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WINKLES’S

AR CHITECTURAL AND PICTURESQUE

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF THE

CATHEDRAL CHURCHES

0P

finglaub an}: @3125;

THE DRAWINGS MADE FROMVSKETCHES TAKEN EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK,

BY ROBERT GARLAND, ARCHITECT.

“'I'I‘II AN

HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT.

VOLUME 11.

101mm :

EFFINGHAM WILSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE;
AND CHARLES TILT, FLEET STREET.

1838.

INDEX.

fiettrbnrougb @atbcbral.

West Front

North-East View . .
View of the Porch, West End
View across the North Transept
The Nave

The Lady Chapel

Ground Plan

Norma!) (mammal.

View from the East Hill
West Front

South-East View

View across the Nave

East End of the Choir
Ground Plan . .
Entrance to the Cloisters

31mm (Eatbctlral.

South-West View

West Front

North-East View

The Southern Tower

View from the Bishop’s Garden
The Nave, looking West

The Bishop’s Throne

Bishop Stafi'ord’s Monument
The Chapter Room

Ground Plan

afitiatnl mammal.

North-East View
The North Aisle
Ante-Choir
Chapter-House
Ground Plan

QBxforiJ (flatworm.

North-\Vest View
North Aisle of Choir
The Choir

Ground Plan

Page
72
7—1
75
77
77
82
8'2

85
86
88
91
93
94
94

97
101
194
105
106
107
109
111
113
113

coca on

ur—lD—lh-‘b—‘l
IOBIOIOIG

CO

136
137
137
137

THE EDITOR’S PREFACE

SECOND VOLUME.

For. the difference observable in the historical and descriptive
accounts of the Cathedrals in the first and second volume of this work,
the reader may perhaps desire some explanation. They are the
production of two different editors. The editor of the first volume
having declined at the close of it to proceed, another was sought, and
obtained, who consented to undertake the task, without any remu-
neration, except the task itself, which has been the means of his
passing a solitary hour or two of many evenings in the most agreeable
manner. The editor of the present volume however was not con-
strained to pursue the same course as his predecessor, either in respect
of the information or in its arrangement, and it is in these particulars
that the difference will be found chiefly to reside. If the information
contained in the present volume be not so full in some particulars as
in the former, it is extended over a Wider field, comprising topics
not touched upon by the first editor, and which will be highly inte-
resting to some, and more especially to the clerical reader. The
arrangement is the same in every case, and has been laid down with
a view to give the clearest idea possible of the subject in hand.

In the historical and descriptive account of the Cathedrals in the
present volume, the arrangement adopted is simply this : it sets
out with the origin of the see, then proceeds to give some account of
the Cathedrals which have preceded the present, and which are deli-
neated in this work; then the times when, and the benefactors by Whom
the present and all former Cathedrals were erected: the appearance
of each one of the present Cathedrals at a distance, their situations;
a particular description and critical examination of every portion of
these edifices, first externally, beginning with the west front, and
next internally, noticing every peculiarity, every beauty, and every
defect in the architecture, the most calamitous accidents which have
rendered any very important restorations necessary ; and concludes

Vi PREFACE.

this part of the subject with a description of the most remarkable
monuments both ancient and modern.

To this information is added an account of the present establish-
ments in each Cathedral, the value of the bishoprics in the king’s
books, the present actual value as returned by the present prelates
to the Church Commissioners, the former and present extent of
the dioceses as settled by the late Act, and concludes with brief
biographical sketches of the most eminent prelates who have filled
the several sees from their first erection to the present times.

If the qualification of the editor of this volume for the work he has
thus gratuitously undertaken be inquired into, his answer is first, the
study of the subjects contained in it, from his youth; secondly, an
attentive examination of every Cathedral in the kingdom, most of
which he has visited many times; and, lastly, his residing close to
to the first private library in England, if not in the world, to which
he has free access at all times, and from which he has obtained that
assistance in the fulfilment of his self-imposed task, without which,
(notwithstanding his previous study and knowledge of the subject),
he would not have dared to undertake it.

In the third and last volume of this work notice will be taken of the
two new sees of Ripon and Manchester, and their Cathedral Churches;
the former see already erected and filled, the latter although deter-
mined on, the design is not to be put into execution until a vacancy
shall occur in either of the sees of St. Asaph or Bangor. On the
erection of the see of Ripon, that of Bristol was consolidated with
Gloucester, and on the erection of Manchester into a bishop’s see,
that of Bangor will be consolidated with St. Asaph: so that the
number of prelates and dioceses will be the same as before. From
this arrangement the only good that will result is, that some bishops
will be a little relieved, but episcopacy receives no strength, and
therefore the Church will be but little if at all benefited. No one
can justly accuse the present prelates of negligence or want-of zeal,
they do as much as in them lies, but they have the disheartening
consciousness continually before them, that the work is more than
they can do. \Vhat can a bishop know of his clergy by seeing them
once in three years, and then only for a few hours while he delivers
his charge to them in the church, and dines with them afterwards at an
inn? or what can he know of their flocks, or what connexion with, or

PREFACE. vii

what interest in their bishop can they feel, whom if they see at all, it
is but once in their whole lives, for a few minutes at their confirmation?
Then again, for the purpose of confirming, the bishops can only go to
a few of the largest towns in their diocese, and the inhabitants of the
villages around are obliged to meet. him from a distance of eight, ten,
or even twelve miles, which to the poor is often so very inconvenient
that their confirmation is in consequence altogether neglected. But
the collecting a great number of young persons together of both sexes
in a large town is of itself very objectionable. The noise, the bustle,
the gaiety, and above all the dinner which is given after confirmation
to the poorer sort at a public house, tend greatly to do away with the
solemnity of the occasion, and to dissipate all the serious impressions
which the rite of confirmation itself, aided by the previous preparation
for it by the parochial clergy, may have produced. Often it happens
that a bishop from age or infirmity is unable to visit his diocese at all;
it is true in such a case some one of his brethren will be found to do
this service for him, but the substituted bishop comes with no know-
ledge of the diocese, and must deprive his own the while both of his
presence and his servcies. All these inconveniences, not to say evils,
can only be remedied by the appointment of more bishops. Why
should not every bishop have a coadjutor, or at least such of them as
are either by reason of their age or their infirmities incapacitated
from doing their duty? under these circumstances visitations and
confirmations might be held more frequently, and not only in the larger
towns, but in most of the villages also, and then no candidates for
confirmation would be drawn more than two» or three miles from
home, and after the ceremony might immediately return to their
families. But how, it may be asked. are these coadjutant bishops
to be maintained? the answer is, let the richer prebendal stalls, as
many as may be necessary for the purpose, be given up to this
object ; for as it is not supposed that these additional bishops would
have seats in parliament, their incomes need not be so large as the
incomes of their brethren, who have, and who, it is hoped, will
continue to possess that privilege so necessary to the well being, if
not to the existence of the present establishment in church and
state. For the removal of all existing abuses however in every
department both of church and state, and for the remedy of the most
glaring defects much has been done of late years, much is still doing,

viii PREFACE.

but much also remains to be done. It is with the greatest gratitude,
to the Author of all good, and with the greatest joy on England’s
account, that every lover of his country must observe the vast
exertions which are now every where made to provide religious
instruction and pastoral care for our enormously increased population.
With regard to the episcopal revenues, too much cannot be said in
praise of the more equal distribution of them among the prelates
which is now in progress. This arrangement will in time supersede
the necessity of bishops holding any other preferments in com-
mendam, a measure fraught with many evil consequences: and will
also make translations much less frequent, which are now acknow—
ledged on all hands to be attended with as many and even greater
evils than commendams. At the Reformation all these defects were
seen and lamented, but the reformers of the sixteenth century very
properly applied themselves to the uprooting of the worst and most
dangerous abuses : and were contented for that time if they could by
any justifiable means, correct the errors that had crept into the faith
of the church, errors which like cankers were eating into the very
Vitals of Christianity: but it is left to the reformers of the nineteenth
century to set the rest in order, and so complete the work of their
predecessors, of blessed memory, whose cruel sufferings and death
for the truth’s sake, have proved to the whole Christian world beyond
dispute, that one error at least had crept into the church, and that a
truly anti—christian one, the error of PERSECUTION. That Jews and
Heathens should both persecute Christians, as we know they did in
the early ages of the church, cannot be justly a matter of surprise ;
but that Christians should rise up against Christians, that the pro-
fessed disciples of the same meek and merciful master, that believers
in the same Lord and Saviour should actually “ bite and devour one
another,” is indeed a strange, a grievous, and an awful error.

 

 

 

 

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

THE first authentic account of any building for Christian worship at
Lincoln is given by Bede, who says that Paulinus, a missionary from
Rome and companion of Augustin, having converted the governor
Bletta, orBlecca, built here, in the year 628, a church of stone, of
admirable workmanship, the walls of which remained firm in his days,
above a century afterwards, although the roof had been destroyed.
It is not pretended, however, that this building. enjoyed the dignity
and honour of being a Cathedral Church, or that Paulinus was bishop
of Lincoln. His preaching was successful, but we do not find that
on his departure from Lincoln he left any one there in the quality of
bishop. Of his building we hear no more till the year 1088, when
Remigius removed the episcopal seat from Dorchester to Lincoln,
and so became the first bishop of it. It is well known that Remigius
appropriated the parish church of St. Mary Magdalene, at Lincoln,
to his Cathedral, but we are no where told what use he made of it,
or that the church of Paulinus was dedicated to that saint: and yet
some have not only assumed this, but also that the building of
Paulinus, was when Remigius arrived at Lincoln in 1088, near three
hundred and sixty years after Bede’s time, still so perfect and so
beautiful that he only added to it, and that when Hugh de Burgundy
was elected bishop, in the year 1186, and rebuilt the Cathedral on a
more extended scale, afterit had been injured by an earthquake, that
he found some part of the west front still sufficiently sound and
retainedit, the very part which Remigius had retained of the original
church of Paulinus, which, say they, now forms a part of the west
front of the present Cathedral. But where is the satisfactory proof
of all this? We can indeed readily excuse a Lincoln antiquary for
coming to such a conclusion from such data —— a conclusion so flattering
to his feelings, and so much to the honour of his native city; but the
impartial historian, swayed by no personal interest, and biassed by no
early associations and local attachments, can see nothing in it but
improbable conjecture and the amiable weakness of those who form it.

The building which Paulinus erected in the seventh century, and

VOL II. B

2 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

which was a ruin in the eighth, might very well be the wonder of
both, without being that of the eleventh also, if indeed it were then
in existence at all. The probability therefore seems to be, that,
granting the Church of Paulinus to have been dedicated to St. Mary
Magdalene ( of which however there is not the least proof), Remigius
made use of it for his Cathedral, in respect of its site, and such of the
materials as were found to be in sufliciently good condition to be
worked up again in the new building.1 About the beginning of the
eleventh century the art of building revived, and before the close of
it many churches, considerable for their dimensions and architecture,
were raised in Germany, France, and England. Accordingly we
read that the Cathedral of Remigius was no mean edifice. The plan
of it, according to.Leland and others, was that of a double cross, or a
nave and choir with two transepts, one in the usual place, and another
of less dimensions, but parallel to it, and to the eastward of it, which
is the plan of the present Cathedral. At the west end were two
towers, and a central one at the interscetion of the greater transept
with the nave and choir. From the west front, which had three
circular arched doors, to the greater transept, were eight circular
arches, supported by cylindrical columns of vast thickness, and sur-
mounted by a corresponding tier of circular-headed windows; about
the middle of the wall above the arches was a passage leading to the
windows all round the church, and a communication between the
central and western towers. On the eastern' side of the greater
transept were six arches, within each of which was a chapel dedicated
to some saint. From the greater to the east side of the less transept
were five arches, east of these was only one arch on each side, after
which the north and south aisles formed a semi—circular junction, at
the east end of the Cathedral, behindthe great altar. Of this building
there can be no doubt that some portions yet remain, and form a part
of the present Cathedral, viz., the middle part of the west front as
high as the row of intersecting circular arches with their columns,
and the western towers as far as the bottom of the great windows in
the upper story of them 3 and this is all.
Lincolnshire was part of the kingdom of Mercia, and in the time
of Paulinus subject to a Pagan monarch, but afterwards came within

’ Stukeley says, and with more reason, that in the present church of St. Paul, at
Lincoln, some remains of the original church of Paulinus may yet be seen.

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 3

the jurisdiction of the bishops of Mercia. N o episcopal seat, how—
ever, was established in the county of Lincoln till 678, when the
province of Lindsey, being wrested from Mercia by ngrid, king of
Northumberland, was by him made a separate diocese, and the seat
of the bishop fixed at Sidnacester, a place known now only by name,
and respecting the site of which antiquaries are much divided in
opinion.2 Dorchester, eight miles from Oxford, was the see of a
bishop before Sidnacester. Birinus, a missionary sent by Pope
Honorius, to convert the West Saxons, succeeded so well as to induce
King Kinigils to appoint him bishop of the province, and he fixed
upon Dorchester for the episcopal seat, and became the first bishop
of it in the year 636. One year after Sidnacester, Leicester also
was erected into a bishop’s see. Eadhed is recorded as having been
the first bishop of the former, and Totta of the latter see. Nine
bishops in succession sat at Sidnacester ; after which it was united to
Dorchester, under Leovinus, the tenth bishop of it. Eight bishops
of Leicester are enumerated by early writers; after which that see
was also united to Dorchester, which continued to be the episcopal
seat of this extensive diocese, till it was transferred to Lincoln by
Remigius, in the year 1088, who was therefore the last bishop of
Dorchester and the first of Lincoln.

Remigius was a monk of F cscamp, in Normandy, andis supposed
to have been a native of Italy. He followed the fortunes of William,
duke of Normandy, to England, who rewarded him for his faithful
services with the bishopric of Dorchester, having first deposed
Alexander, the bishop at that time, who strenuously opposed the
innovations of the Norman conqueror. Remigius was a man of
great natural talent, energy, and resolution, as his successful contest
with the archbishop of York, who endeavoured to prevent the
episcopal seat being fixed at Lincoln, by claiming Lindsey as a part
of his diocese, will sufficiently prove.

Immediately on his succession to the see of Dorchester, Remigius
began to rebuild his Cathedral Church in that place, but considering
it improper that the see of so extensive and important a diocese should
remain in an obscure town on the borders of it, and authorized by a
decree passed in the synod of London, in 1075, for the removal of

2 The greater number of antiquaries helie‘e Stow, a village a few miles from
Lincoln, to be the site of the ancient Sidnacester.

152

4 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

sees from small villages and defenceless towns to places of importance
and strength, he determined to transfer his see to the city of Lincoln,
at that time a very flourishing place, and where the castle, then
erecting, promised that protection to devotees which the unsettled
state of the times rendered necessary. It may be well to observe in
this place, that hitherto the erection, suppression, or translation of
sees, were all acts entirely independent of any foreign power, of any
mandate from the bishop of Home, or any spiritual supremacy what-
ever; they were effected either by permision or order of the lawful
sovereign, or by decrees of synods, consisting of the ecclesiastics of
the nation, lawfully assembled to direct the affairs of the national
church and to promote the interests of the Christian religion.

To return to the subject, land was purchased on the summit of
Lincoln hill, for the site of the Cathedral, but the precise time when
the foundations of it were laid is uncertain, probably soon after the
synod of 1075 ; but it is well known that it was nearly finished in the
year 1092, when Remigius, feeling himself near his end, invited all
the prelates of the realm to assist at its consecration and solemn
dedication to the ever blessed Virgin, which was to take place on the
9th of May. Robert, bishop of Hereford, was the only one who
refused the invitation, and excused himself by saying, he foresaw the
Cathedral could not be dedicated in the life-time of Remigius. In
those days astrology was much studied, and its predictions relied on
as prophetic truths, and in this instance there happened a remark-
able coineidence between the prediction and the fact, for Remigius
died on the 8th of May, 1092, the day before that which was fixed
for the ceremony.

Robert Bloet, the second bishop of Lincoln, and immediate suc-
cessor of Remigius, completed and dedicated the Cathedral in the
same year; but in the year 112-} it was greatly injured by an
accidental fire. Alexander, the third bishop, repaired it. He
possessed, in common with his uncle Roger, bishop of Salisbury,
and his brother Nigellus, bishop of Ely, aremarkable love and taste
for architecture. He is said to have vaulted the Cathedral with
stone, and to have improved it in many other respects, so that it
became equal, if not superior, to any church at that time in England.

The next great benefactor to this Cathedral was the famous Hugh
dc Grenoble, called also the Burgundian, the sixth bishop of Lincoln,

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 5

who rebuilt much of the present fabric between the years 1186 and
1200, a circumstance which may seem extraordinary, considering
'the usual solidity of Norman architecture, and that the original
building, then so recently repaired and beautified by Bishop
Alexander, was scarcely a century old.

Some have supposed that the placing a stone vaulting on walls
which were intended only to support a roof of timber had so injured
them as to make it necessary to rebuild the greater part of the church;
but an historian of the times, Benedict, abbot of Peterborough,
accounts for it in another and much more probable way: he informs
us that the church was cleft from top to bottom by an earthquake,
which happened in the year 1185, the year before Bishop Hugh’s
advancement to the see: in all likelihood, however, much more was
done than was at all necessary, from the great love of magnificence
in architecture which then every where prevailed, and of the pointed
style, which was about this time first introduced into England from
other countries, or, as some will have it, gradually and naturally arose
here, as elsewhere, from the style which immediately preceded it.

However this may be, it is certain Bishop Hugh took down at
least one half of the Cathedral, and built the present east transept,
with its chapels, the whole of the choir, chapter house, and east
side of the west transept, with part of the additions to the original
west front, as is sufficiently evident from the style of these portions
of the Cathedral as it exists at present, without appealing to history,
which however affirms the same thing.

In the year 1791, when the choir was new paved, it was discovered
that Bishop Hugh’s church extended no farther to the east than where
the altar now stands, and that it terminated in a half hexagon.

There is reason to believe that the west wall of the greater tran-
sept, as high as the second tier of windows, was also erected by him.

The Galilee perch was certainly built after the wall to which it
is attached, as may be plainly seen in the room above it; it is
therefore probable that this transept was erecting at the time of
Bishop Hugh’s death, and finished, with the Galilee porch, soon
afterwards. The nave also, and the rest of the great west front, are
considered, with good reason, to have been built about the same time
by Bishop Hugh de Wells, who sat in this see from 1209 to 1235,
and was certainly a wealthy and liberal prelate.

6 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

In the last-mentioned year the Cathedral was much injured by
the fall of great part of the central tower, then newly erected. The
famous Bishop Grosteste repaired the Cathedral, and rebuilt the
tower as far as the first story above the roof.

The eastern part of the Cathedral, beyond the upper transept, was
begun in the year l306, as some say, while others, with less reason,
declare it to be half a century earlier. There seems to be in most
antiquaries a feverish, restless desire to assign to buildings an earlier
date than can be satisfactorily proved; which has caused them
oftentimes t0 overstep the bounds of probability, and make light of
or overlook some stubborn truth which would drive them to a more
recent date. Now it is agreed on all sides that the upper part of
the great tower, the style of which corresponds exactly with that of
the eastern part of the Cathedral, was begun in 1306, and when we
add to this, that the architects of the middle ages paid no attention
to the designs of their predecessors, we cannot but conclude that
these two portions of the Cathedral are of the same date. The
building of the Cloisters must, for the same reason, have been going
on at the same time. The upper story of each of the western towers
are both of a much lower date; but when they were built is not
exactly known from anyauthentic document. Both these towers,
and the central one, had upon them spires of wood, covered with
lead: that on the latter was blown down in 1547, probably soon
after it was placed there; and those on the former were very judi—
ciously taken down in 1808.

The upper part of the south end of the greater transept, the
stalls of the choir, and the statues and windows above the west
entrances, maybe safely dated at the close of the fourteenth century,
as may also the upper story of the western towers.

The pinnacles above the buttresses, on the west side of the great
transept, and on the south side of the nave, were the last material
additions to this Cathedral, except. sepulchral monuments and
chantries, which continued to be erected till the Reformation, when,
and during the CiVil wars, this, in common with all other cathedral,
abbey, priory, and collegiate churches, was robbed of its costly
vessels, shrines, and other furniture, its statues and painted glass
were destroyed or mutilated, and its walls defaced and injured.

Before we proceed to a more particular description of the present

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 7

Cathedral of Lincoln, we must not omit to take notice of a very
curious stone arch, which is to be seen a little above the stone
vaulting within the timber roof of the nave, and which connects the
western towers at their base, i. e., the base of them just at the point
where they rise above the west front. It is supposed to have been
constructed at the time the upper part of the towers was added, to
ascertain, as they were in progress, whether so great an additional
weight could be safely set upon the original part of them. This arch
(though indeed it can scarcely be called one) is twenty-eight feet
long, and rises about nine inches; the stones of which it is composed
are therefore nearly vertical; they are twenty-one inches thick,
chamfered on the under edges, and on an average’about sixteen
inches wide, and do not appear to be tenanted together; their upper
surface is flat, and the centre or key stone is eleven inches deep.3
The chord of the arc is not horizontal, but is about thirteen inches
lower on the north side than on the south, and hence arises its liabi-
lity to be affected by a very trifling settlement at either end, and
indeed such is the extreme delicacy of its construction, that it vibrates
very sensibly when only stamped on by the foot; in appearance it is
more like a wooden beam than a stone arch.

In the north tower was hung the famous bell, commonly called
the Great Tom of Lincoln, which was six feet three inches and a
half in diameter at the mouth, and weighed four tons eight hundred
weight. It was cast at Lincoln in the year 1610.4

The situation of Lincoln Cathedral is most commanding, and the
first View of it from any point, however distant, most imposing: it
stands on a lofty eminence, surrounded by an immense extent of
level country. It looks down not only upon the modern city at the
base, and creeping up the side of the hill, but also upon a great part
of this still too extensive diocese.

At a distance, the two great defects of this Cathedral, its want
of elevation in the body, and its enormously high-pitched timber roof,
are not so apparent, and rather serve to correct each other, as a great

3 See Mr. Ware’s Tract on Vaults and Bridges. Tract i. Pl. 9.

4 This bell became cracked in December, 1827, was broken up in June, 1834,
and with six other bells from the Rood Tower, called the “ Lady Bells,” recast into
the present bell and two quarter bells. The new bell weighs one ton more, and is
seven inches larger in diameter, than the old one: its key is A; that of the old one
was B. It was founded by Mr. Thomas Mears, of Whitechapel Road, London,
November, 1834, and placed in the Rood Tower of Lincoln, April. 1835.

8 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

part of the latter may be very well supposed to be the body of the
church. We say not so apparent, but even at a distance the eye
would be better pleased with a much greater elevation in the body
than the ridge of the roof appears to give it. On a nearer approach
the attention, though caught by many architectural beauties, is
continually distracted by these two very obvious defects. We should
like much to see the walls of the nave, choir, and transepts,
raised to about the middle of the lower story of the towers, and the
point of the timber roof to the commencement of the upper story of
them. The towers would want no more elevation in consequence,
but, on the contrary, there would be a better proportion between the
body of the Cathedral and its towers than there is at present.
Having gained the summit of Lincoln Hill, let us walk round the
superb edifice which crowns it, and take a more particular survey
of its
EXTERIOR.

Of the beauty of the west front much has been said, but the plain
solid work of Remigius is injurious to the general effect. That it
should have been allowed to remain in its original state, when the
additional portion was built, is quite astonishing, when we consider
the great desire there was at that time to adopt. every where the
pointed style of architecture; and however interesting it may still be
to the antiquary and the architect, we cannot avoid expressing a
wish that the elegant rows of pointed arches, with their slender
columns, were continued over the face of the front of Remigius, and
that the lateral semi—circular recesses of his work were made to
correspond with the central one, which was increased in height and
pointed when the facade was enlarged, as it now appears; flanked
by octagonal turrets, rising a little above the straight-topped and
ornamented parapet, and finished with spires. The gable of the nave
is very much enriched, and is set upon the parapet between the
towers.

We will now continue our walk by the south side of the Cathe-
dral; the first object we meet with, on turnng round the south-west
turret, is a building in front of the side aisle of the nave, and of the
same style with both, internally divided into two unequal rooms, one
used for lumber, the other and larger is called St. Hugh’s chapel.
The side aisle has windows of one light each, highly pointed, between

 

 

 

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LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 9

which are buttresses very plain, alternately large and small, with
high pointed gables, rising above the ornamented parapet, to the
larger of which are attached plain flying buttresses, which terminate
between the windows of the clerestory, which are like those of the side
aisle; above these windows the nave is finished with an elegantly
carved parapet, similar to that which runs all along the top of the
west front, except where it is interrupted by the gable. This parapet
of the nave is also interrupted at regular intervals, by what may be
called little shrines, which rise considerably above the parapet, with
singularly good effect, since they break the heaviness of the high
pitched timber roof of the nave; as the lofty pinnacles, on the west
side of the great transept do with still better effect in respect to its
roof. This transept has no side aisles to the west, but at the
southern extremity of its west side is built what is called the Galilee
porch; a porch of the same name, and for the same purpose,5 is
placed at the west end of Ely and Durham Cathedrals; no reason
has been assigned for its peculiar situation at Lincoln. The south
face of this transept comes next in sight, it is flanked by double
buttresses at the angles, surmounted by lofty pinnacles: that on the
west angle crocketed, the other quite plain; it is divided into three
stories, the lowest is divided into two equal parts by a plain buttress,
without any pinnacles, on each side of which are two narrow highly
pointed windows of one light each : the middle story contains a rose
window, filled with good flowing tracery, so common in French and
so rare in English Cathedrals, and though perhaps the best example
of such a window that can be found in this country, it is not
comparable to those which are so frequently to be met with in
France. The gable itself, which forms the third story, contains a
pointed window of five lights, the head of which is filled with tracery
as good, and not very unlike that of the rose window below it: along
the bottom of the gable runs a band, adorned with quatrefoil tracery,
very bold; the sloping sides of the gable are enriched with double
crocketing, the outer line of it free, which has a very good effect.
The eastern side of this transept, with its side aisle, is very plain;

5 In these porches, which were formerly attached to the west end of all cathedrals
and abbey churches, public penitents were stationed, dead bodies deposited before
interment, and females allowed to see the monks of the convent, who were their rela-
tions. At Durham women were not allowed to attend divine service, exceptin the
Galilee.

VOL. II. C

10 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

the south face of the latter contains two highly pointed window of
one light each, with smaller ones of the same kind in the slope above,
and is flanked at the eastern end by a double buttress, surmounted
by a large plain and heavy pinnacle. The buttresses and windows
of the side aisle of this transept are similar to those of theside aisle
of the nave, and are connected in the same way with the clerestory
above ; the parapet wall of which is quite plain, exposing the high
pitched roof, without any thing to relieve it. ' The eastern transept,
however, is so near the western, that the roof on the eastern side of
the latter is not very much seen. For the same reason the western
side of the eastern transept is not so visible ; and the defect of the
timber roof is in both instances not so glaring. The south face of the
eastern transept comes next into view; it is flanked with double
buttresses at the angles, which rise as high as the beginning of the
gable, from whence very elegant octangular pinnacles rise up to a
little above the point of the gable. The front is divided into four
stories, the lowest similar to that of the western transept, but has
only two windows of one light each ; the next story has four Windows
of one light each, of course only half the breadth of those below, as
both the one and the other fill up all the space between the flanking
buttresses ; these four are also about half the height of the other two.
The third story has also four windows of one light each. The gable
itself forms the fourth story, which is adorned with five highly pointed
arches, supported upon slender columns. The middle arch rises
quite up into the gable point, and the others diminish on each side,
rising as high as the slope of the gable will allow. The clerestory
of the east side of this transept is of the same style with the south
face of it ; it has an ornamented parapet, but no pinnacles to conceal
or break the blemish of the timber roof, which is here and on the
remaining and most beautiful portion of the Cathedral (the presbytery)
to be seen buttoo plainly. On the east side of this transept are two
semi-circular bays of the same style with the transept itself. We
now come to the presbytery, the whole of which is a most beautiful
example of the perfection of the pointed style. The buttresses, which
were in the former age too plain, have their use and solidity in this
instance of the succeeding age disguised by ornaments, thepedimental
terminations being decorated with crockets, foliage, and finials; the
angles with clusters of slender columns, and the faces with brackets

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 11

and canopies for the reception of statues. The windows which were
before of single lights, are here divided into several, by mullions, and
tracery of geometrical form, an invention peculiar to pointed archi-
tecture, and of the highest importance, as it enabled architects to
increase the size of their windows to any required extent, in every
respect; in short, a degree of lightness and elegance is observable
here which was unknown in buildings of an earlier date. But that
which is most of all worthy of remark in the architecture of this age
is the prevalence of sculpture, together with its superiority over that
of the preceding century in regard to its design, execution, and
application. In Norman architecture the few imitations of nature
which are to be found, either of foliage or animals, and especially of
the human form, are barbarous in the extreme.

As instances of the best sculpture of this age may be mentioned
first, the alto relieve over the south porch Of the presbytery, which
embodies the awful idea of the Last Judgment, given in the 25th
chapter of St. Matthew, and must have been executed by a sculptor
to whom the excellencies of ancient art were not unknown. Secondly,
the four statues in the piers of this porch, mutilated and headless as
they are should be mentioned, they were intended to represent the
four Evangelists, and were probably the work of the same masterly
hand. The statue of the Virgin and infant Saviour, which once
adorned the pier which divides the porch into two doorways, has been
removed. This porch is unusually deep ; its sides and arch mouldings
are very much enriched with rows of statuary and strings of foliage
alternately, and reminds us a little of the portals of French Cathedrals,
though greatly inferior to the best examples of them both in dimensions
and in richness of decoration. On the east side of this porch is the
chapel of St. Blaise, built and endowed by Bishop Russell, who died
in the year 1494; on the west side of the same is the chapel of St.
Catherine, built and endowed by Bishop Longland, who, living to the
year 1547, had the mortilication 0f witnessing the inutility of its
erection, and the transfer of its endowments to the king. These
chapels are very nearly alike, and are very good examples of the
style called perpendicular by Gothic architects.

We come now to the east end of the Cathedral, of the extreme
beauty of which much has been said, but nothing too much. It
consists of three gables, all flanked by double bllttl'BSSC'S: WllOt‘C sides

12 LINCOLN civrnnmmL.

are elegantly panelled with pointed arches and slender columns, and
further adorned with brackets and canopies, and whose pedimental
tops are richly crocketed and terminated by finials. These buttresses
rise as high as the beginning of the gables, and upon them are set
octangular pinnacles with slender columns at each angle, supporting
straight canopies, from the midst of which rise spires, which are also
crocketed and terminated by finials. The middle portion of the east
end is much broader and loftier than those on each side of it, which
are but the east ends of the side aisles of the presbytery, while this is
the east end of the main body of it. The middle portion is divided
info two stories, in each of which is a window of beautiful design.
The larger one in the lower story occupies nearly all the space between
the buttresses, and is divided into eight lights; the head of it, which
is a pointed arch, is filled with feathered circles of various diameters
beautifully disposed. The dividing mullions are in the form of slender
columns with capitalsof foliage, and between the exterior columns
on each side of the window are inserted two series of rosettes. The
point of the head of this window reaches the string course under the
window of the next story, which is in fact nothing more than the gable
itself. This upper window is also pointed, and is as large as it could
be in that place; it is of five lights, and the head of it is occupied by
one large and two smaller circles, the larger having eight trefoils
placed round its inner circumference, the two smaller a single trefoil
within each. All round the top of the pointed arch of this window,
between the mouldings, a single series of rosettes is placed, similar to
the double series in the sides of the great window below. The sloping
sides of this gable are adorned with a double row of crockets, one
between the mouldings on the face of the gable, the other on the edge
of the exterior moulding; the point of the gable has a beautiful finial,
out of which rises a highly decorated cross. The side portions of this
”east end are nearly similar, they have a window each in the lower
story of three lights; the pointed heads filled with three feathered
circles, and having their sides ornamented with double rows of
rosettes; above these windows is a row of trefoiled-headed arches
upon slender columns, and above that within the gables is panelling,
which in design is similar to the windows below. The gables are
terminated by decorated crosses. Underneath all the windows of the
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LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 13

columns, which is continued round the centre buttresses, but not round
the external ones. Upon the whole there is a gay, dressy, flowery,
appearance about the east end of Lincoln Cathedral, which is quite
charming, and to which no words can do justice. It is light, graceful,
and elegant in the extreme; no fault has ever been found with it;
and it seems to -be agreed on all hands to instance it as a perfect
example of the beautiful style to which it belongs.

Of the north side of the Cathedral very little need be said: it is
in the main very similar to the south side already described. The
chief differences are, first, that the northern porch of the presbytery
is not so rich ; it has a chapel only on the east side of it, that built
and endowed by Bishop Fleming, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity ;
it is of perpendicular Gothic, and very similar to those already noticed
on the south side. The next difference worthy to be observed is the
porch and entrance in the north front of the greater transept. It
projects from the face of the transept wall considerably, and has a
triple pedimental canopy over it. At the north end of the eastern
transept is .a vestibule leading to the cloister, which is an oblong of
one hundred and eighteen feet on the north and south sides, and ninety
on the east and west. The north side is entirely modern, and is the
work of Sir Christopher Wren, whose contempt for the pointed style
induced him to be guilty of this impropriety. It consists of an arcade
supported by columns of Doric proportion, and above it is a room,
used as the library. The other sides of the Cloister are of a style
subsequent to that of the presbytery, and consist of several bays, of
which each contains an arch divided into four lights, and other tracery,
by stone mullions. The vaulting is of wood, and some of the bosses
at the intersection of the ribs are ornamented with figures, beautifully
designed and' excellently carved. In the middle of the Cloister court
nearly, and a few feet only below the surface of the ground, a tesse-
lated pavement was discovered some years ago, which, although in-
ferior in merit to many others that have been found in other parts
of England, is a proof that the site of the present Cathedral was
once occupied by the Romans.

Under the east side of the cloistcr is the entrance to the chapter-
house. This building is a regular decagon, about sixty feet diameter
within, and aboutforty—two in height, vaulted with stone, and has a
central nillar composed of ten rceded columns of Purbeck marble, set

l4 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

round a circular pier of stone, and bound together by a fillet, which
runs round them all, about midway between the base and the capital.
The capitals of all the ten slender columns are composed of wel1
executed foliage, flowing elegantly into one another, so as to form
both a distinct capital for each, and yet one whole, looking at the
pillar as a single one. From this central pillar the arches of the
vaulting are carried to the angles of the walls, where they are
supported by a cluster of columns, resting on richly ornamented
brackets.

The vestibule, leading to the chapter-house from the Cloister,
corresponds, on the sides, with the body of the building, and is
terminated at the west end by an arcade, 0r triforium, over the
entrance, and an unornamented circular window. Externally the
wall is plain, and has three unmeaning pediments; and as seen over
the roof of the Cloister, is as ugly as any architect, however unskilful,
could make it: it is surprising that the same person who built the
chapter-house could be the author of such a design for this portion
of the works.

On the outside of the chapter-house the abutment is remarkable,
being formed by arches of flying buttresses, supported by massive
piers for detached from the wall; the coping, ornamented with
quatrefoils, is not original, nor are the pinnacles on the smaller
buttresses, between the windows, for they anciently terminated with
gables, and a finial of drooping leaves, of which one example still
remains at the north-west angle.

The roof, which had been injudiciously altered, as shewn in early
prints, was restored to its original form by the dean and chapter, in
the year 1800. The windows in each side of the building are
highly-pointed, of one light each, but in pairs, two in each side, so as
to have the appearance of one window; divided down the middle
with clusters of slender columns of Purbeck marble, banded together
with two sets of fillets, and capitals of foliage, and interlaced with
zig-zag mouldings. The vaulting is simple and good, and the bosses,
at the intersection of the ribs, of good design and execution.

Several chapter-houses of cathedral and collegiate churches are of a
pol rgonal form, but this of Lincoln was probably the very first that was
ever erected in England of this form ; since others, known to have been
built in the twelfth century, as those of Durham, Gloucester, Bristol,

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. . l5

and Peterborough, were all oblong, and it seems reasonable to suppose
that the discontinuance of that form was suggested by the circular
churches of the Knights Templars, erected at the close of the twelfth
century, in imitation of that over the Holy Sepulchre at J erusalem.6

The Temple Church, in London, the finest remaining example of
those buildings, was dedicated in 1185, which was one year prior to
St. Hugh’s advancement to the see of Lincoln, and fifteen years
before the completion of his chapter-house, the decagonal form of
which nearly approximates to the beauty of a circle, and avoids that
distortion of the arches which results from horizontal curvature.

The rose window, in the north end of the greater transept, has
much less tracery in it, and is not so good a specimen of that sort of
window as that in the south end of the same. The remaining
portion of the north side of the cathedral, is so very similar to the
corresponding portion on the south side, that no particular remark
need be made upon it.

Having now walked round this magnificent pile of building, let
us raise our eyes to the towers, which are the chief pride and glory
of it. The western towers are each of them worthy, for their
dimensions, proportions, and decorations, to be the chief or central
tower of any Cathedral, 01‘ other important church ; and the central
tower itself has a stateliness and a dignity about it, such as can
be seen in no other tower of any Cathedral of England, France,
or perhaps any other country. The correct representation of these
towers in the accompanying plates, will supersede the necessity of
any laboured description of them, but it ought to be noticed, that the
arches in the great tower immediately above the roof were formerly
open, and that the embrazures on the top were erected by Mr. Essex
in 1775. The height of this tower, from the ground to the top of the
embrazure, is two hundred and thirty-eight feet, the external breadth
fifty. It is chiefly to this feature that the exterior of Lincoln
Cathedral owes its majestic grandeur when considered as a mass,
and the picturesque combinations it presents under almost every
point of view.

Being now thoroughly acquainted with the exterior, by means of
the plates and the foregoing description, let us now enter the
Cathedral, and take a survey of its

5 Essex on the Origin and Antiquity of Round Churches. Arch. vol. ii. p. 170.

lG LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

INTERIOR.

Let the reader suppose himself to enter by the middle, or
principal archway, of the west front. He is then standing at the
western extremity of the nave, and the eye can penetrate at once to
the east window of the'presbytery, which is distant from him nearly
five hundred feet: a vast space is now before him, and though the
effect upon the whole is dignified, and even solemn, yet it has none
of that sublimity which is to be found in York Minster, of which this
Cathedral is supposed to be the only rival in England.

The great, and perhaps the only defect, is a want of height; the
vaulting is not sufficiently elavated for the length and breadth of the
Cathedral. The beholder at once exclaims, “ This is too low.” The
eye cannot be satisfied with less than five—and—twenty feet more of
elevation. It is almost impossible for a church in the pointed style
to be too lofty, but it may easily be too low; this style requires a
greater proportion of height to length and breadth, than any other
style of architecture. Beauvais Cathedral is said to be higher than
need be, but no one has ventured to call it a defect; on the contrary,
every one allows it to be sublime. The vaulting of the nave of
Lincoln Cathedral is somewhat higher than that of the choir and
presbytery, the height of both which is again lessened by the
pavement being raised above the pavement of the nave. In the
length of the nave are seven pointed arches, on each side, supported
on eight clustered columns, six of which are isolated, and two (one
at each extremity) engaged. The two first arches westward are
narrower than the others, and more acutely pointed. The open
arches, above these last named, are divided down the middle, into
two; those over all the others into three. The windows of the
clerestory are all alike, viz., three in each division, side by side, of
one light each, the middle one rising higher than the outer ones:
except indeed, that those over the two narrower arches of the nave
are of course narrower, being inserted in a less space. The vaulting
of the two first, or western compartments of the nave, is much more
simple than that of all the rest, and of the nave itself. All along
under the windows of the side aisles (which are of one light each,
and two within each compartment), the wall is adorned with a line. of

 

 

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LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 17

trefoiled-headed arches upon short clustered columns.7 Having
walked along the nave to the eastern extremity of it, we are brought
into the greater transept, and under the central tower. The four
clustered columns which support it are regular and well proportioned;
they are composed of twenty-fOur attached columns of various
diameters, of which twelve are of stone and twelve of Purbeck
marble; they rise to the height of forty-eight feet, and the massive
arches they sustain are made to assume an air of lightness by the
number and delicacy of their mouldings, and the decoration of the
spandrils with trellis work. Above these arches are two tiers in
each side of the tower, with columns and arches deeply receding;
behind which, on the upper tier, are windows of one light each; at
this height the further view of the interior of the tower is prevented
by a vaulting of stone, with elaborate tracery, erected in the time of
the treasurer Welbourne. The west side of the greater transept is
very similar to the nave, the north and south ends8 of it have each
a circular window of the same dimensions, though of different de-
signs; they are each twenty-four feet in diameter, and, together
with the windows below them, are both filled with ancient stained
glass, which gives to the interior of this transept that rich glowing
but subdued light, the want of which is felt so keenly in every other
part of the Cathedral. The east side of the transept is very similar
to the choir, except in the clustered columns of the principal arcade,
which are each composed of sixteen shafts, chiefly of Purbeck
marble. The aisle in both wings was anciently appropriated to
chantries, but no vestiges of altars now remain. They are divided
from each other by projecting piers of very elegant design, and
from the body of the transept by screens of excellent perpendicular
character, which add greatly to its beauty.

We will now enter the choir, which it must be confessed is more
curious as an important link in the history of the pointed style, than
commendable for architectural merit, especially if compared with tho.

7 We may here mention the font, which is placed in that part of the building now
used as the morning service chapel: it is curious, and at least as old as the original
church of Remigius. It consists of a circular basin, cut out of a square block of
porphyry, supported by four columns, and decorated on the sides by gryphons and
other animals very rudely carved.

8 The gable of the south end of the greater transept was erected by Mr. Hayward,
architect to the Cathedral, in 1804, in imitation of the original one. which was blown
down in January, 1802.

V0 L. I I. ' D

18 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

choirs of many other Cathedrals, and particularly of York, with which
this Cathedral is continually brought into comparison, and yet from
the great beauty of the presbytery, two compartments of which form
the chancel end of the choir, the richness of the prebendal stalls and
other accessories, it is by no means deficient in appropriate effect.
There are sixty-two stalls for the dean and prebendaries, with elabo-
rate canopies, and containing misereres, or half seats, ornamented
with foliage, and various grave and ludicrous devices. The seats of
the vicars and some others are fronted by arches, containing excel-
lent carvings of kings, and angels playing on musical instruments;
the whole of these are of oak, and appear to have been executed
late in the fourteenth century. The bishop’s throne is placed at the
end of the south side, and, though modern, agrees very well with
the stalls, a merit which the pews are entirely without. The organ
also over the west end of the choir is very bad, and the front of it
has displaced some rich tabernacle work, which adorned the ancient
jube, as the gallery above the screen used to be called.

In the chancel, on the south side, are two table monuments for
Catherine Swineford, wife of John of Gaunt, and their daughter Joan.
The brasses have been taken from both, and instead of the canopy
which was originally over them, is now, alas ! a Corinthian cornice,
erected after the restoration. Opposite to these are two monuments,
or rather cenotaphs, which Bishop Buller has consecrated to the
memory of Remigius and Bloet, the founders and first bishops of this
see. They are in the style of the presbytery itself, or a little later;
the one ascribed to Bishop Bloc-t is remarkable for the sculpture in
the basement, consisting of three figures of men in chain armour and
surcoats, reclining on their shields, and supposed to represent the
guardians of the holy sepulchre. The altar screen is somewhat in
the style of these monuments, and is a proof of the correct taste of
the late Mr. Essex, by whom it was erected. It contains a painting
of the Annunciation, according with the dedication of the church,
from the pencil of the late Reverend William Peters.

The fragment of a monument in the south aisle of the choir,
though unimportant in itself, has some interest attached to it as re-
lating to the little hero of an affecting ballad, called Sir Hugh, a
child, who is supposed to have been crucified at Lincoln, by certain
Jews, in derision of the Saviour, in the year 1225, and who was

 

 

 

 

 

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 19

afterwards honourahly interred in the Cathedral, by the desire of
the canons, as a martyr in the Christian cause.

The whole of the east transept corresponds in style with the
choir, excepting the upper part of the south end, which appears to
have been rebuilt about the middle of the thirteenth century.

We come now to the presbytery, which comprises the whole east
end of the church, beyond the upper transept, and here the statues
in the spandrils of the arches of the first triforium should be particu-
larly noticed; of these there are thirty, ten of which (the centre and
principal one of each bay) are of still higher merit than the rest,
The greater number are represented as employed in singing or play-
ing on musical instruments, consisting of the harp, zebec, cittern,
trumpet, tahor and pipe, double pipe, and bagpipe, which last is de—
signed with great taste, the upper part of the instrument being in
form of a bird, which rests on the left hand of the performer, while
the beak appears to supply the reed on which he plays.

The great east window is filled with modern stained glass, put up
in 176:? ; it is poor and feeble, and the effect not good. The space
beneath this window, where anciently stood the altar of John the
Baptist, was appropriated to the chantry of Queen Eleanor, originally
founded at Heneley, where she died, and was transferred to this place
by Edward 11., in 1,310. It contained an altar tomb of marble, on
which was placed her efligy, in gilded brass.

At the east end of the north aisle of the presbytery was the chantry
of the Burghersh family, founded by Bartholomew, Lord Burghersh,
in 1345, and dedicated to St. Catherine. On the north side of it is
the monument of the founder, who died in 1356. The monument
opposite to this is that of Bishop Burghersh, brother of the above-
named, who died in 1340; and the one in the same style adjoining it
is ascribed by Gough, on the authority of the armorial bearings upon
it, to John, Lord Welles, who died in 1361. These tombs had
formerly an elaborate canopy.

At the east end of the south aisle of the presbytery is a chantry
founded by Nicholas, Lord Cantilupe, who died in 1372. By the
side of this is another of the same style exactly, and supposed to be
that of a prior of Norton, of the Wymbish family; both have rich
crocheted canopies with finials.

Against the north wall is the chantry of the Holy Trinity, founded

‘20 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

by Bishop Fleming, and fronted by his monument; his efligy in the
pontifical dress is placed 011 a slab beneath the canopy, and under—
neath he is again represented in an emaciated state, in his shroud.
The tomb was in all probability erected during the life~time of this
prelate, which ended in 1430. The two chapels attached to the
south wall of the presbytery we have already mentioned in the de-
scription of the exterior; the bishops by whom they were founded
have similar monuments within them, consisting of elaborately de-
corated screens, on each of which is an altar tomb under an ex-
tremely flat arch. The cornice of Longland’s has this punning in-
scription, “ Longer-term mensumm ejus domimzs dedit ;” and his
original intention was doubtless to have been buried here; but it
appears that his heart only was deposited at Lincoln, his bowels at
W oburn, where he died, and his body at Eton.

Beside the monuments here noticed, there were anciently some
others, and a number of remarkably fine brasses, which were taken
away by the Puritans. But the chief ornament of the sepulchral
kind which this Cathedral possessed before the Reformation was
undoubtedly the tomb of St. Hugh, which occupied a space of eight
feet by four in the middle of the presbytery. The bones of this saint,
inclosed in a chest of gold, were translated to this shrine with great
pomp and solemnity in 1282, at which time it may be presumed this
part of the church was just completed.

The Cathedral of Lincoln is certainly one of the first class in
England, and most amateurs are disposed to place it second, and
inferior only to York Minster. It will be seen by the ground plan
that its form is a double cross, like Canterbury and some others of
the principal Cathedrals, and it is estimated that it covers no less
than two acres, two roods, and six perches of land.

From the building let us now turn our attention to the most re-
nowned of those who have sat within it as bishops of the diocese.

Having had occasion to speak much of Remigius, the first bishop
of Lincoln, already, we have now only to add that according to the
report of historians he was very charitably disposed towards the poor,
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Robert Bloet, the second bishop, was first chaplain to William the
Conqueror, and afterwards chancellor to William Rufus. He added
twenty-one prebendaries to the like number established by Remigius.
Before he became bishop of Lincoln, he was, says Knyghton, a most
profligate, indolent, and licentious man. Hence perhaps the cause
of his being traditionally called the swineherd of Stow. It is said
of him that when bishop he gave a peek of silver pennies towards
completing the building of the Cathedral.

Bishop Alexander Bloet’s successor was also a great benefactor
to the Cathedral.

After the death of Robert de Chesney, in 1167, who succeeded
Alexander, the see was vacant eighteen years. Gautier de Coutance,
who was placed in it at the end of the year 1183, held it only one
year, and then was translated to Bouen; his removal introduced the
famous Hugh de Grenoble, or as he is usually called the Burgundian.
This extraordinary man was born in Burgundy, of a noble family.
At first he was placed by his father at the early age of eight years
in a monastery of regular canons near his castle, under the care of
an old man, who gave him good instruction, and formed his manners
and habituated him from that time to a monastic life. He was
ordained deacon at the age of nineteen, and soon after had the care
of a parish, although he was not yet ordained priest. Having
accompanied his prior, who went for devotion’s sake, to the Grand
Chartreuse, he conceived an ardent desire to be admitted into their
society, and secretly determined to effect this, but his intentions
becoming known to his brother canons, they extorted from him a
promise not to quit their society; he was not, however, long able to
resist the charms which the austere piety of the monks of that place
presented to his mind, he fled clandestinely from his brethren, and
arrived at the Grand Chartreuse, where he was gladly received, and
his scruples of conscience soon satisfied. This house was then
governed by Basil, its eighth prior, who was the successor of St.
Anthelm. In a short time Hugh was ordained priest, and after he
had passed ten years in his cell, the prior of the Grand Chartreuse
made him his proxy, of which charge he acquitted himself so well
that his reputation spread far beyond the bounds of the province.

I-le afterwards came over to England by the desire of the king to
govern the Carthusian monastery at Witham, or W eetham, in

2‘2 LINCOLN, CATHEDRAL.

Somersetshire, which that monarch had lately founded ; he was very
active in repairing the buildings and increasing the value of that
establishment, and, although the English were at that time extremely
averse to foreigners, Hugh gained the affections of the king0 and
the people.

As soon as a vacancy occurred in the see of Lincoln, Prior Hugh
was proposed by the king to fill that situation, and accordingly he
sent for Richard Fitzneale, then dean of Lincoln, to come to him,
with the greater part of the chapter, on the 25th of May, 1186.
After having deliberated some time, they elected Hugh bishop,
which was confirmed by the archbishop of Canterbury.

Hugh at first excused himself, pleading his own unworthiness,
and accounting the election void, because it had been made by the
authority of the king and out of the Cathedral Church, and more-
over that he could not on any account give his consent until he
had first obtained the permission of his superior, the prior of the
Grand Chartreuse. The chapter, however, were determined to
have him for their bishop,10 and accordingly assembled in the
Cathedral, again elected him with one voice, and afterwards sent a
deputation to the Grand Chartreuse, which brought back not only a
permission, but a positive command to Prior Hugh to accept the
bishopric of Lincoln. Hugh was therefore drawn from his monastery,
but would relax nothing from the austere discipline practised in it,
before he was actually consecrated ; he therefore carried with him on
horseback his sheep—skins and monastic habits, and thus was led to
London, and consecrated bishop of Lincoln at Westminster, in the
chapel of St. Catherine, on St. Matthew’s Day, 21st of September,
1 186.11 He filled the see very nearly fourteen years; his piety
continued till the day of his death to be of the same austere kind,
which, however it might suit the temper of the times in which he lived,
would gain few, if any, admirers now; we cannot help observing
upon it, that the praise of it is not to be found in the Gospel. Bishop

9 It is said that he spoke to the king with so much sweetness and piety, that he
could refuse him nothing, and, learned as was that prince, he confessed that in Hugh he
had found his master. The same king being once caught in a violent tempest at sea,
became persuaded that he owed his preservation to the prayers ofHugh, and from that
time his veneration for him knew no bounds. What wonder then that when so important
a see as that ofLincoln became vacant, the king should desire to place his preserver in it,

10 Seeing perhaps all the while that he was nothing loth.
1‘. See llistoire Ecclesiastique, par M. Fleury, tom. xv. p. 488.

LINCOLN CATHEDRAL. 23

Hugh died in London, on the 17th of November, in the year 1200,
and his body being brought to Lincoln for interment during the time
that the kings of England and Scotland were holding a conference in
that city, it had the honour of being carried on the shoulders of those
monarchs from the city gates to the Cathedral close, whence it was
conducted to the choir by a vast number of prelates and other dig-
nified persons both in church and state, and, at the conclusion of the
funeral ceremonies, interred at the east end of the church, near the
altar of St. John the Baptist; but, in consequence of this bishop’s
canonization, his remains were afterwards taken up again, and, as
was before observed, deposited in the present presbytery. This was
done in the year 1282, when Oliver Sutton was bishop of this see.

Robert Greathead, or Grostete, became bishop in 1385. He
was a most learned, pious, and charitable prelate. His real name,
says the historian of Lincoln, was Copley, but called by the French
Grostete, possibly from the unusual size of his head. He sat in the
see of Lincoln eighteen years, and died bishop of it in defiance of
papal excommunication. His works prepared the way for Wickliffe,
and his again for the Reformation.

Among the bishops who from this time presided over the see of
Lincoln, we may mention the names of the celebrated Cardinal
Beaufort; Richard Fleming, founder of the chantry, already men-
tioned, and also of Lincoln college, Oxford; Thomas Rotherham, who
added some fellowships and scholarships to Lincoln college, Oxford,
and for this cause accounted by that society a co-founder of it with
Bishop Fleming; Thomas Wolsey, cardinal, the founder of a college
at Ipswich, his native place, and of Christ Church, in Oxford; and
Thomas Cooper, the tutor of Camden, who speaks of this bishop in
the highest terms of praise.

If episcopacy be the scriptural form of the visible church, or if it
be only of human invention, and found by experience to be the best
mode of governing and preserving that church, it is quite evident that
there is not enough of it to secure these objects in England at the
present time. With an enormously increased population, there has
been no increase of episcopal, nor any adequate increase of inferior
pastoral care within the national church. May not this account in
some measure for the great defection from it which has occurred of
late years? The great mass of the laity hardly know that the church

24 LINCOLN CATHEDRAL.

is episcopal. To those of them who think at all upon the subject it
appears to be a church without organization, without discipline, and
without government. They do not feel themselves to be members of
it, and the feeling of belonging to no religious community whatever
is not a comfortable feeling; but the remedy is at hand, they join
some old or set up some new dissenting community of a religious
nature, in which they find themselves individually of more impor-
tance, and feel the connection between themselves and their ministers
of every degree. But let the kindly influence of episcopacy be more
widely extended and more distinctly felt, by increasing the number
of sees and lessening the extent of the dioceses, and we doubt not
that great good will result from the measure to this church and
nation.

Let a see be erected at St. Albans, where the venerable abbey
church would make a noble cathedral, and the diocese might contain
all that part of Hertfordshire which is now in Lincoln diocese,
and that which is in London (whose bishop would still have more
than enough work left for him to do), together with the adjoining
counties of Bedford and Buckingham. If Lincoln diocese contained
only the county of Lincoln, it would be large enough for one bishop.
Ely might still very well take Huntingdonshire; and another see
might with great advantage be erected at Southwell, where the
collegiate church would also, with its establishment of prebendaries,
become the Cathedral, and for its diocese, the county of Leicester out
of Lincoln diocese, and Nottinghamshire out of York (which would
then be large enough, notwithstanding what Rippon is to take from
it), would be amply sufficient.

The government of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln was originally
committed under the authority of the prelate to a dean and twenty-
one secular canons, the number of whom was doubled by Bishop
Bloet, and further augmented by Bishop Alexander and others.

The present establishment consists of a bishop, a dean, a pre-
centor, a chancellor, a sub—dean, six archdeacons, viz., those of
Lincoln, Leicester, Bedford, Buckingham, Stow, and Huntingdon,
fifty-two prebendaries, four priest-vicars, eight lay clerks or singing
men, eight choristers, seven poor clerks, seven others called the
Burghersh chanters, and an organist.

CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.

THAT this city was once a Roman station, its very name of Chiches-
ter clearly proves. If the Christian Religion were known to the
inhabitants of this part of England during its occupation by the
Romans, after their departure and under the dominion of other
invaders every trace of it was obliterated. Towards the close of
the seventh century, the same religion with some additions, not to
say corruptions at this early period, was preached and established
in this same part of England, then forming part of the kingdom of
the South Saxons, by Wilfred archbishop of York.

This prelate on account of his opposition to the measures of Eg-
frid king of the Northumbrians with regard to ecclesiastical affairs,
was banished from his see, and landed on the coast of Sussex in the
year 680, at a place called Selsey, or Selsea. On his landing he is
said to have performed a miracle, which inclined the pagan inha-
bitants not only to hear, but readily to embrace the doctrine which
he taught. Up to this period the people were unacquainted with
any mode by which fish might be taken in the sea, and the good
archbishop, it is said, both taught them this useful art, and ex~
hibited before them a miraculous draught of fishes. Already a
fisher of men by profession, he became successful by first becoming
a fisherman in the literal acceptation of the word. He only re-
mained at Selsey five years, of which he is generally accounted the
first bishop, and after that he found means to return to York. On
his departure the bishops of VVinton claimed or resumed the govern-
ment of this see till the year 711, when the province of the South
Saxons was divided from it by a synodal decree.

At this period Eddbright, who had hitherto styled himself abbot
of Selsey, now resumed the title of bishop. Twenty-one bishops
in succession after him presided over this province, and enjoyed
the same title.

Egelric, the twentieth, filled the see at the time of the Norman
Conquest, and submitted himself so readily to the Conqueror, and
became so useful to him in reconciling the people of the country to

VOL. II. E

26 CHICIIESTER CATHEDRAL.

his yoke, that he was allowed to remain in his situation to the end
of his days. At his death in the year 1070, Stigand, chaplain to
William I., was placed in this see by that monarch, and after he
had sat therein for twelve years, he removed it from Selsey to
Chichester, in the year 1082, where it has continued to this day.
No account of the Cathedral at Selsey has been handed down to
us; that there must have been one or more buildings in succession
dignified with the title of Cathedral, seems certain; no trace, how-
ever, of any such building now remains. Probably the parish
Church of Selsey may occupy the same site, but not a stone of
it ever formed any part of the ancient Cathedral.

Stigand presided over the see, after its removal to Chichester,
only five years; it may however be very well presumed that he was
not inactive respecting the building of a Cathedral here, living as
he did in that which may with peculiar propriety be called the
building age. It is thought he designed and laid the foundations of
a Cathedral, and died before it proceeded any further, in the year
1087. He was succeeded by William Galfridus, who only lived
one year after his election, and concerning whom nothina else is
recorded. Radulfus I. who next filled the see had nearly finished
the Cathedral, according to the original plan of Bishop Stigand,
when it was burnt to the ground by an accidental fire in the year
1114. This prelate exerted himself afterwards very much for the
rebuilding of his Cathedral. He induced Henry I. to contribute
largely towards its restoration. He was elected in the year 1091,
and died in 1123. Probably the walls of the Cathedral were raised
before his death. Bishop Seffrid I. succeeded him after the see
had been vacant two years, and during his episcopate of twenty-one
years he completed the building begun by his predecessor.

The Cathedral was again greatly injured, but not destroyed, by
fire in 1186, during the prelacy of Seffrid II. who Was elected in
1180, and died in 1204. Eleven years were consumed in repairing
the havoc made by this second fire, and adding a new work on the
old walls in the purest style of the twelfth century. These repairs
and additions were so considerable that a new dedication of the whole
fabric was thought necessary, which ceremony was performed by
this bishop in the year 1199, who had in the same year assisted at
the coronation of King John. Simon Fitzwalter afterwards obtained

CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL. 27

leave of the king to bring marble from Purbeck, which be employed
on the further embellishment of the Cathedral.

Ralph Neville, elected in 1222, is thought to have designed and
begun the spire, but he did not live to finish it, and died in 1244.
Gilbert de St. Leofard, elected in 1288, and who died in 1304, built
the Lady Chapel at the east end of the Cathedral. John de Langton
elected in 1305, finished the presbytery and south wing of the tran-
sept, and died in 1336. By this time we may presume this Cathedral
had arrived at its present state of completeness; if it had not, this
last-mentioned prelate would in all probability have effected it, as
he had great skill in architecture, and displayed it in building
another episcopal seat, called Amberley Castle. But in so speaking
we must not be understood to say, that no alteration or addition has
been made ofa less important nature, but that the main walls of
the Cathedral, together with its central tower and spire, were all
completed, as they now appear, excepting only that the ravages of
time and fanaticism have done it some wrong.

From what has been already stated then, it appears that the
present Cathedral of Chichester, though designed and planned by
Stigand the first bishop, was not begun until the time of Radulfus I.,
who about the close of the eleventh century laid the foundations,
and had nearly finished it when it was destroyed by fire, in 1114.
Probably, however, by this expression the timber roof must be
principally referred to : the walls were not so damaged as to require
reconstruction; for William of Malmsbury, after mentioning King
Henry I. as a chief contributor to its restoration, adds, speaking of
bishop Radulfus, ecclesiam suam, quam a 720m fecerat, go.
brevi refecit. The second fire in the year 1186, in the month of
November, destroyed a second timber roof, and otherwise injured
the fabric; but again the walls and arcades were preserved ; upon
which bishop Sef’frid II. engrafted a new work according to the style
of the age in which he lived; and though the church was again
dedicated by him, he did not live to complete his work, which con-
sisted chiefly of the upper triforium or ambulatory all round the
Cathedral, the upper story of the western towers, one of which only
now remains, and the lower story of the central tower; the prin-
cipal portion of which must have been erected only just before the

spire which is placed upon it.

 

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28 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.

Of the present Lady Chapel, presbytery, and south wing of the
transept we have already given the history; of other portions of this
Cathedral, and of the buildings which may be called its appendages,
we shall take occasion to speak in the detailed description of its
exterior and interior, in the order in which they occur.

EXTERIOR. ‘

Few Cathedrals have so unfavourable a site and elevation as this,
in a very small area, surrounded by buildings, and placed in the
middle of a parish church—yard. At a distance, however, the
Cathedral is not without importance, and the tower and spire have
some pretensions to magnificence and beauty ; but they lose a great
deal of their effect by being viewed from any point within the pre-
cincts. This Cathedral is certainly not one of the first magnitude,
nor of the first class in any respect: it is extremely plain, but of
good proportions; and smaller than any, if we except the VVelch
Cathedrals, and that of Oxford; those of Carlisle and Bristol it
would be unjust to bring into the comparison, because they have
both been deprived of their naves, which when standing, if we may
judge by what remains of them, would have caused those Cathe-
drals to have far surpassed this of Chichester, as well in decoration
as in size.

According to our custom, we will place the reader opposite
the west front, and begin our description of the exterior with
that portion of the Cathedral. In its complete state it would never
bear a comparison with the west front of any other Cathedral in
England, except perhaps in the instances of Rochester and Norwich.
The plan is the usual one of a gable between the two towers, one
tower, the southern, only remains ; a plain solid wall embattled, and
sloped at the top, and flanked by a buttress with plain pinnacle,
occupies the place of the northern tower. There is but one entrance
into the Cathedral from the west, viz. in the centre, which leads into
the nave; before this entrance is built a plain low and deep porch,
with double buttresses at the corners; it is entered by a wide arch,
under which are two smaller ones, supported by a single column
clustered; the space between these two and the larger one which

 

 

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CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL. 29

incloses them is adorned with a large quatrefoil; the whole porch is
of the earliest period of the pointed style, Immediately above this
porch are three windows of the same date, the middle one rising a
little higher than the lateral ones. Above these is a large pointed
window of a later date, probably inserted at the time when the south
wing of the transept was built by bishop Langton ; but the original
tracery and mullions have all disappeared, and those which have
been substituted in modern times do not speak much in favour of
the liberality or the taste of the persons concerned. Above this
window is the gable itself, quite plain, except that it contains two
small windows of early pointed work, now walled up. The west end
of the nave to the north is flanked by a plain square buttress, ter—
minated by a low pinnacle equally plain. The southern tower rises
a little, and but a little, above the gable point. The basement story
and the next above it, are both certainly of the original work of
Radulfus; the two remaining stories may with equal safety be
ascribed to the munificence of Seffi'id II. The lower of these two
stories contains a single pointed arch, while the upper has two such
arches in each face: the arches in the two lowest stories are round
headed. The tower ends abruptly, having neither parapet nor
pinnacles: it is square, and has very plain and heavy buttresses at
the outer corners of it, which reach no higher than the beginning
of the early pointed portion of the tower.

Nearly parallel with the west front and at a few yards distance
to the north of it, stands a campanile, or bell tower, so usual in
Italy, but the only instance of it in England. It is 120 feet high,
and is chiefly remarkable for its massiveness, and almost a total
want of decoration. It is square, has double buttresses at the
corners, a pointed door under a square label in the west face of it,
and three windows of the same style one above the other. The
upper story is similar to the great west tower of Ely Cathedral, but
very inferior to that in every respect. The plan, however, is the same,
and it was probably built at the same time, if not by the same
architect. It is octagonal, but very low, and is set upon, and within
the square tower, and joined to the angular turrets of it by plain
flying buttresses. The turrets rise a little above the octagon, and
have like that and the square portion below embattled parapets.

30 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.

Nothing can be said in praise of this isolated tower; it is ill pro-
portioned, heavy, and plain even to unpleasantness.

The north and south aisles of the Cathedral are very much alike.
The windows of the side chapels of the nave, added in the time of
Edward III. are of early decorated work, but very plain examples
of that stylel. Between the windows are plain buttresses, which
perhaps once had pinnacles of a more ornamented character, which
are now gone. The parapet is quite plain; as is that also of the
clerestory above: except that underneath the lower string course of
it, runs a line of small pointed arches without columns, which seems
to support the parapet. The windows of the clerestory are round-
headed, and belong to the original church, though some of them
contain mullions and tracery of a much later date. Plain flying
buttresses between each window connect the clerestory with the
outer walls of the side chapels of the nave. The transept is by far
the most ornamented portion of this Cathedral. It was lengthened
by bishop Langton. The south wing of it contains the only window
in the whole building which can be called rich. It is a fine example
of the style of architecture then newly introduced, more elaborate
and of better design than that in the north end of the transept, but
inferior to that of the same date in the chapel of Merton College,
Oxford. Above this window in the south front of the transept is
a small rose window in the gable of it, which is half destroyed; the
tracery is rich, feathered and good: both ends of the transept are
flanked with plain heavy buttresses terminated by low embattled
turrets. The north transept has no gable point, and no window
over the large one.

We come now to the choir. The side walls are as plain as those
of the nave; it has no side chapels, but the walls of the side aisles
are equally devoid of decoration with the clerestory above. The
east end of the Cathedral is flat, but not inelegant. To the lower
story of it the Lady Chapel is attached: the next story contains
three well-proportioned windows of one light each, all lancet-headed,
the middle one rising a little above the others, an arrangement

‘ It ought to be mentioned that the mullions and tracery of these nave chapels
to the south side of the Cathedral, are not original; they have been inserted at a

subsequent period, and by their perpendicular character must belong to the sixteenth
century.

 

 

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almost universal at this period of the pointed style. Above these
windows in the next story, rises the gable point; and under it is a
small rose window, the tracery of which is composed of seven
feathered circles, one in the centre and six round it all of equal
diameter. The east end is flanked by two heavy octagonal turrets
embattled; the upper portions of them are adorned with slender
columns, and the southern one has small arches springing from the
capitals, and they are terminated by low spires, which are relieved
a little by round mouldings running up the angles of them, and by
a good but simple finial.

The Lady Chapel has nothing to recommend it to particular
attention, except that it now contains a good collection of books.
As a chapel it must always have been wanting in elevation, as a
library it is not a badly proportioned room, and the books are in
excellent preservation. The east window is stopped up, which is
much to be regretted. There are eight other windows, four on each
side, of three lights each, with good flowing tracery in the heads of
them; these still light the library and its anti-room, which was
formerly the anti-chapel.

We come now to the central tower and spire, which together
give to the Cathedral Church of Chichester all the dignity and im-
portance it possesses on a distant view of it, and all the elegance
and beauty it has to boast, externally, on a nearer approach.

This tower and spire have been compared to those of Salisbury
Cathedral, and though inferior in respect to elevation and richness,
they will not yield to them in point of proportion, decoration, and
general good effect. The tower is a story lower than that of Salis-
bury, and probably altogether not above half its height. The low
story, which rises no higher than the ridge of the leaden roof, is
adorned with a row of trefoil-headed arches upon slender columns.
The next and principal story of the tower is of good elevation and
proportion, and contains in each face of it two pointed windows,
which are all divided by a single column supporting two pointed
arches within the greater ones. The tower has turrets at the four
corners, which rise a little above the parapet of the tower, and like
that are embattled. The spire alone is, perhaps, to the full as
lofty as that of Salisbury, and if so is in no respect inferior to it.
It is octagonal, and at its base, in the four faces of it opposite the

32 CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL.

four points of the compass, are placed very elegant pointed win-
dows of two lights each, flanked with slender buttresses, terminated
by crocketed pinnacles, and having rich and delicate canopies, with
crockets and finials. Up each angle of the spire runs a plain round
moulding, and around it are set two horizontal bands of tracery one
above the other, broad, and of very delicate and elegant design.
The whole is surmounted by a graceful finial, on which is set the
weathercock.

The cloisters are situated on the south side of the Cathedral;
they are built only on three sides, which are all of unequal length,
and not at right angles to each other, nor to the walls of the Ca-
thedral which occupies the fourth side, and which may be entered
at either extremity of the cloister. The space thus inclosed is of
course of a very irregular and almost indescribable shape. It is
used as a burying ground, and is called the Paradise. It is not
known to whom the erection of the cloisters is to be attributed.
The windows are of early perpendicular character, and therefore
we may date the cloisters about the beginning of the fifteenth, or
at the close of the preceding century. The roof is flat, and of
wood: their effect is very much injured by being walled up, and
otherwise defaced in many places.

INTERIOR.

The interior of this Cathedral is much more imposing than the
exterior from any point of view. The nave is well proportioned,
and is not without dignity. Each side is composed of an arcade of
eight circular arches, supported by seven flat piers, isolated, and
flanked by half columns of cylindrical character, with plain capitals,
under which is a cable moulding; above this arcade is the lower
triforium, and above that again is another, through which are seen
the windows of the clerestory.

The lower triforium consists of a succession of circular arches
of the same span as those of the arcade below, Within each are two
circular arches resting on a single column ; the space between these
two smaller arches is filled up with stone, the surface of which is
hatched as at Rochester. Unfortunately Bishop Sherlock, in order
to conceal the rafters of the side aisles which were visible through

 

 

 

 

 

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carcassren CATHEDRAL. 33

the arches themselves of this lower triforium, had them walled up,
nearly to the height of the capitals of their little columns, which has
destroyed all proportion and greatly injured the general effect. Every
visitor will at once admit that the said rafters had better have con-
tinued to be visible, as they still are in the nave of Petcrborough '
Cathedral, than concealed as they are in this. Between these two
naves indeed there is a very striking analogy, as well as in the choirs
of both, and a very singular coincidence in their early history, both
having been destroyed by fire, and both rebuilt about the same time.
Probably, therefore, the work of re-edification was entrusted to the
same architect, and, if so, the great similarity in the plan of both is at
once accounted for.

Bishop Seffrid’s addition to the Cathedral was, as we have before
observed, the upper triforium, which is much more lofty than that
beneath. It is deemed a perfect example of the early pointed style,
but then newly sprung up. The middle arch of the three is round,
and seems to have been so constructed merely to accommodate itself
to the round window in the original wall behind it. It is as usual
elevated above the other two which are pointed. The small columns
of this triforium are of Petworth marble, with capitals carved so as
to represent the leaves of the palm tree. Slabs of the same material
inserted into the side walls rest upon the pillars and support the
superstructure; about the same time also were introduced the filleted
clusters attached to the pillars from the floor to the springing of the
ribs of the vaulting, which connects very well with the upper tri-
forium and the string courses of Purbeck marble 2. The vaulting is of
early but uncertain date, apparently subsequent to Seffrid’s work,
and not much so; but the architect. warned by two conflagrations
constructed it of stone and chalk instead of wood. About the begin-
ning of the sixteenth century, the whole vaulting was painted with
various scrolls and flowers, in gaudy colours. This was done by the
direction and at the expencc of Bishop Sherburne. VVe come now
to the transept, the north wing of which is appropriated as the parish
church of St. Peter the Great; it is of equal dimensions with the
south wing, and in all other respects is very similar to it. The south

2 In the embellishment ofthe nave both Purbeck and Petworth marble were used.
The former is superior greatly to the latter in. every respect, and is therefore placed
nearer the eye. A... the Petwortli iitzii-lilv i.. compo-w! nt’ shelly parttelra it is much D103?
liable: m defiantpeiittwg whirl. iii: 2344mm: it its pillars with": upper titanium.

Viola. It. F

34 CIIICHESTER CATHEDRAL.

wing contains the monument of Bishop Langton, and the shrine of
St. Richard, of whom we shall have occasion to speak again in our
account of the most eminent bishops of this see. This shrine was
finished before Bishop Langton’s alteration of the transept already
noticed was begun. The lancet arch which connects this wing of the
transept with the side aisle of the choir, is a beautiful example of
that style upon its first introduction into this country. The side walls
of this portion of the transept were embellished in 1519, at the
expence of Bishop Sherburne, in a very extraordinary manner. He
employed a Flemish artist to paint two large pictures upon oak
panel, the subjects of which are two principal epochs in the history
of the see, viz. the foundation of it at Selsey by Ceadwalla, and the
establishment of four prebends by himself. To these paintings have
been added a series of the bishops of Selsey and Chiohester, and of
the kings of England. In their original state the two first named
paintings had great merit, considering the time in which they were
executed ; but having been much injured by the parliament soldiers,
their restoration was intrusted by Bishop Mawson to an inferior artist,
which has been destructive. of all their original merit, except the
mere outline and design.

Between the nave and choir was once the oratory of Bishop
Arundel, built before AD. 1477, which still serves as a dividing
screen and supports the organ. It consists of three arches: the
middle one by which the choir is entered having only half the breadth
of those on each side of it. The roof of this screen is beautifully
fretted, and the whole surmounted by a series of small niches, in
which gilded statues of saints were formerly placed.

Before we proceed to speak of the choir we must conduct the
reader back to the nave, in order to make him acquainted with a very
remarkable addition which the Cathedral of Chichester received in
that part of it, early in the reign of Edward III.

\Vhen the chantries in this had increased to a number not common
in other Cathedrals, a plan was adopted of adding another aisle to
each ofthose already built on each side of the nave; in which sepa-
rate oratories might be constructed for the various offices required
by the founders to he performed in them. A communication was
then formed by piers and arches with the original aisles on each side;
and whenever the modern obstructions shall be removed, the whole

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CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL. 35

area will extend even beyond that of the largest Cathedrals, and will
produce a very picturesque effect. Indeed the restoration of the
Cathedral of Seffrid to the original purity of its design would be an
event very interesting to the lovers of Gothic architecture.

Bishop Seffrid’s restored church terminated with the east end of
the present choir, which extends westward across the transept to the
nave. The stalls were erected by Bishop Sherburne ,' they are of
carved oak, good, but inferior to those of many other Cathedrals;
there are eighteen on each side, and the whole occupy no more space
than the area under the great central tower. The ancient episcopal
throne was defaced by the fanatical soldiers under VValler’s com-
mand; the present one was given by Bishop Mawson. The choir
extends only to three arcades beyond the tower, and they are exactly
similar to those of the nave. The wainscot screen of the altar is very
lofty and elaborate, and of the same date with the stalls. In 1731
the present marble pavement was laid down, and the whole uniformly
painted and gilded as it had originally been by Bishop Sherburne.
This choir, although far inferior to many others, if space or splendour
be considered, is nevertheless to be admired for its simple and
characteristic effect.

We come now to the presbytery, beyond the choir; it consists
of two arcades only, the last piers of which have slender detached
columns of Purbeck marble. The plan of this part of the Cathedral
was probably given about the year 1230 by Bishop Neville, adopted
in his time and continued, with the addition of the Lady Chapel by
Bishop St. Leofard. These works were not completed before the
close of the thirteenth century. The lower triforium of the presby-
tery is beautifully ornamented with much rich tracery and carving,
and the pillars of it are of Purbeck marble and clustered. There
is a great similarity between this and the presbytery added to Ely
Cathedral by Bishop Hotham, in the year 1235; although it must
be confessed the latter presbytery far exceeds the former both in
dimensions and in the richness and variety of its ornamental detail.

At the east end of the preshytery is the entrance into the Lady
Chapel ,' of the interior of which nothing more need be added to that
which has been already either stated or necessarily implied in the
account of its erection and external appearance.

On the east side of the south wing of the transept is the chapter.

F 2

36 enteritis-rim eyrnizmmr“

house, a small square room, the arched roof and windows of which
plainly indicate that it was built about the beginning or towards the
middle of the thirteenth century, and is probably the work of Bishop
Neville, by whom the dean and chapter were first. established. The
sacristy (now the vestry) is a large room added by Bishop Langton. In
it is placed an ancient oak chest, made of the rudest planks, eight feet
long by twenty inches broad, having five locks of curious construction.
Mr. Dallaway, (from whose valuable history of \Vestern Sussex the
principal part of our information upon the historr of Chichester
Cathedral has been gleaned), declares this chest to be most unques-
tionably a work of Saxon times, and that it is known to have been
originally brought from Selsey. Above that room, and having a
spacious round staircase connnunicating with the south aisle of the
choir, is the bishops consistory court, of the. same dimensions. It.
was built. in the reign of Henry Vb. and fitted up for the trial of
heretics, particularly the Lollar: s, then a prevailing sect. Behind
the seats of the official and his assistants is a sliding door in the
Wainscot, concealing a room in which the prisoners were confined, and
from which they were brought out one by one into the court. Of the
monuments which remain the lbllowing are. the most remarkable :—-
1. That of Richard de la “'yche, or St. Richard. 011 a table tomb
is the figure of the canonized bishop in his robes, within a spacious
and richly decorated arcade of three art-hes, supported on small
clustered columns, terminated by crocheted pinnacles. The arches
are feathered, and have Very graceful flowing canopies elegantly
crocheted, and terminated by finials. The roof of this arcade is of
beautiful fretwork. ‘2. A table tomb of Bishop Langton, with a figure
of the prelate son'iewhat larger than life, within an arched recess,
very similar to the former. 3. The table tomb of Bishop Sherburne,
with the figure of the bishop also in his robes, beneath a single arched
recess, ornamented with good feathered panelling. These are all the
ancient monuments of any account now in existence, and even these
have sufibred much mutilation in the days of fanaticism. Among
the modern monuments we cannot omit to mention that which has
been raised to the. memory of the poet Collins. It. is of Flaxman’s
design, and does credit to his splendid talents as a sculptor. The
poet is represented sitting in a reclining posture during a lucid interval
of the malady to which he was subject; as if seeking consolation in

 

 

 

 

cnicnssrsa CATHEDRAL. 37

the pages of the New Testament, which is open before him, whilst his
lyre and one of his best compositions lie neglected at his feet. Two
other mural tablets by the same artist, one to the memory of Dean
Ball, and the other to that of Alderman Dear, are among the happiest
works of human genius.

The bishops of Chichester had in former times no fewer than four
large palaces in the country, besides several smaller ones for the sake
of more retirement and privacy, and one very large one in London.
Of all these residences one only now remains, viz. the palace at
Chichester, westward of the Cathedral, which, for the antiquity of
some portions of it, deserves to be noticed in this place. It is usually
called Chichester House. A Roman pavement and some coins
having been discovered about the premises; it is conjectured that this
palace is built on the site of a Roman villa. The most ancient parts
of the building are~—1. The chapel of the time of Henry III.; the
intersecting ribs of the vaulting are more complicated than in earlier
examples of this style. The door is circular headed, with a Norman
moulding. The windows are of a much later date. Ordinations
are sometimes performed in it. 2. The large old kitchen of the
conventual form and construction, with a double arched door, and
a roof supported by trusses of oak beams at the four angles. 3.
The hall which corresponds with the kitchen in every respect; this
room was formerly applied to the purposes not only of hospitality,
but of judicial proceedings also. It had probably become ruinous
before the time of Bishop Sherburne, who remodelled it, when he
rebuilt that wing of the palace, and divided it into a lower and upper
apartment. Few examples of timber frame ceilings remain so per-
fect at this day as this of the present refectory, or great dining room;
it is painted in compartments with Gothic scrolls, and the armorial
bearings of the nobility and gentry connected with Bishop Sherburne.

The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Peter; the revenues of the see
are. rated in the king’s books at £677. 1.9. 3d. per annum; the present
annual value somewhat exceeds £2,000.

The bishops of Chichester were formerly ex qflicio confessors to
the queens of England.

The establishment of this Cathedral at present consists of a bishop,
a dean, two archdeacons, viz. of Chichester and Lewes, four canons
residentiary, twenty-eight prebendaries, who are not members of the

38 cnranera CATHEDRAL.

chapter, a precentor, treasurer, chancellor, and twelve vicars choral,
besides an organist and choristers. The diocese contains nothing
more than the county of Sussex.

TheZdimensions of the Cathedral are as follows z—Nave, from the
west door to the entrance of the choir, 156 feet~long and 26 wide;
original aisles 12 feet, additional 14 feet, total internal width 91 feet
9 inches. Transept, 130 feet long and 34 wide. Choir, from entrance
to altar screen, 105 feet long and 26 wide; aisles 12 feet, total width
60 feet. From the back of choir to the entrance of Lady Chapel, 56
feet 2 inches. The chapel and anti-room 62 feet 9 inches long and
20 feet 7 inches wide. Height of the spire, 271 feet; vaulting of
nave, 61 feet 6 inches; of choir, 59 feet 2 inches; under the tower,
67 feet; chapel, 22 feet high.

We will now conclude our history and description of Chichester
Cathedral with a brief account of some of the most remarkable pre-
lates who have presided over the diocese.

Richard Poore, elected in 1215, was translated to Salisbury in

I 1217; his talents as an architect are most renowned. The present
Cathedral of Salisbury was designed by him and carried on to a con-
siderable extent before he died. That Cathedral alone is sufficient

i to perpetuate his name.

Ralph Neville, elected in 1222, was also chancellor of England;
he greatly improved the revenues of the see, and built the episcopal
residence in London, the site of which is .now occupied by Lincoln’s
Inn. He is said also to have designed and begun the spire, which
was far from being completed at his death, in the year 12413.

Richard de la Wyche, elected in 1245, a prelate renowned for his
unbounded charity to the poor, and‘ardent zeal for preaching to the
people, who followed him by thousands, perhaps, however, more for
the sake of his gifts, than for his doctrine. He died in 1258, and
when his body was being prepared for interment, it was found wrapped
in a shirt of horse hair, and bound with circles of iron. May not the
words of the prophet be fairly brought to bear upon this and such like

3 A singular expedient was suggested and put in practice for the future preservation
of this spire in tempestuous seasons, in consequence of danger apprehended from the
effects of a thunder—storm in 1721', by which several large stones were forced out, which
were immediately replaced, and the fissure cannot now be perceived. The expedient is
this: at nearly 90 feet from the base of the spire a floor is supended by irons attached
externally to the finial, and which intersect the king post at every angle of the spire,
and acting as a weight, it is thought, contribute much to the safety of the structure by
preserving the equilibrium. ‘ ‘

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CHICKESTER CATHEDRAL. 39

acts of severe mortification of the body, and the question put to the
advocates of these things, “ W'ho hath required these things at your
hands, to tread my courts?” Many miracles are reported to have
been wrought by this prelate in his life-time, and after his decease,
these, together with a life of austere piety, led to his canonization in
the year 1262. This event became immediately a fruitful source of
great revenue to the see of Chichester, and ceased to be so only with
the superstition in which it originated.

John Kemp, elected in the year 1420, and afterwards attained
the highest honours in the state under the king, and in the church
had no superior but the pope. In 1421 he was translated to London;
in 1426 he became archbishop of York, over which province he pre-
sided twenty-eight years, and was then removed to Canterbury. For
four years he was chancellor of England. While he was archbishop
of York, he was created a cardinal, in the year 1439. While arch-
bishop of Canterbury, he founded a college at Wye, in Kent. He died
in the year 1455, and was buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury.

Adam Molyneux, elected in 1445, was very zealously attached
to Henry V I., by whom he was made secretary to the privy council
and keeper of the privy seal. Alarmed at the unsettled state of the
times, as some say, or as others, finding himself unable to discharge
any longer the duties of his high office, he obtained permission to
resign his bishopric, and to go abroad with an annuity for his main-
tenance of five hundred marks; but in the same year, 1449, While at
Portsmouth preparing for his voyage, he was basely murdered in a
boat by some sailors, hired for the purpose, as historians assert, by
Richard, duke of York.

Reynold Pecocke, elected in 1449, was unjustly removed for
having boldly declared the necessity of a reformation in the doctrine
of the church and morals of the clergy; he has the honour of being
the first bishop in England who dared to do this during his episcopate.
He held the see thirteen years, and was then publicly tried for heresy,
was obliged to recant, was then degraded from his office, when all his
writings were burnt, and he himself, half prisoner, half guest, was
consigned to the care of the abbot of Thorney, in Cambridgeshire,
who had with him an annual salary of £40. for his maintenance.
This unfortunate prelate has been accused of holding and touching
doctrines of a Socinian cast. However this may be, he did not long

40 cmcnsmn CATHEDRAL.

survive his degradation; but died of grief at Thorney, about the end
of the year 1462.

Edward Storey, elected in 1478, built the beautiful market cross
in the city of Chichester, and founded the grammar school there. He
died in the year 1502.

Richard Montagu, elected in 1628, was a prelate of great eru—
dition, the most acute and powerful controversalist of the age in
which he lived. His avowed and equal opposition both to papists
and puritans were alone sufficient to recommend him to the ruling
powers of the day for promotion to the bench of bishops; it certainly
procured for him the see of Chichester first, and his translation after-
wards to that of Norwich in 1638, which he retained only three
years, dying in 1641, bishop of that see.

Henry King, elected in 1641, was son of John King, bishop of
London, who was the great nephew of Robert King, the last abbot
of Oseney and first bishop of Oxford. He is ranked among the best
poets of his own times, and was a most popular preacher, as in his
discourses he adopted the language and manner of the puritans, a
sect then daily gaining ground in the kingdom. His acceptance of
the mitre lost for him the former good opinion of the parliament : so
that at the siege of Chiehester his Cathedral was attacked with ten-
fold fury, his palace and goods ransacked and destroyed, and he
himself treated with cruel indignity by the soldiery. At the Restora-
tion he returned to Chiehester, and repaired the Cathedral and palace,
and died in 1669.

John Lake, elected in 1685, having taken the oaths of allegiance
to James II., refused with Archbishop Saneroft and four other bishops
to repeat them to William III., and was therefore suspended from his
functions and emoluments, and died in London a few months after his
deprivation, in the year 1689. Every action of his life was marked
by firmness and consistent conduct.

Thomas Manningham, elected in 1709, was also chaplain to Queen
Anne, who being ill, the bishop was desired to read prayers in another
room; but he replied, “ I do not choose to whistle the prayers of the
church through a key-hole.”

Bishops Patrick and Mawson, having both been translated to Ely,

will be noticed in the history of that Catlwlrah

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ELY CATHEDRAL.

THE Christian religion in England gradually declined from the time
of the Saxon invasion, and was entirely extinct in many parts, when
Pope Gregory sent a number of missionaries from Rome, with the
famous Augustin at their head, to endeavour to bring about the con-
version of our Saxon ancestors. This company of preachers arrived
in the Isle of Thanet, in the year 597.

The Isle of Ely at that time formed a part of the kingdom of
East Anglia, which was founded by Ufia, the eighth in descent from
‘Voden, about the year 575.

Redwald, grandson of Uffa, was persuaded by Ethelbert, king of
Kent, to embrace the Christian faith, and was accordingly baptized
in the year 599. Ethelbert, at the instigation of Augustin, founded
a church at Cratendune, one mile from the present city of Ely, soon
after Redwald’s conversion; and Rodwald himself, it is asserted,
founded one in Ely. This is nevertheless questioned by some, and
yet all are agreed that he certainly founded one at Rendlesham, in
Suffolk, one of his royal seats. Redwald, however, soon after his
conversion relapsed into idolatry, at the instigation of his wife and
other evil councillors; and yet not so as Wholly to reject the Christian
religion, for he had in the same building an altar dedicated to Christ
and another to idols. Probably his conversion was never sound and
sincere, or perhaps he was but imperfectly instructed ; however this
may be, he has the character of having been indifferent about all
religion, and, as might be expected, under such a king, the Christian
religion languished during the whole of his reign in the kingdom of
East Anglia. Redwald died in the year 624, and was succeeded by
his son Eorpwald, who was not converted and baptized till after he
ascended the throne. This event was brought about by the persuasion
of his friend Edwin, king of Northumberland, who was a very zealous
Christian. Under Eorpwald, had he lived, the Christian religion
would have flourished, but the general conversion of the East Angles
was soon again interrupted by his death. He was slain by Ricbert,
a pagan, who at. the same time took possession of the kingdom, though

VOL. 11. G

42 ELY CATHEDRAL.

he was never firmly seated on the throne. For three years nothing
but confusion and misery was to be seen in East Anglia. At the
expiration of that time, Sigebert, the brother of Eorpwald then an
exile in France (though on what account is not known), returned
to England, and was soon after placed on the throne which his father
and brother had filled before him. During the period of his banish-
ment in France he had been converted and baptized, and is said by
historians to have been an eminently virtuous and pious prince. The
origin of the neighbouring university of Cambridge is attributed to
him : he founded also a bishop’s see at Dunwich, an abbey at Burgh
Castle, and another at Bury, all in Suffolk. After a prosperous reign
of four years, in which the general conversion of his subjects was
completed, he retired from his kingdom and the world into his own
abbey at Burgh Castle, where he took the profession and habit of
religion. He resigned his crown in favour of Egric, his cousin, who
had for some time been coadjutor with him in the kingdom.

About four years after the abdication of Sigebert, Penda, the
pagan king of Mercia, came suddenly with a powerful army into
East Anglia, and laid the whole country waste with fire and sword.
In this distress Egric and his subjects besought Sigebert to come
forth from his retirement, and lend them his powerful assistance by his
advice and his presence. He resisted, however, their first solicitation,
and replied to it, that he did not think it consistent with his religious
profession and habit to bear arms; but on a second application, he so
far yielded to their wishes as to leave his retirement, and appear with
the army on the field of battle, though he would have nothing in his
hand but a wand, and persisted to the last in his resolution of taking
no active part in the fight. The consequence was that both Sigebert
and Egric were slain, and their whole army defeated.

To Egric succeeded Anna, the son of Enus, who was the brother
of Redwald. Anna was an excellent Christian prince, greatly and
justly beloved by all his subjects. In his time Christianity flourished;
but the same Penda came again into East Anglia, the country was
again reduced to a desert, and the good king Anna, withh is eldest
son, J urminus, both slain. Before Anna came to the throne he mar-
ried Hereswitha, daughter of Hereric, grandson of Edwin and sister
of the famous St. Hilda, the foundress of \Vhitby Abbey. By
Hereswitha, Anna had a numerous, and as Bede says, a glorious

ELY CATHEDRAL. 43

offspring, viz. J urminus, slain with his father in the field of battle;
Adulfus, who succeeded his father in the kingdom; Erkenwald, who
was bishop of London, in the year 675, and founded the abbey of
Barking, in Essex; Sexburga, who was married to Ercombert, king
of Kent; Edelburga, who became abbess of Barking; Withburga, who
founded a nunnery at East Derehaln, in Norfolk; and Etheldreda,
the renowned foundress of the abbey in Ely, who was born about the
year 630, at Ixning, then a place of considerable importance, but now
a small village in the most western part of Suffolk, bordering on
Cambridgeshire. Etheldreda became the first abbess of her own
foundation at Ely, about the year 673, which she governed so as to
gain the esteem and veneratien not only of all the members of her
convent, but of the inhabitants of the surrounding country. She died
in the year 679, and was succeeded by her sister Sexburga, who was
then become a widow. Sexburga governed the establishment with
equal credit to herself and advantage to the convent and the neigh-
bourhood for twenty years, and dying in the year 699, was succeeded
by her own daughter Ermenilda ; how long she remained at the head
of the convent is not known, but her fame as a good abbess is scarcely,
if at all, inferior to that of those who preceded her in the same place
and dignity. She had a daughter named VVerburga, who became the
next abbess on the death of her mother; of Werburga we know but
little more than that, like her predecessors and relatives, she also was
canonized; and hence we may presume she was little, if at all, inferior
to them in respect of piety and charity, and those austere virtues and
mortifications which usually paved the way for a reception into the
calendar. The time of her death is not known, nor the manner of it,
but many abbesses after St. Werburga succeeded each other till the
year 870, when the monastery was destroyed by the Danes; and
shortly after that was occupied by a college of secular priests till the
reign of King Edgar, when the abbey was refounded by Ethelwold,
bishop of \Vinchester, in the year 970. Brithnoth, prior of Win-
chester, was the first abbot: he was placed here by the founder, and
rebuilt the conventual church. In 1066, Thurstan was abbot, and
defended the Isle of Ely seven years against William the Conqueror.
In 1081 Simeon, another prior of Winchester, was elected abbot, who
laid the foundation of the present Cathedral. After his death there
was a vacancy of seven years. In 1100 a person, who is called only
G 2

44 ELY CATHEDRAL.

Richard, succeeded Simeon. This abbot Richard obtained the kings
licence and the pope’s consent to erect the abbey into a bishopric, but
he died before the change was legally effected. In 1|07 Hervey,
bishop of Bangor, from which see it is said he was unjustly driven
away, was elected abbot of Ely. He renewed the attempt of his
predecessor to make Ely a bishop’s see, and after two years suc-
ceeded, and was himself the first bishop of it. Many obstacles
presented themselves, but he had the good fortune to overcome them
all. After the change had been determined upon, the next question
was as to what should constitute the new diocese. Ely was already
a part of the diocese of Lincoln, and the bishops of Lincoln claimed
some sort of jurisdiction within the Isle of Ely itself, though it seems
this claim had never been legally settled in their favour. Hervey
communicated with Robert, then bishop of Lincoln, upon this subject,
and it was at length agreed upon between them, that the manor of
Spaldwick, in Huntingdonshire, then part of the possessions of the
abbey of Ely, should be given up and conveyed to Robert and his
successors for ever, in exchange for all his peculiar jurisdiction in the
isle, and all his episcopal rights over the whole county of Cambridge,
which was henceforth to form the new diocese of Ely. The matter
was next brought before a council assembled in London by the king’s
desire in the year 1108, wherein it was agreed that the diocese of
Lincoln was too extensive for the superintendence of one bishop, and
that the interests of religion required that another bishopric should
be taken out of it, whose see should be fixed in the abbey of Ely.
To this arrangement the pope, on application being made to him,
readily consented. Such was the origin of the see and diocese of Ely.
We will now proceed to give an account of that superb fabric whose
foundations were laid as an abbey, but which very soon after became
a Cathedral Church.

The foundations of the present Cathedral were laid by Simeon,
abbot of Ely in the time of Henry I. and 1Villiam Rufus: he did not
live to furnish more than the old choir and the transept. Of his work
the transept only new remains. The nave, great western tower (as
high as the first battlements), with its south wing, are the next per-
tions in point of antiquity: the former was finished in 117-1, and the
latter in 1189. In 1200 the western portico was begun and finished
in 1215; it was anciently called the Galilee. Of these adjuncts to

ELY CATHEDRAL. 45

our Cathedrals some account has been given in the history and
description of Lincoln Cathedral.

In 1552 the Cathedral was extended eastward six arches more.
This building is called the presbytery. About the same time a spire
was erected on the old central tower, which in all probability con-
tributed to its downfall, which happened in the year 1322.

In 1321 the new Lady Chapel, now Trinity Church, was begun.

In 1322 the octagon was begun, and in the year following the
building of the three arches eastward of it, the former ones having
been destroyed by the falling of the old tower principally in that
direction. In 1328 the stone work of the octagon was finished. In
1342 the wood work and roof of the octagon and lantern were com—
pleted; and about the same time the stalls of the choir were erected.

In 1349 the Lady Chapel was finished. In 1373 three windows
on the south and two on the north side of the presbytery were rebuilt
in the newer style, to agree with the adjoining building.

In 1380 .the octagonal building and four angular turrets were
erected on the original western tower. In 1105 it was thought
necessary to strengthen the arches and piers which support the great
tower, on account of this superstructure. This was done by easing
them with stone: and in 1-154 it became necessary to add still more
to the strength of these piers and arches, and which was at that time
more etiectually performed.

111 1460 two more windows were inserted on the north side of the
presbytery. In 1488 the chapel of Bishop Alcock was erected, and
in 1534 that of Bishop West; since which nothing has been built,
but. many things destroyed. The Cloisters were taken down in 1650,
and irreparable mischief at the same time done in various parts of
the Cathedral. Since that period many and important have been the
repairs, which time and accidents have rendered necessary. I11 1662
the north wall of the nave was repaired. In 1669 the north-west
angle of the north Wing of the great transept fell down and was
restored. In 1748 the spire was ordered to be taken down from the
top of the great western tower, which was so much against the will of
the inhabitants of Ely, that they petitioned to have it remain, which
petition was granted, but the spire has since been removed. In 1762
the wood work of the octagon and lantern were thoroughly and very
cleverly repaired. In 1768 the roof of the presbyterv was repaired,

46 ELY CATHEDRAL.

and at the same time the upper part of the east end being two feet
out of the perpendicular, was skilfully restored to its proper position
by that most able mechanic and architect, Mr. Essex. In 1770 the
choir was removed into the presbytery, by which all the interior effect
ofthe Cathedral has been greatly improved. In 1801 the upper parts
of the tower were repaired, and in the following year the roof of the
Lady Chapel. In the same year the outside of the galilee was
restored and beautified, as was also the inside of the great tower.
For the former part of the foregoing information we are indebted
chiefly to Mr. Bentham’s excellent history of this Cathedral, and for
the latter to Mr. Miller’s description of the same, than which no visitor
can have a more faithful, useful, or pleasant guide in his hand, while
he inspects this highly interesting and imposing edifice.

Few Cathedrals indeed have had the advantage of such an his-
torian as Bentham, and few historians have had such a subject for
their investigation as Ely Cathedral presents. It is certainly one of
the very first magnitude and importance. A more vast, magnificent,
and beautiful display of ecclesiastical architecture, and especially of
the different periods of the pointed style, can scarcely Ue conceived.
The Norman portion of the building is late in its date, and lighter in
its character than earlier examples of the same style : indeed, in many
places it bears evident marks of transition from the round to the
pointed style.

Of the various portions of the present Cathedral, then, the dates
are Well ascertained from authentic documents. This being the case,
and the fact admitted that the pointed style continually progressed
all over England at least, and with nearly equal pace, it follows that
the several portions of Ely Cathedral become valuable as criterions
of the age of other buildings in this country, in the absence of more
precise and certain evidence.

Of each of the three successive styles of Gothic architecture Ely
possesses in its Cathedral Church a pure and perfect specimen; pure
as being free from all transition mixture, and perfect as to the design
and execution of the detail. The galilee and the presbytery were
built when the first or early English style was settled and perfected;
The octagon, the three arches east of it, and the Lady Chapel, when
the second, or decorated English, was in that state; and Bishop
Alcock’s chapel, when the third, or perpendicular style, had reached
the same.

 

 

 

 

ELY CATHEDRAL. 47

It has been observed that there is more variety of plan among the
Cathedrals of the pointed style in England than among those of the
same style in France. However this may be, there is certainly in
every Cathedral in England something peculiar to itself, and this of
Ely has more peculiarities than any other in England, for, first, the
great west tower, with its south wing, has no parallel in England.
At Bangor, the Cathedral has indeed a tower at the west end, and so
have the parish churches of England very generally, than which that
Cathedral is nothing more in its external appearance; and if the
towers could be compared (which would be like comparing a giant to
a dwarf, or a mountain to a mole hill,) yet Bangor tower has no
wing; that feature is entirely peculiar to Ely Cathedral. Another
peculiarity is the octagon with its lantern; another, the unusual size
and situation of the Lady Chapel; and, lastly, the anti-choir or space
between the octagon and the choir screen. This peculiarity indeed
is of modern date, and no part of the original design. The want of
Cloisters and a chapter-house is an accidental circumstance; both
once existed, as some remains of both, which are still visible, suf-
ficiently prove.

Several different sorts of stone have been made use of in the
building of this Cathedral, all of which must have been brought from
various places, and some from considerable distances. There is
besides in the construction of theinterior detail a vast quantity of
Purbeck marble, and of a soft stone of a chalky nature, which is
known in this part of the country by the name of clunch.

From these general remarks we will now proceed to take a more
particular survey of every part of this huge and solemn pile.

EXTERIOR.

The west front of a Cathedral is usually the most important and
imposing portion of its exterior; and had this of Ely Cathedral
remained in its original state, nothing of the kind could have exceeded
it in impressive grandeur. But, alas! the north wing is gone; and
the tower, by the additional octagon and turrets, already spoken of,
being raised upon it, is become of a most disproportionate height.
The galilee, also a most beautiful object. in itself, helps to destroy the

48 ELY CATHEDRAL.

harmony of the whole. But take that away, which formed no part
of the original design; take down also the octagonal addition to the
tower with its turrets, and erect the north wing exactly like the south
which still remains, and a more august and striking facade cannot be
conceived. Such was the noble design of the architect, and for a few
years it probably existed in that state. Is it ever likely to be seen
so again? Prudence may perhaps hereafter demand the demolition
of the offensive octagon and turrets, and the sooner the better. But,
alas! the same motive must ever operate in these days against the
re-edification of the north wing.

Geoffry Ride}, the third bishop, designed and lived to finish,
nearly, the original west front. He died in 1189, and nothing but
the battlements of the original tower were left for his successor
Longchamp, to erect. With respect to the upper portion of the tower
and turrets above the original battlements, whether it was the work
of the bishop or convent is not certain, it was injudicious on all
accounts; its injurious effects were very soon perceived, and vast
sums were expended to counteract them at different times. This
great superincumbent weight in all probability has caused the de-
struction of the north wing. \Vhenever the former shall be taken
off, the materials should in all justice and fairness be employed in
the re-construction of the latter. These wings of the great tower
formed a sort of second transept to the church at that point: they
had, and the south wing still has, polygonal turrets at the angles;
that at the south-west angle is nearly double the diameter of the
other, though they are of equal height. They seem to be dodecagons
engaged, that is, eight of their sides are external, and four within
the walls of the building which they thus flank. This wing with its
turrets is covered all over with ranges of arches one above another;
the three lowest are circular, the fourth are trefoil-headed, the fifth,
and all above on the turrets, which rise considerably above the wing,
are pointed and profusely adorned with Norman mouldings; the wing
and turrets are both embattled.

The western portico or galilee by which the Cathedral is entered
is a beautiful example of the early English style, and being, as is
generally agreed, the work of Bishop Eustachius, is a very early
example of the perfect state of that style; for Eustachius died in the
year 1215, and therrefore this work must. have. been finished at least

ELY CATHEDRAL. 49,

five years before the present Cathedral of Salisbury was begun.
Within the large arch are two smaller ones, feathered, resting on a
single clustered column, which divides the entrance into two equal
parts. The intervening space above the smaller arch is adorned with
an elegant leafy pattern of open stone work, not unlike the tracery
often found in the heads of windows belonging to the succeeding
style of Gothic architecture. Above this portal are three tall lancet-
headed windows of one light each, the centre one only a very little
taller than the other two: the space on each side the windows and
portal is adorned with four tiers of arches, supported on slender
columns, and flanked by clustered buttresses terminated by plain
conical pinnacles. It is surmounted also by an embattled parapet,
the middle portion of which rises higher than the rest.

The nave and transept, with their side aisles, are very nearly
alike on both sides the Cathedral, the clerestory exactly so, viz. a
plain parapet, projecting a little and supported by pilasters, dividing
it into compartments, which are filled up with three round arches on
slender cylindrical columns with plain capitals; the middle one forms
a window of One light, and is wider and rises higher than the others.
The side aisles are embattled, and divided into the same number of
compartments on the face of the wall, as in the clerestory, but by
slightly projecting buttresses instead of pilasters; they are also
divided horizontally by a string course into two stories. The windows,
with the exception of three on the south side of the nave, (which are
of the original form,) are all insertions of later ages, some of decorated
and some of perpendicular character.

The Cloisters were on the south side of the nave, the north-east
angle of them is still perfect; and other portions in ruins are still
visible in the dean’s garden. Under the north-east angle of the
Cloisters is what is called the monks entrance into the Cathedral, at
the north-west end of the same is the prior’s; they are both of N or—
man architecture, the former richly sculptured, and the latter a still
more magnificent and elaborate work of that style.

A little to the south of the Cloister stood the chapter-house, of
which only just enough remains to shew that it was a building co-eval
with the oldest part of the present Cathedral.

The south and north fronts of the transept are not exactly similar,
the principal difference between them is in the gable portion of each.

VOL. II. H

5O ELY CATHEDRAL.

The south gable has one wide and low window of seven lights, with
simple tracery in the head, and is sunk within a deep recess of the
same ungraceful form. The north gable has two much better pro-
portioned windows side by side, and of about the same age. The
lower portions are of the original Norman work; a slight difference
exists between them as there does also between the upper part of the
turrets, by which both fronts are flanked, which the spectator will
detect, but which would take more room to describe than the differ-
ence deserves.

The octagon with its lantern, in the place of the old central tower,
is quite unique. The extreme beauty and merit, however, of this
portion of the Cathedral is observable chiefly from within. Exter—
nally it is too wide and too low, and the lantern is not only
disproportionately small, but being of wood, has no agreement with
the massiveness and grandeur of the stone octagon, in connection
with which it must always be viewed. The octagon is not equilateral,
but is in fact a square with the corners cut off, the four broader sides
correspond with the four arms (so to speak) of the Cathedral, and the
four narrower cut off the corners made by the intersection of those
arms, and are therefore visible down to the roof of the side aisles in
each case. The octagon is only of one story above the roof, and is
adorned with an arcade of pointed arches, feathered and canopied,
some of which are pierced through and glazed to admit light: the
broader sides have six, the narrower only three of such arches : it is
also further adorned with an open stone parapet of beautiful design.
The spaces below the arcades of the narrower sides are filled up with
large and acutely pointed windows of four lights each, with good
flowing tracery in the heads of them. At the points where the
external angles of the octagon would be, if the sides met, hexagonal
embattled turrets rising above the parapet are cleverly inserted, so
as to display three of their sides outwardly, which relieve the
octagon of some part of its heavy appearance.

As soon as the south wing of the transept is passed, a succession
of deeply projecting buttresses and a crowd of crocketed pinnacles
burst upon the View. The introduction of larger windows, a lighter
style of architecture, and stone vaulting, made these external sup-
ports absolutely necessary. Had these props been nothing more than
plain solid masonry sloping from the top to the bottom, they would

 

 

 

 

ELY CATHEDRAL. 51

have been equally useful; but in that case all the external appearance
would have been sacrificed to the beauty of the interior: to obviate
this the buttress is first of all broken into three or more stories; that
is, it slopes a little way, and then takes a perpendicular direction;
slopes again, and is perpendicular again: and so on till it projects as
far as is needful for the safety of the building; then the buttress is
surmounted with a pinnacle, oftentimes both paneled and crocketed,
and in later times every portion of the buttress was panneled with
feathered tracery and some figure set upon each break, or increase in
the projection, and when the building to be thus propped had also side
aisles, the buttresses were built to the walls of them, and in order to
support the clerestory walls above, what are called flying buttresses
were adopted, which reach from those walls in a sloping direction to
the buttresses of the side aisles below. These are also oftentimes
adorned with paneling, and sometimes also, though not often, in
England, with beautiful open tracery; and thus not only was every
objection to these external props removed, but they themselves became
a most conspicuous addition to the external beauty of the fabric which
they at the same time supported : of this, the south side of the choir
and anti-choir of Ely Cathedral, now under review, is a splendid
proof.

The east end of the choir is of the same style with the rest of it.
It is divided into three stories, the lowest has three lancet-headed
windows side by side of one light each, and (What is rather singular)
all of equal height. The next story contains five windows side by
side of one light each, and pointed in the same manner, but, in this
instance, the middle one rises higher than the one on each side of it,
and these again than those beyond them. The third story, which is
the gable itself, is adorned with three lancet windows of nearly equal
height, which admit light between the roofs. Above these windows
are three feathered panels deeply recessed; the like are also on a
smaller scale inserted in the two stories below. The gable point is
adorned with an ornamented cross. This east end is also flanked
with square turrets or buttresses, whose surfaces are enriched with
deeply sunk and feathered panels. The eastern faces of the side
aisles appear as wings to the east end of the choir; the south wing
has in it the window which lights Bishop West’s chapel, of late per-
pendicular character; the north wing, a window of late decorated or

H 2

52 ELY CATHEDRAL.

of transition style from that to early perpendicular, which lights
Bishop Alcock’s chapel. The wall above the former Window is plain
solid masonry; above the latter it is adorned with an arcade of
lancet arches. Both wings are flanked with double buttresses at the
angles, upon which is set an enormous octagonal pinnacle crocketed.
The north side of the choir and anti-choir is so nearly the same as
the south side, that nothing need be said more upon the subject.
Indeed the Lady Chapel being built parallel to it, and not much
above forty feet from it, the north side of the choir is but little seen.
The south-west angle of this beautiful chapel adjoins the north—east
angle of the north wing of the transept. Such a situation for such
an edifice is perhaps unique. The chapels dedicated to St. Mary
were generally at. the east end of the church, though sometimes at
the side; they were also usually of much less dimensions. The plan
of this chapel is an oblong, having a very large window at the east
and west end, and five windows on each side; the first window at
the western extremity of the south side is indeed walled up, and
under it is the entrance into the chapel from the north wing of the
Cathedral transept. Between each window is a projecting buttress,
crowned with a richly crocketed pinnacle: at the corners of the
chapel are double buttresses, on each of which is erected a pinnacle
of much larger dimensions; the east and west fronts are richly
decorated with arcades and canopied niches; and the gable point is
adorned with a niche rising above the elegantly pierced parapet which
runs all round the building.

Passing by the north side of the nave, which is too similar to the
south side, already described to need any further description, we
come to the ruins of the north wing of the great west tower. It is
generally believed that the weight of the octagon upon that tower
caused the destruction of this north wing. By what still remains of
it we may safely conclude that it was in all respects exactly similar
to the south wing. Unfortunately it was never rebuilt, although it
is quite evident that a building on the same spot, of different dimena
sions and style, was begun some years after the fall of the original
wing; that such a building was never completed is a subject of
congratulation rather than regret. Nothing but the re—construction
of a wing similar to the south wing can ever satisfy the eye of the
antiquary, or the architect, or the visitor of correct taste. But, alas!

 

 

 

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ELY CATHEDRAL. 53

such persons are more likely to be called upon to deplore the loss of
the south wing than to rejoice together over the rebuilding of the
north, as it is now in a very tottering condition, and much defaced,
by being propped, cramped, screwed, and tied together in every part
and in various ways.

INTERIOR.

The Cathedral is entered from the west through the galilee. The
sides of this building internally are occupied by two large pointed
arches, comprehending under each two rows of smaller ones; the
upper of five, the lower of three, supported by very slender columns.
In the upper row on each side, the middle arch has a cinquefoil head,
and those on the sides of it such portions of the cinquefoil as bring
them within the circumscribing arch. The lower rows have trefoiled
heads, and all are decorated with that favourite moulding, which is
like a flower of four leaves, with its leaves turned backwards towards
its stem. All the shafts are of Purbeck marble, with wreathed
capitals of flowers and foliage. Below the arches on each side are
stone benches. Here the penitents used to sit, while they waited
their re-admission into the church. The arch of entrance into the
Cathedral is very similar to that by which the galilee is entered from
without. They both rest on ten slender columns, five on each side,
while a middle column with detached shafts divide them into two
smaller arches. From the galilee the visitor passes into the lower
part of the tower, and from thence obtains a general view of the
interior of the Cathedral, the effect of which is indeed sublime. The
long and lofty nave, with its side aisles, opening into the ample
octagon, beyond which the richly decorated anti—choir, with its screen
and organ, and over that and stretching far beyond it, the present
choir may all be seen at once, from underneath the tower, where the
reader must now suppose himself to stand. Before we take him from
that spot we must. acquaint him with the improvements which have
been made in this part of the building. In the year 1802 the old
belfry floor, with the spars and beams for the bell ropes, were removed,
and the magnificent arch by which the tower communicates with the
nave then became visible in all its extent. Here also the reader may
see what was done to strengthen the tower, after the raising of the

54 ELY CATHEDRAL.

octagonal story upon it, he will observe that the four grand arches
which support it are not what the external appearance of the tower
has led him to expect; they were once, however, of that sort of
pointed arch used in Norman times, small examples of which are
to be seen in abundance in the upper part of the tower : this fact is
proved by the outward face of the western arch being still visible in
its original form; indeed all the four arches remain, but are now
concealed behind a thick casing of stone, which was added in order
to strengthen the arches, and enable them to bear the weight of the
superadded octagon. This was done in the year 1405, and the arches
of course are of the form then in use, and the spaces between the
piers consequently much contracted. The north and south arches are
walled up to the top; but in the stud and plaster work of the south
arch there is a door, by which the south wing of the tower is entered.

The walls are adorned with ranges of arches one above another
of various dimensions and forms, some round, some pointed, and
some intersecting; in the east wall there is a semi-circular archway,
ornamented with a zigzag moulding; which is now blocked up, and
propped with an immense brick pier: it is supposed that it once
gave entrance to a chapel, which has been long since destroyed.
There was formerly a communication between this wing of the tower
and the bishop’s palace by means of a gallery ; and it is conjectured
that the bishops entered the Cathedral by this nearest point unseen,
and under cover the whole way. This may in some measure account
for the great display of architectural detail observable in the interior
of this part of the Cathedral. “7 e will now conduct the reader back
to the spot from whence he first beheld the general view of the whole
interior, and describe more particularly first the nave and its side
aisles.

The nave has in its length a semi—circular arcade on each side of
twelve arches supported on piers, constructed so as to agree with the
several mouldings of the arches, and to appear as an assemblage of
semi—cylindrical columns with very plain capitals; the arches are
somewhat more than semi-circular, not forming however a greater
arch than a semi-circle but for a little way above the columns, they
are rectilinear before they take the circular bend.

Above this is another arcade on each side of semi-circular arches,
resting on the same kind of supports, though not half the height of

 

 

 

 

 

ELY CATHEDRAL. 55

those below. Each arch of these arcades comprehends two small
ones, supported by a single cylindrical column.

Above this arcade is a. third, composed of three arches in each
compartment, side by side, the middle one rising a little above the
others, and containing a round-headed window of one light. The
nave of Ely Cathedral is simple in its outline and vast in its dimen-
sions; the columns and arches may be said to be almost without
ornament; all that can be called ornament, being merely a band of
single billet moulding running the whole length between the first and
second arcade, and a still more simple one of a semi-cylindrical form,
between the second and third, and at the top of all. The effect is
very imposing, altogether, but it is somewhat injured by the want of
a stone vaulting. All is now open from the pavement to the leads ;
in looking upwards the visitor is disappointed, at seeing nothing but
a set of rafters, which at so great a height appear not more substantial
than those of an ordinary parish church or dwelling house ; and as he
passes along the nave will be led to say within himself, surely these
solid walls and massive arcades were intended for a nobler purpose.

Persons, however, have been found to admire this timber roof, for
its lightness and ingenious construction, and it may be in itself worthy
of admiration, but it is totally out of place here ; and though some
think that it adds to the lightness and loftiness of the nave, it is more
generally thought that a plain stone vaulting would be a great im-
provement. Such a vaulting the side aisles of the nave do actually
possess; it is perfectly plain, and of the original Norman work.
Under the windows of the side aisles runs an arcade of small semi-
circular arches, resting on pilasters.

The southern side aisle has three windows of the original form;
the first (beginning westward), the third, and the last but two; all the
rest of the windows in both side aisles are of later ages. An inter-
ruption of the arcade under a window in the north aisle denotes the
place where there was a door of communication with the parish church
of St. Cross. This doOr was closed up above two hundred years ago,
when the Lady Chapel was given, instead of that church, to the parish
of the Holy Trinity.

At the west end of the same aisle, under an arch in the wall, is a
relique of antiquity deserving some notice. It is the lower part of a
stone cross, with its square pedestal, found many years ago at Had-

56 ELY CATHEDRAL.

denham, in the Isle of Ely, and placed here by Mr. Bentham, the
celebrated antiquary and historian of this Cathedral. The inscription
on the pedestal is very legible :—

LUCEM TUAM OVINO DA DEUS ET REQUIEM. AMEN.

This Ovin, to Whose memory the cross was erected, was steward
to Queen Etheldreda, the foundress; it is therefore in all probability
a work of the end of the seventh, or at latest the beginning of the
eighth century.

We come now to the octagon and lantern, a most singularly
beautiful and skilful work; in which solidity and gracefulness, mag-
nificence and lightness, are so happily blended together, that the
spectator is at a loss to decide in which of these respects it is most
worthy of admiration. The original square tower which stood here
gave way and fell eastward, involving in its ruins the three first
arches of the original choir. This happened in 1322, and though the
building of the new Lady Chapel was begun the year before, yet the
repair of this extensive mischief was instantly undertaken. The
stone work of the octagon was finished in six years, and its wooden
roof and lantern in fourteen more. Alan de VValsingham, at that
time sacrist, was the architect. The idea was altogether new, and
the work remains to this day an undeniable proof of his exquisite
skill and taste as an architect. By throwing the weight upon eight
strong piers and arches, instead of four, he has given to this part of
the Cathedral, not only greater strength, but a magnificence of space
and a gracefulness of form, such as is to be seen in no other Cathedral
in England of the pointed style. An immense body of light is let
down from the lantern above, and when the Spectator raises his eyes
upwards, he cannot but wonder at the skill which has contrived to
suspend a very heavy timber roof over so wide an area without a
pillar to assist in supporting it.

Before the downfall of the tower the choir was here, and here it
was again placed as soon as the octagon was finished, which not
only spoilt the effect of it, but also the effect of the general View of
the whole interior of the Cathedral. Happily it was removed in the
year 1769 to its present situation; a far better one for the purpose;
indeed, its former position was the worst that could be for singing,
reading, and hearing.

 

 

 

 

ELY CATHEDRAL. 57

In the four greater sides of the octagon are four lofty arches,
which open into the four principal parts of the church. In the four
shorter sides are four other arches, much lower than the others,
opening obliquely into the side aisles, and having those windows
above them, which have been already described as visible externally,
and coming down to the roof of the side aisles. All these arches
are supported by those elegantly clustered columns which were then
come into general use. Their capitals are composed of wreaths of
flowers and foliage gracefully designed and exquisitely finished.

The wall between these arches and the windows above is orna-
mented with trefoiled recesses, canopied, and having brackets, upon
which doubtless once stood statues. The clustered columns from
which the ribs of the vaulting of the octagon spring are not continued
to the pavement, but seem to rise from the top of a number of niches
richly canopied and crocketed, but now without statues ; these niches
rest upon brackets which are, each of them, supported by a small
cluster of Very slender columns, upon the capitals of which are
represented in relief the most important events in the history of St.
Etheldreda. Beginning at the right side of the north-west arch, the
first represents her reluctant marriage with ngrid, king of Northum-
berland; 2. her taking the veil in the monastery of Coldingham;
3. her pilgrim’s staff taking root while she slept by the way, and
bearing leaves and shoots; 4. her preservation, with her attendant
virgins, on a rock surrounded by a miraculous inundation, when
the king pursued her with his knights to carry her off from her
monastery; 5. her instalment as abbess of Ely; 6. her death and
burial; 7. a legendary tale of one Brithstan, delivered from bonds by
her merits after she was canonized; 8. the translation of her body.

In the centre of the vaulting of the octagon is an aperture 30 feet
wide, upon which the lantern is set. It is an exact octagon, having
in each of its sides a sharp pointed window; the square-headed
Windows spoken of as being above these externally, are not visible
within; under the windows is a gallery, and under that carved
panels. The vaulting of the ante-choir is lower than the arch
which opens into it; the intervening space is adorned with open
feathered tracery, but the effect is not good. Although the ante-
choir isnow before us, and the organ screen, we must in passing to it
look to the right and left to observe a little upon the transept.

VOL. II. I

58 ELY CATHEDRAL.

This is the most ancient portion of the Cathedral ; both wings of
the transept have side aisles. The columns and arches are, generally
speaking, like those of the nave ; in each of them however there is a
simple cylindrical shaft, which occurs no where else in the building.
The west side aisle of the north wing is open, that to the east is
divided by walls behind the columns. In the south wing both side
aisles are entirely closed up. The roof of both wings is of bare
rafters, painted with flowers and other devices; large figures of
angels with wings expanded support the principals. The same simple
mouldings occur here above the several tiers of arcades as in the
nave.

Let us now contemplate the‘ante-choir: it is of that age when-
decoration was no longer confined to particular parts of the building,
but scattered over the whole face of it ; but this is a singularly beau-
tiful example of that style ; it has a rich, light, and gay appearance;
there is a magnificent display of decoration, but. it cannot be said to
be loaded with ornament.

The screen is an arcade of three pointed arches supported on
slender clustered columns, through the middle arch is the entrance
into the choir, and above the arcade is a gallery in which the organ
is placed. The whole is of good gothic architecture, and agrees very
well with the portion of the Cathedral with which it is connected.

\Ve now enter the choir, which was anciently called the presby-
tery; it is still known by that name, although, since the removal of
the choir into it, it is more usually called the choir. The original
choir extended no further in a straight line than the three arches of
Bishop Hotham’s work, it then became semi-circular, and so termi-
nated; which was the form of the east end of all Norman churches.
This semi-circular termination was taken down in the year 1235 by
Hugh de N orthwold, the eighth bishop of Ely, and this most beautiful
addition of six arches, forming the present choir, was made and finished
at his expence in seventeen years. At. the dedication of it in 1252,
the shrines and reliques of the canonized abbesses were removed
into it ; Henry III. with his court were present at the ceremony,
and were magnificently entertained by the bishop. It is in that
style which architects have agreed to call the early English, and is
a perfect example of it. The three arches of the ante-choir, the
work of Bishop Hotham, .which is also by general agreement called

 

 

 

 

ELY CATHEDRAL. 59

decorated English, adjoins the work of Bishop Northwold, and the
two styles being thus brought together in actual contact, the spectator
has an opportunity of judging of the comparative merits of each. By
the generality of judges the choir is preferred. There is a great
abundance and variety of ornament, and all of the most elegant and
graceful description ; but it is confined to its proper places; and not
as in the other style, spread indiscriminately over the whole surface.
The ante-choir dazzles and surprises the spectator, the choir delights
and charms him. The eye is so caught by the detail of the ante-
choir, that the effect as a whole is lost, and the eye soon becomes
tired of gazing upon mere detail; Iin the choir it rests with
satisfaction and delight, and is never weary of beholding, and is
equally fascinated by contemplating it as a whole, and by dwelling
upon its various and graceful embellishments. The superiority of
this style over the other is perhaps most of all conspicuous in the
vaulting, which is simple and majestic; its plain ribs diverge from
their iinposts, and terminate in a longitudinal midline, running from
west to east, and ornamented with figures and flowers, where the
springers meet it, while the ribs in the vaulting of the ante-choir cross
each other continually, and spread themselves into many intricate
forms, which have no meaning, and destroy the harmony of the
whole.

The east end of the choir is pre-eminently beautiful: the three
lower windows are of one light each, side by side, and (as was
before observed, in speaking of their external appearance), of equal
height, lancet-headed and lofty. The upper windows are five in
number, of one light each, whose forms and proportions have been
already stated; these as well as the window beneath, are, as it were,
deeply recessed within corresponding arcades, formed by a profusion
of mouldings, resting on slender columns, with fillets and leafy
capitals ; and intermixed like the mouldings of the arches with alter-
nate rows of flower wreaths. The effect of these Windows thus
adorned is surely far better than that of one huge window filling up
the whole end, which was universally adopted in the succeeding
styles of Gothic architecture: and a building whose decoration is
confined to certain places and within just proportions, must produce
a more sublime and majestic effect than one which is equally embel-
lished in every part. The early English style however, with all its

I 2

60 ELY CATHEDRAL.

gracefulness and elegance, had but a short reign; it was soon aban~
doned for another, which, however gorgeous and dazzling, is far
inferior as to general effect. Some architects acknowledging the
superiority of the earlyEnglish over that which immediately succeeded
it, have attempted to account for its abandonment by the supposition
that it was found to be wanting in strength and solidity. This sup-
position, however, can hardly be supported, when it is recollected
that the works in the early English style were scarcely eighty years
old when the new style was universally adopted, and that they could
not then exhibit any sign of weakness or decay, since the very same
works are still in existence ; are now very little short of six hundred
years old, and in several instances, as well as in the ease of the
choir of Ely, have not needed any more important repairs than
those which have taken place in the memory of some persons who
are yet living. The east end of the choir was indeed nearly two
feet out of the perpendicular, when Mr. Essex in the year 1768, by
means of screws, effectually restored it to its proper position. The
timber roof was also at the same time repaired, which might have
been necessary in any other style of architecture, and this is all
that has been done to this portion of the Cathedral since it was
erected. The true cause therefore of the abandonment of the early
English style may be found in that excessive love of novelty which
is inherent in human nature. The windows of the choir were once
adorned with painted glass, which was of course demolished by the
Puritans. Bishop Mawson had agreed with an artist to fill them with
modern stained glass; the good bishop, however, died before it was
put up; indeed it is said that the artist was not able to fulfil his
contract: only the figure of St. Peter and some of the armorial
bearings of the prebendaries of that (lay were finished and put up.
The stalls of the choir are beautiful examples of that sort of
carving in wood which prevailed at the time when the ante-choir
was erected. They were designed by Alan de \Valsingham, the
architect of the octagon. \Vhen they were removed to their present
situation, they were found to be decayed in some places, but they
have been so well restored, that it is impossible to discover the new
from the old work. The altar screen is of modern wood work, and
not very good in design, nor correct in its imitation of Gothic. There
is no bishop’s throne in the choir; the abbey having been converted

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ELY CATHEDRAL. 61

into a see, and the last abbot becoming the first bishop, he kept his
seat after he had changed his title and dignity, and every succeeding
bishop has continued to sit in the same place; viz. on the right hand
side of the entrance. The prior still kept his place on the left hand /
side, and continued to do so when the last prior became the first dean,
and every succeeding dean has occupied the same seat.

The presbytery was once filled with the monuments of bishops,
priors, and deans; all these have been removed, except two, that of
Bishop Gray, a flat stone (a part only of a noble monument) under
the arch leading into the north aisle, and that of Cardinal de Luxem-
burg, archbishop of Rouen, and perpetual administrator of the diocese
of Ely, which is on the south side of the altar, concealed by the screen ;
its decayed and ruined condition is said to have prevented its removal;
it had been also Very roughly handled by the Puritans.

In the side aisles the slender columns, detached shafts, and
lancet—headed Windows of the early English style are every Where
to be seen; at the east end of the north aisle is Bishop Alcock’s
chapel, a rich but heavy specimen of the florid, or as it is now called,
the perpendicular Gothic. At the east end of the south aisle is the
chapel of Bishop West, a delicate and elegant example of the latest
period of the perpendicular, but not altogether free from some
approach to the revived Italian style. Both these chapels are
lamentably mutilated.

W e will conclude our account of the interior of this Cathedral with
a few remarks upon the Lady Chapel, now the church of Trinity
parish, in Ely. The principal merit of this beautiful edifice is its
fine proportions. The windows are large, divided into many lights,
with elaborate tracery in their upper portions, especially those of
the east and west ends; the vaulting and the walls are, like Bishop
Hotham’s contemporary work in the ante-choir, profusely decorated
in every part, and as free also as that from any heaviness of effect.

The Cathedral Church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Ethel-
dreda. Its interior dimensions are as follows, viz. whole length
from west to east, 517 feet; breadth of nave and side aisles, 78 feet;
length of transept from north to south, 179 feet 6 inches; height of
the vaulting of choir, 70 feet ; Lady Chapel 100 feet long, 46 broad,
and 60 high.

Besides the bishop, the Cathenral establishment consists of a dean,

6'2 ELY CATHEDRAL.

an archdeacon, and eight prebendaries, several minor canons, singing
men, choristers, vergers, and an organist. In the time of Henry VIII.
the bishopric was stated to be worth £2134 188. 6%d. per annum ; the
present yearly value, as returned by the late bishop to his majesty’s
commissioners, is £11,105. The bishop of Ely, besides the whole
patronage of the Cathedral, except the appointment of the dean,
had in the Isle abundance of patent offices at his disposal, and
was vested with greater prerogatives than any other bishop in the
kingdom, except Durham. By the late Act of Parliament, however,
the future bishops of Ely and Durham will be shorn of all their civil
honours and privileges, to the great comfort of them both, as their
worldly cares will be thereby greatly diminished, and they will be able
to devote themselves equally with their brethren the other bishops,
more exclusively to the spiritual concerns of their dioceses. The
bishops of Ely will, however, continue to have considerable power
and patronage in the University of Cambridge. They are, as such,
visitors of four colleges, patrons of the mastership and one fellowship
in Jesus College, choose one out of two nominated by the college to
be the master of St. Peter’s College, and the fellows therein: the
Bishop of Ely has also nearly one hundred livings in his gift. The
dean and chapter of Ely pay a pension to the bishop of £135 78. 3%(l.
The tenths also of the whole diocese were long since granted to the
bishop, and are still paid to him ; but the whole amount of them is
somewhat less than the sum paid to him by the dean and chapter.

The original diocese of Ely consisted of all Cambridgeshire,
except a small portion of it which belonged to the diocese of Norwich,
as much too small as that of Lincoln was too large. As decided
friends to episcopacy on the highest grounds, we rejoice that by the
the same Act which relieves the Bishop of Ely from the burden of
many temporal concerns, his episcopal jurisdiction will be increased,
and from the same source out of which it was first taken.

The Act states, that the diocese of Ely shall be increased by the
counties of Huntingdon and Bedford, in Lincoln diocese, the dean-
eries of Lynn and Fincham, in the county of Norfolk, and diocese of
Norwich, and by the archdeaconry of Sudbury, in the county of
Suffolk, and diocese of Norwich, with the exception of the deane-
ries of Sudbury, Stow, and Hartismere, and by that part of the
county of Cambridge which is now in the diocese of Norwich.

ELY CATHEDRAL. 63

Our limits will not allow us to give much more than a bare list
of the names of the most eminent bishops who have filled this see
from its foundation to the present time.

W illiam Longchamp elected in 1189, was chancellor of England,
pope’s legate, chief justiciary of England, and regent of the kingdom
during the absence of Richard I. He was succeeded by Eustachius in
in 1197, who was also chancellor of England. William de Kilkenny,
elected in 1254, chancellor of England also. Hugh de Balsham, elected
in 1257, founded St. Peter’sCollege, in Cambridge. He was in 1286
succeeded by John de Kirkeby, who was both chancellor and treasurer
of England. In 1316 John Hotham was elected, and was also chan-
cellor both of England and of the exchequer. Simon Langham,
elected in 1362, was treasurer and chancellor of England, and a
cardinal, he was afterwards translated to Canterbury. Thomas de
Arundel, elected in 1374, was chancellor of England, and trans-
lated first to York, and from thence to Canterbury. Lewis de Luxem-
burgh was elected in 1438, and held this bishopric by a dispensation
from the pope, being at the same time archbishop of Rouen, and a
cardinal. He was succeeded by Thomas Bourchier, who was chan-
cellor of England, and afterwards translated to Canterbury. In 1478
John Morton was elected, and became chancellor of England, and
afterwards archbishop of Canterbury. He was succeeded by John
Alcock in 1486, who was also chancellor of England, and founder
of Jesus College, in Cambridge. In 1534 Thomas Goodrich was
elected, being the last bishop of Ely, who was chancellor of
England : he was a zealous reformer, and was succeeded by one of the
opposite persuasion in 1554, who had previously been bishop both of
Westminster and Norwich, and was deprived under Queen Elizabeth.
Matthew \Vren, elected in 1638, had been previously master of St.
Peter’s College, Cambridge, dean of VVindsor, bishop of Hereford and
of Norwich. He was a great sufferer in the Rebellion and Usurpation,
but outlived both. Francis Turner, elected in 1684, had been master
of St. John’s College, Cambridge, dean of \Vindsor and bishop of R0-
chester. He was deprived, in 1690, as a nonjuror, and succeeded by
Simon Patrick in 1691, who had been first dean of Peterborough, and
afterwards bishop of Chichester. It was after he was translated to Ely
that he begun and finished his Commentary on the Scriptures, which
will make his name famous, perhaps, to the end of time. In 1754,

64 ELY CATHEDRAL.

Mathias Mawson was elected bishop of Ely: he was a member of
Corpus Christi College, in the University of Cambridge, of which
society he became first a fellow, and afterwards master. In 1734 he
was offered the bishopric of Gloucester, but conceiving that Dr. Rundle
(afterwards bishop of Derry) had been injuriously set aside from that
see, he refused to accept it under these circumstances. In 1738 he
was appointed to Llandaff, and two years after translated to Chi-
chester ; while bishop of that see he gave the present throne in the
choir of that Cathedral, and proposed to repair and embellish the
Whole choir, but being translated to Ely in the year 1754, he was
obliged to abandon his design, in order to give himself entirely to
his newly-acquired diocese. He was a great benefactor to the Isle
of Ely, by suggesting and supporting plans of roads and embank-
ments in the fens, by which that district was essentially improved.
He was also a great benefactor to the see of Ely, inasmuch as he
nearly rebuilt the palace. That he was an encourager of useful
learning and sound religious education, his founding twelve scholar-
ships in his own college is a solid and ample proof, nor should it
be forgotten that he both appreciated and rewarded the learning and
diligence of the great historian of Ely, Mr. Bentham, with a prebendal
stall in the Cathedral. Bishop Mawson died in the year 1777, at
an advanced age, and was buried in the Cathedral: he was highly
esteemed and beloved in his life, and in his death as much regretted
and lamented.

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.

THE see of Peterborough is comparatively of modern date. It is
one of those erected by Henry VIII. soon after the dissolution of the
abbey. The charter by which it was erected into a bishopric bears
date September 4, 1541, and before-the end of the same year John
Chambers, the last abbot, was chosen first bishop, and the abbey
church became from that time the Cathedral.

No part, however, of the present fabric has been built since it
became 3 Cathedral, and therefore in giving its history, we must
necessarily begin with the history of the famous monastery to which
it once belonged.

The name of the place was originally Medeshamsted, from a pit
in the riverNen called Medeswell, which tradition says was a little
below the present bridge. But this well, together with another
called St. Lawrence's, of great celebrity. in former days for its
miraculous properties, is now entirely lost. The locality of the
latter indeed is only guessed at by Gunton in his valuable history of
this once abbey and now Cathedral Church. His conjecture is a
very reasonable one; there was a chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence,
the chancel of which is yet standing, and forms the hall of one of
the prebendal houses: near the chapel must have been the well of
St. Lawrence, if the chapel itself was not built over it, as was often
the case with wells supposed to be possessed of supernatural virtues.

Medeshamsted being a part of the county of Northampton was
of course within the kingdom of Mercia. Penda is reckoned by most
antiquaries to have been the first king of the Mercians. He had
five children, three sons, Peada, VVulfere, and Etheldred, and two
daughters, Kyneburga and Kyneswitha. Penda being dead, was
succeeded by his eldest son Peada, who in the year 656, or as some
say 655, founded the monastery of Medeshamsted; the stone of
which it was built was certainly brought from Barnack, near Bur-
leigh, in the same county, and those laid in the foundation, are said
to have been of so large a size, that eight yoke of oxen could with
difficulty draw one of them. But Peada did not live to finish his

VOL. 11. K

66 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.

work, for his wife Alfleda (unmindful of the pious memory of her
grandfather Oswald, the martyred king of Northumberland, king
Oswine her father, and king Alfred her brother), betrayed him to
death at the feast of Easter, after he had reigned only four years:
when his crown and kingdom descended to Wulfere, his next brother.

Wulfere was converted and baptized by Finanus, a Scotch
bishop, and upon his coming to the throne vowed to purge his king-
dom from idolatry, and to the utmost of his power promote the
Christian religion. He married Ermenilda, daughter of Egbert,
king of Kent, a very virtuous and pious princess, who was afterwards
canonized; on this occasion he solemnly repeated his vow, which
however not long afterwards he entirely neglected to fulfil, through
the persuasion of his steward Werbode, so that the Christian reli-
gion rapidly declined, and heathenism again prevailed. By his wife
he had two sons, Wulfade and Rufine, who were both converted to
the Christian faith by St. Chad. Their conversion was concealed
from their father for some time, but they were betrayed at last by
the same Werbode, who so inflamed the king against his sons, that
having watched them both into an oratory, slew them with his own
hands, whilst they were praying before the altar. VVerbode and
the king then demolished the place, and left the bodies of the
murdered princes buried in the rubbish. Soon after this VVerbode
is said to have hanged himself, and king VVulfere being deeply
wounded in conscience, consulted his queen Ermenilda, who advised
him to go to St. Chad, to which he consented; and having made a
full confession of his heavy crimes, and manifested his repentance,
he was readmitted into the bosom of the church, and upon his pro-
mising to perform any penance St. Chad should think fit to impose
upon him, he was only desired by that good man to be ever mindful
of his former vows in future, and so to restore the Christian religion
in his kingdom, to repair its ruined temples, and to build new ones.

The monastery of Medeshamsted, begun by his brother, became,
as we may ‘well suppose, the object from henceforth of VVulfere’s
peculiar care and favour. In his zealous endeavours to complete it,
he was assisted by his brother Etheldred, and his sisters Kyneburga
and Kyneswitha. When finished, he dedicated it to St. Peter, and
on this account in after times the place obtained the name of Peter-
borough, and lost its original appellation of Medeshamsted. At the

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. 67

same time king Wulfere bestowed upon this abbey many great and
valuable privileges and immunities, and very large possessions.
The bounds of its jurisdiction established by him were from Croy-
land on the east, to Walmesford, or Wansford Bridge on the west,
and so northward to Easton and Stamford, and all along by the river
\Velland to Croyland again; as it may be seen in the charter which
he sealed and confirmed in the presence of kings, nobles, and
bishops, in the year 664‘, and the seventh of his reign.

King Wulfere (lied without issue, in what year is not exactly
known; but his brother Etheldred succeeded him both in his throne
and in his good affection for the monastery of Medeshamsted.
Etheldred reigned thirty years, and then laid down his crown and
sceptre, and became first a monk, and afterwards abbot of Bardncy,
according to William of Malmsbury, about the year 704. But
(observes Gunton), speaking of the completion of the monastery of
Medeshamsted, the nest being thus fitted and prepared, care was
taken to furnish it with birds: and first with an abbot, who should
become a sort of call bird to others, till the nest was full.

The first abbot was Saxulfus, an earl, who thought it no degra-
dation to be the head of the religious establishment in this place.
His reputation for piety was very great, so that he soon gathered a
convent of monks, who flocked to him from all parts. He presided
over this monastery with great fidelity and zeal for thirteen years,
and was then elected bishop of Durham, and was succeeded by
Cuthbaldus, one of the monks, who from his extraordinary sanctity,
was thought the fittest person to fill the place and dignity thus vacated.

The monastery continued in a flourishing condition till the year
870, when the Danes having burnt down Croyland Abbey, and put
to death the monks there, proceeded to Medeshamsted, slew both
the abbot and the monks, eighty-four in number, set fire to the con-
vent, and utterly destroyed the church, the altars, monuments, and
library, with all the adjacent buildings. At this time Hedda was
abbot: the fire continued burning for fifteen days together; the sight
was terrible, and the desolation complete. In this ruinous condition
the monastery remained for a whole century, till the year 970, when
king Edgar rebuilt it, and called together the princes, nobles, bishops,
and abbots of his kingdom to be present with him at its consecration,
It was dedicated to St. Peter, and on this occasion, and for this

1; £3

68 PETERBOROUGII CATHEDRAL.

reason, the name of the place was changed from Medeshamsted to
Peterborough. Edgar procured Adolphus his chancellor to be
elected abbot of the re-edified monastery, who after having enjoyed
this dignity for twenty years, was advanced to higher places, being
first promoted to the see of Worcester, and afterwards translated
to the archiepiscopal see of York. Kenulphus, a learned, eloquent,
and pious man, succeeded him, who inclosed the monastery with a
wall; and was afterwards elected bishop of ‘Ninchester.

Leofric, a person of the blood royal, and in great favour with the
king, became abbot a little before the Norman conquest, and was a
great benefactor to the abbey. His means must have been ample
enough, for he held at the same time with this of Peterborough four
other abbeys, viz. Burton, Coventry, Croyland, and Thorney. He
was however more fitted to be a soldier than a churchman, as be put
himself at the head of the English army to oppose William the
Conqueror, but sickness obliged him soon after to return to the
monastery, where he died on the first of November, in the year 1066.

Thorold was elected abbot in 1069, and has made his name
infamous as a waster of the abbey goods; when he entered upon
his office they were valued at £1500, and when he died they were
reduced in value to £500. Soon after he was elected he became
weary of his situation, and contrived to obtain the bishopric of
Beauvais, in France, and carried off with him many things which
belonged to the abbey of Peterborough. He was however so
unwelcome to the church of Beauvais, that he was expelled thence
in four days after his arrival. He then desired nothing so much as
to return to his former situation, and by large presents to the king
he was reinstated in the abbacy of Peterborough.

In the year 1116 a great fire happened, which was all but as
destructive as that which was lighted by the Danes; how it origi-
nated historians have not informed us, but they tell us gravely that
it was a judgment upon the abbot, who was an impetuous man, and
had been cursing and blaspheming all the day because a fire in his
lodgings would not burn; at length he concluded his malediction
upon it with these words, “ T/ee Devil kindle time!” upon which
the whole monastery was in a blaze, and the church rebuilt by king
Edgar destroyed by the conflagration.

In the month of March 1117, John dc Sais, at that time abbot,

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. 69

laid the foundation of a new church, but did not live to finish it.
The work was interrupted at his death, which happened in the year
1125, and for the three years after that event, during which time
the place of abbot was vacant; neither did the work go on under
the next abbot, Henry de Angeli, who held the place for five years.
But in the year 1133, Martin de Vecti was elected abbot, Who pro-
ceeded with the work of re-edification with the greatest assiduity,
and had the satisfaction of seeing it completed. It was rededicated
to St. Peter in the year 1140 according to some, or in 1143 accord-
ing to others. This ceremony was performed with the greatest
pomp in the presence of the bishop of Lincoln, the abbots of
Croyland, Thorney, and Ramsey, many barons and knights, and a
vast number of inferior ecclesiastics.

This, which may be called the third abbey church, is in great
measure still remaining, and forms the present Cathedral.

Martin de Vecti’s church, however, has undergone several im-
portant alterations, and received some considerable additions. We
find that abbot William de VVaterville, who was deposed in 1175,
after governing the establishment for twenty years, almost rebuilt
the transept and great central tower, added the Cloisters, and
founded a chapel, which he dedicated to St. Thomas~a-Becket.
His successor, Benedict, prior of Canterbury, who was elected in
1177, finished these works, and built the nave of the church after
a better manner than before, from the central tower to the porch.
But as the church is said to have been entirely finished and dedi-
cated in the year 1143, and nothing disastrous is recorded to have
happened to the building after that period, we cannot suppose that
the works of abbots William and Benedict amounted to a total re-
edification of the nave and transept, which had only been finished
between thirty and forty years, by Martin de Vecti. Possibly there-
fore they made considerable alterations in these portions of the
church, according to the taste of the times; perhaps raised the
clerestory, or at least enlarged the windows, and gave a different
form to them. Perhaps Benedict also gave a new roof to the nave;
the one which still exists is certainly as old as his time.

Abbot Robert de Lindsey after this gave glass to about thirty of
the windows in the church, which having been left unfinished by
his predecessor had till now been stuffed with straw.

70 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.

Of the west front no date has been assigned, and no name men-
tioned of the benefactor or architect. In the absence of all docu-
mentary evidence, Mr. Britton assigns this most magnificent part of
the present Cathedral to abbots Acharias and Robert de Lyndsey,
whose united govenment of the abbey comprised a period of twen-
ty-two years, viz. from the year 1200 to the year 1222.

Richard de London elected abbot in the year 1273, erected the
great steeple where the bells hang. The Lady’s Chapel, which was
destroyed in Cromwell's time, was built by abbot William Parys.

Robert Kirton, elected abbot in the year 1496, erected the build-
ing at the east end of the church, which was in Gunton’s time
known principally by the name of the new building. Abbot Robert
died in the year 1528, and was succeeded by John Chambers, the
last abbot who in the year 1539 surrendered the abbey to king
Henry VIII., and had a pension assigned him of £266: 13: 4 per
annum, which he afterwards resigned upon being appointed the
first bishop of Peterborough, which happened only two years after
the suppression of the abbey.

It is said that Henry VIII. spared this abbey church, and made
it a Cathedral, on account of the remains of his first queen, Cathe-
rine, which still repose within its walls. Those of Mary queen of
Scots, which were also at first interred here, were afterwards re-
moved by her son James I. and again interred at “'estminster,
where a magnificent monument is erected to her memory. Pity it
is, says Brown Willis, that Henry VIII. did not likewise spare
another magnificent abbey, that of St. Edmund’s Bury, in Suffolk,
for the sake of another queen buried there, in his lifetime, viz. his
own sister Mary, the French queen.

Great and extraordinary were the privileges which this monastery
enjoyed from the earliest times, through the favour of kings, popes,
princes, and nobles. It is said that the documents confirming these
privileges were preserved during the Danish invasion by the pious
care of some of the monks, and were discovered and exhibited to
king Edgar at the dedication of the new church, who wept forjoy
that he had a second Rome in his own kingdom; for one of the privi-
leges was, that if any desired to visit Rome, and could not, by reason
of the great distance or any other impediment, it should suffice to visit
this abbey, here they might pay their VOWs, obtain absolution, and

PETERBOROUGII CATHEDRAL. 71

receive the apostolical blessing. So great, indeed, was the esteem
in which this abbey was held, that whoever came, whether king,
bishop, baron, abbot, or knight, they took off their shoes at the
gate of the monastery, and entered its sacred precincts barefoot,
and when any of the monks were seen in the neighbouring villages,
they were treated with the profoundest reverence.

The abbots were called to parliament in the reign of Henry III .,
but had not the honour of wearing the mitre till the year 1400. It
was a benedictine abbey, in which at the time of the dissolution,
there were forty monks. It was a very wealthy establishment,
though there were others in the kingdom still more so. Its posses-
sions were valued at £172] : 14s. per annum, according to Dugdale,
and £1972:7s. according to Speed.

When Henry VIII. converted the abbey into a Cathedral, he
placed therein a bishop, a dean, six prebendaries, a divinity reader,
eight minor canons, the same number of lay-clerks or singing-men,
the like number of choristers, and a master over them: two other
school masters, twenty scholars, six alms men, and some inferior
officers.

In the king’s books the bishopric is charged at £4141 27s. 8d.
per annum, and the gross annual value of the same, as returned by
the present bishop to the commissioners is, £3518.

Since it became a Cathedral this church has suffered much and
gained little till within the last few years, when the late dean, Dr.
Monk, now bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, proposed and liberally
supported a subscription for the refitting of the choir, but of this
we shall take occasion to speak in its proper place. We repeat that
this Cathedral suffered most lamentably, in Cromwell’s time, the
Cloisters being then destroyed, together with many of the adjacent
buildings, and no doubt the whole of this magnificent fabric would
have soon perished, had not the church been re-established, with
the restoration of the king to the throne of this kingdom. For by
an act passed August 19th, 1651, the minster (as it was then called)
was granted to the inhabitants of Peterborough both for a place of
worship and for a workhouse, at the same time, to employ the
poorer sort in manufactures—the inhabitants, at their own costs
and charges, repairing and maintaining the same.

Such, then, is the history of the abbey, and origin of the see of

70 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.

Peterborough. We c0me now to speak more particularly of the
Cathedral itself, of the several portions of which we have given the .
dates, as far as they can be ascertained either by documentary or
architectural evidence. The situation of the Cathedral is something
like that of Ely, placed on gently rising ground, and surrounded
by a vast extent of level country, which is oftentimes inundated.
Its appearance at a distance is not very prepossessing. Having no
tower or spire, or any important feature which rises much above the
roof ridge, it looks a huge heavy lump of building when it first
breaks upon the view, and of no describable form or shape. On
a nearer approach, however, the mass appears broken, by bold
projections. The transept and low central tower, with its angular
turrets, are plainly discernable, and, within a mile, the magnificent
western facade, with its tower, turrets, pinnacles, and gables, is
rising seen majestically far above the chimneys of the highest
houses of the city.

EXTERIOR.

The Cathedral of Peterborough is far less encumbered by adjacent
building than most others. The precincts are entered from the town
under a gothic gateway, when the visitor has the most superb and
imposing portion of the fabric immediately before him, viz. the west
front, to which there is nothing superior in gothic architecture, if
there be any thing equal. If there be any thing in England that
can be brought into competition with it, it is the west front of “hells
Cathedral, if any thing in France it is the west front of Rheims.
In respect to extent they may vie with Peterborough, in respect to
the quantity of decoration they may, and Rheims certainly does
exceed it, but in respect to form, proportion, and general effect,
the west front of Peterborough is far superior to them both, and
perhaps is unrivalled in the world. The west fronts of Rheims
and Peterborough have been thought to resemble each other by
some, but it would puzzle a good gothic architect to discover the
resemblance; Rheims has, indeed, three deep pointed portals side
by side, the middle one being higher and wider than the other two,
and Peterborough has three lofty arches side by side, of equal
height, and supported on clustered columns, so that unless a
colonnade can be said to be like a door (for it is not pretended

 

 

 

 

 

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. 7:

that there exists any other point of resemblance), these two west
fronts cannot be said to be in the least degree alike.

But what a grand conception is here, the front of the temple of
the Deity is adorned with a gigantic and finely proportioned portico,
flanked with towers adorned with lofty pinnacles; such is the design.
The ornamental detail is both well selected and judiciously applied,
and of the effect of the whole, it is not too much to say, that it is not
in the power of the pencil or the pen to do it justice; it must be seen
to be duly appreciated. Strictly speaking, the west front is per-
fectly finished and perfectly uniform: but behind it are two towers,
one of which is finished, while the other wants the upper story.
The finished one appears over the gable towards the north, and
being seen in connection with the west front, seems to form a
part of it; but the other to the south not being seen above the
corresponding gable gives from some points of View an unfinished and
irregular appearance to the whole, and injures the effect. Never-
theless it must he confessed that the first view of this facade is
striking and imposing in an unusual degree. There is a solemnity
in the effect which it produces such as is observable in no other
Cathedral, and which is not unmixed with awe. The architects of
the thirteenth century certainly understood better what a temple for
the Deity ought to be, than any that have appeared before or since
from the first establishment of Christianity to the present times.

It is with reluctance we quit this most attractive portion of
Peterborough Cathedral, to describe the rest of its exterior;
which, however, is not wanting in any part of it in respect of dig-
nity and importance. Let us then turn round the corner of the
north-west tower, and the whole length of the nave with the side
aisle, north wing of the transept and central tower, burst upon the
view; all in the same style originally, and all altered as to the
lower windows in the same taste at a subsequent period. Some of
these windows had been stopped up with plaster, but the late dean
Dr. Monk had them re-opened with the best effect both externally
and internally; the dean also ornamented the ground on this side
of the Cathedral, and all round the east end, by tastefully laying it
out in flower beds and walks, and planting trees and shrubs: it had
before the character of a common churchyard, and was not kept
in the very best order.

VOL. II. L

74 PETERBOROUGII CATHEDRAL.

The north front of the transept has three rows of windows, one
above another, and three in each row, and one single window above
all in the gable; it is also adorned with two rows of arcades, one
above the second tier of windows and one above the third,-running
under the base of the gable. This front is also flanked by turrets,
which are square, as high as the upper row of windows, and octa-
gonal in their upper portions, which rise to the height of the gable
point, and are finished with battlements.

Before we pass this front, it will be well to look back towards
the west end of the nave, and call the reader’s attention to the
tower (before mentioned as appearing above the portico of the west
facade), and to the adjacent portions of the fabric. It will be here
perceived how much wider the facade is, not only than the nave,
but also than even the building which forms at that point a sort of
second transept. The tower flanks the nave to the north, and beyond
the tower is a short transept, whose north front is adorned with a
large and beautiful pointed window of decorated Gothic, and flanked
with towers similar to those of the north front of the greater transept.

Passing now the north wing of the transept, we have the choir
and building to the east of it in view; to the east side of the
transept, both north and south wing of it, is attached a side aisle.
The choir with its side aisle is nearly of the same age and style of
architecture with the nave and transept, and similar alterations
have been made in the windows. The choir ends circularly, plainly
indicating its Norman origin, but at the points where the circular
wall begins on each side are built square buttresses engaged in the
walls, which at the point where they rise above the parapet become
octangular, and are terminated by plain spires.

The beautiful building which surrounds the circular termination
of the choir is of an oblong form, having four pointed windows of
four lights each, with perpendicular tracery in the sides of it to the
north and south, and five of such windows in the length towards
the east; between the windows are buttresses with statues in the
place of pinnacles; and an elegantly pierced and embattled parapet,
very similar to that of King’s College Chapel, in Cambridge, runs
all round the building.

The south side of the choir is too similar to the north to need any
particular description ofit; the south wing of the transept is inclosed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. 75

within a garden of one of the members of the Cathedral, and this is
the only point of the whole exterior of the fabric which is not open.
This front of the transept is also so like the other that nothing more
need be said upon the subject. With regard to the south side of the
nave the same is true, and the south wing of the less or western
transept differs from the north only in not having its tower com-
pleted; the upper story is wanting; whether it was ever built does
not seem certain ; and is now nearly the only thing wanting to make
Peterborough Cathedral both perfect and uniform in every respect.

The central tower, or lantern as it is called, alone remains to
be noticed. The best view of it is obtained from a spot a few paces
from the building to the north east, and is given in one of the
accompanying plates. It has been greatly metamorphosed since it
was erected, and received additions within the memory of many yet
living, which have greatly disfigured it: we allude to the octagonal
turrets at the four corners, which have been carried up to a most
disproportionate height above the embattled parapet of the tower.
The tower itself was originally much lower, and plainer; when it
was altered to its present state is not precisely known, but by the
windows and panneling, and other detail upon its surface, we may
conclude that it is about the same date with the porch at the west
end.

We will now conduct the reader back to the matchless west
front, and through the porch, inserted between the clustered
columns which support the centre arch of this sublime arcade,
introduce him at once into the

INTERIOR.

On entering the Cathedral, to the right and left is the west
transept of the same age and style of architecture with the west
front, which forms as it were a screen before it. As far as the
internal view is concerned, the towers of this transept are finished,
and are exactly alike; lofty, well proportioned pointed arches, open
into the nave on the one hand, and into the short wings of the tran-
sept on the other; so as to give an uninterrupted view of the whole
fo this west transept on first entering the Cathedral, as well as of

L 2

76 PE'I‘ERBOROL'GH CATHEDRAL.

the nave and choir, as far as the latter is visible, over the top of the
organ screen. This general view of the interior is very grand and
imposing. The dimensions, simplicity, and symmetry of the nave
are most remarkable. Here we find vastness, solidity, and massive-
ness combined with a degree of lightness of effect which is unusual
in buildings of this age, and of which we should hardly have sup-
posed the Norman style of architecture capable. This is mainly to be
attributed to the more than ordinary span of the arches both of the
lower arcade and of the open triforium immediately over itl. The
arch mouldings of the lower arcade are bold and simple, but more in
number than is usual, and the columns are broken into more than
the usual number of members, though their bases and capitals are
exceedingly plain. The arches of the triforium are of equal span
with those below, and are adorned with the zigzag moulding; within
the larger are two smaller arches semicircular also, resting on a short
cylindrical column with plain capital. The upper triforium, or
clerestory, is composed of a succession of semicircular arches, three
together in each compartment, the middle one rising higher than
those on each side, and resting on two short cylindrical columns, with
simple capitals; the three arches are comprised within the same
space as each single arch of the lower triforium and nave. Behind
the middle arch of the three is a round-headed window, which has
been filled with mullions and tracery of a later date. A plain cylin-
drical shaft, a quarter of which is engaged in the walls, runs up
between each arch of the nave from the pavement to the ceiling,
dividing the whole length of the nave into compartments, and two
horizontal bands of simple mouldings divide it again into three
stories; the band is also repeated by way of finish above the arches
of the clerestory. These bands are continued round the shafts
before mentioned, and appear as fillets to them.

‘ We will here take occasion to correct an error into which we have fallen in our
description of Chichester Cathedral. In comparing that nave with this, as being of the
same age and style, in p. 33, vol. ii. we have stated and lamented that the triforium of
the former was in great measure walled up by one of the bishops, in order to conceal
the rafters of the side aisles which were visible through it, and observed how much
better an efl‘ect the open triforium of Peter-borough produced; but we omitted at the
same time to state that the offensive obstructions were removed two or three years ago
by the good taste and liberality of the present dean and chapter. It was an oversight
for which we gladly take this opportunity of apologising to our readers.

 

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PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. 77

The ceiling of the nave is of wood, and Mr. Blore, who two or
three years ago, examined it minutely in order to its being repaired,
pronounces it to be coeval with the walls on which it rests, and
therefore is a very curious and rare specimen of the ceilings which
were in use before stone vaulting was introduced. The central and
by far the greater part of this ceiling is flat, and being higher than
the walls of the nave, the side portions are consequently placed
in a sloping direction to meet them. It is painted in panels of a
lozenge form, in various colours and patterns, the panels them-
selves being also adorned with figures, probably of saints and
angels, abbots, kings, and princes, and other benefactors of the
abbey. The side aisles of the nave are vaulted with stone, and
the windows which light them are the insertions of a subsequent
age, divided by mullions into several lights, with good simple tracery
in the heads of them.

We come now to the transept and central tower. Both wings of
the transept have a side aisle to the east; no longer open, indeed,
but divided into rooms now used as vestries. The south wing has
an aisle also to the west, which is closed up and divided into two
rooms, one of which now serves for a chapter house. Of the columns
of the transept, some are cylindrical and some octagonal, of vast
diameter, and the lower arches have an ornamental moulding, which
is wanting in those of the nave. The roof of the transept is of wood
and flat throughout; it is elegantly painted in a pattern composed
of octagons recurring, and filled up with subdivisions, while the in-
tervening squares are ornamented with flowers and other devices.

The central tower is built upon four clustered columns and the
same number of arches, of which those which open into the transept
are semicircular and original, and the others, opening into the nave
and choir, are now pointed. That they were also originally semi-
circular there can be no doubt, and that the change in their form
was the work of abbot Benedict seems equally certain. The other
two arches would have undergone the same change, but the worthy
abbot most probably saw the danger to which the tower would be
exposed by the execution of such a project. Indeed the column at
the south east angle is now banded together with iron, and seems to
be in a very tottering and dangerous condition, owing, perhaps, in
some degree to the mischief done in pulling down the old wall and

78 PETERBOROUGII CATHEDRAL.

erecting a new one, in order to change the form of the arch from
semicircular to pointed. Over the semicircular arches which remain
the form of a pointed one is traced upon the wall by a single moulding ,
which seems to indicate what was wished and intended, but which,
from prudential motives, was never effected. The mouldings of the
pointed arches are many but plain; those of the semicircular are
equally numerous, and the outer ones adorned with the zigzag.
Above the arches of the tower are the windows which light it, two
in each of the four faces of three lights each, with decorated tracery
in their heads, which are pointed, and having between them and in
the angles of the tower clustered shafts, from which spring the ribs
of the wooden vaulting.

We come now to the choir and its side aisles, a work of the same
age and style with the nave and transept, it has (as all Norman
churches had) a semicircular termination, and the windows in the
apse, although they retain their original form, have been since filled
with tracery which belongs to the second period of the pointed style.
The ceiling of the apse is perfectly flat and of wood, and painted in
a pattern of circles and lozenges. The lower arches of the apse are
covered with a rich facing of perpendicular and feathered detail, and
the inter-columniations, as high as the stall work, have been of late
filled up with a screen of stone most correctly imitative of the deco-
rated Gothic, which forms a part of the new fitting up of the choir by
Mr. Blore. The state of the choir previously was mean and incon-
gruous to the last degree. The late dean Dr. Monk,saw and lamented
it, but did not despair of effecting a change; and although the discou-
ragement with which the subject was at first received was enough to
damp any zeal but his, he nevertheless persevered, and proposed a
subscription, which was liberally supported not only by himself and
the prebendaries both in their individual and corporate capacity,
but also by the bishop, whose example was followed by many of
the nobility, gentry, and clergy of the diocese. The means being
thus raised, Mr. Blore, whose accurate knowledge of the various
styles of architecture in use in this country from the Norman inva-
sion to the disappearance of the pointed style in the revived Italian,
well qualified him to undertake the work, was selected for the
architect. The stalls, throne, pulpit, seats, and organ-case, are all
of oak, carved from Mr. Blore’s designs in the style of decorated

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL. 79

Gothic, and so successfully is that style imitated, that the most
practised eye might mistake it for a work of the age when that
style prevailed, and suppose that the whole had only undergone
such repairs and cleansing as time had rendered necessary. The
stalls strictly speaking are confined to the west end of the choir
under the organ loft, four on each side of the entrance arch, but
the family seats of the members of the chapter ranged on each
side the choir have in front the appearance of stalls.

The organ—screen is of stone, and is shewn in one of the plates.
The design is exceedingly beautiful; in the centre is the arch of
entrance of most graceful proportions, deeply feathered and adorned
with a straight canopy richly crocketed, and surmounted by a finial
of the most elegant description. This entrance arch is flanked
by octangular buttresses decreasing gradually towards the top, and
terminated by crocketed pinnacles with finials. On each side of
the entrance are four deep and long niches, with projecting canopies
in the best taste, with buttresses and pinnacles between each ; the
whole front of the screen is flanked at each end with buttresses
and pinnacles exactly similar to those which flank the entrance,
and the parapet is straight at the top, and adorned with open
trefoils. The old choir extended nearly as far as the first columns
of the nave, but when it was newly fitted up it was confined to its
natural and architectural position, leaving the transept open, and
the new screen placed under the eastern arch of the central tower.
The roof of the choir from that arch to the apse (the roof of which
has been already described) is of wood, and partly vaulted and
partly flat: the ribs of the vaulting being continued over the
flat part in squares, which are each of them twice crossed diagon-
ally, and with the same description of mouldings.

The interior of the building which surrounds the apse is as to its
groined roof and its windows so very like the interior of the chapel
of King’s College, in Cambridge, and so nearly of the same date,
that it is probable the same architect was employed about both.
The only defect in this addition to Peterborough Cathedral is a
want of due elevation.

Of the Cloisters very little now remains; they were on the south
side of the nave, and judging from what is still to be seen, they must
have been of considerable extent and beauty. Under the north-east

80 PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL.

and north-west angles were entrances into the abbey church, which
still remain, though seldom used.

Peterborough Cathedral, as will be evident to the reader from
the plates and from the description, is certainly one of the first
class as regards size, magnificence, and architectural importance.

Its dimensions are as follows:——breadth of western facade, 156
feet, length of nave from the western wall to the choir entrance
266 feet 3 inches, breadth of do. 35 feet 5 inches; total breadth
in the clear of outside walls 79 feet 4 inches: length of transept
184- feet 9 inches, length of choir from the entrance to the eastern
extremity of the apse 128 feet, thence to the east wall 35 feet;
breadth of Lady Chapel 83 feet 5 inches. Total external length
of the Cathedral 479 feet; general height from the pavement to
the ceiling 81 feet; height of lantern 135 feet.

Of the establishment we have already spoken in part; it will be
only necessary to state that by the late act the archdeaconry of
Leicester is now added to it. Of the value of this see in the king’s
books, and the gross annual value of the same at present, notice
was taken in the account given of the erection of the see of Peter-
borough. The old diocese consisted of the counties of Northamp—
ton and Rutland, originally taken out of Lincoln diocese, to these
counties has been added by the Act already alluded to, that of
Leicester from the same diocese, a measure, the wisdom of which
we cannot sufficiently extol.

With regard to those who have filled this see from its foundation
to the present time we have nothing to record but good; and
although, if we except the present bishop, none of them can be
accounted stars of the first magnitude, they have all been men of
piety, learning, and beneficence, and every way worthy of their
high station in the church. The writings of Dr. Marsh, the
present bishop, are too well known to need commendation in these
humble pages. It will be sufficient to say, that in the opinion of
the learned, they have established his character as a most acute
and powerful reasoner, and the first biblical scholar of his day.

 

 

 

 

 

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NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

THE diocese of Norwich is one of the very oldest in England; and
for the most part consisted anciently, as it still does, of the counties
of Norfolk and Suffolk. The see however has not always been
where it now is at Norwich. It was first placed at Dunwich, in
Suffolk, then both at Dunwich and Elmham, in Norfolk, at the
same time, the diocese being divided into two parts; then at Elm-
ham only, next, though only for a short time, at Thetford, and
lastly at Norwich, the most convenient situation for it, and where
therefore we hope it may continue to the end of time.

Early in the seventh century the king of the East Angles favoured
Christianity, though the perceptions he had of its Divine origin and
excellence, were very indistinct. His successor was better instruct-
ed, and his behaviour more consistent. After his death however the
cause of true religion declined, and the people very generally re-
lapsed into paganism; but upon the arrival of his brother Sigebert
in England, who had been banished into France, Christianity
again revived, and though it suffered much from pagan invasion,
it never was again extinguished. The reign of this prince affords
a memorable epoch in the annals of East Anglia. During his
residence in France, as a banished man, he is said to have acquired
a knowledge and taste for monastic institutions. Soon after his
accession to the throne of East Anglia be induced Felix, a Bur-
gundian, to leave France, in order to instruct his subjects in the
Christian religion, and on his arrival appointed him the first bishop
of a new diocese, and fixed the see at Dunwich, at that time the
capital of his kingdom. Sigebert caused churches to be raised
and monasteries to be founded in every part of his dominion, and
somewhere or other, though antiquaries are not agreed as to the '
place, a public school was instituted, having the cultivation of re-
ligion for its principal object. Malmsbury states that he established
seminaries of learning in different places, and thus enabled a
people who had been uncivilised and pagan to taste the sweets of
literature and true religion. It had been well both for Sigebert
and his subjects, and especially for the latter, if the former had

VOL. II. M

82 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

been better acquainted with the nature and requirements of that
religion. Unhappily, however, after a reign of only two years,
during which he completely re-established the Christian religion
in East Anglia, he thought proper to retire from his throne and
kingdom, where he was doing all the good which his exalted
station both demanded of him, and enabled him to perform, into
the monastery of St. Edmund, which he had founded at Bury,
where he could be of no use to any one, however agreeable his
seclusion might be to his own feelings. Soon after this, Penda
the Pagan king of Mercia invaded East Anglia, and finding Egeric
the prince, then upon the throne, unable to resist him, he laid
waste the whole kingdom with firé and sword. For a long time
his former subjects endeavoured by all the means in their power
to draw Sigebert from his religious seclusion at Bury, but in vain;
at length however he was induced, by compassion for their suffering
to quit his beloved monastery for the battle field, but when there,
such was his mistaken piety, he refused to play the part of a
soldier, and carried nothing in his hand but a slender wand. The
very presence however of their former king among them encou-
raged the East Anglians to exert themselves to the utmost to
drive out the enemy, but to no purpose, a dreadful conflict took
place, in which the East Anglians were cut to pieces, and Sigebert
and Egeric both slain. Felix the first bishop survived this dread-
ful calamity, and governed the diocese seventeen years, and was
afterwards canonized. He founded a monastery at Soham, near
Ely, and was buried first at Dunwich, but his remains were after-
wards conveyed to Soham, and finally removed to Ramsey. To
bishop Felix succeeded Thomas Boniface, and to him Bosa, who
was consecrated in 669. Bede says, “that in extreme old age this
bishop divided the diocese into two parts, the county of Suffolk
forming one, the see of which was continued at Dunwich, and
' the county of Norfolk the other, the see of which was placed
at North Elmham.” Ecclesiastical historians enumerate eleven
bishops in succession over the former see, and ten over the latter,
before the two dioceses were again united, and the see continued
at Elmham. After this, thirteen bishops in succession sat at
Elmham; Egalmere the last was deposed by the Conqueror, and
Herfast, his chaplain and chancellor, appointed to succeed him in

NORWICH CATHEDRAL. 83

the year 1070. This bishop at first seized on the rich abbey of Bury
for his Cathedral and residence, but was foiled in this project by the
influence and exertions of Baldwin then abbot, who took a journey
to Rome in order to lay his case before the Pope, and succeeded in
gaining his holiness on his side. Herfast however would not give
up his design till he had tried the persuasive eloquence of one hun-
dred marks of gold in vain, but in defiance of the papal bull renewed
his contest with the abbot, nor did he entirely relinquish it before the
year 1081, when king William convoked a council at Winchester on
the subject, and issued his royal charter in favour of the abbot and
monks, to the great discomfiture of the bishop. Failing thus in his
unjustifiable attempts on the abbey of Bury, the bishop next availed
himself of the decree of Lanfranc, made in London in the year 1075,
and removed his see from Elmham to Thetford, then the most con-
siderable town in Norfolk. There he built a Cathedral and palace,
died, and was buried there. His successor was William Galsagus,
or Balfagus, or Beaufo, who was also chaplain and chancellor to
king William 1., and was appointed to this see in the year 1085.
During the six years of his prelacy, he exerted himself greatly in the
duties of his office, and was the most liberal benefactor to the see
from its foundation to the present times. In the year 1091 he was
succeeded by Herbert (1e Losing, or Lozinga, who came from Nor-
mandy with ‘vVilliam Rufus, and purchased the bishopric for £1900,
a vast sum in those days; he also bought for his father the place
and dignity of abbot of Winchester for £1000, for which simoniacal
practices he was cited before the Pope at Rome in 1090, and sen-
tenced to lose his pastoral staff and ring, and commanded to build
certain churches and monasteries, as a penance for his many and
grievous faults not only in these but in several other particulars
long before he came into England. On his readmission into office,
he removed the see from Thetford to Norwich. Here he laid the
foundation ofa new Cathedral in the year 1096, and Pope Paschal
soon after constituted it the mother church of all Norfolk and Suffolk
In the course of five years after this period the Cathedral and palace
on the north side of it were in a state of great forwardness, as well as
a priory begun about the same time on the south side; for in the
month of September, 1101, the bishop signed their foundation deed,
and placed a prior and sixty monks upon it. The oldest portions
M 2

84 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

both of the Cathedral and palace plainly testify of their Norman
origin, and may therefore Without hesitation be regarded as the work
of bishop Herbert, who died on the 22nd of July, in the year 1119.
Blomefield in his History of the County of Norfolk, assigns to this
bishop the choir, the transept, and the central tower; he states also
that Eborard, the successor of Herbert, completed the Cathedral by
building the nave with its side aisles. The manner in which bishop
Eborard’s work is spoken of has induced some to think that he built
the whole Cathedral. The nave is certainly of vast and unusual
length, so that the builder of it may be very justly esteemed even a
greater benefactor to the Cathedral than the founder, who lived to
finish only those portions of it which have been already mentioned.
Be this as it may, in the year 1171 it was a good deal damaged by
fire, but bishop John de Oxford repaired it and fitted it up with
ornaments and vestments, so that it arose from its ashes in greater
splendour than before in the year 1197.

The Lady Chapel at the east end, long ago destroyed, was the
next addition to the Cathedral, and owed its origin and Completion
to the piety and munificence of Walter de Sufficld, the tenth bishop
who filled the see of Norwich from 1244 to 1257. Thus the building
of the whole original Cathedral is accounted for; the appearance of
the same fabric at the present time plainly indicates the alterations
and additions of a later age. In the year 1271 the tower was greatly
injured by lightning during divine service. The next year the whole
church was damaged considerably in the violent warfare which was
at that time carried on between the citizens and the monks. So
many and great were the repairs consequent upon the mischief done
at that time, that they were not completed until the year 1278, when
it was thought necessary to re-consecrate the whole fabric, which
was done on Advent Sunday in that year, by the bishop elect,
William de Middleton, who was himself on that occasion enthroned,
in the presence of Edward I. and his queen, Eleanor, and of the
bishops of London, Hereford, and Waterford, and of many earls,
barons, and knights.

It is generally agreed that bishop Ralph de Walpole added the
spire upon the tower about the year 1295, though some are of opinion
that it was not finished as it now appears till 1361, by bishop Percy.
The same bishop, Ralph de \Valpole, who sat in this see from 1289

 

 

 

 

 

NORWICH CATHEDRAL. 85

to 1299, about two years before his death built the chapter-house
which has been since destroyed, and began the Cloisters, which
however were not finished till the year 1480, as they now appear.
In 1463 the spire was struck by lightning, and the damage repaired
soon after the accident by bishop Lyart, who was in other respects
a great benefactor to the Cathedral. The beautiful stone vaulting
of the nave was raised by him, and a new floor laid about the same
time. He caused also an altar-tomb to be raised over the grave of
the founder.

Bishop Goldwell his successor continued these improvements
and embellishments by constructing the vaulting of the choir, and
making the upper windows and flying buttresses of the same; and
bishop Nix completed the whole by adding a stone vaulting to the
transept. The great west window was probably inserted in the time
of bishop Lyart, when the stone vaulting of the nave was put up,
and the old Norman portal beneath it was altered to what it now is
to correspond with that window. Several of the original windows
have been enlarged and changed in their character from Norman to
pointed, and some, though they retain their original size and shape,
have been filled with the mullions and tracery ofamuch later age.
Notwithstanding however all these comparatively modern additions
and alterations, Norwich Cathedral still retains for the most part
both internally and externally its original Norman character. It is
greatly to be regretted that the stone of which it is built should be
of so soft and perishable a nature ; it peels OH“ in large flakes, which
gives a shabby and ruinous appearance to the edifice. On the north
side this is particularly the case; there indeed the stone has more
than peeled off, it is worn away into deep holes almost as close to
one another as the compartments ofa honeycomb.

The situation of this Cathedral is so low as to prevent its making
an imposing appearance from any distant point. On a nearer ap-
proach it appears to the best advantage just before the entrance
into Norwich from the Yarmouth road. From that point it is found
to possess all the dignity and importance ofa Cathedral of the first
magnitude and architectural merit, and among such Norwich Cathe-
dral has an undoubted right to be classed.

86 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

EXTERIOR.

The cloisters on the south side and bishop’s palace on the north,
together with its extensive pleasure grounds and other premises, shut
out from public view all the exterior of this Cathedral except the
west front. But were it altogether disencumbered, isolated, and set
in the middle of a spacious lawn, its external appearance either as
a whole or in detail, if we except the tower and spire, would be
found to possess few if any attractions at all. Plain walls blackened
with smoke and worn with age, irregularly dotted over with windows
of various size and shape, and having no relief from the buttresses,
which are too flat to be called projections, such a state of things is
perhaps better concealed than exposed, and as the tower and spire
are well seen from every point clear of all incumbrances, the present
inclosed condition of the Cathedral is not at all to be regretted.

The west front is entirely open, and has a good broad space before
it, adorned with lofty trees, beneath whose shade the inhabitants of
the Cathedral close may walk or recline on seats placed there for the
purpose. The stone facing of this front has been renewed, but its
architectural merit is very moderate. It has none of that dignity
and magnificence for which many of the western facades of other
Cathedrals are so justly celebrated. It consists of three compart—
ments corresponding with the nave and its side aisles, of which the
middle is by far the largest, being the west wall of the nave. It is
flanked by square turrets which rise to the same height as the gable
point of the nave, and are terminated, alas! by domes surmounted
with balls. The lower part of this compartment contains the prin-
cipal entrance into the Cathedral. It is a deep and vaulted portal
of pointed architecture within a square head, and is adorned on each
side with canopied niches, an upper and a lower tier of them. Above
this portal is a well-proportioned large pointed window of many
lights, and perpendicular Gothic, which fills up the whole space
between the flanking turrets. The gable has a single small window
unglazed with a pointed head and one light, which with the excep-
tion of a decorated cross on the gable point, is all the ornament
which this portion of the fabric possesses. The two lateral com-
partments are exactly similar, divided into three stories, the lower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NORWICH CATHEDRAL. 87

containing the original round-headed door, the next an arcade of
round-headed arches also original, the third a round—headed window
with a single arch of the same kind, supported on slender columns
engaged on each side of it. The window of one light is now
filled with mullions and tracery of perpendicular design. The
battlements are of the same age, but the compartments are both
flanked by their original Norman turrets, which are square as high
as the battlements and then become round, and are, like the other
turrets of this facade, most incongruously surmounted by domes
and balls of Elizabethan architecture. Such is the west front of
Norwich Cathedral, of which perhaps one half is original and the
other the work of the fifteenth century. It is not exactly known
to whom these architectural alterations are to be attributed, but
tradition seems to favour the supposition that bishop Alnwyk, who
filled the see from 1426 to 1436, was the benefactor who both
designed and completed them.

The south side of the nave may be seen from the Cloister yard;
the wall of the side aisle is unusually lofty, and is divided into
three stories, a portion only of the lowest is seen above the roof of
the Cloister and is adorned with some blank arcades of round-headed
arches, and two large windows, which are insertions of the latest age
of the pointed style ; the story above this contains a series of small
round-headed windows of one light each, one between every two
buttresses, with a recess of the same size and shape on each side of
every window; the uppermost story has lost all its original windows,
and in their stead are wide obtusely pointed windows of four lights
each with tracery of perpendicular character in the heads of them;
above these runs a plain embattled parapet of the same date. The
windows of the clerestory have been also altered and divided into
two‘lights each, and have recesses on each side of them of the
original Norman work; the clerestory is surmounted by an embat-
tled parapet, exactly similar to that of the side aisle below it. The
south wing of the transept is more nearly in its original state, with
the exception of the parapet and the introduction of a single mul-
lion into the windows; it is in all other respects, exactly so; only
the upper part of the south front of it is visible, on account of the
buildings which adjoin ; it is flanked by square turrets, which rise
to the height of the gable point, and are enriched in the upper por-

88 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

tions with small arcades one above another, and are terminated by
embattled parapets, and crocketted pinnacles of a latter style at the
four corners of each; the gable itself is adorned with a low round-
headed arcade upon circular columns, and a small circular window
with round-headed recesses on each side it and above it, all original.
The east side of this wing of the transept is very similar to the west
side, the upper portion of it only is visible over walls and trees.
We come now to the choir and its adjoining side aisles and
chapels. The lower story all round is original as to the main walls,
but windows square-headed with perpendicular tracery have been
inserted since. On the south side a small chapel nearly square
projects with a large decorated window in the south front of it.
Exactly at the point where the round end of the choir begins, on
both sides are chapels of extremely curious form and character;
they belong to the original work of bishop Herbert de Losing. Their
walls are portions of two interesting circles of different diameters,
having a round projection at the point of intersection. The windows
are pointed, and are evidently the work of more modern times;
above these windows is an arcade of round-headed arches upon
short plain circular pillars, and above the arcade is a series of round-
headed recesses, having the appearance of windows walled up; a
low plain parapet runs round the whole of these very curious ad—
juncts. That to the south is called the chapel of St. Luke; the
other that of our Saviour. The clerestory of the choir is a work of
a very different age and style; and terminates pentagonally, though
set upon the original semicircular Norman work. This part of the
fabric owes its existence to the munificence of bishop Goldwell, who
was elected in 1472, and died in 1499. It is a remarkably pleasing
example of perpendicular gothic, and though the obtusely pointed
arch was at that time introduced, the architect wisely preferred for
his windows the arch of the preceding style. The clerestory is
lofty, and the windows which light it are large and beautifully pro-
portioned. Between the windows all round the clerestory rest
plain flying buttresses, which slope down to meet the upright but-
tresses of the side aisles, and there terminate. The whole is sur—
mounted by a richly decorated and embattled parapet. The Lady
Chapel to the east of the round end of the choir is gone, but marks
of its roof where it joined the choir end are still visible on the walls

 

 

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NORWICH CATHEDRAL. 89

as well as the arch of entrance into it, divided by a pillar into two,
with a feathered circle between, although now of course walled up :
above this arch is a window, or rather three Windows close together,
of one light each, all within one wide pointed side arch, probably
inserted soon after the destruction of the chapel.

The north side of the Cathedral inclosed within the bishop’s pre-
mises, and much concealed by the palace itself, and the trees which
adorn the palace gardens, is in most respects like the south side,
but much more discoloured and worn away; so much so indeed as
to lose the appearance of masonry, and to make it difficult, except
to a practised eye, to say in what style of architecture it was origi-
nally constructed.

The most important and by far the best external feature of
Norwich Cathedral yet remains to be described, viz. the tower and
spire. Perhaps the best spot from which these can be viewed is
one of the drawing-room windows of Dr. Proctor’s prebendal house.
The proportions of the tower and spire are good when separately
Considered, and equally so when considered together, and in refer-
ence to each other. The tower is a very curious and valuable spe-
cimen of late Norman architecture, without any mixture from its
base to its battlements of the pointed style. It is, for a perfectly
Norman work, very lofty and very rich. No other Norman tower
in England can boast above half its height, and not half its deco-
ration. The great western tower of Ely may vie indeed with this
in both these respects, but it is not a purely Norman work, it belongs
rather to the transition period in which round and pointed arches
are found together: here there is no mixture of styles, all is pure
Norman up to the battlements; but these are not original: the
present embattled parapet is the work of a much later age, perhaps
coeval with the spire. The plan of the tower is square, with square
turrets at the corners, whose external angles are cut ofi“. The four
faces of the tower are divided into four compartments by horizontal
bands; the first above the roof ridge contains the windows which
light the lantern, as it is called; this compartment is adorned with
an arcade of round arches upon slender pillars, within which are
the windows, three in each face, of the tower. A billet moulding
divides this from the next Compartment, and is also continued round

the angular turrets, which is not the case with any of the other
voL. n. N

90 NOR‘VICII CATHEDRAL.

horizontal bands, and from this circumstance it has been thought
that the tower was intended originally to terminate there, with a
plain parapet upon it, making it the usual height of a Norman tower.
If this were so, it was soon afterwards determined to raise the tower
to its present height. The next compartment contains an arcade
of intersecting circular arches, on shorter columns of the same
description. The next, a much loftier arcade, composed of round
mouldings, within which (three in each face of the tower) are the
round-headed windows of the belfry; between these windows the
round moulding is fancifully disposed in a pattern of lozenges and
circles alternately; the next and highest compartment is quite unique,
the same round moulding is formed into a double row of circles one
above another, five in a row on every face of the tower; between
the circles are perpendicular shafts of the same round moulding, and
the upper row is connected with the lower by short pieces of the
same. The upper circles are pierced and serve for windows to light
the upper portion of the tower within. Above this compartment,
and immediately upon it the parapet is set, which as we have before
hinted at is not original. It is embattled and adorned with good
tracery of decorated Gothic. The angular turrets are adorned on
all sides with a profusion of round mouldings, perpendicularly set
and parallel, but which have spaces between them about equal to
the diameter of the mouldings; these are continued from top to
bottom and produce a very rich and pleasing effect. The turrets
are finished with a battlement, and upon each one is set a well-pro-
portioned and richly crocketted spire; these, together with the
battlements of the great tower, are the additions of a later age, and
were probably constructed at the same time with the great spire,
which alone remains to be described. It is, as we have already
observed, of most graceful proportions; the base of it is enriched
with projecting buttresses, terminated with crocketted pinnacles,
which are set at the eight angles of the spire, and with the happiest
effect; just above these pinnacles are windows of two lights each,
pointed and canopied, and higher up windows of the same descrip-
tion but of less dimensions. Several plain horizontal bands encircle
this beautiful spire at different heights, and the whole is richly
crocketted and terminated with a finial, which is surmounted by a

weather-cock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

NORWICH CATHEDRAL. 91

INTERIOR.

Let the reader now suppose himself to return to the west front,
and to enter the Cathedral by the middle portal. The nave is all
before him, of vast length and due height, and elegantly vaulted
with stone. It is divided in its length into fourteen compartments
on each side, and built upon as many semicircular arches, of great
solidity and depth, and supported by piers of the same description,
excepting in two instances, where instead of piers are placed two
cylindrical columns of vast thickness, ornamented with spiral flut-
ings, one on each side of the nave and opposite each other. The
arches of the nave have a few plain and very bold surfaces, and the
outer one of all is adorned with a billet moulding. The triforium
is of great and very unusual height; it is composed of arches and
piers very similar to those on which they stand, and nearly the same
height. This arcade is entirely open, and is, not as is commonly
the case, subdivided in each arch by a single pillar supporting two
smaller arches within the greater. The outermost surface of the
arches is adorned with the zigzag moulding; the arcade above this
is unusually low, formed by three semicirculararches, side by side,
in each of the compartments of the nave, with very simple mould-
ings resting on short cylindrical columns, the middle arch being of
three times the span of the outer ones, and through which are seen
the windows of the clerestory. These windows are plainly the
insertion of more modern times; the original window was round-
headed, wide, and of one light; the round head has been walled
up, and an obtusely pointed arch introduced beneath it, and the
window divided into two lights by a plain mullion with correspond-
ing tracery in the head of it. The roof of the nave is magnificent
both in its design and extent, for though the choir obtrudes itself
into the nave as far as the two first compartments eastward, this
arrangement does not interfere with the vaulting, which is seen in
all its length from the west window to the central tower. Had this
vaulting been erected a century earlier, it might have agreed better
with the architecture of the nave, but in itself it is a beautiful
work, and rich though it be, and elaborate in its design, it does not
injure the effect of the whole. The side aisles of the nave are

N 2

92 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

in their original state, .the vaulting of them is exceedingly plain
and ponderous; it is semicircular without any mouldings, or ribs,
or carved key stones.

The transept is intercepted by the choir, which is partly under. the
central tower, and stretches beyond it, as we have before observed,
into the nave itself. When the choir screen was altered it would
have been better to have removed it to the eastern arch of the
tower, that the transept with its lantern might have been seen at
once in its length and breadth, and ‘in connection with the nave.
This portion of the Cathedral is also original1 ; it is singular in hav-
ing no side aisles; it is of good length, rather deficient in breadth,
but of the same height with the nave and choir, and like them
elegantly and richly vaulted with stone. To the north wing of the
transept and to the east wall of it is a building, now in a ruinous
condition, called a vestry, but originally perhaps a chapel; it has a
window in the east end of it which is semicircular: from the south
wing of the transept the present vestry is entered, a large room of
modern date, filling up the corner between the transept and a build-
ing on the south side of the choir, called bishop Beauchamp’s chapel.

We now come to the choir, the effect of which on first entering
it is very imposing ; coming across the transept, and into the nave it
is of unusual length ; the stalls however do not extend beyond the
lantern, so that the choir, architecturally speaking, is entirely open
space unencumbered by stalls, pews, or seats of any kind. The
lantern is set upon four semicircular arches with plain mouldings, and
supported by four massive piers of the same plain solid description.
The first horizontal compartment above these arches is an arcade
of semicircular arches resting on short cylindrical columns, behind
which is an open gallery all round the lantern. The next compart-
ment is adorned with a similar arcade, without the accompanying
gallery, but it does not extend the whole length of each side, instead
of which the spaces on each side of every one of the four arcades
are pierced with a circle with a plain moulding round it; the third
and highest compartment consists of a lofty arcade of semicircular
arches, and of a complicated and curious character, through which
are seen the windows before noticed in the description of the ex-.
terior; and this arcade has also behind it an open gallery all round.

1 The south wing of the transept has been restored by Salvin to its original state,
having been previously much dilapidated.

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NORWICH CATHEDRAL. 9"

Immediately above this is a flat ceiling of stucco work, with cor-
nice and pannels, adorned with wreaths and medallions, very good
in its way; but we need hardly say totally out of place here, and
spoiling the whole effect of the lantern.

The stalls of the choir are good, richly carved in oak with high
backs and projecting canopies, and crowned with a multitude of
crocketted pinnacles. The screen has been altered and improved as
well as the organ case, which is now in unison with the stalls. The
side pillars and arches of' the choir are concealed by a screen of
richly-decorated Gothic, in which some monuments have been con-
structed in the same style. The arches of the apse are not concealed,
and are of the same style with those of the nave, as is the triforium
all round the choir, but all the arches are a little less in the span.

The clerestory of the choir is of a totally different age and style,
and yet the effect of the whole is exceedingly good. The windows
are pointed, well proportioned, of four lights each, with good tracery
in their heads. Between the windows on both sides are lofty deep
niches feathered and canopied, which doubtless once had statues.
From the top of these niches spring the main ribs of the vaulting,
which is similar to that of the nave and transept. The windows in
the clerestory of the apse are of the same size and character with
those on each side of the choir, but they are so close to each other
that there is no room for any thing between them; but a cluster of
three slender shafts, on the top of which spring the ribs of the
groined roof of the apse, which is well designed and has the most
charming effect. Indeed this part of the clerestory is very cleverly
set upon the triforium of' the apse, which is semicircular, while this
is pentagonal. The lofty, wide, and open triforium of this Cathe-
dral, both in the nave and choir, has a very majestic and imposing
effect throughout, but more especially in the apse where the arches
are of less span, and nearer together.

The side aisles of the choir are of the same age and style with
those of the nave, and vaulted in the same plain and ponderous
manner. In the side aisle to the south is the entrance into what
was bishop Beauchamp’s chapel, now the consistory court, a small
oblong room with groined roof, and a large window of decorated
character opposite the entrance. A little further on at the south-
western extremity of the apse, is the entrance into what was St.
Luke’s chapel, which is now used as a parish church, the organ for

94 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

which is placed between two of the aspidal piers of the choir. At
the north-western extremity of the apse is placed the entrance to
another chapel very similar to that of St. Luke, and dedicated to
our Saviour, and in the middle of it is the tomb of Sir Thomas
Windhaml.

The dimensions of Norwich Cathedral are as follows: from the
great western door to the choir screen 212 feet; breadth of nave
72 feet ’7 inches; of side aisles 12 feet 3 inches; length of tran-
sept 177 feet; breadth of do. 30 feet 6 inches; from choir door
to the farthest point of the apse 170 feet; breadth of choir from
screen to screen 45; height of the vaulting about 73 feet. Height
of tower and spire 313 feet.

We have yet to speak of the Cloisters, which are surpassed by
none in beauty of architecture and solemnity of effect. They are on
the south side of the Cathedral, which may be entered both at the
north-east and north-west angle of them. They form a square of
about 150 feet. The style of architecture may be called decorated
Gothic, though not altogether unmixed with details belonging to
the suceeeding style. The windows all round are of three lights
each, with tracery of good design in the heads of them. The form
of the vaulted roof is particularly pleasing, and the ribs and carv-
ings at their intersections equally worthy of commendation.

This Cathedral is dedicated to the holy and undivided Trinity.
Formerly there were four archdeacons, but now since the late act
only three, viz. of Norfolk, Norwich, and Suffolk, that of Sudbury
being transferred to Ely. These archdeaconries are in the gift of
the bishop ; besides these there is a chancellor, a dean appointed by
the crown, and six prebends, of which five are also in the gift of
the crown, but presented to by the lord chancellor. and one is
annexed to the headship of Catherine Hall, in the University of
Cambridge. There are also belonging to this Cathedral a full com-
plement of singing-men and choristers, schoolmasters, vergers, and
other inferior officers. The see was once very wealthy, but Henry
VIII. took from it its original endowment of lands, and gave the
lands of St. Benedict, in Norfolk, in exchange. In the king’s books
it is rated at £834: 11:7; per annum, and was returned by the
present bishop to be worth £5395 in gross annual value.

1 The only monument with a statue upon it in this Cathedral at present, is that of
Bishop Goldwell, who died in 1498.

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William Casleton, the last prior of the Cathedral, was appointed
the first dean in the year 1538.

The ancient diocese of Norwich consisted of the whole of the
counties both of Norfolk and Suffolk, together with a portion of
Cambridgeshire, but by the late Act it is veryjudiciously deprived
of the latter, together with some of the distant parts of the coun-
ties of Norfolk and Suffolk which border on Cambridgeshire.

The two first bishops of this diocese, after the see was removed to
Norwich, were great benefactors to the Cathedral. William Turbus,
or Turberville, the third bishop, who had been previously prior of
Norwich, was famous for the zeal with which he advocated the cause
of Thomas-a-Becket, archbishop of Canterbury. The sixth bishop
of Norwich was no less a person than the famous Pandulph, who
came to England as the pope’s legate, and induced king John to
acquiesce in the wishes of that pontiff, and for his service was
rewarded by that monarch with the see of Norwich. Nearly all
ecclesiastical writers allow, that the intrigues of this prelate were
detrimental to the solid interests of this country. He introduced a
great many of his own countrymen into England, and gave them
all the benefices that were in his gift.

Antony de Beck, elected in 1337, rendered himself odious to the
monks by his arrogant and oppressive behaviour towards them, and
was poisoned by his own servants at the instigation, as it is supposed,
of the injured monks. William Bateman, the worthy successor of
this unworthy and ill-fated bishop, was a native of Norwich, and is
famous for having founded and endowed a small college in Cam-
bridge, called Trinity Hall. He died and was buried at Avignon.
Henry de Spencer, a relative of the king, was elected in 1370, and
obtained the name of the warlike bishop of Norwich; he was also
a great and severe persecutor of the Lollards. He distinguished
himself in the wars of his times, and took part with pope Urban VI.
against pope ClementVII., and with his sovereign Richard II. against
the French king. Thomas Brown, elected in 1436, was succeeded
by Walter Lyart in 1445: both these were benefactors to the cause
of sound learning by founding scholarships and exhibitions in the
Universities. Richard Nix, elected in 1501, consigned five persons
to the flames for their religious opinions. He afterwards took the
oath denying the Pope’s supremacy, but still intrigued secretly with

96 NORWICH CATHEDRAL.

the court of Rome. William Rugg, his successor, was scarcely, if
at all, more worthy of this place and dignity. He had been fellow
of Caius College, in Cambridge; he was instrumental in advancing
the wishes of Henry VIII. in respect to his divorce from his queen,
Catherine of Arragon, and was rewarded by that monarch with the
see of Norwich. He received it however under degraded and
impoverished circumstances; for at this time the king took from it
its original revenues and gave very inferior ones in lieu of them.
The see was afterwards impoverished still more by the bishop himself
as far as he could do it, by granting long leases, annuities, and
pensions. He became by his general bad conduct sojustly despised,
that he gladly resigned the bishopric, upon receiving an annuity of
£200. Thomas Thirlby, his successor, was a worthy good man, and
was translated from Westminster, being the only bishop that ever
presided over that short-lived diocese. John Hopton his successor,
was a cruel pcrsecutor of the Protestants in the time of queen Mary.
Among the prelates who have presided over this diocese since
the Reformation, may be mentioned first, Richard Corbet, translated
from Oxford in the year 1632. A most virtuous and truly digni-
fied character, and author of “Sundry Pieces of Poetry.” Next
must be mentioned a still more worthy and eminent prelate, Joseph
Hall, elected in 1641 : he presided over this diocese in most difficult
and dangerous times, but was found faithful unto all the “hard
measure” which he experienced. He was confined in the Tower,
expelled his see, and died in the retirement of a country village near
Norwich, in the eighty-second year of his age. His works are
numerous, and evince the most exalted piety and devotion, and the
soundest and most extensive erudition. George Home was promoted
to this see in the year 1790; whose piety, learning, and literary
labours are scarcely inferior to those of the last—mentioned prelate.
His “Letters on Infidelity” are well known, and much valued.
His Commentary on the Psalms is perhaps even better known and
more esteemed. He did not long survive his deserved promotion.
In 1792 he was succeeded by Charles Manners Sutton, the late
archbishop of Canterbury, to which he was translated from this see in
1805. In the same year Henry Bathurst was appointed to this see.
By the death of this amiable and venerable prelate, only a few weeks
ago, at the age of ninety-three, the see of Norwich is now vacant.

 

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EXETER CATHEDRAL.

EXETER was the capital of the Damnonii, whose dominions in-l
eluded both Devonshire and Cornwall, but after their subjugation
to the Roman Yoke, probably in the first century, Exeter became
a Roman station, of which indeed its very name assures us ; though
it was at first called by the Romans Isia Damnoniorum. Its British
name according to Simeon of Durham was Caer-wise, which signifies
the city of waters.

When the Romans relinquished their conquests in England, the
\Vest Britons recovered their possessions, and, according to
Whitaker, Damnonium became again a small independent king-
dom; and not only a kingdom, but now also (the people having
been in the interim converted to Christianity) a diocese: and thus,
he continues, does the episcopate of Damnonium mount up for its
origin even to the middle of the fifth century. The see he considers
to have been at Exeter, where it remained as long as the kingdom
of the Damnonii continued undisturbed : but when the country east
of the Exe was reduced by the Saxons during the latter part of the
seventh century, the unsubdued Damnonii necessarily formed a new
capital for their kingdom, and a new see for their bishop, at which
time Leskard, he asserts, became their capital and St. German's
their see.

This early date however for the diocese and see of Exeter, is
not satisfactorily supported by any historical evidence, and some,
judging from the same slight notices of that remote and barbarous
age, unconnected and sometimes inconsistent with each other as
they are, have discarded the opinion of Whitaker, and after much
patient examination have come to a very different conclusion.

But leaving such antiquaries to chew the cud of perplexity over
such documents, it shall be our care to conduct the reader into the
pleasant pastures of well-authenticated history, and feed him with
such information upon this subject as shall be entirely satisfactory.

Devonshire after its partial subjugation to the Saxon invaders
and their conversion to Christianity, became subordinate to the

voL. II. o

98 EXE'I‘ER CATHEDRAL.

bishops of \Vessex, and so continued till the year 703, when it was
deemed advisable in a provincial synod to divide the diocese of
Wessex, which extended from the frontiers of Kent to the borders
of Cornwall, into two. Under this new regulation, the see of the
western half was fixed at Sherborne. In somewhat less than two
hundred years afterwards an increase of converts demanded more
distinct and minute pastoral care, and the church by its growing
prosperity became as able, as it ever had been willing, to meet and
satisfy that demand. At this time Devonshire and Cornwall be-
came two separate dioceses. The see of Cornwall was fixed first at
Bodmin, and afterwards at St. German’s, where the ancient church,
once the Cathedral, is still preserved, not indeed in all its original
extent, but yet a dignified and imposing object. The see of Devon-
shire was fixed at Crediton by Aidulf the first bishop, who died in
the year 931, and was buried in his Cathedral, which he is said to
have rebuilt with much splendour. It is however thought by some
that the see was first placed at T awton, near Barnstaple, for a short
time, and two bishops, \Verstanus and Putta, are mentioned as
having presided in succession over this diocese during that period:
but we have no sufficient proof of this, which seems indeed to be
nothing more than a wild conjecture. '

Historians enumerate nine bishops of Crediton, exclusive of
Aidulf. Leofric, the last of them, removed the see to Exeter. He
was descended of an illustrious race in Burgundy. He was for
those times a man of great learning, and like his immediate prede-
cessor in the see of Crediton, (whose name was Livingus,) was much
esteemed by king Edward the Confessor, to whom he was both
chaplain and chancellor. After his promotion to the see of Crediton,
according to an old MS. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, “ going
over his diocese he studiously preached the word of God to the
people committed to his charge, enlightened his clergy by his supe-
rior learning, built many churches, and omitted nothing of the duties
which belonged to his high and responsible situation.” Soon how-
ever seeing both Devonshire and Cornwall, to be often infested and
ravaged by barbarous pirates, he began to meditate diligently how
he could transfer the episcopal chair from Crediton to Exeter, where
he could perform all his offices safely and free from all hostile incur-
sions, on account of the strength of the place both by nature and

EXETER CATHEDRAL. 99

art. This bishop had at the same time a great desire to join with
Crediton the bishopric of St. German’s, and so unite Devonshire
and Cornwall into one diocese, which he had the satisfaction to see
effected soon after by order of Edward the Confessor, whom he
induced to think with him on this important matter. The grant for
the removal of the united sees of Crediton and St. German’s to
Exeter is very curious, and the ceremony was performed in the fol-
lowing manner: king Edward first placed the charter with his own
hand upon the high altar of St. Peter’s Abbey church, which was
chosen for the Cathedral, he then led Leofric by the right hand
while his queen Eaditha led him by the left up to the episcopal
seat, and placed him in it in the presence of many nobles and eccle-
siastics.

The Abbey Church of St. Peter, in Exeter, was founded in the
year 932 for monks of the Benedictine order; but not long after its
foundation the monks fled from it to save themselves from falling
victims to the barbarous cruelties of the invading Danes. King
Edgar, the great restorer ofmonasteries, introduced the monks again
to Exeter, in the year 968, who were again forced to fly upon the
second devastation of this city by the Danes in 1003. After this
Canute encouraged the monks once more to settle here, and con—
firmed to them by charter their lands and privileges in the year 1019.

Leofric’s installation at Exeter took place in the year 1046.
Submitting himself entirely to the views of William I. he was not
removed from his bishopric, when that conqueror had taken full
possession of England. Leofric is said to have been a great bene-
factor to his Cathedral church, of which however every vestige has
long been swept away from the face of the earth. He died about
the year 1073, and was succeeded by Osbern, or Osbertus, a
Norman of noble birth, and related to Edward the Confessor. The
next bishop was \Varelwast, also by birth a Norman, and son of
the conqueror’s sister. It is to this prelate that the present Cathe-
dral of Exeter owes its foundation, but neither of his Cathedral
is there any thing standing except the transept towers. He laid
the foundation of the edifice in the year 1112, but he did not live
to finish it. His successors in the see continued his design, which
was not completed till the very end of the twelfth century during
the episcopate of Henry Marischall, who was a great benefactor to

0 2

100 EXE’I‘ER CATHEDRAL.

the work, and died in 1206, after having held the see only twelve
years.

The present Cathedral with the exception of the towers before
mentioned, is entirely of another age and style, and may therefore
be called the third Cathedral of Exeter which is known to have
existed since the removal of the see to this city. It is for the most
part an edifice of the second or decorated age of the pointed style.
Peter Quivil, elected bishop in 1280 began it, but dying in 129],
left it in a very unfinished state. His successor Thomas Bytton,
continued the work all his time, but neither did he live to complete
it. His successor Walter de Stapledon, elected in 1307, held the
see twenty years, and was also a great benefactor to the building,
but left it unfinished. James de Berkeley, the next bishop, held
the see for a very short time only, and we do not find that the
Cathedral is at all indebted to him. John Grandisson succeeded
him, and was elected in 1331, and held the see nearly forty years,
during which time he finished the Cathedral as it now appears, if we
except the Lady Chapel, and some trifling detail in the west front,
which works his successor Thomas Brentyngham is supposed to
have completed. Edmund Lacy, who was translated from Hereford
in 1420, and died in 1455, built the upper part of the chapter-house.
The throne in the choir, the most remarkable thing of the kind in
England, was erected by John Boothe, who became bishop of
Exeter in 1465, and died in 1478.

Having now traced the see of Exeter to its source, and given
the history of the present and two former Cathedrals as far as well~
authenticated documents have afforded an opportunity, we come
now to describe the present building and its situation.

The country about Exeter is highly picturesque; the Cathedral
stands on the most elevated ground in the city, and yet notwith-
standing these advantages its appearance at a distance is not so
imposing as that of some others. It is however the object which
most of all engages the attention of the spectator in a distant view of
Exeter, and continues to do so when he is arrived in the city itself.
Till within the present century the Cathedral was nearly surrounded
by numerous houses and other buildings, which have since been very
properly removed, and the visitor may now freely examine nearly
two thirds of the whole exterior of this interesting edifice. Exter-

 

 

 

 

 

EXETER CATHEDRAL. 101

nally the great defect of Exeter Cathedral is a want of elevation in
the body. Its peculiarities also, the want of a central tower, and
the low broad square towers at each end of the transept, are unfa-
vourable to its external appearance both at a distance and ona
nearer approach. The whole effect is heavy and lumpy, but it has
architectural detail of first rate merit and in immense variety. In
its dimensions it cannot be classed among Cathedrals of the first
magnitude. In every respect except elevation it very much resem-
bles many of the best Cathedrals of France, and ‘was erected very
soon after such of them as it most of all resembles, as the style of
the architecture plainly evinces. After these few general remarks
upon the whole building we will now examine particularly every
portion ofit.

EXTERIOR.

Another peculiarity of Exeter Cathedral is to be seen in the
plan of its west front. It consists of three stories, the basement
containing the portals, three in number, is entirely covered with
niches, which are all filled with statues: above this, and receding a
little, is the west wall of the nave, in which is a magnificent original
window, filled with the most beautiful tracery of the style called
decorated Gothic. Above this again, and receding a little in like
manner behind the parapet, is the gable of the nave, containing a
window of the same character, but of much smaller dimensions.
This arrangement is entirely French, and is very commonly seen
both in the west fronts and transept fronts of French Cathedrals.
The buttresses of the west wall of the nave stand at some distance
from it, and are connected with it by plain flying buttresses of solid
masonry. The lower and greater part of the former are hid behind
the projecting basement story, which in order to incase them projects
at those points as much as is required beyond the plane of the rest
of it. The portions of the buttresses which are seen above the base-
ment story are adorned with niches, canopies, and statues. The
wall of the nave above the great west window is embattled, and
behind it rise hexagonal turrets, which appear to flank the gable,
and which are adorned each with a single pinnacle canopied and

102 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

crocketted. The gable point is adorned with a canopied niche con-
taining a statue, and terminating in a crocketted pinnacle. Another
peculiarity of this fagade consists in the sloping walls built on each
side of the west wall of the nave, as if purposely to conceal the
buttresses of the nave and its side aisles; which certainly have
nothing to recommend them in an architectural point ofview. These
walls are embattled and flanked outwardly, with hexagonal turrets,
which are also embattled. The surface both of these walls and their
flanking turrets is richly ornamented with arcades of trefoil—headed
arches, which have straight canopies enriched with crockets and
finials. We know of no precedent for these sloping walls any where
except in the west front of the superb marble Cathedral of Milan.
The effect there is not good, and here it is still worse; it greatly
diminishes the apparent height, destroys all proportion, and gives
a character of heaviness and awkwardness to the whole ofthis facade.
With regard to these sloping walls, and to the richly-decorated and
projecting basement story of this west front, we cannot forbear
hazarding the opinion, that they do not form a part of the original
design. The reader will remember that although the present Cathe-
dral was begun in the year 1280, it was not finished as it now appears
till nearly eighty years afterwards, during which time architecture
was gradually undergoing a change, and architects were continually
studying to invent novelties, and to introduce new forms and arrange-
ments, as well as decorations in the buildings erected by them.
Now the west front was always the last portion built of every
Cathedral, or other important church, and we cannot but think that
had Bishop Quivil lived to finish his Cathedral, he would have
erected a west front far more simple, and with much better propor-
tions than that which now exists. The sloping walls would have
been omitted, the basement story would not have projected, or only
that part of it between the projecting buttresses; in which case
the beautiful windows of the west end of the side aisles would not
have been concealed, the pointed heads of which are now all that is
to be seen of them over the parapet of the screen which has been
built in front of them. The portals would have been in the walls
under the windows with straight canOpies, and the original buttresses
which flank the outer angles of the side aisle would have given a
good finish to the extremities of the facade. The portals by which

EXETER CATHEDRAL. 103

the nave and side aisles are entered seem to have been reconstructed
since the erection of the basement story or screen, or altered at a
later period when the Cathedral underwent considerable repairs in
various parts of it. Upon the whole, this facade is very uniform,
and would have been perfectly so, had not the west wall of the north
side aisle been extended a little beyond the flanking buttress for the
sake of erecting a chapel at that point; the battlements and parapet
of the side aisles are horizontal, and in the additional part of the wall
before mentioned is a Window which lights the chapel, now the con-
sistory crourt. That building indeed, which on turning round the
north-west corner of the Cathedral comes next in order to be exa-
mined, is nearly all window ; to the north it has a very large pointed
window of five lights, filled with good flowing or decorated tracery;
to the east it has another of two lights, and of the same character.
The walls of this building are of plain solid masonry, with an embattled
parapet all round, which is heavy, and slightly projecting. Passing
three windows of the north side aisle, the next object worthy of par—
ticular attention is the north porch, which projects as far as the but-
tresses, and is surmounted on all sides with a parapet of the same
kind as that on the chapel before described. The portal is rather too
low, but it has a lofty, straight, and acute angled canopy, richly
crocketted, and containing a niche; it is also flanked by small but-
tresses, whose pinnacled tops reach the base of the parapet, the face
of the wall on each side of the portal is further adorned with arches
and niches, which are surmounted with canopies of the same height
and richness, but of less span than that over the portal, and are
moreover flanked outwardly by similar buttresses and pinnacles.
The effect of these three canopies side by side is remarkably good.
Over the porch is a very singular projection in the wall of the cle-
restory,and of about the same dimensions,although it does not extend
quite so far as the wall of the side aisle. The reason for this pro-
jection is said to be the formation of a music gallery within. It is
lighted by a window ofmoderate size and inferior merit, and is plainly
and heavily embattled. Passing two more windows of the north side
aisle, we come to the transept, or rather the low square ponderous
Norman tower, under which more than half the north wing of the
transept is worked. The walls of this tower are quite plain to a con-
siderable height; it is then divided into four compartments all round

104 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

by plain horizontal bands, and surmounted with a plain embattled
parapet. Each compartment is adorned with arcades of round-headed
arches, most of which have the zigzag moulding, and within some
of them are the windows which give light to the interior. This ar-
rangement however is interrupted on the north face of the tower by
the insertion of a large pointed window of six lights, with beautiful
and elaborate tracery of decorated character. The same thing was
done to the south face of the other tower, and at the same time,
when the Cathedral was rebuilt at the close of the thirteenth and
beginning of the fourteenth century, and when these towers were
made subservient to the transept of the new Cathedral, as far at least
as to the height of the vaulting of the nave and choir. Perhaps in—
deed the transept of the old Norman church was also worked under
them; it is at least diflicult to imagine to what other purpose they
would have been applied situated as they are; for it is well known
that they never were a part of the west front, although the nave of
the old church did not extend so far to the west as the present nave
does. These towers are so very similar, that we shall not trouble
the reader with a detailed account of the minute and unimportant
differences which are to be found upon the external surface of them;
we have only therefore to add to what has been already said, that
they have both square turrets engaged at the four corners, and
which rise considerably above the parapets of the towers, and then
proceed with our description of the rest of the Cathedral.

On turning round the north—east angle of the tower, on the north
side of the Cathedral, we meet with a projection in the east face of
that tower in the style of the rest of the Cathedral, which is a chapel
dedicated to St. Paul; it has angular buttresses and windows in
three sides, that to the east being very large, and filled with tracery
of the best design. There is a similar projection on the east face of
the south tower, which is a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
Passing three windows of the side aisle of the choir, we meet with
an adjunct larger than any we have yet described, so large indeed,
that some have been led to think it a part of the transept of the old
Norman Cathedral, and the more so, as there is a similar adjunct on
the south side of the choir exactly opposite; it projects far beyond
the buttresses of the side aise, and is a heavy mass of masonry, with
a huge hexagonal buttress engaged at the north-west angle, in which

 

 

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EXETER CATHEDRAL. 105

a staircase is worked; it has slighter but very plain buttresses at
the other angles; it is also plainly embattled, and has a large but
badly proportioned window in the north face of it, with one of less
dimensions but better proportions over it. It rises no higher than
the side aisle; it is the chapel of St. Andrew, and its want of suffi-
cient breadth is thought by some to be fatal to the supposition of
its ever having been part of the transept of the Cathedral, coeval
with the towers. Passing three more windows of the side aisle of
the choir, we come to another projection, which is the chapel of
St. George; at this point the choir ends, and the Lady Chapel
begins, which if it be at all later, it must be but a very little later
than the choir to which it is appended, as the masonry is equally
plain and solid, and the windows nearly of the same character; that
to the east is very large, filling up nearly the whole space between
the angular buttresses, and adorned with a profusion of the flowing
tracery peculiar to this style. The east end of the choir, flanked
with hexagonal turrets engaged, is seen over the embattled parapet
of the east end of the Lady Chapel. The east window of the choir
is a magnificent example of an early perpendicular window. It was
put up at the close of the fourteenth century. Churches built from
that time till the disappearance of the pointed style, in the revived
Italian were all windows and buttresses. The love of large windows
is supposed to have led to the change which gradually took place
in the style of architecture, from what is called the decorated to
the perpendicular. The increased width of the windows rendered
it necessary to carry up the straight mullions to the head of
the window, and that all the tracery should be as far as possible
straight also; but how greatly superior is the flowing tracery of
the decorated Gothic, as exemplified in the great west window of
the nave, not only in that respect superior, but also in its form, its
dimensions, and proportions. Above the horizontal embattled para-
pet of' the choir, is seen the gable of it, adorned with a small rose
window filled with good flowing tracery. The gable point has a
small pinnacle, and the flanking turrets have one each. The whole
of the south side of the Cathedral is too nearly similar to the north
already described, to need any further notice. It should be men-
tioned however that there is no south porch, and that the chapter-
house adjoins the south face of the old Norman tower. The bishop’s
VOL. II. P

106 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

palace and gardens conceal from public view all the south east part
of the Cathedral and the chapter-house. The lower part of the
latter edifice is as old as Henry III., that is, up to the sills of the
windows. The upper part is the work of Bishop Lacy, and is all
of perpendicular character. Before we close our examination of the
exterior of' this Cathedral it will be necessary to observe, that the
clerestory is of the same character on both sides, having large win—
dows with flowing tracery and buttresses between them, terminated
with crocketted pinnacles, the whole is surmounted also with a plain
embattled parapet. The windows of the side aisles are of the same
character with those of the clerestory, as wide but somewhat shorter,
and therefore less pleasing in their proportions. These have very
heavy plain buttresses between them, which are connected with the
buttresses of the clerestory by flying buttresses as plain and heavy
as themselves. The side aisles have a plain embattled parapet, the
heaviness of which as well as of the buttresses, which greatly pro-
ject, is a little relieved by a series of crocketted pinnacles set at the
point where the flying buttresses join the upright ones. And yet
it must be owned that all these external props of both kinds con-
stitute one of the defects of Exeter Cathedral. Another, as was
before observed in the account of a distant prospect of it, is the want
of elevation. These two defects together give to the whole edifice,
in walking round it, a heavy, lumpy appearance, for which not even
the beauty of the windows, with their studied variety of most ex-
cellent flowing tracery, can entirely compensate.

The roof covered with lead is too much exposed, and adds still
more to the lumpy effect already regretted. The roof ridge is
adorned with a sort of edging composed of a series of fleur-de-lis,
which has a pretty effect, quite peculiar to this Cathedral, and is
another of its French features.

INTERIOR.

Till within a few years the eye of the visitor of taste was appalled,
on entering this Cathedral, at beholding the nave encumbered with
an assortment of the heaviest and worst arranged pews that ever
Were constructed in any place of worship: most happily these
disgusting obstructions, which destroyed the character, the effect,
and proportions of the Cathedral, have at length been swept away,

 

 

 

 

 

 

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EXETER CATHEDRAL. 107

we hope for ever. We have before lamented the want of elevation
in the interior of Lincoln Cathedral, that want is still more felt on
first entering this of Exeter : it is however its only defect; we cannot
speak too highly in praise of the interior of this Cathedral in every
other respect; its breadth and length, its windows, its organ and
organ-gallery, its monuments, and bishop’s throne, the uniformity of
its architecture, the beauty, excellence, and variety of its detail ; but
above all, the form and plan of its vaulting, uninterrupted throughout
the whole length of the Cathedral, all these things are quite unrivalled
in England, and will amply repay the lover of the pointed style for
his journey to Exeter, from whatever distance he may come to it.
In the interior, notwithstanding its want of elevation, the visitor
is still more reminded of the Cathedrals of France, than he was by
the exterior. There is a very remarkable resemblance in the nave
to that of Strasburg Cathedral : and the more so, because the
vaulting there, though not so low as this, is yet not elevated enough
to satisfy the eye of a Gothic architect. The nave is supported upon
an arcade on each side of seven pillars and arches, the former
beautifully clustered, the latter wide, but of graceful form, and
elegantly wrought with mouldings, and surfaces, which correspond
with the arrangement of the pillars on which they rest. The capitals
of the pillars are exquisitely carved, and of simple design; their bases
are equally good, and consist of three courses ofmouldings. Between
every two arches is an exceedingly rich corbel, composed of figures
and foliage, and no two are alike, these support slender reeded columns
with highly decorated and studiously diversified capitals, from which
spring the ribs ofthe vaulting. The triforium is remarkably low, and
consists of an arcade of four pointed arches feathered, and resting on
small clustered columns, repeated in each compartment of the nave
on both sides with one very singular exception, which, as it is the
only interruption to the general uniformity of the nave, cannot but
attract the attention of the visitor, and must therefore be briefly
noticed in this description ofthe interior ofthe Cathedral. Projecting
from the north wall of the nave over the fifth arch from the west end,
and supported upon brackets, is a stone gallery; the front of which
is adorned with twelve niches, each containing the statue of an angel
playing on a musical instrument. It is now called the Minstrels'
Gallery, and probably was intended from the first for the reception of

P2

108 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

vocal and instrumental performers, on particular occasions. It is
capable of containing a large band of musicians, being very deep,
and formed partly by the projection already noticed, in our description
of the exterior, as built over the side aisle at the place where the
north porch projects from it. Immediately over the triforium is a
gallery whose front is of open stone work, the pattern being a double
row of pierced quatrefoils. Above this gallery and recessed a little
behind it, is the clerestory, which is as much more lofty than ordinary,
as the triforium is lower. The windows are well proportioned, of
many lights, and flowing tracery of various and beautiful design, and
delicate execution. The vaulting is elegantly pitched, and the ribs
diverging from the capitals of the slender columns before mentioned,
and spreading themselves gracefully over the groining, are adorned
at their intersections with bosses of sculpture of various devices, and
exquisitely finished. This roof, there being no intervening central
tower or lantern, is continued across the transept to the eastern ex-
tremity of the choir in one unbroken line, and plan, and is the longest
stone vaulting that exists perhaps in the pointed style of architecture.
The vaulting of the side aisles of the nave is of the same character.
The transept has no side aisles, the greater part of it is constructed
within the old Norman towers, in the north and south walls of which
windows are inserted of the same character with those in the cleres—
tory of the nave and its aisles, but of larger dimensions. From the
east wall in the north wing of the transept, the chapel of St, Paul
is entered, and in the same wall of the south wing is the entrance
to St. John the Baptist’s chapel, they are small, but well propor-
tioned, having large pointed windows to the east, and smaller ones
to the north and south, of the same character as those already de-
scribed. The stone vaulting is also very similar to that of the rest
of the Cathedral, but on a less scale. These chapels are now used
as vestries for the various members of the Cathedral establishment.

\Ve come now to the choir screen, dividing that part of the
Cathedral from the nave and transept. This screen is the work of
Bishop Grandisson, and was completed in the year 1350. It is a
magnificent example of the style which then prevailed, and stands
unrivalled as a screen, and supports an organ equally magnificent
and unrivalled in England. The plan of the screen is a deep arcade
of three pointed arches richly feathered, over which is a gallery

 

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EXETER CATHEDRAL. 109

with a front enriched with niches and statues, which, though a
modern addition, agrees extremely well with the original work.
Beneath the middle arch of the screen the choir itself is entered,
the fitting up of which (since the columns, arches, windows, and
vaulting are of the same description with those of the nave,) alone
remains to be noticed.

On entering the choir the effect is greatly heightened by the
beautiful painted glass in the east window, which is all original, and
in the highest state of preservation. Nineteen whole length figures
of saints, patriarchs, and other celebrated and important personages,
are here represented, together with a variety of armorial bearings.
Some of the side Windows also contain curious and rich specimens of
ancient stained glass. The stalls are ofgood design and well carved
in oak ; but the principal object, and that which attracts the attention
of all persons on first entering the choir, is the bishop’s throne. This
superb monument of episcopal grandeur stands at the extremity of
the stalls on the south side of the choir. It is carved in oak, and has
a pyramidal canopy of open carving, which rises nearly to the height
of the vaulting. The design is astonishingly light and elegant, and
the execution of its truly delicate and varied detail, most admirable.
The effect of the whole however is not so good as might be expected.
The height of the pyramidal part is out of all proportion to the rest,
and to the stalls with which it is connected. The organ is composed
of three distinct portions, the centre one is very large, and stands
over the middle arch of the screen. The two side portions contain-
ing the largest pipes, are attached to the walls of the choir on each
side, and are of considerable height. Beyond the stalls of the choir
on each side between the columns, are monuments to the memory of
illustrious persons, which add to the interest of the scene; but which
are not of sufficient merit in themselves to deserve a particular de-
scription. Before we quit the choir, we cannot refrain from noticing
to the reader a very singular departure from the general uniformity
ofthis portion ofthe Cathedral. The last compartment westward on
each side is exceedingly contracted, the span of the arches in these
two compartments is notabove one third ofthat ofall the others. Many
have been the conjectures concerning the motives which induced the
architect to adopt this plan. Here were the Norman towers already
built which he intended should serve for the transept of his new

110 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

Cathedral, possibly also reverence for the site of the ancient altar,
might determine for him the extent of the new choir eastward, he
had then to fill up the intervening space with an arcade, till these
two fixed points were thus connected, and we can hardly suppose
that he would not measure that space accurately before he began to
build upon it. Yet some have supposed this, and thus satisfactorily
to themselves at least, account for the contraction of these arch
spaces. Others thinking it derogatory to the credit of the architect
of so splendid a work as this Cathedral, disdainfully reject this mode
of accounting for so singular a circumstance, and have supposed it
to be the effect not of miscalculation and accident, but of design :
the architect, say they, being determined to retain the Norman
towers, to make of them a transept, must at the same time have
abandoned all idea of a central tower, or lantern; and yet desiring
as usual to have some feature in the building, by which the choir,
the most sacred part of it, might be distinguished from the rest, he
designed and adopted this expedient. Others again have supposed,
that it was done with reference entirely to the rood, now the organ
loft, the arch spaces being of the same breadth with that, which
was erected not long after; of these suppositions, we will not ven-
ture to prefer one before another, nor add to the number of them ;
but confessing ourselves entirely at a loss to account for this remark-
able feature in the edifice, we will take our leave of the choir, and
invite the reader to examine with us the side aisles, their chapels,
and the most important of their sepulchral monuments.

The vaulting of the side aisles of the choir is much more simple
than that of the choir itself; it has indeed in each compartment but
four ribs, at the intersection of which is a sculptured boss of no great
richness. On the one side monuments are inserted in the wall under
the windows, on the other between the arches. In the last com-
partment of the north aisle on the left is the entrance into St.
George’s chapel, called also the chantry of Sir John Speke, knight,
who is buried in it; the screen which divides it from the aisle is a
late perpendicular work and feathered, is rich in panelling, shields,
rosettes, and small statues. The east end of this aisle is separated
from the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, by a beautiful stone screen of
open work, a little earlier than that just described. This chapel
together with the one opposite form a sort of transept to the Lady

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EXETER CATHEDRAL. 111

Chapel, which might be entered here under an arch, beneath which
is the sepulchral monument of Edmund Stafford, bishop of Exeter,
who died in 1395. The Lady Chapel, which for one hundred and
sixty years was the library of the dean and chapter, was refitted and
restored in the year 1822; it is entered from the aisle behind the
altar screen, and displays much excellent detail of the style which
prevailed towards the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the
fifteenth century. The vaulting is similar to that of the nave and
choir. The monument of Bishop Branscombe is exactly opposite to
that of Bishop Stafford, and is placed under the corresponding arch
on the south side of the chapel, serving in part as a dividing screen,
from the chapel of St. Gabriel, as Bishop Stafford’s does on the other
side from the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen. These small chapels on
either side the Lady Chapel are beautifully vaulted with stone, and
lighted by two pointed windows in each, of large dimensions and
graceful tracery. Bishop Branscombe’s monument is a most superb
example of the monumental architecture of the thirteenth century:
and is still in most excellent preservation. The tomb on which the
effigy of the bishop in his pontifical robes is recumbent, is adorned on
both sides with five large quartrefoils richly feathered, each enclosing
a shield, between each quartrefoil is an oblong panel, containing a
niche with feathered canopy, the arch of the monument above the
altar tomb is pointed; but of that peculiar form which was just then
in use, but which prevailed for a very short period. The principal
arch moulding is thickly set with that beautiful simple four—leaved
flower, peculiar also to this style, and the arch itself is trebly feather-
ed: the spandrils are filled with good feathered panelling, the hollow
cornice above with small figures of angels, playing on musical in-
struments, and the parapet above this is enriched with a border of
quartrefoils alternately wide and narrow, according to the panels in
which they are inserted. Small niches with feathered canopies, de-
corate a hollow moulding which reaches from the top of the table to
the cornice above the arch, in each side ofit, but the small statues
are gone. Passing by the chapel of St. Gabriel, we come next to
the chapel of St. Saviour, or the chantry and chapel of Bishop
Oldham, as it is also called, because that prelate is interred in it.
The screen which divides this chapel from the south aisle of the
choir, is a beautiful example of late perpendicular work, and not

112 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

very much unlike that in the same situation, and of the same period,
on the other side of the choir, which has been already described.

The chapels of St. Andrew and St. James, which it has been
thought once formed the transept of the previous Cathedral, are
both as to their windows and vaulting, of the same style as the north
and south aisles of the choir, from which they are respectively en-
tered. Both these chapels are of larger dimensions than any others
about the Cathedral, except the Lady Chapel, and are now both
used as vestries.

Before we quit the Cathdral, we must beg leave to conduct the
reader back again into the choir, in order to point out to his notice
three stone seats or stalls, side by side near the altar, and to the south
of it. The beauty and delicacy of the carving cannot be exceeded.
The arches are of a peculiar form, and adorned with the simplest
feathering, the canopies are straight and richly feathered, and termi-
nated with equally rich finials. But the canopy of the seat nearest
the altar deserves particular attention ; instead of the ordinary
feathering and finial, it is adorned with a wreath of vine leaves on
each side which meet at the point and there form a finial, and never
did a Greek sculptor of the best age, trace a more exact portrait of
the leaf of the vine, nor design a more graceful wreath of such leaves,
nor execute his design, with a more masterly finish. Stone seats,
sometimes two together, sometimes three are frequently met with in
Cathedral, abbey, collegiate, and even in the larger parish churches.
They are always near the altar and on the south side of the choir,
and are supposed to have been constructed for the use of the priests,
who celebrated and assisted in the celebration of the mass. One
more observation on the choir and we have done. The reader ought
to be informed that the altar screen which was put up soon after the
Reformation was a work in the worst style of that age of debased
architecture. In the year 1818 this heavy and incongruous heap of
ugliness was happily removed, and the present screen erected by
Mr. John Kendall, architect, of this city: which does him very
great credit. It is of stone, and is composed of seven divisions
separated by buttresses supporting highly enriched canopies and
pinnacles. Beneath the magnificent canopy of the central divi-
sion is placed the communion table and the commandments. Over
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EXETER CATHEDRAL. 113

glimpse is caught of the eastern aisle of the choir, and chapels
beyond it.

Leaving now the choir by the organ screen, we will observe by
the way that its walls were paneled and the upper ornaments of
the parapet of the gallery above it, added in the year 1819. And
now leaving the Cathedral by the middle portal in the west front,
we may inform the reader that the basement ofit was well restored
between the years 1817 and 1819: but in the late gales of the
present year (1837,) the beautiful open parapet of this screen was
destroyed, and has not yet been re-constructed.

Turning round the south-west corner of this facade, we come to
the site of the Cathedral Cloisters, but these, alas! are no longer to
be found; they were destroyed by Cromwell’s soldiers, by whose
command at the same time, the Cathedral was divided into two parts
by a strong partition wall, the one portion being given up to the
Presbyterians, the other to the Independents, for places of worship.
Walking across what was the Cloister yard, we come to the west end
of the chapter house, which is now also used as a library. It is an
oblong building, with a low pointed door at the west end, and large
pointed window over it, three pointed windows in the length on each
side, and a very large one at the east end, much wider and longer
than any of the others, but of the same perpendicular character, the
windows have buttresses between them, and the whole building has
a plain embattled parapet all round. Besides the low pointed portal
in the west front, it has another entrance on the north side from
which there is a communication with the south wing of the Cathe-
dral transept. Within it is a beautifully proportioned room, with a
coved timber roof carved and pierced in open work with a pattern
of squares and circles richly feathered.

The internal dimensions of the Cathedral are as follows; extreme
internal length from west entrance to the entrance of Lady Chapel,
320 feet. Length of Lady Chapel 60 feet. Breadth of the body of
the church 72 feet. Length of nave from west door to the entrance
into the choir 168 feet, and from thence to the new altar screen 127
feet. The breadth of the nave and choir clear of the columns 33 feet
6inches, and of the aisles, 15 feet clear ofthe same. Length oftran-
sept from north to south [:38 fee:, breadthofthe same 28 feet 6 inches.
Height of the vaulting from the pavement to the highest part ofit

voL. 11. Q.

H4 EXETER CATHEDRAL.

only 66 feet: which is 20 feet less than it ought to be, at the least, and
if it were to be elevated, we would rather add 30 feet to its height
than 20. This want of due elevation is very injurious to the effect
both of the exterior and the interior of this Cathedral, but as was
observed before, it is its chief, if it be not its only defect. From the
measurement above stated the reader will perceive the truth of our
a5sertion in the outset, viz. that Exeter Cathedral cannot be classed
with those of the first magnitude, although from the uniformity of its
design, the beauty and variety ofits architectural detail, its numerous
chapels and monuments, it must ever deservedly rank among the most
important and imposing Cathedrals of the kingdom. The chapter
house is 50 feet in length and 30 in breadth. The large east window
was once filled with painted glass, but it is now only to be admired
for its peculiar elegant form and beautiful proportions.

The Cathedral establishment, besides the bishop, consists of a
dean, eight canons residentiary, four archdeacons, viz. of Cornwall,
Barnstaple, Exeter, and Totton, a chancellor, twenty—four preben-
daries, four priest vicars, eight lay vicars, organist, singing-men,
choristers, vergers, and other inferior officers. The Cathedral Church
is dedicated to St. Peter. In the king’s books the bishopric of Ex-
eter is valued at £500 per annum, and the present bishop returned
the value of it at £2713 per annum. The diocese of Exeter ever
since the Union of the sees of Crediton and St. German’s, has been
composed of the counties of Devon and Cornwall, and by the late
Act, the Scilly Islands also are declared to be within the jurisdic—
tion of the bishop of Exeter, and of the archdeacon of Cornwall.

Such is the history of the diocese and see of Exeter, and such
also the history and description of its present Cathedral Church.
We shall now proceed, according to the plan we have hitherto
pursued, to give slight biographical sketches of some of its more
renowned prelates.

Bishop Bartholomew, consecrated in 1161, deserves first to be
mentioned for his having taken the king’s part against Thomas
a Becket, whose unbounded arrogance, and defiance both of the laws
of his country and the royal authority, this good bishop exposed
to pope Alexander III. to whom he was sent in company with
other bishops, on an embassy concerning that affair. This bishop
was also for those times a great divinity writer. Oliver says, “ his

EXETER CATHEDRAL. 115

extraordinary talents and rare felicity of genius, made him be
regarded as the luminary of the English Church,” and so he was
called by the pontiff before named. He wrote on Predestination,
Freewill, Penance, and other subjects; of which bishop Tanner has
given an account in his Bibliotheca Britanico-Hibernica. Having
himself in his early years experienced the advantage of powerful
friends, he became after his own advancement, a patron of talents
and worth; and Baldwin, like himself a native of Exeter, who
eventually became archbishop of Canterbury, was indebted to him
for his education and early promotion. Bishop Bartholomew died
on the 15th of December, 1184, and was buried in his own Cathedral.

Walter Bronescombe, also a native of Exeter, and, like Bartho-
lomew, of humble origin, deserves next to be mentioned among the
worthies who have filled this see. His parents, assisted by kind
friends, were enabled to send him first to school, and afterwards to
Oxford, where he soon made himselfa proficient in all the learning
of his day. His great acquirements obtained him patronage, and
he became canon of Exeter and archdeacon of Surrey before he was
in priest’s orders. On the 24th of February, 1258, he was elected
bishop of Exeter, and on the 14th of May following he was solemnly
enthroned in this Cathedral. He was a man of uncommon abilities
and prudence; for, during the wars between Henry III. and his
barons, he conducted himselfso discreetly, as to obtain both the con-
fidence of his sovereign and the respect and esteem of the barons_
His signature stands the first to the Dictum of Kenilworth, dated the
3lst of October, 1266. In the year 1274 this prelate assisted at the
fourteenth general council held at Lyons, as appears by his register,
which is the most ancient one belonging to this see, and which he
began, in consequence, as it is said, of some attempted frauds by
official persons during the time of his predecessor. This register
proves the great number of churches which bishop Bronescombe
dedicated in Devonshire and Cornwall during his government of this
see. In one year only, viz. in 1268, he consecrated no fewer than
forty. At Glasney, in Cornwall, he founded and richly endowed the
college of St. Thomas the Martyr for thirteen secular canons. He
restored to the church of the Holy Cross, at Crediton, its possessions
and endowments; and was a great benefactor to the hospital of St.
John, in Exeter. At Clyst he built a large and commodious palace

Q 2

llG EXETER CATHEDRAL.

which became a favourite residence of his successors. He died on
the 22nd of June, 1280, after governing his diocese with great abi-
lity and vigilance for more than twenty-two years, and was buried
in St. Gabriel’s chapel, which he had recently built for the place of
his sepulture, and in which was afterwards raised to his memory
the splendid monument we have already attempted to describe.
Another Walter must next be mentioned, viz. Walter de Stapel-
don, professor of canon law, precentor of Exeter, and chaplain to
pope Clement V., a man of high birth and splendid abilities. He
was elected in 1307, and enthroned the next year with more than
common magnificence,even in that age of ecclesiastical pomp. When
he came to the east gate of the city, he alighted from his horse and
walked in procession to the Cathedral, the whole way being laid with
black cloth. At St. Michael’s gate, which was the principal entrance
into the Cathedral close, he was received by the chapter and choris—
ters in their proper vestments, and Te Deum being sung, he was
conducted into the church, and installed with the accustomed solem-
nities ; after which he took possession of his palace, and regaled his
numerous and high-born guests with a splendid banquet. His great
talents for public employments ofthe highest importance gained him
the favour of Edward 11., to whose service be attached himself with
greater zeal and fidelity than the evil measures of his government
deserved. When that weak monarch took refuge in flight he left
the government. of the metropolis in the hands of Bishop Stapeldon.
This charge led to the death of this loyal but ill-fated prelate; for
the populace rising in arms in favour of the queen, after first plun-
dering his new residence, without Temple Bar, seized the bishop
himselfas he was proceeding through the city,and dragging him from
his horse into Cheapside, proclaimed him a public traitor, a seducer
of the king, and a destroyer of the liberties of the city. Then strip-
ping him of his armour and other apparel, they cut ofl‘ his head, and
fixed it upon a long pole, as a trophy and a warning. Two of his
attendants underwent the same cruel fate, and their bodies were
thrown into the river, together with the bishop’s, though they were
afterwards taken out by order of the victorious queen, and buried in
the neighbouring church of St. Clement’s Danes. The remains of
the bishop were, however, finally conveyed to Excter, and interred
on the north side ofthe choir near the altar, on the 28th of March,

EXETER CATHEDRAL. 117

1327, about six months after his violent death. He was a great
benefactor to the Cathedral, and founded and liberally endowed
Hart’s Hall and Stapledon’s Inn, now Exeter College, in Oxford;
besides leaving funds for establishing a preparatoryzschooldfor'.that
college in St. John’s hospital, in Exeter.

Bishop John Grandisson (after James Bercleye, the successor of
Stapledon, who enjoyed his promotion only a few weeks,) was next
elected. He was of an ancient family, descended from the dukes of
Burgundy. “He was,” says Godwin, “ from his childhoodgvery
studious, became learned, and wrote divers books. He was also
very grave, wise, and politic, and therefore grew into such credit
with pope John XXII., that he was not only of his privy council,
but also his nuncio, in matters of great weight and importance, to the
emperor, to the kings of Spain, France, and England, and other the
mightiest princes of Christendom.” He was chaplain to the pope at
the time of his promotion to this see, in the month of August, 1327,
and he was consecrated the 18th of October following, in the Domi-
nican church at Avignon, by Peter, cardinal of Praeneste, amidst a
splendid assembly of cardinals, bishops, and others. Besides what
this bishop did for the present Cathedral, which we have already
noticed, he founded and endowed the noble college of St. Mary
Ottery; he also greatly augmented the revenues of Bishop Brones-
combe’s college, at Glasney, near Penryn, and of St. John's college,
in Exeter, the church ofwhich he is also thought to have rebuilt. In
his manner ofliving he was extremely frugal, and, notwithstanding
his expensive works, he amassed great wealth. “ By his last will,”
says Godwin, “ he gave such large and bounteous legacies to the
pope, emperor, king, queen, archbishop, bishops, colleges, churches,
and to sundry persons of high estates and callings, that a man would
marvel, considering his great and chargeable buildings and works
otherwise, how and by what means he could have attained to such a
mass of wealth and riches. He was always very frugal, kept no
more men or horses abouthim than were necessary, and ever despised
the vanities of all outward pomp. But this it was not that enabled
him to perform these great works, and yet to leave so much money
behind. He procured an order to be taken, that all ecclesiastical
persons of his diocese, at the time oftheir death, should leave and
bequeath their goods to him, or to some other in trust towards his

118 EXE’I‘ER CATHEDRAL.

chargeable buildings, or otherwise to be bestowed in pious uses at
his discretion.” By his own command his funeral was performed
without any pomp or extraordinary solemnity, and he allowed no
mourning to any person. He died at the age of seventy—two years,
nearly forty-two of which he had held this see, and was buried
within the small chapel of St. Radegund, on the south side of the
great western entrance into the Cathedral.

Edmund Stafford, a kinsman of Richard II., was elected bishop
in 1394. He had great talents for business, but perverted them to
support those tyrannical measures of the king, which led to his
deserved expulsion from the throne. In 1396 he was made keeper
of the great seal, and he opened the merciless parliament which met
in September, 1397, by a speech asserting the unlimited extent of
the regal power, and the deserved infliction of the severest punish-
ments on those who sought to subject it to any restriction. After the
king’s deposition, however, he submitted to the sway of Henry IV.,
and in March, 1401, was again appointed chancellor and keeper of
the seal. He was a great benefactor to Stapledon’s Inn, at Oxford,
of which he is regarded as the second founder; he also reformed
its statutes, and changed its name to Exeter college, which it still
bears. He died, after a short illness, on the 3d of September, 1419,
and was buried in the chapel of St. Mary Magdalene.

Richard Fox, a native of Lineolnshire, who was educated at
Magdalen college, Oxford, was for a short time bishop of this see.
While pursuing his studies at Paris, he became acquainted with
the earl of Richmond, who was then an exile, and afterwards
greatly assisted him in his attempts against Richard III. In reward
for his services, when the earl, on the death of Richard, became
king by the name of Henry VIL, he conferred many honours upon
him; the see of Exeter first in 1487, and he continued to be one of
the most confidential of all his majesty’s counsellors. He was trans-
lated to Bath and Wells in 1491 ; in 1494 to Durham; and lastly
to Winchester in 1500. He became blind in his latter years, and
dying on the 5th of October, 1528, was buried in Winchester Cathe—
dral, where a splendid monumental chantry is raised to his memory.
He founded a free grammar school at Grantham, and another at
Taunton; and, in conjunction with Bishop Oldham, he founded
and most amply endowed the college of Corpus Christi, in Oxford.

EXETER CATHEDRAL. 129

John Veysey succeeded Bishop Oldham, and was elected in 1519.
He was a native of Sutton Coldfleld, died at the advanced age of
one hundred and three years, and was buried in the church there.
He was much esteemed by Henry VIII., and was appointed governor
and tutor to his eldest daughter Mary. In 1551 he was required by
Edward VI. to surrender his see, and was rewarded for his ready
compliance with a handsome annuity. After the accession of his
pupil Queen Mary, he was reinstated in his bishopric, but lived only
one year afterwards. On the very day he resigned his see, king
Edward VI. bestowed it upon the famous Miles Coverdale, who was
not allowed a long possession ofit. On the accession of Queen Mary
he was ejected and sent to prison, but about eighteen months after
he was released, at the earnest and repeated solicitations of the king
of Denmark, and by an act of council allowed to go to that country
with two of his servants and his baggage. On the queen’s death he
returned to England, but having during his exile imbibed the prin-
ciples of the Calvinistic reformers, he refused to be reinstated in his
see. In his early years he was an Augustine monk, but as he ad-
vanced in life and knowledge he became a convert to Protestantism,
and was one of the most zealous of all the reformers in translating
the Scriptures into English, and printing them. During his im-
prisonment he was one of those who, with Ferrar, bishop of St.
David’s, Taylor, Philpot, Bradford, Hooper, and other martyrs,
drew up and signed a confession oftheir faith, dated May 8, 1554.
He died in his eighty-first year, and was buried in St. Bartholomew’s
church, near the Royal Exchange. The Earl of Bedford and
Duchess of Suffolk, and many other distinguished persons, attended
his funeral.

That very eminently learned and pious man Joseph Hall was for
a short time bishop of this see. He has been already noticed in
our account of Norwich Cathedral, of which see he died bishop.

Seth Ward was chosen bishop of this see in 1662; he had been
previously dean, during which time he restored the Cathedral to its
ancient form. He caused the partition wall to be pulled down, which
had been erected to divide the church into two distinct places of
worship, and repaired and beautified the Cathedral, at an expense
oftwenty-five thousand pounds, and put up the present organ, which
cost two thousand pounds more. These charges were principally

120 EXE’I‘ER CATHEDRAL.

defrayed by the fines paid for the renewal of leases of the church
property. In 1667 Bishop Ward was translated to Salisbury, which
see he retained till his death in the year 1688-9, at the age of
seventy-two.

Sir Jonathan Trelawny, Bart., was translated from Bristol in
1689, and was one of the seven bishops committed to the Tower.
He was afterwards translated to Winchester, and died at Chelsea,
in 1721, and was buried at Trelawny, his family seat.

Offspring Blackall, a native of London, was next appointed to
this see, and was consecrated in 1707-8. He was a perfect pattern
of a true Christian life, and one of the best preachers of his time.
He was the originator of the episcopal charity schools in EXeter,
and lived to see them in a flourishing condition. He died in his
palace at Exeter, on the 29th of November, l7l6, very deeply re-
gretted, and was buried in the chapel of St. Gabriel, in the Cathe-
dral. His works chiefly sermons, were collected into two volumes
folio, and published by his learned friend Sir William Dawes,
archbishop of York, and are said to contain a complete system of
Christian morality.

George Lavington was consecrated on the 8th of February, 1747.
He was distinguished for his wit and learning, and his ardent zeal
for the Protestant succession at a time when a fearful change
seemed impending. He published some sermons; but his principal
work is entitled “The Enthusiasm of the Methodists and Papists
compared.” Warburton, in a letter to Hurd, speaks thus of it: “ I
think it is well enough composed on the whole (though it be a bad
copy of Stillingfleet’s famous book of the Fanaticism of the Church
of Rome,) to do the execution he intended. In pushing the Metho-
dists to make them like every thing that is bad, he compares their
fanaticism to the ancient mysteries; but as the mysteries, if they
had ever been good, were not, in the bishop’s opinion, bad enough
for this purpose, he therefore endeavours to shew against me that
they were abominations from the very beginning. As this contra-
dicts all antiquity so evidently, I thought it would be ridiculous in
me to take any notice of him.” After a vigilant exercise of his
episcopal duties for nearly sixteen years, Bishop Lavington died
in London, September 13, 1762, aged seventy-nine. His last words
were A0506 5‘9) OEQJ—Glory to God.

BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.

OUR notice of the see of Bristol must necessarily be brief; for first
its origin rises no higher than the dissolution of the greater religious
houses, and in the next place, it no longer exists as an independent
see, having been consolidated by a late Act of Parliament with that
of Gloucester : thirdly, the Cathedral itself is one of the least
importance and humblest pretensions of any in England, and is
besides little more than half a Cathedral; the nave, according to
some, having never been built, and according to others, destroyed,
and never rebuilt. Lastly, the history of the abbey of St. Augustin,
in Bristol, on the dissolution of which the see was founded, is singu-
larly devoid of interest, both as to its origin, and as to the abbots
who have succeeded each other in the government of it.

Robert Fitzharding, mayor of Bristol in the year 1148, according
to Leland, Willis, and Tanner, and in the year 1120 according to
others, founded on a rising ground. in the north-west part of the city,
a priory of black canons, of which house as well as of the order itself
Augustin was the patron saint. This priory was in the latter end
of the reign of Henry II. changed into an abbey, which had before
its dissolution yearly revenues worth £670 133. 11d. according to
Dugdale, and £767 158. 3d. according to Speed. In the year 1542
King Henry VIII. changed the abbey into 3. Cathedral Church,
dedicating it to the Holy and undivided Trinity, and placed therein
a bishop, a dean, six secular canons or prebendaries, six minor
canons or priest vicars, a deacon, a sub-deacon, six lay clerks, six
choristers, two grammar school-masters, four almsmen, &c. who
were endowed with the site, church, and greatest part of the lands
of the old monastery. Richard the first prior was instituted in the
year 1148, and died in 1186. William de Bradeston was the first
abbot; when he was elected he was called prior, but became abbot very
soon afterwards. His re-election as abbot took place in 1234. He
resigned his situation in 1242, and died in 1252. Edmund Knulle, or
Knowle, was elected abbot in 1306. Willis says during his government

VOL. II. R

1‘22 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.

he built the present church from the ground with the vestry, and
obtained from the king a confirmation of all the possessions of the
monastery, dated 10th Edward II. This abbot died in the year
1332. Walter Newbury was elected in 1428. Willis says, in the
administration of this house he met with great troubles. He was
unjustly expelled, and kept out of his place for five years, by one
Thomas Sutton, who intruded himself into the same, and remained
in it during all that time, but was then most justly thrust out of it
again for dilapidations and other wastes committed by him, on which
account no mention is made of his death in the abbey register.
Walter Newbury was restored to his place on the expulsion of
Sutton, and is reported to have been a great benefactor to his church,
i and to have built the manor-house 0f Almondsbury, which still
belongs to the see of Bristol. Abbot Newbury died in the year
1463. John Newland was elected in the year 1481. He added to
the buildings of the monastery, and wrote a history of it, with an
account of the Berkeley family, who were the greatest benefactors
to it. The founder indeed is said to have been the first lord of
Berkeley, as well as mayor of Bristol, and notwithstanding his ample
endowments, almost every succeeding lord of Berkeley gave some-
thing additional to this monastery. Only one abbot sat in parliament,
although this was one of the greater abbeys. The whole establish-
ment consisted of an abbot, prior, sub-prior, and about fourteen
regular canons. Abbot Newland the historian of it died in 1515.
William Burton was elected in 1534. This abbot with eighteen
others subscribed the king’s supremacy, and died, or at least resigned,
three years afterwards. Morgan Williams the last abbot, surren-
dered his convent into the king’s hands December 9th, 1539, and
obtained a pension of £80. per annum, upon which he retired into
private life.

Of the original abbey church of St. Augustin nothing now
remains, nor of any of the original monastic buildings except the
chapter-house and its remarkable vestibule, the lower part of the
abbey gate-house at the south-west angle of the green, and some
doorways of the bishop’s palace. The elder Lady Chapel, as it is
called, adjoining the north aisle of the Cathedral is the next portion
of it in point of antiquity, and the rest of the edifice is a good
deal later, and all nearly of the same date.

BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. 123

The situation of this Cathedral is very good, but being in itself
a small and low building it makes no appearance at a distance, and
if we except the tower, has nothing, on a nearer approach, of that
dignity and imposing effect for which so many of our English
Cathedrals are justly celebrated. It has one peculiarity which
cannot fail to strike every Visitor who is at all conversant with the
subject of church architecture, and the impression will be any thing
but favourable to the character of the building and the fame of the
architect. It has no clerestory; we might have said with equal
truth, that the side aisles are of the same height as the body, but
this mode of expression might have led the reader into an error,
for remembering the usual height of the bodies of Cathedrals, he
might have supposed that the side aisles were raised to that unusual
height, and so the clerestory had been concealed. But the side aisles
are not higher than those of many other Cathedrals, and therefore
the peculiarity is not in them but in the body of the Cathedral not
being carried up as usual above them in elevation, or as we
observed before in the absence of the clerestory. This is externally
a very great defect, but it is not visible from the spot where we first
place the reader to commence our description of the

EXTERIOR.

Instead of a magnificent and imposing west front, what have we
here, but broken walls and arches stopped up".l and instead of a
majestic and lengthened nave with its side aisles, which we should
take next in the order of description, we come at once upon the
transept and central tower. The west walls of the transept have no
architectural embellishment. The parapets are plain, the forms of
windows now walled up may be traced in the masonry, and also the
arches of communication with the intended nave and its side aisles.
Within the walled up space of the west arch of the tower is a window,
probably inserted at the time the abbey church was converted into a
Cathedral.

It is now generally admitted that there was once a nave and side
aisles, but (observes Britton in his history of this Cathedral, page 51),
it is not easy to explain when and on what account they were demo-

R 2

124 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.

lished, we may presume (he continues), that it was anterior to the
dissolution, and that their re-erection was among the works in progress
by abbots N ewland, Elliot, and Hunt; others are of opinion that it
was after the dissolution and before it was determined to erect here
a bishop’s see, in which interval of time, they began to take down the
abbey church for the sake of the materials. Two arches of the
nave supported on clustered columns are still to be seen, one on each
side, incorporated in the large buttresses to the west of the tower.
Passing round the north-west corner of the transept, we come upon
a monstrous incongruity, in the shape of a heavy modern Italian door,
above which is a large pointed Window of five lights with a wheel or
rose in the head of it; this transept is flanked with buttresses rising
into square embattled turrets, and the whole is surmounted by a plain
embattled parapet. The east wall of this wing of the transept has
also one large pointed Window of similar character. To this side of
the transept, and to the north side of the choir, is built the elder Lady
Chapel, the most ancient part of the Cathedral Church. Close to
the front of the transept towards the west end of the chapel is a
pointed door, and above it three short windows of one light each, side
by side, which seem to have been shortened to make room for the
insertion of a door beneath them. In the north side of the chapel
are three more sets of these triple windows, which are of the usual
length, and the middle one in every set rising as usual a little
above the lateral ones. To the east is a large pointed window of
five lights, and of a much later age. The whole chapel is finished
with a pierced parapet of inferior merit, and between the windows
are buttresses on which are set pinnacles, which are joined to the
pinnacles of the parapet by small flying buttresses. .The three
most western windows of the choir are seen over the roof of the
Lady Chapel, they have buttresses between them: two more win-
dows beyond the chapel brings us to the end of the choir. These
windows are all of the same character and size, long and pointed,
and divided in the length by a transverse mullion with tracery.
Properly speaking they are the windows of the side aisle of the choir,
but the choir being lighted by them, and having no other windows
for that purpose, except a similar series opposite to them, we have
ventured to call them the choir windows. Beyond the choir and
attached to the east end of it is a building called the new Lady

 

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BRISTOL CATHEDRAL. 125

Chapel. It is indeed a continuation of the choir without its side
aisles, and in the same style of architecture. It is of the same
height and breadth as the choir, and has two windows in the length
on each side,with a large one to the east, of many lights, and filled with
delicate tracery of the best design. There is a small window of later
date above this and just beneath the parapet, which is embattled, and
the gable is very obtusely pointed. The east end of this chapel is
flanked with enormously heavy and very plain buttresses, and low
plain pinnacles are worked in with the parapet at the corners.
Pinnacles of the same kind butof less size are set in the same
manner in the parapet on both sides of the Cathedral, and take off
a little from the heavy appearance of the building. The parapet is
embattled all round the Cathedral, except the south wing of the
transept, where it is perfectly plain. The south side of the Cathe-
dral can only be viewed by entering the garden of the bishop’s palace,
as far as the choir and its aisles are concerned it is similar to the
north side already described; here however is no chapel answering
to the elder Lady Chapel ; but in the place of it there is adjoining
the south wing of the transept, Newton’s monumental chapel, a
small plain building nearly square, having a large pointed window
to the east, and another somewhat less to the south, but both adorned
with good tracery. Its parapet is plain, and it has a square turret
at the south-east angle.

Passing two windows of the Cathedral, we come to another adjunct
of plain solid masonry called the sacristy, with a small window to
the south. Adjoining this is another much larger building called
the vestry, which has a turret at the south-west corner, in which a
staircase is worked; it is adorned with buttresses, and lighted by
four pointed windows, a large one to the south, two somewhat less
to the east, and one smaller still to the west. These windows are
all of the same age and style with those of the Cathedral.

The only portion of the exterior of this edifice which yet remains
to be noticed is the tower, and this is by far its best and most impor-
tant feature. The tower is certainly an elegant one. It is excellent
both in its design and its proportions. It is square, flanked with
buttresses at all the angles, which terminate in pinnacles. It is
divided into two nearly equal stories, and each story is adorned on
every face of the tower with five pointed Windows of tWo lights each,

126 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.

and divided in their length by a transverse mullion. The whole is
surmounted with a parapet which is both embattled and enriched
with tracery but not of open work. There is a stateliness and dignity
about this tower which no other portion of the Cathedral will be
found to possess. Abbot Newbury began it, and nearly finished it ;
the little that remained to be done at his death was completed by his
successor abbot Hunt, who was elected in 1463. The same abbot.
also built the upper part of the south transept on the walls of
the Norman church, added the present embattled parapet and pinna-
cles all round the Cathedral, and roofed the whole anew with timber
and lead.

INTERIOR.

We will now enter the Cathedral by the offensive Italian door
in the north front of the transept. The visitor is struck first with
the stone vaulting, which is good, but not much more than half the
usual height above the pavement; then With the uniform height of
the vaulting throughout the whole interior; and, lastly, with the
peculiarity in the plan of the vaulting in the side aisles. The archi—
tect in order to counteract the pressure of the vaulting of the choir
against the side aisles, constructed a series of horizontal buttresses,
or beams of stone, supported by pointed arches, and sustaining n
part the vaulting of the side aisles, the ribs of which are made to
converge till they rest upon the middle point of the stone beams in
each compartment of the vaulting. This arrangement gives to
these aisles from its intricacy a moorish appearance, and has alto-
gether an interesting and highly picturesque effect. If the whole of
the vaulting in the transept, choir, and aisles were raised upon
pillars and arches of twice the height of those which now support
it, perhaps nothing could surpass the effect which would then be
produced. The stalls, erected by abbot Elliot about 1515, are
worthy of a better choir. The east window is filled with stained
glass, as are some of the windows in both aisles, the latter is said to
be the gift of Nell Gwyn. The bishop’s throne was erected by Paul
Bush, the first bishop, who was deprived in the beginning of Queen
Mary’s reign for being married. The ancient monuments are few,
and have no great merit. The mural tablets are almost as numerous

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BRISTOL CATHEDRAL 127

as those in the abbey church at Bath, and disfigure rather than adorn
the interior of both churches.

The elder Lady Chapel is small, and remarkably low: we have no
evidence of the precise time when or by whom it was built, but from
its richly sculptured and foliated capitals, its detached columns of
Purbeck marble, and its simple vaulting, we may safely pronounce
it to be a work of the beginning of the thirteenth century. The vestry
is an oblong room of the same style, with choir and aisles, but very
low, and is approached by a vestibule of very singular architectural
design. The Newton chapel is of the same date, but the vaulting
much more elevated. Of the Cloisters only two sides now remain;
they are of good perpendicular character, and therefore we may
conclude that they were finished not long before the dissolution of the
abbey. The chapter—house adjoins the south front of the transept;
it is a most interesting and beautiful specimen of late Norman archi-
tecture; its vestibule is of the same date and formed by a double
arcade of semicircular arches, supported by clustered columns, and
opens into the Cloister.

Of the establishment we have already spoken. The diocese was
taken out of that of Salisbury, and consisted of the county of Dorset
and a small part of Gloucestershire. This see being now united to
Gloucester, and a new diocese formed, we will take an opportunity of
speaking of the present diocese of these united sees when we lay before
our readers the history and description of Gloucester Cathedral. The
value of the see of Bristol as it stands in the king’s books, is £294
113. Ogd. per annum. The annual value as returned by the late
bishop is £2351.

Several first rate divines and scholars have held the see of Bristol,
but the most celebrated of them have been translated to other sees.
The character and the literary labours of these prelates will be found
subjoined to the history of the sees over which they presided at their
deaths. It is no small honour however to the see of Bristol to have
such names enrolled among its bishops, and must have been no small
advantage to the diocese to have been even for a short time under the
charge of a Seeker, and a Butler, and, we may add, a Kaye.

Of the eminent men who have died bishops of Bristol, we will
name first, George Smalridge, consecrated April 4, 1714. He was
of Christ Church, Oxford, and distinguished himself there by his great

128 BRISTOL CATHEDRAL.

proficiency in learning, and was selected to join in the controversy
with Aldrich and Atterbury in defence of the Protestant faith against
Obadiah Walker. His widow published and dedicated to Queen
Caroline sixty of his sermons. He died September 27, 1719, and
was buried in Christ Church Cathedral. Secondly, John Conybeare,
elected January 14, 1750. He was of Exeter College, Oxford, and
so much admired as a preacher before the University, that St. Mary’s
Church was crowded to excess whenever he preached. Two of his
sermons have been long and justly celebrated, the one “ On the
Nature, Possibility, and Certainty of Miracles ;” the other, entitled
“ The Mysteries of the Christian Religion Credible.” He wrote also
a “Defence of Revealed Religion,” in opposition to Dr. Tindal’s
work called, “ Christianity as old as the Creation,” a famous edifice
of impiety, the pillars of which (says VVarburton), all other writers
have left standing, but which Conybeare has overturned. He died
July 13, 1755, and was buried in his own Cathedral. Thirdly,
Thomas Newton, elected December 8, 1761, was of Trinity College,
Cambridge. He republished Milton’s works, and wrote a disser—
tation on the Prophecies. He died in 1782, and was buried in St.
Paul’s Cathedral, London. Fourthly, and lastly, should be mentioned
Robert Gray, elected in 1827. He was a scholar, divine, and
Christian of no ordinary stamp. His merit in these respects intro—
duced him to the notice of Bishop Barrington, who gave him a stall
in his Cathedral Church of Durham, which he held in commendam
with the see of Bristol till his death. His behaviour during the
disgraceful Bristol riots in 1831, proved him to he possessed of the
highest Christian graces and virtues: he was calm and firm in the
hour of danger, as well as patient and resigned under the injuries he
suffered. He died in 183 4, and was succeeded by Joseph Allen, D D.
prebendary of VVestminster, on whose translation last year to Ely,
the see of Bristol was joined to that of Gloucester, when Dr. Monk
consequently became the first bishop of the united sees.

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OXFORD CATHEDRAL.

THE see of Oxford is another on the new foundation (as it is called)
of Henry VIII., originating in the dissolution of religious houses.
Were we to confine ourselves to the history of the see and the
description of the present Cathedral, a very few words would suffice,
the see being comparatively of modern date, the most eminent of the
prelates that have filled it having been translated, and the Cathedral
itself being by far the smallest and meanest of any in England. The
history however both of the religious houses upon whose dissolution
the see of Oxford was erected, and of the magnificent collegiate
establishment with which it is connected, will. be highly interesting to
our readers. We will therefore trace these to their origin first, and
then proceed to give the usual information respecting the diocese and
present Cathedral.

The new diocese of Oxford was taken out of Lincoln, and although
the see was for three or four years fixed at Oseney, it does not appear
that the bishop took his title from his see but from his diocese, which
till the late Act consisted of nothing more than the small county of
Oxford. '

The origin of the religious establishment at Oseney, according to
Tanner, was this. Robert D’Oilly, the second of that name, and
nephew to the first, at the desire of his wife Edith, built in the year
1129 upon one of the islets made by the river, not far from the castle
of Oxford, a priory of canons of the order of St. Augustin, to the
honour of the ever blessed Virgin. To prevail with her husband to
undertake this work of piety and charity, she told him (says Bishop
Kennett) a story of the miraculous chattering of birds, and a still more
miraculous interpretation of it by a friar. Of course the subject of
the chattering was the foundation of a religious house in this spot.
The friar being the interested person, some perhaps will not altogether
acquit him of the charge of roguery in this matter, or at least of having
made use of a pious fraud to bring about the foundation of this house,
of which indeed he would not hesitate to acknowledge himself guilty,

VOL. II. s

130 OXFORD CATHEDRAL.

if he were so, at least among his own fraternity, as it would in those
days have been regarded as a meritorious rather than an immoral
proceeding. We will not however speak positively on this point;
the friar might really believe what he told the Lady Edith. Zeal
Without knowledge will make us believe any thing; enthusiasm will
carry its subjects away no one knows whither. If the friar were
zealous and enthusiastic,. he would soon persuade himself that the
birds were directed by heaven to speak of the foundation of a religious
house of his particular order in that spot, and Edith and her husband,
being involved in the universal superstition of the age, might with as
much ease be persuaded that the fact was so. Nor need we be
surprised at this, nor boast much about the superiority of our own
times, when we remember that there are still followers of the self-
deluded Johanna Southcote to be found among us; and of a more
lamentable, because a more specious delusion, originating in the late
Mr. Irving; than whom there could not be a more respectable cha~
racter, and as long as he retained his senses, a more powerful preacher.
His delusion indeed has some analogy to this of the friar; the latter
listened to the chirping of birds, and thought they were directed to
chirp as they did by heaven itself, and that heaven had also given him
the interpretation of it; Mr. Irving and his followers think that in the
gahbling of some of their brethren, they hear the out-pourings of the
Spirit, and that others of their society are gifted to interpret that
gabbling. We speak in the utmost charity of this new sect, whose
lives show that they have not confounded right and wrong, and who
notwithstanding their pitiable delusion on one point, are yet followers
in the main of every thing that is good. \Ve heartily wish them a
right judgment in all things, but we could not overlook so strong a
proof as this, that the mind of man is always the same, prone to
superstition and liable to delusion, not only in a dark, but also in an
enlightened age. It is not however within the province of mere
human wisdom to detect delusions of this kind, nor to distinguish
accurately and safely between superstitions and true religion. An
age famous for the march of intellect, as it is called, may notwith-
standing be an irreligious age, and if it be guided only by the light of
human learning, though it may avoid superstition, it will be very
likely to fall into the opposite extreme of infidelity, an extreme much
more dangerous and much more disgraceful too in a Christian country,

OXFORD CATHEDRAL. 131

than any superstition that has arisen in modern times, or than that
which gave rise to the foundation of the priory of Oseney. This
priory we are informed by Tanner, in some short time after its foun-
dation became an abbey, and had at the time of its dissolution, yearly
revenues to the amount of £654. 103. 2d. according to Dugdale, and
£755. 188. 6d. according to Speed. Among the abbots of this house
we find none of note. Robert King, the last of them, was appointed
the first bishop of Oxford. In Dugdale we read that one Thomas
Manne, of Oxford, accused of the heresy (as it was called) of Wick-
liffe, was condemned to perpetual imprisonment in the abbey of
Oseney. At this time there are no intelligible traces of the buildings
of this once rich and flourishing abbey; a print of the tower and some
adjoining parts of the structure, published in the second volume, of the
Monasticon, has been re-engraved in Skelton’s Occonia Antigua
Restaurata. Judging from that print, in which however the detail
is but poorly made out, those portions of the abbey buildings were of
Norman architecture, but of no very great magnificence. The
common seal of the abbey is appendent to the acknowledgment of
the king’s supremacy in 1534, which document is still preserved in
the chapter-house at “'estminster‘; the impression is in green wax,
the subject, the Virgin and Child. This abbey was changed into a
Cathedral Church, dedicated to Christ and the blessed Virgin,
wherein were settled a dean and six prebendaries, who were to form
the chapter of the bishop of Oxford, whose palace was to be at
Gloucester Hall, now Worcester College. This state of things
however did not continue quite four years. In the year 1546, the see
was removed from Oseney to the priory of St. Frideswide, in Oxford,
of the origin of which religious house we must now give the reader
some account, as well as of the circumstances which led to its being
changed into a bishop’s see.

About the year 730, according to Tanner, Didanus, a petty king
in these parts, is said to have founded a nunnery here to the honour of
the Virgin Mary and All Saints, which consisted of twelve religious
virgins of noble birth, under the government of his own daughter
Frideswide, who being buried here, and afterwards canonized, this
' monastery was in a little time dedicated to her, and called by her name.
But the nuns being dispersed by the Danish wars, this church came
into the possession of secular canons, and was burnt to the ground in

S 9

Ad

132 OXFORD CATHEDRAL.

1004. It was afterwards rebuilt and better endowed for them by
king Ethelred. But a certain king before the Norman conquest is
said to have expelled those canons, and to have given this monastery
to the monks of Abingdon for some few years, and then to have
restored it to the canons. After the conquest the seculars were
again ejected, and an abbot and monks were placed here, and con—
tinued in possession for some time. After this the seculars got in
once more, and continued here till 1111 according to some, or till 1121
according to others, when Roger bishop of Salisbury placed in this
church a convent of regular canons of the order of St. Augustin, under
the superintendence of Guimond, a learned clerk, and chaplain to
King Henry I. who thereupon became the first prior. The annual
revenues of this religious house, before its suppression, were valued
at £224. 43. 8d. according to Speed, but Bishop Tanner says he had
seen a valuation in MSS. which made it amount to £284. 88. 9d,, viz.
in spiritualities £69. 178. 11d., and in temporalities £214. 103. l0d.
This priory was suppressed before the dissolution of religious houses,
by Virtue of a bull from pope Clement VII. dated 3 non. April 1524,
allowed of and confirmed May 10, 1525, by Henry VIII. who by
letters patent dated July 1, 0f the same year, granted the site and
lands to Cardinal Wolsey, who thereupon began the foundation of a
noble college, for a dean, subdean, one hundred canons, viz. sixty of
the first and forty of the seCOnd order, thirteen chaplains,protessors in
divinity, law, physio, and all the liberal arts, and for other persons,
to the number of one hundred and eighty-six, and dedicated it to the
holy and undivided Trinity, the Virgin Mary, St. Frideswide, and All
Saints. Among the priors of St.Frideswide we find none of any note.
John Burton was the last; in his time and in the year 1518, Wood
informs us, that the king, the queen, and Cardinal Wolsey came with
a splendid retinue to Abingdon, and there lodged in the abbey. The
next day certain persons of the university went to congratulate them :
but Queen Catherine being desirous to come to Oxford, was attended
in her journey by the cardinal, and being entered within the limits,
was received by the students and others with every demonstration of
love and joy. After she had received their courtesies, she retired to
the monastery of St. Frideswide to pay her devotions to the holy
relics of that virgin saint, being the chief occasion as it seems of
her journey to Oxford, and after that was done, she vouchsafed, con-

OXFORD CATHEDRAL. 133

tinues Wood, “ to condescend so low as to dine with the society of
Merton College.” The same writer informs us also that in the year
1523, Cardinal Wolsey sent John Longland, bishop of Lincoln,as his
orator to the University of Oxford, announcing his intention of founding
a college for two hundred students and seven lecturers : not long after
which the bishop came and made preparations for the cardinal’s
buildings, and caused the canons of St. Frideswide to leave their
habitations; this idea was however afterwards abandoned for the
other before mentioned; and which began to take effect on the actual
suppression of the priory in 1525. The cardinal obtained leave very
soon to enrich his foundation by the suppression of other priories and
nunneries, the yearly revenues of which were estimated at nearly
£2000. The king’s patent, after a preface paying high compli-
ments to the cardinal’s administration, enables him to build his college
principally on the site of the priory of St. Frideswide, and the name
originally intended, “ The College of Secular Priests” was now
changed to Cardinal College. The secular clergy in it were to be
denominated the dean and canons secular of the cardinal of York.
Of these the cardinal himself named the dean and eighteen canons.
Dr. John Hygden, president of Magdalene College was the dean,and
the canons were all taken from other colleges in Oxford, and were also
all men of acknowledged reputation in their day. The cardinal after-
wards added others deliberately, according as he was able to supplythe
vacancies by men of talents, whom he determined to seek wherever
they could be found. As a nursery for this magnificent college, he
founded a school at his native town of Ipswich, the beautiful gate—house
of which still remains. Butbefore these vast designs could be perfected,
the cardinal fell in the year 1529, not only out of the king’s favour,
but also into a prcemum're, upon which all his estates real and personal
became forfeited, and among his other lands, those appointed for the
better endowment of this college, which however continued in being
till 1531. On or about the 17th of July, 1532, it was re-established,
and augmented With Canterbury college and Peckwater inn, for a
dean and twelve canons, under the style of King Henry the Eighth’s
College in Oxford. This was also surrendered up again into the
king’s hand on the 18th of July, 1545. But the see of the bishop of
Oxford being the next year removed from Oseney, the priory church
of St. Frideswide was made his Cathedral by the name of Christ

I

134 OXFORD CATHEDRAL. ’

Church, and King Henry VIII. refounded the chapter and college,
which remains to this day, and consists of a dean, eight canons,
101 students, eight chaplains, eight clerks, eight choristers, and
twenty—four almsmen. It ought to be mentioned to the honour of
the cardinal’s memory, that in his last communication with secretary
Cromwell and the king, when all worldly prospects were about to
close on him for ever, he pleaded with great earnestness, and for
nothing so earnestly as that his majesty would be pleased to suffer
his college at Oxford to go on. Such were the circumstances which
led to the erection and removal of this see. _

‘We must now speak particularly of the Cathedral Church. I t
has none of that importance or dignity which most other Cathedrals
of England possess, either at a distance or on a nearer approach.
It is surrounded with collegiate buildings and gardens, and scarcely
any thing of it is Visible, except a clumsy spire upon its central
tower. Willis ascribes to Gruimond1 the first prior, the building of
this Cathedral, which he says was finished under his two immediate
successors. He died, according to some, in 1130, according to
others in 1141. The entrance door to the chapter—house is of the
same age, but the chapter—house itself together with the upper
story of the tower, and according to some the spire upon it, are all
about a century later, as is also the dean’s chapel. The Latin chapel,
and the Cloisters are another century later still. The vaulting of the
choir and its clerestory windows are the work of the sixteenth
century, when the priory church was made the Cathedral of the
Bishop of Oxford, whose palace is now at Cuddesden, a few miles
from Oxford.

EXTERIOR.

The original west front was destroyed, together with three arches
of the nave, to make room for the cardinal’s college, the high wall

1 In the time of abbot Robert, or John de Olney, Henry III. in spite of the
tradition which represented it as dangerous for any king of England to enter this
monastery, paid his memorable visit in 1264. At his departure he gave the annual
sum of ten marks to be paid at Michaelmas by the sheriff of Oxford and Berks, for the
maintenance of four lights to be kept constantly burning day and night before the shrine
of St. Frideswide.

 

' OXFORD CATHEDRAL. 135

of which comes so close upon the present west front that it is impos-
sible to View it, so as to judge of its effect. Any thing good in
such a situation would be lost, but as it is there is nothing to regret.
From the area of the Cloisters the south side of the nave and its
side aisle, the west side of the south wing of the transept, and the
central tower with its spire, may be seen at one view. These walls
are all plainly embattled. The clerestory windows are round-headed,
and of one light each, bespeaking clearly their Norman origin.
There is a low building also embattled, placed in front of the side
aisle, and apparently of the same age with the cloisters. The lower
story of the tower is' evidently Norman ; it is quite plain, with
circular turrets engaged at the four angles. The ridge of the timber
roof once reached the top of this story, but since it has been lowered
there is too'much of this plain part of the tower exposed to view.
The next story has the circular turrets at the angles continued, but
with diminished diameters, and adorned with arcades of pointed
arches supported on long slender columns. These turrets are termi-
nated by cylindrical pinnacles with conical spires. The four sides
of the tower have each of them two belfry windows, and are adorned
besides with pointed arches resting upon slender columns. Upon
the tower, which has no parapet, is set a low (lumpy spire, with
projecting windows in four of its sides at the base of it. The effect
of this tower and spire is as bad as any thing in Gothic architecture
can be. The south front of the transept is not Visible ; some of the
collegiate buildings are attached to it. To View the rest of the
exterior of this Cathedral, the private gardens of the different
members of the chapter must be entered. From one of them a good
View of the east end of the chapter-house and of the vestry, together
with the south side of the choir, may be obtained. The east end of
the chapter—house is flanked with low and slightly projecting but—
tresses, between which are five pointed arches, side by side, rising
on each side one above another to the centre arch, which rises
highest of all. The three middle ones have within them the original
windows of one light each, but now divided by transverse masonry
into an upper and lower window. The gable has a square-headed
window of three lights, divided by a transverse mullion, but is
otherwise entirely plain. The east end of the vestry has a very
good window of decorated character. Both the proportions and the

136 OXFORD CATHEDRAL.

tracery are good. The south side of the choir is plain, the parapet
is not embattled, the walls are original, the windows of the cleres-
tory are of the plainest perpendicular character. The east end has
a large window of the same kind, and is flanked by two square
Norman turrets, which do not rise much above the parapet. The
north side of the choir, as far as it is visible, is very similar to the
south : but the dean's chapel is built against this, has a gable and a
half to the east, with the original windows stopped up, and very
bad modern ones inserted. The Latin chapel adjoins the dean’s,
and has a large and very ugly window to the east. The north side
displays its original windows, which contain good decorated tracery ;
the buttresses between the windows are without pinnacles, and the
wall has no parapet. To see this, together with\the north front of
the transept, another private garden must be entered. -That north
front is flanked with the original square Norman turrets, upon which
have been set cylindrical pinnacles with conical spires, which have
a. very awkward effect. The large window which fills up the whole
space between the turrets is of perpendicular architecture, and the
most inferior description. The gable is flat, with a plain parapet.
The north side of the nave is too much like the south to need any
further notice.

INTERIOR.

There is no west entrance. The exterior having given no pro-
mise of much internal magnificence, the visitor experiences no dis-
appointment on entering. The pillars of the nave are alternately
cylindrical and polygonal, they are of considerable diameter, tall and
with capitals, bearing some resemblance to old composite architecture;
the arches are semicircular. The triforium, or something in the place
of it, is inserted beneath the arches, and is supported by other circular
arches built between the pillars and resting on brackets in their sides.
The windows of the clerestory are some of them pointed and some
round, and each one stands between two round arches on short columns.
These arrangements are, we believe, unique, certainly no other
Cathedral Church has them. Beneath the window of the clerestory
is a sort of upper triforium, disfigured with a modern balustrade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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OXFORD. CATHEDRAL. ' . 137

The roof of 'the tower and transept is of wood panelled in squares,
and nearly flat. The side aisles are vaulted in the Norman manner
WMSiie. The transept is of the same style of architecture as the
nave. The north wing of it has a side aisle to the west, opposite to
which are the entrances into the dean’s and Latin chapels. The
wooden screens which separate the chapels from the transept' are
heavy, and formed at top so as to make with the nether arches
(before mentioned), a complete circle, which has a very unpleasing
effect. The organ and screen on which it stands, together with
the stalls and fitting up of the choir, are all works of the worst age
of architecture, 1630, of course incongruous, and with the exception
of the organ itself all very mean. The vaulting of the choir is a
good example of the latest Gothic, rich, elaborate, and with long
pendants? The chapter-house is a beautiful room of early pointed
architecture, vaulted with stone, nearly square, and adorned with
pointed arcades supported on slender columns of Purbeck marble, with
beautifully carved capitals, fillets and bases. Of the cloisters only
,parts of the east and south sides remain, the rest was taken down to
make 'room for the cardinal’s college ; they are low and narrow, but
the stone vaulting is good. The dimensions of this Cathedral are as
follows, length from east to west only 152 feet, transept from north to
so ,I 101 feet, the height of nave 41 feet, of the choir only 37 feet.

re is a chancelloriof the diocese and one archdeacon, viz. of Oxford,
both in the gift of the bishop. The dean and canons are appointed
by the cgo'wn; The original diocese was all the county of Oxford,
which'by theqlgte Act has been increased by the county of Bucking-
ham from the diocese of Lincoln, and by Berkshire from the diocese
of Salisbury. The bishopric is valued in the king’s books at £381
118. 0%d. per annum, and returned by the present bishop to be
£2648 per annum.

2 The aficient monuments are nei‘her numerous nor important; beneath the last
arch eastward on the north side of the dean’s chapel is a rich screen of the latest per-
pendicular, built in front of the shrine of St. Frideswide ; beneath the west arch is an
altar tomb with niches and statues to the Lady )Iontacute ; beneath the next is a cane.
pied monument of early pointed architecture, called by some the tomb of prior Guimond,

’but by others with better reason, of prior Philip. Both these last mentioned have
recumbent figures upon them. Many modern tablets disfigure the walls and columns
ofthis Cathedral, but in the north wing of the transept is a monument to Dean Jackson,
which consists of a pedestal on which a statue of the dean is placed, sitting, and in his

academical costume; the likeness is very good, the design and execution equally excel.
lent. But how could it be otherwise? the whole is the work of Chantry.

0

VOL. II. T
,0

138 OXFORD CATHEDRAL.

The see of Oxford has been filled by men of first rate learning,
and of the most exalted piety and charity, who have been all, with
one single exception, translated to other sees: ’the exception is
in the instance of Dr. John Fell, elected in 1675, who died
bishop of Oxford in 1686. He was the son of Samuel F ell, dean
of Christ Church, and was himself both dean and bishop at the
same time. His admirable writings have been universally read.
He was a divine and moralist of the first class. This good and
great man was also a liberal benefactor to his college, which be
contributed to complete. His edition of the work entitled “ The
Whole Duty of Man,” has been read with pleasure and advantage
by thousands, and the same may be said with equal truth of his
edition of other works of a moral and religious nature; and of his
own sermons. By these publications, by his preaching, and by his
example, he laboured incessantly to enlighten and improve all his
fellow Christians, and particularly those committed to his charge.

Of the celebrated prelates who were translated afterwards to other
sees we must mention first, John Potter, D. D. He was the son of a
linendraper, at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, where he was born about
the year 1674, and in the school of which town he was educated.
At the early age of fourteen, however, he was sent to Oxford, and
entered at University College. In 1694 he was chosen fellow of
Lincoln College, and in the same year went into orders and took
pupils. In 1704 he was chosen chaplain to Archbishop Tenison,
and consequently removed from Oxford to Lambeth. In 1706 he
proceeded to the degree of D. D. and soon after became chaplain
in ordinary to Queen Anne. In 1708 he was appointed Regius
Professor of Divinity, which preferment brought him back to Oxford;
and led doubtless to his advancement in 1715 to the see of Oxford.
The celebrated Duke of Marlborough was his patron; but he owed
his promotion more to his own literary and theological labours, and
intrinsic merit. as a scholar and a Christian, than to any patron
whatever.

While bishop of Oxford he was very much noticed by Queen
Caroline, then princess of \V ales; and upon the accession of George
II. preached the coronation sermon, which was afterwards printed
by his majesty’s express commands, and is inserted among the
prelate’s theological works. It was generally believed at this time

 

OXFORD CATHEDRAL. 139

that the chief direction of ecclesiastical affairs was intended to be
committed to his care, but as he saw that this must involve him in
the politics of the times, he declined the proposal and returned to
his bishopric, until the death of Dr. Wake in January, 1737, when
he was appointed to succeed him in the archbishopric of Canterbury.
This high office he filled during the space of ten years with great
reputation, at the end of which period he fell into a declining state,
and died October 10, 1747, in the seventy-fourth year of his age.
He was buried at Croydon. His most celebrated works are his
“ Antiquities of Greece,” and his “Church Government.” The latter
is inserted among his theological works, which consist of sermons,
charges, and divinity lectures. He has left behind him the character
of a prelate of distinguished piety and learning; of strict orthodoxy
as a member of the established church, as well as a zealous and
vigilant guardian of its interests.

Secondly must be mentioned Thomas Seeker, the son of a
protestant dissenter, and born at a small village called Sibthorpe,
in the vale of Belvoir. His father had a paternal fortune, and fol-
lowed no profession. He was educated at several private schools
in the country, and made great progress not only in Greek and
Latin, but Hebrew, Chaldee, and Syriac. His father designed
him for the ministry among the dissenters, but not being able to
decide upon certain doctrines, or to what communion he should
belong, he resolved to pursue some other profession, which would
leave him at liberty to weigh these things more maturely in his
thoughts; and therefore about the end of 1716, he studied physio
both in London and Paris. He afterwards took a degree in physio
at Leyden ; but having now made up his mind in favour of the church
of England, he entered himself as a gentleman commoner of Exeter
College, Oxford. His first preferment after his ordination was the
rectory of Houghton-le-Spring, to which he was presented by Bishop
Talbot in 1724, which enabled him to marry the next year the lady
of his choice, Miss Catherine Benson, sister to Bishop Benson. On
account of his wife’s health he was obliged to leave Houghton, and
exchanged it for a stall in Durham Cathedral. In 1732 he was
appointed chaplain to the king by the Duke of Grafton, who was
induced to distinguish him in this manner at the recommendation of
Bishop Sherlock, who having heard him preach at Bath, thought

140 o-xroru) CATHEDRAL.

his abilities worthy of being brought forward into public notice. His
fame now as a divine of the first class was well established, and
produced for him in 1735 the bishopric of Bristol; and (on Bishop
Potter’s translation to Canterbury), his removal to the see of Oxford.
Although some obstacles of a political nature stood in the way of
his further advancement, his distinguished merit as a scholar, a
divine, and a Christian, overcame them ; and on the death of Arch-
bishop Hutton, he was appointed to succeed him in the see of
Canterbury, which he held for more than ten years. Among his
numerous and valuable publications should be mentioned, besides his
sermons, his excellent Lectures of the Church Catechism. He died
in 1768, in the seventy-fifth year of his age; he was buried
according to his own desire in a covered passage leading from a
private door of the palace to the north door of Lambeth church;
and he forbad any monument or epitaph to be placed over him.
Lastly, Robert Lowth, born Nov. 27, 1710, educated at VVin-
Chester, and elected scholar of New College, Oxford: he was the
son of William Lowth, a distinguished divine of the church of
England, whose Commentary on the Prophets, originally published
in 4to., have since been republished, together with additions, in one
volume folio, as a continuation of Bishop Patrick’s Commentary on
the other parts of the Old Testament. Robert Lowth was first
patronized by Bishop Hoadley, who gave him the archdeaeonry of
Winchester. He was afterwards chaplain to the lord lieutenant of
Ireland, and was offered the bishopric of Limerick which he declined.
In 1765 he was involved in a controversy with Bishop VVarburton.
In 1766 he was promoted to the see of St. David’s, and about four
months after was translated to Oxford. In this see he remained
eleven years, and on the death of Dr. Terrick was translated to
London. When Archbishop Cornwallis died, the see of Canterbury
was offered him, but he declined it. Of his works his “ Life of
William of Wickham,” and his “ new translation of Isaiah,” are the
most esteemed. He died N 0v. 3, 1787, and was buried at Fulham.

END OF VOLUME 11.

 

Coo, Printer, 01d Change, St. Paul‘s, London.

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

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