiful. The subjects in the panels are--the Agony in the Garden, Bearing the Cross, the Crucifixion, with floating angels above the Cross, the Resurrection, and the three Maries at the Sepulchre.

At the back of the reredos rises a pier from which spring two pointed arches, leaving a broad tympanum or spandrel, closing the upper part of the Norman arch. This is a restoration of Mr. Cottingham’s. The pier itself is ancient. The spandrel is covered with modern sculpture, having, above, the Saviour in Majesty, with the Evangelists holding scrolls; and below, a figure of Ethelbert, King of East Anglia, who was murdered by Offa, King of Mercia, and is said to have been interred in the first Saxon church on this spot. (See Pt. II.) Miracles were reported as having occurred at his tomb, and the second church here was dedicated to St. Ethelbert.

The very good brass of Bishop TRILLECK (died 1360) is placed on the chancel floor. The graceful arrangement of the vestments--which do not include the tunic--and the architectural design of the canopy deserve special notice. The greater part of the inscription has been lost[35].

Against the easternmost pier on the south side of the choir is a small figure on a bracket, which possibly represents St. Ethelbert. It was found about the year 1700, buried at the entrance of the Lady-chapel, (where it is said to have been concealed during the siege of 1645,) and was replaced in what is believed to have been its original position. The figure wears a coronet terminating in leaves. The strings of the long mantle are crossed on the breast. Whatever the hands once held has been destroyed. The figure is certainly not earlier than the first half of the fourteenth century.

On the _north_ side of the choir, in the easternmost bay, is the effigy of Bishop STANBERY, (died 1474,) whose chantry opens from the aisle opposite; (§ XIV.) The Bishop wears the alb, stole, and chasuble, the flowing ornament on which should be noticed. It should here be mentioned that Wyatt, following the same destructive course as at Salisbury, removed many monuments in the cathedral from their original positions; thereby rendering even their identification a matter of some difficulty.

In the next bay is the effigy of a bishop, fully vested, holding the model of a tower. This is assigned to Bishop GILES DE BRUCE, (died 1215); and Godwin (_De Præsulibus_) conjectured that the model indicated this bishop as having been the builder of the central tower--a conjecture which has been assumed as a certainty by every succeeding writer. But whatever architectural work Bishop Giles may have done, the tower, as was pointed out by Professor Willis, is nearly a century later. His effigy is one of ten which were erected during the Perpendicular period as memorials of earlier bishops, and which are now scattered in different parts of the cathedral. (In the same manner, many effigies of earlier bishops were sculptured at Wells (see that Cathedral) in the first half of the thirteenth century, and are all of Early English character.)

In the same bay is the monument of Bishop BENNETT, (died 1617). He wears the rochet, and a close black cap, and rests his feet on a lion; an unusual instance of the retention of an earlier form. The Bishop was buried on this spot.

The _stalls_ of the choir range up to this bay. They are Decorated, and very good. The small heads and ornaments of the shafts which support the projecting canopies should especially be noticed. The misereres are interesting, but of no special excellence. Two on the south side represent a cook throwing a platter at an intruder, and a pair of wrestlers with ropes about their necks. The whole of this ancient work has been carefully cleaned, and restored where necessary, under the direction of Mr. Scott. The new carving, which is very fine, and well worthy of its companionship with fourteenth-century wood-work, is entirely by Messrs. Ruddle and Thompson of Peterborough. Some of the new misereres, and the elaborately carved ends or heads, sixteen in number, deserve careful attention. The panel-work in front of the stalls is an exact reproduction of that before the episcopal throne.

The floor of the whole choir has been laid with tiles, manufactured (as are those throughout the church with the exception of the nave) by Godwin of Lugwardine. The pavement of the sacrarium is especially rich and elaborate.

The organ (by Renatus Harris, but remodelled and reconstructed by Davison under the direction of Sir Frederick Ouseley) is to be placed within the first archway on the south side of the choir.

XI. Through the north arch of the tower we pass into the _north transept_, [Plate III.]; one of the finest and most interesting parts of the church, which fortunately remained untouched until the cathedral was placed under the care of Mr. G. G. Scott, by whom this transept has been carefully restored. The date of its erection has not been recorded; but we cannot be wrong in assigning it to the period between the death of Bishop CANTILUPE (1282) and his translation in 1287. The Bishop was at first buried in the Lady-chapel, but was

removed to this transept in 1287. The miracles reported at his tomb had already brought large sums to the Church; and the rebuilding of the transept for the reception of his shrine must have been completed before the removal of his body in 1287.

The Norman arches opening to the aisles of nave and choir resemble those which correspond to them on the south side of the church. The transept beyond them was, as we have seen, entirely rebuilt, and is one of the most remarkable examples of the period remaining in England. The unusual form of its arches, and its pure, lofty windows, are sufficiently impressive now; but their effect must have been wonderfully increased when the windows were filled with glass displaying the history and miracles of the sainted Bishop, and when the shrine itself was standing on its pedestal within the eastern aisle, rich with the gold and jewels offered by the numerous pilgrims who knelt daily before it.

The _west_ side of the transept (which is of two bays beyond the aisle passage) is entirely filled by two very lofty windows, of three lights each. The heads of the narrow lights are sharply pointed; and the tracery above is formed by three circles enclosing trefoils. These windows are set back within triangular-headed arches. On the _north_ side is a double window of the same character, divided by a group of banded shafts. The triple lights on either side of these shafts, and the foiled circles above them, precisely resemble the windows on the west side of the transept. The central tracery of the window is formed by a foiled circle, with a larger circle, enclosing a sexfoil, above it. The whole window is set back within a segmental pointed arch, with banded shafts at the angles of the jambs. The _eastern aisle_ of the transept is divided into two bays by a clustered pier, the shafts surrounding which are alternately of sandstone and dark marble. Their capitals are enriched with foliage, and small knots of foliage are placed between the bases. The main arches are sharply pointed, and have many plain mouldings, with one band of dog-tooth ornament, highly detached. The _triforium_ above (which extends beyond the actual transept, over the Norman arch opening to the choir-aisle) is especially striking. In each bay are two sharply pointed arches, each subdivided into three lesser arches, with foiled headings; and with three open quatrefoils as tracery above. The main arch is surrounded by a row of dog-tooth. The large spandrel spaces between the arches are entirely covered with a diaper of leaf-ornament, in low relief. The _clerestory_ windows are octofoils, set far back within pointed arches. On the exterior, the form of the window openings is triangular, like those of the triforium at Westminster and those in the clerestory of the nave at Lichfield. On the interior, the sills of the windows slope forward with overlapping courses of stone, to the stringcourse at the top of the triforium. The sills of the great windows in the transept are formed in a similar manner, with overlapping courses of stone.

The shafts at the angles of all the windows are ringed, and the triangular arches, throughout the transept, are slightly stilted. Such arches are by no means common. They occur, however, in the clerestory on the south side of the nave in Worcester Cathedral, but of later date than this transept, which was possibly imitated by the Worcester architect.

This transept has been carefully and truly “restored,” under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott. The stone-work has been freed from whitewash and cleaned; and the plain quadripartite vaulting has been touched with colour, and the bosses gilt, with excellent effect. The vaulting springs from clustered shafts, the corbels supporting which, on the east side, are beautiful and singular, and resemble bunches of reeds, terminating in a small open flower. The small heads below these corbels, at the intersection of the main arches, should also be noticed.

The transept has been laid with red and green tiles in panels, the divisions being marked in grey sandstone.

XII. The eastern aisle is lighted by three very beautiful windows, each of three lights, with three quatrefoils in the tracery. They are set back within wider arches, as is the case with the windows in the main transept. In this aisle, in a line with the central pier, is the pedestal of the _Cantilupe Shrine_. [Plate IV.] (For a sketch of the life of St. Thomas Cantilupe, the last Englishman canonized before the Reformation, see Pt. II.) Bishop Cantilupe died on his way to Rome, at Civita Vecchia, Aug. 25, 1282. His remains were divided. A portion was interred near Orvieto; the heart was brought to Ashridge in Buckinghamshire; and the bones were brought to his own cathedral at Hereford, where they were deposited in the Lady-chapel. The reputation of Bishop Cantilupe had been great during his life. Numerous miracles were recorded as having taken place at his tomb, which soon became one of the most frequented places of pilgrimage in the west of England; and in 1286 (April 6) his remains were translated to a more stately resting-place in this transept, which had probably been rebuilt in his honour. The King, Edward II., was present at the translation. Bishop Cantilupe was not canonized until 1320[36]; but the pedestal of his shrine, which alone now exists, is (with the exception of the western end, which seems to be at least thirty years later) of the date of his translation.

This is a long parallelogram, narrowing toward the lower end, and is entirely of Purbeck marble. It has two divisions; the lower closed, like an altar-tomb, the upper a flat canopy, supported on small open arches. Upon this rested the actual shrine, containing the relics of the saint. Cantilupe was Provincial Grand Master of the Knights Templars in England; and round the lower division of the pedestal are fifteen figures of Templars in various attitudes, placed in the recesses of a foliated arcade. All are fully armed, in chain-mail, with surcoat, shield, and sword. All are seated, and tread on various monsters, among which are dragons, and swine muzzled. The spandrels in this arcade, and the spandrels between the arches in the upper division, are filled with leafage of the most beautiful and varied character. It is the leafage of the first Decorated period, retaining some of the stiff arrangement of the Early English, but directly copied from nature. In the lower spandrels it is arranged in sprays; in the upper it is often laid in rows of leaves, among which occur oak, maple, and trefoil. The whole of this work will repay the most careful examination. (It should be compared with the foliage of the capitals of the shafts surrounding the central pier of the aisle, which is far more stiff and conventional.) On the top of the lower division of the pedestal was a brass of the Bishop, of which the matrix alone remains.

The position of the shrine in this transept may be compared with that of St. Frideswide at Oxford, and with that of St. Richard de la Wych at Chichester. All had an altar immediately adjoining the shrine, which was dedicated to the saint, and at which the offerings of pilgrims were made. In these cases, however, the usual position of a great shrine--at the back of the high altar--was, for some special reason, departed from. At Hereford, this position of highest honour was probably occupied by the shrine of St. Ethelbert; and the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe must have taken an inferior place, had it been fixed near that. This was avoided by the dedication of the entire transept to the sainted Bishop. In the same manner, the south transept at Chichester seems to have been occupied by the shrine of St. Richard de la Wych; in whose honour the great south window was probably inserted.

On a bracket against the wall adjoining the shrine is a bust of Bishop FIELD, (died 1636). On the floor is a slab with effigy of JOHN D’ACQUABLANCA, Dean of Hereford, (died 1320). He was the nephew of Bishop d’Acquablanca, whose monument (see _post_) is close by. Under the north window of the aisle is a stone coffin, found under the centre of the north arch of the tower, during the restoration of the piers. It may be the coffin of Bishop JOHN DE BRETON, (died 1275).

Under the great north window of the transept is a richly canopied tomb with effigy of Bishop THOMAS CHARLTON, (died 1369). This effigy was not disturbed by Wyatt, and remains in its original position. West of this monument is the effigy of Bishop WESTFALING, (died 1602). The canopy was destroyed by Wyatt. This is the bishop who is said so rarely to have smiled after his consecration to the episcopate; (see Pt. II.)

In the pavement adjoining the choir-aisle, a very good small brass has been inserted for JOHN PHILIPS, (died 1708, aged 32,) whose family were natives of Herefordshire, although the poet himself was born at Bampton in Oxfordshire, of which place his father was rector. His principal work, however, “Cider,” belongs essentially to Herefordshire. A monument to Philips was placed in Westminster Abbey by Lord Chancellor Harcourt, and bears an inscription written by Bishop Atterbury.

XIII. The _north choir-aisle_ is entered through the original Norman arch; which (together with that opening from the nave-aisle) was cleared by Mr. Cottingham from the masonry with which it had been nearly closed, in order to strengthen the tower piers. Between this aisle and the eastern aisle of the transept is the very beautiful monument of Bishop D’ACQUABLANCA, (1240-1268). [Plate V.] The effigy lies under a canopy supported by light shafts of Purbeck marble. The gables of the canopy are crowned with floriated crosses, the central cross bearing a figure of the crucified Saviour. The monument may be compared with that of Bishop Bridport at Salisbury, (died 1262,) which is, however, far richer and more elaborate. The tomb of Bishop d’Acquablanca was originally richly coloured; and an attempt at restoration was made by an amateur in 1861. It was soon, however, discontinued,--not unwisely, as the commencement remains to prove.

The Norman piers of the choir and the monuments described in § X. should be noticed from the aisle, the pavement of which has been laid in square panels of red and green tiles, with a border of grey stone. In the north wall of the aisle is a series of arched recesses, of Decorated character, with the open-flower ornament in the mouldings, episcopal heads at the crown of the arches, and heads of ecclesiastics at the intersections. In the first of these recesses east of the transept, is an effigy assigned to Bishop GEOFFRY DE CLIVE, (died 1120). This is one of the series of Perpendicular effigies already noticed, (§ X.) Beyond this recess a door opens to the turret staircase leading to the Archive Room and Chapter Library, (see § XXIII.,) above the north transept. The effigy in the next recess (also Perpendicular) is given to Bishop HUGH DE MAPENORE, (died 1219). The window above is filled with stained glass, by Clayton and Bell, as a memorial of JOHN HUNT, organist, died 1842, and his nephew James, “who died of grief three days after his uncle;” as appears from an inscription on a small brass plate at the side of the window. Beyond the entrance to Bishop Stanbery’s chapel is an arch open to the chapel itself, under which is a Perpendicular effigy assigned to Bishop RICHARD, (called “de Capella,”) died 1127.

XIV. _Bishop Stanbery’s Chantry_ (1453-1474) [Plate VI.] is a good example of rich late Perpendicular. It is 16 ft. by 8 ft.; with two windows on the north side, (filled with stained glass, which forms part of the Musgrave memorial; see _post_,) and on the south the entrance, and the arch with effigy already mentioned. The west end is covered with tracery and shields in panels; and the east has shields with emblems above the place of the altar. The ceiling is richly groined. The grotesque capitals at the angles of the chapel should be remarked; as should the shields with emblems of St. Matthias, St. Thomas, and St. Bartholomew, over the arch on the south side. Other shields bear the arms of the see and of the deanery, with those assigned to St. Ethelbert, and to Leofric of Mercia.

Bishop Stanbery’s monument (§ X.) is on the wall of the choir immediately opposite his chantry. On the

panels toward the aisle are figures of saints, and angels bearing shields. In the wall of the aisle above the chantry, which is only 11 ft. in height, is a Decorated window filled with stained glass as a memorial of the late Dr. MUSGRAVE, Archbishop of York; who, as Bishop of Hereford, was among the first to set on foot the restoration of his cathedral. The glass, which is by WARRENTON, exhibits the principal events in the life of St. Paul. The subjects are continued in the windows of the chantry, which form part of the memorial.

XV. The _north-east transept_ opens immediately beyond Bishop Stanbery’s chantry. The main character of this lesser, or eastern transept, is at present early Decorated, (geometrical); but it retains traces of the original Norman ground-plan. The Norman cathedral, like most great churches in England of that period, seems to have terminated in a triple apse, of which the arrangement may have resembled the eastern apses of Norwich and Gloucester, (see those Cathedrals). Portions of the central apse remain in the walls of the vestibule to the Lady-chapel; and parts of the apses which opened from the choir-aisles have been retained in the existing transept. These are all of transitional Norman character; and are considerably later than the Norman choir or nave.

Extensive alterations had been made in this part of the Norman cathedral before the great north transept was rebuilt in order to receive the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe. The Lady-chapel, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century, was the first addition; and its building must have followed very closely on the completion of the Norman retro-choir with its apses, the side walls of which were retained in the vestibule of the Lady-chapel. Considerably later, (at the beginning of the fourteenth century), after the completion of the north transept, the terminal apses of the choir-aisles were almost entirely removed, and the existing transept constructed. It is much to be regretted that none of these works have any recorded date.

A peculiar character is given to this transept by an octagonal pier, which rises in the centre, and assists in carrying the vaulting. The vaulting is quadripartite, with very good bosses of leafage. The windows are early Decorated. In the west wall of the transept are some Norman arches, which belonged to the original apse.

The transept has been restored under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott. The tiles of the pavement are laid in panels, in which red and yellow are the prevailing colours. In one of the panels is a good modern brass for members of the TERRY family.

Under the north-east window is a monument which has been assigned to Bishop GODWIN, (died 1633); but which is in reality much earlier. Under the adjoining window, west, is the canopied tomb of Bishop SWINFIELD, (1283-1317). The episcopal effigy has long disappeared, and that which is now seen on the tomb is the effigy of some unknown lay person, dug up in the cloisters. The arched canopy has the ball-flower in its mouldings; and at the back of the recess is a much

mutilated sculpture of the Crucifixion, surrounded by vine-leaves and tendrils. The work resembles the leafage of the Cantilupe Shrine, and is possibly by the same hand. In a recess decorated with the ball-flower under the arch opening to the vestibule of the Lady-chapel, is the effigy of an unknown lady, (fourteenth century,) dug up outside the church during the restorations. Against the walls of the transept are ranged some coffin slabs, with floriated and enriched crosses, found at different times and in various parts of the cathedral. One of these (_circa_ 1250?) is given in Plate VII.

XVI. From the transept we pass into the _ambulatory_, or _retro-choir_, at the back of the altar. This is transitional Norman, and its two bays are divided by a pointed arch, which springs from circular shafts, at the back of the altar and at the entrance to the vestibule of the Lady-chapel. The ribs of the quadripartite vaulting are enriched with chevron and diamond mouldings of late character. The arches at the back of the choir-screen were decorated (see § X.) by Mr. Cottingham. On the base of the central shaft is an inscription recording the erection of the screen as a memorial of the late JOSEPH BAILEY, Esq.; (see § X.)

The existing arrangement seems to indicate (although this has not been directly proved) that the Norman ground-plan, like that of Norwich, comprised an ambulatory or “procession-path,” passing round at the back of the high altar, and giving access to the central and side apses, which opened from it.

XVII. The walls of this central apse are retained in the _vestibule_ to the Lady-chapel. They are pierced north and south with transitional Norman window openings; pointed arches, with massive mouldings, one of which, an enriched diamond, runs round the soffete, and is carried on the capitals of triple side shafts. The foliage of the capitals is of completely Early English character. These windows (the glass in which, as is indicated by their rebated jambs, was fixed in wooden

frames) were built up in the wall, until the restoration of this part of the cathedral by Mr. Cottingham.

In the south wall of the vestibule is the very interesting monument, with effigy, of Dean BEREW, or BEAURIEÚ, (died 1462). The head of the effigy, delicately featured and full of expression, and the arrangement of the robe, especially at the feet, are very striking, and should be noticed. The feet rest on a boar; and in the hollow of the arch-moulding are boars and rue leaves, forming a “rebus” of the Dean’s name. Over the whole monument there are traces of painting, and at the back of the recess the kneeling figure of an ecclesiastic is distinguishable; possibly that of Dean Berew himself.

On the floor is the very fine _brass_ of Richard Delamare (1435) and his wife Isabella. There is also here the _brass_ of a priest in cope, _circa_ 1450.

XVIII. An ascent of five steps (rendered necessary by the height of the crypt below; see § XXVI.) leads to the _Lady-chapel_, [Plate VIII.]; very rich Early English, and dating from the first half of the thirteenth century, (_circ._ 1220). It is 45 ft. by 24, and consists of three bays, in each of which, on either side, (except where the bay on the south side is filled by the Audley Chantry,) are two large windows. When Professor Willis made his report in 1841, the eastern gable of this chapel (then used as the Chapter Library) was in a state of “ruinous disintegration;” and one of the first works entrusted to Mr. Cottingham was the rebuilding of this eastern end. The pavement of the Lady-chapel, and other restorations, have happily been completed under the direction of Mr. G. G. Scott.

At the east end are five narrow lancets, set back within arches resting on clustered shafts, and much enriched with the dog-tooth ornament. The wall above these windows is pierced with five foiled openings; of which the three central are oval, the exterior on either side circular. The windows have been filled with stained glass designed by Cottingham and executed by GIBBS, as a memorial to the late Dean MEREWETHER,--to whom the cathedral is so greatly indebted,--who is interred at the north-east angle of the chapel. The subjects commence with the early life of the Virgin, and proceed through that of our Lord, terminating with the supper in the house of Mary and Martha. The glass is good, but suffers from the want of white and neutral tints.

A black marble slab, with a brass plate by Hardman, has been placed over the grave of Dean Merewether. The inscription bears record that “to the restoration of this cathedral he devoted the unwearied energies of his life till its close on the 4th of April, 1850.”

The very rich clustered shafts and arches of the side windows should be especially noticed. The capitals of the shafts are of Early English leafage; and there are small heads at the intersections and crowns of the arches. A circle enclosing a quatrefoil pierces the wall above these windows. The vaulting is plain quadripartite, and springs from shafts which descend upon a base raised slightly above the pavement.

The modern pavement of the Lady-chapel is laid with red and green tiles, in large square panels. The whole design is broad and good in outline; and is somewhat richer at the altar end, which is raised on one step. The aumbry and double piscina on the south side of the altar are reproductions of the originals, which were in a state of extreme decay. Of the two stained windows on the south side, the most eastern (of late fourteenth-century character) was removed from St. Peter’s Church in Hereford, and was given to the cathedral by the late R. B. Phillipps, Esq. The window below is filled with Munich glass.

In the central bay on the north side of the chapel is a very fine Perpendicular monumental recess, within which is laid the effigy (much earlier than the recess) of a knight of the Bohun family. The recess itself has an upper stage or canopy, with open tabernacle-work, in the arches of which figures have been placed, none of which originally belonged to it, with the exception of the two central ones, now headless, representing the Saviour and the Blessed Virgin. The figures on either side were found imbedded in a mass of mortar behind the oaken choir-screen, on its removal by Mr. Cottingham. They represent St. John the Baptist, St. Thomas Cantilupe, and St. Thomas of Canterbury,--the latter distinguished by the pall and the patriarchal cross,--the fourth figure is uncertain.

The effigy placed in this recess has generally been assigned to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, _temp._ Edward III. He was not however interred in this cathedral; and although the effigy is certainly of that date, it probably represents some less distinguished member of that great family. The features, uninjured, are fine. The chain-mail, the fringed poleyns at the knees, the surcoat, and all the details, should be noticed. The dog at the feet turns upward, licking his paw.

The monument, with effigy, in the most eastern bay on this side, is that of JOANNA DE BOHUN, Countess of Hereford, (called Joanna de Kilpeck, from her castle there,) (died 1327). It has been painted in accordance with the remains of colour on its several portions; but with very indifferent success. The effigy is a good example of costume. Male and female heads project at the angles of the canopy; and the border of the slab on which the effigy rests has small human heads and roses with their leaves, alternately. The will of the Countess bequeaths a considerable estate to the cathedral.

XIX. In the central bay on the south side is the _Audley Chapel or Chantry_, [Plate IX.,] constructed by Bishop EDMUND AUDLEY, (1492-1502,) before his translation to Salisbury in the latter year. The chantry here was no doubt intended for the place of his own interment; but during his episcopate at Salisbury (1502-1524) he built a second chantry in the choir of that cathedral, (see Handbook for SALISBURY,) within which he was buried.

The Audley Chapel at Hereford is of two stages, access to the upper being afforded by a circular staircase at the south-west angle. The lower story is separated

from the Lady-chapel by a lofty stone screen with pierced panels. Figures of saints and of religious persons are represented on this screen, which has been restored and painted. The iron-work on the door opening to the staircase is excellent as an example, and should be noticed. The lock bears the Bishop’s initials.

The chapel is five-sided, and is lighted by two windows. There is a third window, opening through the screen into the Lady-chapel. The vaulted ceiling shews the remains of rich colour; and at the east end, over the place of the altar, are traces of a large painting with trees and figures. The upper story has five windows, in which are some good remains of the original glass. On the central boss of the groining is the Virgin, crowned, and surrounded by an aureole of rays. The arms of the Deanery, (Azure, five bends or,) and those of Bishop Audley, appear on other parts of the ceiling, with a shield bearing the initials (R. I.) of some unknown person. The top of the screen forms a parapet, dividing this story from the Lady-chapel. There are no traces of an altar here; and the upper story of this chantry probably served--like those of the chantries of Abbots Farley and Hanley at Gloucester, (see that Cathedral,) which are also attached to the Lady-chapel, and are constructed on a similar plan--as an oratory.

XX. The _south-east transept_ resembles that opposite; but it was perhaps altered from the Norman apse at a somewhat later date. Its details are not so good as those of the north-east transept; and the window tracery is of almost flamboyant character. Bases of the earlier work remain in the walls.

Under the wall dividing the vestibule of the Lady-chapel from this transept is the monument, with effigy, of Bishop LEWIS CHARLTON, (died 1369). Above it is that of Bishop COKE, (died 1646). In a square recess, in the east wall, is the fine bust of a Mr. JAMES THOMAS, who is buried near this place; and under it the brass of Sir RICHARD DELABERE, (1514,) and two wives. In the recess, with the bust, are placed some carved Norman capitals, of early character. Under the south wall of the transept are monuments for Bishop LINDSELL, (died 1634,) and Dean HARVEY, (died 1500); neither of any great interest. Some fragments of brasses are attached to the walls of this transept, but are of little importance. The north-east window has been filled with stained glass by WARRENTON, at the sole expense of Lord Saye and Sele, as a memorial of Bishop HUNTINGFORD, (1815-1834). The subjects are from the life of St. Peter.

XXI. In the south wall of the _south choir-aisle_ are four arched recesses, of the same date and character (Decorated) as those in the aisle opposite. They contain four Perpendicular effigies; assigned (beginning from the east) to Bishop WILLIAM DE VERE, (died 1199); Bishop HUGH FOLIOT, (died 1234); Bishop ROBERT DE BETUN, (died 1148); and Bishop ROBERT DE MELUN, (died 1167). On the floor is the fine brass of Dean EDMUND FROWSETOURE, (died 1529,) in a richly diapered cope. Among the figures in the canopy are those of St. Ethelbert and of St. Thomas Cantilupe.

Between the two easternmost piers of the choir is the monument, with effigy, of Bishop MAYEW, (1504-1516; see Pt. II.) The elaborate canopy has been restored, so far as any authority remained for the details. The panels in front of the monument are filled with figures of saints. The effigy, fully vested, and wearing a richly jewelled mitre, should be especially noticed. Under an arch opening to the choir, in the next bay, is a Perpendicular effigy assigned to Bishop DE LOSINGA, (died 1096). Above it is a fragment of good wooden screen-work, of Decorated character.

A door in the westernmost bay of this aisle opens to two plain Norman rooms, now used as vestries. In the Perpendicular period an “eastern chamber” of two stories was added to this Norman building, and served as the treasury of the cathedral.

XXII. The great _south transept_ retains much of its Norman work, but was much altered during the Perpendicular period. The east wall is entirely Norman, and is covered with five ranges of arcades, all of which are blank except those at the levels of the triforium and clerestory, which open to a wall-passage. The transept is only lighted on this side by two Norman windows in the clerestory. A large Norman arch, including two smaller, all much enriched, occupies the triforium space above the arch opening to the choir-aisle; and perhaps indicates that the Norman triforium

has been already mentioned, to the _Archive Room_ and _Chapter Library_, above the great north transept. This room has been thoroughly restored by Mr. G. G. Scott. The Library contains about 2,000 volumes, many of great rarity and interest. Nearly all are chained to the shelves; and the general appearance of the carefully guarded treasures is sufficiently curious. [Plate X.] Among the most remarkable printed books are--A series of Bibles, ranging from 1480 to 1690; Higden’s _Polychronicon_, by Caxton, 1495; Caxton’s _Legenda Aurea_, 1483; and Lyndewode _Super Constitutiones Provinciales_, 1475. Of the MSS., by far the most interesting is an ancient _Antiphonarium_ containing the old “Hereford Use.” This “sets forth not only the services of particular days, the chants to be used and the lectures to be read, but contains a treatise on music and an ample calendar, in which are noted the obits of the benefactors and bishops of the church; and by which, with the aid of the Dominical letter, we are enabled to assign to the volume the date of 1265[37]”. It was purchased at a book-stall in Drury-lane about the year 1820; and redeemed by the Dean and Chapter, who restored it to its original and legitimate resting-place. Here also is preserved, carefully protected by plate glass, the remarkable _Map of the World_, [Plate XI.,] which is one of the most valuable relics of mediæval geography. It was the work of a certain Richard of Haldingham and of Lafford, (Holdingham and Sleaford in Lincolnshire,) who has commemorated himself in the following verses:--

“Tuz ki cest estorie ont Ou oyront, ou luront, ou veront, Prient à Jhesu en deyté De Richard de Haldingham e de Lafford eyt pité Ki l’at fet e compassé Ke joie en cel li seit doné.”

The latter part of the thirteenth century is the date which has usually been assigned to it; but M. D’Avezac, President of the Geographical Society of Paris, who has recently examined the map with much care, arrives, from internal evidence, at the conclusion that it was designed at the beginning of the year 1314[38]. The map itself (drawn on thick vellum, and glued to a framework of oak) is founded on the mediæval belief that all geographical knowledge resulted from the observations of three philosophers, (here named Nichodoxus, Theodotus, and Policlitus,) who were sent forth by Augustus Cæsar to survey the three divisions of the world, when it was about to be taxed at the birth of our Lord. The Emperor is accordingly figured giving his directions to the philosophers. The world is represented as round, and surrounded by the ocean. At the top of the map, which represents the east, is Paradise,

with the Tree of Life, and Adam and Eve. Above is the Last Judgment, with the Virgin interceding for mankind. Jerusalem appears in the centre of the map; and near it, the crucifix is planted on “Mount Calvary.” Babylon has its famous tower; Rome bears the inscription, “Roma caput mundi tenet orbis frena rotundi;” and Troy is described as “Troja civitas bellicosissima.” (These four cities were regarded as the most important in the world: Troy, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, was a favourite subject of romance.) The British Isles occupy a considerable space; and Hereford, with its cathedral, is by no means obscurely placed. A great part of the map is filled with inscriptions taken from Solinus, Isidore of Seville, and others; and with drawings of the monstrous animals and peoples which the mediæval cosmography supposed to exist in different parts of the world. The monkey is assigned to Norway; the scorpion to the banks of the Rhine; and the “oroc” (aurochs) to Provence. Lot’s wife, the labyrinth of Crete, the columns of Hercules, and Scylla and Charybdis, should also be noticed. “The portrait of Abraham is seen in Chaldæa, and that of Moses on Mount Sinai. Amid the deserts of Ethiopia St. Anthony is recognised, with his hook-beaked satyrs and fauns. St. Augustine in his pontifical habit marks the situation of his own Hippo[39].”

The history of this very remarkable map is uncertain. It was discovered, probably about a century ago, under the floor of Bishop Audley’s Chapel; and Dean Merewether suggested (but apparently without the slightest authority) that it might have served originally as an altar-piece[40].

In the church is preserved a very curious chair of the thirteenth or fourteenth century, closely resembling those often represented in early sculpture and painting. It is formed in great measure of little turned balusters; and may be compared with a chair figured by M. Viollet-le-Duc[41] from sculpture at Auxerre. The Hereford chair (which at first sight looks like work of the seventeenth century, but is undoubtedly early, and a most valuable remnant of antiquity) may perhaps have served as the bishop’s throne, before the construction, in the fourteenth century, of that now in use;--or it may have been the bishop’s chair at the altar.

XXIV. A door at the eastern end of the south nave-aisle opens to the _cloisters_, of which only two walks, the east and south, remain. The west walk was pulled down in the reign of Edward VI. to make room for the

Grammar School, (taken down in 1836,) and a north walk never existed. (Hereford Cathedral, it should be remembered, had no monastic establishment attached to it; and this cloister, [Plate XII.] unlike that at Gloucester, was little more than an ornamental walk, connected with the Bishop’s Palace). The cloister is of Perpendicular date, with window-openings which deserve notice. The south walk is more richly groined than the east. At the south-east corner is a square turreted tower, called the “Ladies’,” or “Ladye Arbour,” the original purpose of which is not clear; nor has it been possible to trace the origin of the name, which apparently has some reference to the Virgin.

Some good old iron-work on a door between the cloister and the chapter-yard should be noticed. In the cloister are placed monuments for--Dr. MATTHEWS, (with sculptured figures); Bishop HUNTINGFORD, (died 1832); and Bishop GREY, (died 1837).

Between the cloister and the Bishop’s Palace, a remarkable chapel, which seems to have been early Norman, existed until it was pulled down by Bishop EGERTON, (1724-1746). It had an upper and a lower story, in which were altars dedicated respectively to St. Mary Magdalene and to St. Catherine. One wall alone remains, and deserves notice.

From the east walk of the cloister a door opened to the vestibule of the _chapter-house_. This was ruined by the Parliamentarian troops; and much of its stone-work was used by Bishop BISSE, (died 1721,) and by his successors until recently, for the repairs of the episcopal palace. The foundations and fragments which remain shew that it was rich Decorated, in shape a decagon, with a projecting buttress at each angle.

At the south-west angle of the lesser transept is an entrance to the Vicars’ Cloister; (see § XXVII.)

XXV. The _exterior_ of the great _north transept_ should be especially noticed. The remarkable windows shew to great advantage from the outside, in connection with the massive buttresses, of which those at the angles are turreted, with spiral cappings. The clerestory windows are, as has already (§ XI.) been mentioned, triangular on the exterior, and resemble those in the outer wall of the triforium in the nave of Westminster. The upper window in the north wall opens from the Archive Room, (§ XXIII.) The external sills of all these windows resemble those of the interior, (§ XI.) They were walled up, but have been restored by Mr. Scott from original portions found embedded in the walls, partly in their places, and partly detached.

The date of the _central tower_, which rises above this transept, has not been recorded, but it may safely be placed between 1300 and 1310. It was probably undertaken immediately after the completion of the north transept, and the cost of its erection, like that of the transept, was no doubt defrayed from the sums which continued to be offered at the shrine of St. Thomas Cantilupe[42]. The tower (161 ft. high to the top of the pinnacles) is of two stages above the roofs, with buttresses at the angles. (The pinnacles which cap these buttresses are modern, and date from 1830.) The arcades and window-openings, as well as the buttresses, are covered with the ball-flower ornament, which is scarcely anywhere found in such profusion as here, and in the south aisle of the nave of Gloucester; (see that Cathedral).

The _Stanbery Chapel_ (§ XIV.) projects between the great and the eastern transept. The graceful Decorated window of the choir aisle, which rises above it, and the Early English arcades which cover the wall of the choir between the clerestory windows, as well as the windows themselves, (see § IX.,) should here be noticed.

XXVI. On the south side of the Lady-chapel a _porch_ opens to a staircase leading to the _crypt_. The porch (which is finely recessed) is, like the crypt, of the same date--Early English (see § XVIII.)--as the Lady-chapel, under which it extends. The crypt extends under the whole of the Lady-chapel; and is the solitary example in an English cathedral of a crypt constructed after the end of the eleventh century[43]. It is lighted by plain lancets, and consists of a nave and aisles 50 ft. long, and divided by plain clustered shafts. The crypt was repaired in 1497 by Andrew Jones, “Mercator hujus civitatis,” whose altar-tomb,--covered with an incised slab of large dimensions and elaborate decoration, representing the merchant and his wife--remains in the centre. This crypt is called the “Golgotha”--from its having been used as the charnel or _domus carnaria_--the place appropriated for the decent reception of disinterred fragments of the bodies of the defunct, and special services for the repose of their souls. Adjoining Worcester, Norwich, and some other cathedrals, a chapel, separated from the cathedral itself, was used for this purpose.

The _east end_ of the Lady-chapel was, it must be remembered, rebuilt by Mr. Cottingham, (§ XVIII.) The gable above the five lancet windows is by no means an exact reproduction of the original, and the work is not too good. The Audley Chantry (§ XIX.) projects very picturesquely on the south side of the Lady-chapel. The side pinnacles were reproduced by Mr. Scott from old drawings; the finials are original, having been preserved in the crypt.

The existing _west front_ of the cathedral is, as has already been said, a composition of Wyatt’s, and is unworthy of notice. The total exterior length of the church, including the buttresses, is 344 ft.

XXVII. On the south side of the Lady-chapel is the entrance to the _College of Vicars Choral_, (incorporated in 1396,) a very picturesque quadrangle, with an inner cloister. It is for the most part Perpendicular, (_circa_ 1474). A long cloistral walk (109 ft.) leading from the quadrangle of the college to the south-east transept of the cathedral has the oaken beams of its roof very finely carved.

The _episcopal palace_ lies south between the cathedral and the river Wye. It is almost entirely formed out of an ancient Norman hall with pillars of timber, and is consequently of considerable interest. In the Deanery is preserved a small reliquary, of Limoges work, dating from the early part of the thirteenth century. On it is represented the martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury: on the lower part the murder, on the upper part the entombment of the saint. It no doubt contained a relic of the Archbishop. Similar reliquaries, with the same subjects, exist in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries, and of Sir Philip Egerton.

HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.