Chapter III: The Interior (2)

Robert Tully was a monk of Gloucester, and was Bishop of St. David's, where he died in 1482. There is a brassless slab to his memory there, but the best monument is the tower that was built by him here in Gloucester.

After passing through the iron gate into the last bay of the south aisle, the tomb of Abbot Seabrook or Seabroke will be seen on the left, inside a stone screen, through which formerly was a doorway giving access to the organ loft. The alabaster effigy represents the Abbot in his alb, stole, tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, amice, and mitre, with his pastoral staff on his right side. The chapel has been partially restored. Traces of colour are to be seen in the reredos and the roof over it.

Abbot Seabroke's pastoral staff was discovered in 1741 in his coffin while the tomb was being removed. After changing hands many times it was acquired finally by the Antiquarian Society of Newcastle-on-Tyne.

In the west end of the Seabroke Chapel, against the first pier of the nave, is a mural monument, rather florid in style, to Francis Baber, 1669.

Close to the Seabroke Chapel, on one of the piers supporting the tower, is a bracket with traces of very beautiful blue colour. The canopy above--much mutilated--shows traces of red, blue, and gold.

Almost opposite to this, but nearer to the iron gate, is a recessed tomb to a knight in mixed armour of mail and plate, and by his side his lady, with kirtle, mantle, and flowing hair. Both wear SS collars, and this helps to give the age of the monument, by narrowing the date down to a year not earlier than 1399. The SS collars also tend to disprove that the monument is to Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and his countess, seeing that he died in 1361. On the knight's belt is a badge, very much worn down, which has been attributed to the Brydges family. Mr Lysons thought it to be the tomb of Sir John Brydges who fought at Agincourt, and died in 1437, but the mail tippet is not found later than 1418. The tomb may commemorate Sir Thomas Brydges, who died in 1407, and this would agree better with the date given above.

The transepts and ambulatory of the choir are entered, as a rule, by the iron gateway in the south aisle of the nave.

#South Transept.#--This transept, like that on the north, underwent a complete transformation in the fourteenth century, under Abbot Wygmore (1329-1337). In spite of the transformation, the Norman design can easily be traced both in the inside and the outside of the transept. The walls have been ornamented with open panelled work, consisting of mullions and transoms, with very rich tracery and foiled headings. The method of the casing is best seen from the triforium, where the original Norman masonry can be closely inspected. The panel work, in spite of its date, has the appearance of being considerably later, and some have thought the work to have been executed after Wygmore's time.

Professor Willis thinks that the Perpendicular style, which elsewhere--_e.g._ in the north transept and the choir--is completely developed, may have had its origin in this south transept. In any case, the work is of the greatest architectural interest, and deserves careful study. "Looking at the very early character of the clustered shafts and the mouldings of this transept in conjunction with the vertical lines with which they are associated, one might think (excepting Thokey's south aisle, the Edward II. monument, and some few examples in the triforium of the choir) that Decorated work had never fairly taken root in Gloucester." (F. S. W.)

The south transept, which was also called St. Andrew's Aisle, is 47 feet long, 35 feet broad, and 86 feet in height. The vaulting is lierne vaulting, with short ribs, which connect the main ribs together. There are no bosses in the roof. With an opera-glass it is possible to note the clever joining of the masonry.

On the north side of the south transept, between the tower piers, is an interesting chapel, with a wooden screen--date about 1510. The panelling inside, as also that on the back of the choir-stalls here exposed to view, is covered with monograms of S and B alternately, all surmounted with crowns.

The chapel is said to have been dedicated by John Browne (or Newton), who was Abbot from 1510-1514, to his patron saint, St. John the Baptist, the initials being the same.

On the step in this chapel is a slab with a mutilated cross incised in it and remains of an inscription upon a scroll. It is now almost illegible and crumbling fast away, but it was

"Kyrie eleison anime
Fratris Johis Lyon."

This Johannis Lyon was the monk who made the reredos in this chapel. There are traces of two reredoses here, both of which show traces of colour. Older stonework has been used to make the newer reredos, and has been merely reversed.

The tiles here are of interest, and there are also some outside, both at the east and at the west end of the chapel screen, well worthy of attention. They are chiefly odd tiles, similar to those in the choir, with the name of Farley, others with oak leaves, others with fleur-de-lys, others with lions rampant.

At the west end of the chapel outside is a highly lacquered brass of the usual type, in memory of Judge Sumner, 1885.

Just before turning into the south transept a stone on the floor will be seen, close to the angle of the wall made by the transept and the south aisle, with the inscription: "Here lyeth under this marbell ston Robart Leigh, organist and Maister of the Choristers of this Cathedral Church. He dyed the 6th of January 1589"(?). No record of him survives.

On the south wall are two doorways. One, which is blocked up, is in the south-east corner, and is surmounted by a double-bodied monster, resembling an ape. The other doorway is usually pointed out to visitors as the "Pilgrim's door."

Whether this door was that in general use for pilgrims or not is an open question. It was for a long time blocked up and has only a makeshift door in it at the present time. Carter, writing in 1807, says: "The arch of the opening, in its head, has four turns concentred by a flower. Above the head is an ogee architrave rising from small columns, which columns bend forward on each hand, forming open arms or fences on each side of the steps to the doorway. On these arms recline statues (angels) acting as guardians to the doorway. Their attitudes are well conceived and pleasingly varied." The sculpture is extremely graceful and pleasing, the expression of the faces particularly charming. The drapery, too, is arranged in a masterly manner.

The door was thought by some to have been used to admit pilgrims to the shrine of Edward II., but others, arguing from the angels upon it, have taken it to be the door by which penitents could retire after making their confession. Perhaps the most reasonable explanation is that it was a door communicating with a vestry or checker for the sacrist, but there are no traces underground outside the south wall of any stone foundation for such building.

On the east side of the transept will be noted the restored #Chapel of St. Andrew#. The paintings on the wall were executed in 1866-67 in spirit fresco by Mr Gambier Parry for Thomas Marling, Esq., in memory of his wife, who died in 1863.

The reredos contains a central figure of the Saviour between St. Andrew and St. Peter, with eight figures of smaller size--viz. Job, Solomon, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. The remainder of the figures are intended to represent a choir of angels.

The tiles in the chapel are very bright and gaudy, contrasting unfavourably with the older tiles elsewhere in the building. The arrangement of the tiles on the risers of the steps is very monotonous and unpleasing. Plain stone steps would have been far less obtrusive.

At one time a charge of sixpence was made for the privilege of inspecting the interior of this chapel, but nowadays it is kept closed. For many years it was used as a vestry for the lay clerks. The windows contain glass (by Hardmar) dealing with events in the life of St. Andrew.

In the east window, over St. Andrew's Chapel in the south transept, is to be seen some of the best glass now to be found in the cathedral, dating back to about 1330. It consists in the head of a white scroll-work of vine leaves, etc., on a fine ruby-coloured ground, and below plain quarries with very simple borders. These have been releaded by Hardman.

On either side of the chapel there are tabernacles. That on the south side contains some very fine carving, and with one boss quite complete. The colour, judging from the traces remaining, must have been very charming.

On the north side of the chapel is the #'Prentice's Bracket#. In shape it resembles a mason's square supporting an apprentice. Underneath it, as a supporter, is the master mason. The work was probably intended to carry an image with a pair of lights, and also to serve as a memorial of the workmen.

The Elizabethan monument erected in memory of Richard Pates, Esq., founder of the Grammar School at Cheltenham, is a poor example of its date, 1588. The next monument was originally in the north choir chapel of the nave (_vide_ Brown Willis' plan, p. 44), and commemorates Alderman Blackleech, in cavalier costume, and his wife. The date of the tomb is 1639. Other and later memorials are on the walls, but they are of no special interest.

There is an interesting tablet to Canon Evan Evans, D.D. (Master of Pembroke College, Oxford), who died in 1891. The memorial consists of a bronze tablet, bordered by a frame of marble inlaid with other marbles. The bronze at the top is inlaid with shell of an iridescent colour. The general effect is good, but silver hardly seems suited for inlaying in a building lighted by gas. The tablet was designed by Mr H. Wilson. The west window is Perpendicular, and is filled with glass in memory of Mr T. G. Parry.

The south window in this transept has been filled with glass (by Hardman), at the expense of Thomas Marling, Esq.

The slabs on the floor have been moved from the positions they formerly occupied, and have suffered by the change. A large slate-coloured stone, which used to be in front of the Blackleech monument is now placed much nearer the entrance to the crypt. It is broken in two and is covered up by matting.

Another stone slab has traces of a mill wheel. The inscription on it used to tell that "Here lyeth buried the body of John Long, Millard and Milwright, who departed this life the 16th day of April 1596."

A blue-coloured slab, which originally had a fine brass inlaid canopy has been converted to the use of a Minor Canon named Deane--1755.

The large buttress which passes through the St. Andrew Chapel upwards through the triforium, to support the south-east pier of the tower, used formerly to bear upon it a monument to Bishop Benson, which is now in the south triforium.

The double doorway which gives access to the choir aisle, and to the crypt, seems to be the type of several other doorways of later date in the building, as, for instance, in the north transept, and also in doorways in the Deanery and cloisters.

The #Crypt#[4] is one of five English eastern crypts, founded before 1085, the others being those at Canterbury, Winchester, Rochester, and Worcester, and extends underneath the whole of the choir, the ambulatories or aisles of the choir, and the five chapels belonging thereto.

In passing downstairs to the crypt or under-church, an inscription over the door of the chapel on the right refers to the enormous quantity of bones which had accumulated in the crypt, and thus obtained for it the name of "The Bone House." These bones had been brought in from the south precincts outside, all of which had been formerly a burying-ground, and in 1851 were removed to the south-west chapel of the crypt, and later buried in a large grave on the north side of the cathedral.

The crypt consists of an apse, three small apsidal chapels--_i.e._ a N.E., an E., and a S.E. chapel, and also two chapels underneath the eastern chapels of the north and south transepts.

"The outer walls of the crypt are about 10 feet thick, and the aisle floor is on an average 8 feet below the level of the soil on the outside of the building. The centre part is divided by two rows of small columns, irregularly placed, from which spring arches carrying the floor of the choir above; the bases and capitals of these small capitals are much out of level from west to east, and from north to south, and in design they vary greatly as to their capitals, abaci, and bases. All of these are strikingly different to the half columns with cushion capitals attached to the outer walls, on which rest the ribs they mutually carry. So different, indeed, are they as to make it questionable if by far the larger portion of these columns does not belong to our earlier church."

"Great alterations have from time to time been made in the crypt. The large semi-circular columns against the walls, though of great antiquity, are not parts of the original structure, but are casings built round, and enclosing the former smaller piers, and the ribs springing from their capitals are built _under_, with a view to support the vaulting." (F. S. W.)

This strengthening work was rendered necessary owing to earthquake shocks which occurred, and possibly from the fact that the originally defective foundations on the south side of the crypt caused a slight settlement.

It may be noted here that the masons' marks found in the triforium on the Norman work are also found in the crypt on the later strengthening work, and not upon the Early Norman work. This fact has been considered to prove that the crypt was built by Aldred.

The first chapel--_i.e._ that below St. Andrew's Chapel--contains a double piscina with a shelf in good preservation. There are remains of hinge-posts (two sets), and the holes for the movable bar with which the doors could be fastened.

The second chapel--_i.e._ that underneath St. Philip's Chapel--contains an arcade of five plain arches with ornament above. There is also a double piscina with shelf in good preservation, and a large altar-step, 6 feet 2 inches by 4 feet.

The third or eastern chapel, which is under the vestibule leading into the Lady Chapel, contains portions of the building which have had to be replaced by recent work, and some fragments of tombstones, one bearing the inscription _Gilbertus_.

From a Drawing by F. S. Waller, F.R.I.B.A.

The dark tint on the walls represents the Early Norman
Crypt.

The second period of Norman work is shown by the double
lines round the small shafts at A A, which denote masonry
erected some time after, to carry the ribs which
strengthen the vaulting.

The parts sectionised were for the most part built in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to carry the walls
above--notably s s, as foundations for the choir piers.]

The fourth chapel, which is underneath Abbot Boteler's Chapel, also contains fragments, some of them very beautiful specimens of stonework. There is also a slab, upon which is to be read the words, _Orate pro aia fris Johis_. This slab was formerly in the south transept, and was (according to Mr Haine's transcription of the slab made thirty years ago) to the memory of John Lempster, who lived in Abbot Froucester's time.

A slab inscribed I STAUNT, which used to be in the cloisters at the entrance to the chapter-house, is also in the crypt. This John de Staunton was akin to Abbot Staunton, who was buried in 1351.

The fifth chapel, which is underneath St. Paul's Chapel, was the chapel through which the Abbot had access to the crypt from the Abbot's cloister. The easternmost portion has some very good vaulting and decoration of the thirteenth century, and contains a very mutilated piscina. The groining of the roof is, unfortunately, falling away by degrees. There are traces of some fine bosses.

The crypt was cleared, drained, and concreted in the course of the restoration that took place during the years 1853-1863.

#Ambulatories of the Choir.#--These aisles have nothing uncommon in their form or arrangement below, but above occurs the great peculiarity of this church. The side aisles and eastern chapels are, in fact, including the crypt, three storeys high, and all vaulted, and the upper range of chapels surrounding the choir is perhaps not to be met with in any other church in Europe.

Near the entrance to the #S. Ambulatory of the Choir# a tomb and brass to the memory of Rev. John Kempthorn, B.D. (1838) will be found on the right, near the side entrance into St. Andrew's Chapel.

Close to it, upon the floor, is a modern brass, by Messrs Heaton, Butter & Bayne, to the memory of Rev. H. Haines, M.A., who for twenty-three years was second master in the cathedral school. He died in 1872. His book on the Cathedral, which he knew so thoroughly and loved so well, is one of the best guide-books to the building, but, unfortunately, no new edition has been issued since 1884.

Some of the piers in the south ambulatory of the choir will be found to show traces of colour decoration in certain lights. As a whole they retain more Norman work, unaltered, than perhaps any other portion of the building.

Near to the Kempthorn monument is the memorial window to Canon Harvey and his wife, who both died in the year 1889. The glass is by Kempe.

The second window, also by Kempe, is a memorial to the Rev. H. Law, who was Dean from 1862-1884. The figure drawing in this light will attract notice.

The third window, glass by Kempe, is a memorial to the Rev. Sir J. H. Culme Seymour, Bart., who was Canon of Gloucester for fifty-one years, and died in 1880.

#The Triforium of the Choir# is, perhaps, the finest triforium in existence, and is worthy of special examination. "It occupies the space over the ground floors of the aisles or ambulatory of the choir, and originally extended of a like width round the east end of the Norman Church, but at the time when the fourteenth-century work of the present choir was executed, the whole of the east end of the old Norman choir, with the corresponding part of the triforium, was removed in order to make room for the existing large window, the small east chapel being allowed to remain." (F. S. W.) The original shape of this part of the building will be more clearly seen by reference to the chapel (D), indicated by dotted lines on the plan, and to the extreme east chapel of the crypt. As the means of entrance to this east chapel of the triforium was now gone, the narrow gallery usually called the "Whispering Gallery" was made, and carried by segmental arches, marked BB, from the south-east to the east chapel, and from the east chapel to that on the north-east. The external appearance of the Whispering Gallery is shown on page 75. The casual observer frequently takes it to be a piece of Norman work, but it is in reality the material of Norman builders very skilfully re-used.

The triforium is reached by the staircases in the western turrets of the two transepts and by arcaded passages passing under the great windows of the transepts. Excellent views across the transepts are thence to be obtained. Still better views can be got from the corner of the triforium (near the painting of the Last Judgment), both across the organ to the north side of the nave, down the south aisle, and also across the choir.

The first chapel in the triforium contains two brackets with rich canopies, and there is a very well preserved double piscina. Ball-flowers in two rows will be found in the mouldings of the east window. Remains of two canopies in the jambs of the windows are also to be traced.

The massive Norman piers should be carefully studied, as the way in which the later casing work has been applied can be more easily seen in the triforium than elsewhere.

The picture on the west side of this part of the triforium was discovered in 1718, against the then eastern end of the nave, underneath the panelled wainscot at the back of the seats occupied by the clergy when the nave was used for service.

During the last few years it has lost much of its colour; it is painted _in tempera_ on a kind of gesso ground laid on a wooden planking nearly an inch thick. From the size of it--viz. 9 feet 10 1/2 inches by 7 feet 7 1/4 inches--it was formerly thought to have formed part of the reredos.

Portions of the original frame remain, and they show traces of gilding upon them. The picture has been varnished to preserve it, and, although hung in a wretched situation for light, it is worth more than passing attention. Christ is represented in the centre, throned on a rainbow, attended by angels, and having a globe and a cross below Him. His mantle is red, with a jewelled border. On either side of His head are emblems --on the left a lily, emblematic of mercy; and on the right a sword, emblematic of justice. The lily inclines towards the righteous, and the sword points towards the wicked. Below on the left are six apostles, but above these is an angel holding a T cross and the crown of thorns. To balance this, on the right is an angel with a whipping-post, a scourge, and a spear. Over these figures are scrolls, one on the left inscribed "Come, O you blessed ...", and on the right, "Go, O you cursed ..." In the centre, under the globe, is an angel holding an open book, "The boke of cosciens "--_i.e._ the book of conscience. On either side are angels blowing upon trumpets, from which extend scrolls inscribed, "Aryse, you dede. Come to your judgement"; and below this the Resurrection is depicted. An angel (in the centre) is scaring away a horned demon from the soul borne up by the angel. On the right the wicked are being carried off by fiends; on the left the righteous are being led away by angels bearing crosses.

In the left-hand bottom corner are angels and inscriptions. "Before man lyfe and death. In all thy workes remebre thy last, and never wilt thou offend." In the top corner on the left is represented the New Jerusalem. The architecture is classic in character.

_

St. Peter and an angel are standing close to a gate into which the righteous are entering. A choir of angels with musical instruments are above.

In the bottom corner on the right the mouth of hell is represented, into which the lost are being thrust by attendant demons. There is a grim figure inside a globe, possibly intended for the Prince of this world, seizing a soul by the hair. At the bottom are other fiends helping to torture the unhappy lost.

_ ]

Sir G. Scharf, in _Archaeologia_, vol. xxxvi., says that the picture is English, and is of great importance. He thinks it was painted during the latter years of the reign of Henry VIII. or during that of Edward VI., and points out that it is an epitome of the famous altar-piece at Dantzig, painted in 1467. It is remarkable that in this picture the Virgin and St. John the Baptist, who are usually associated in pictures with the Saviour, are altogether omitted.

The second, or south-eastern chapel, contains many interesting remains of coloured tiles, old carving, some being linenfold panels. There are also some finely-carved pilasters, which once formed part of the Queen Anne reredos, put up by Dean Chetwood about 1710. This reredos was taken down in 1807, and was for many years in the old church at Cheltenham. When, however, the church at Cheltenham fell into the hands of the restorer, parts of the carved work were brought back to Gloucester.

Passing towards the Whispering Gallery, the flying buttresses inserted to support the walls of the clerestory, which were weakened by the insertion of the great east window of the choir, 1347-1350, should be noticed.

The #Whispering Gallery#, to which the ordinary visitor pays more attention than anything else in the building, has remarkable acoustic properties. A whisper (the lower in tone the better) can be easily and distinctly heard at the other end of the gallery, and to this peculiarity the following lines, by Maurice Wheeler (head-master of the King's School, 1684-1712) have reference:

"Doubt not but God, who sits on high,
Thy secret prayers can hear,
When a dead wall thus cunningly
Conveys soft whispers to the ear."

Lord Bacon seems to have thought over the subject of the gallery, and his remarks are here quoted: "I suppose there is some vault, or hollow, or isle behind the wall, and some passage to it, towards the farther end of that wall against which you speak, so as the voice of him that speaketh slideth along the wall, and then entereth at some passage, and communicateth with the air of the hollow, for it is preserved somewhat by the plain wall: but that is too weak to give a sound audible till it has communicated with the back air."

The gallery is a passage of Norman work, very much altered and re-used. It is 74 feet long, 3 feet wide, 6-1/8 feet high, and is carried on segmental arches from the east end of the south triforium to the west wall of the Lady Chapel, and from thence in the same way to the north triforium. On page 75 will be seen the appearance of the little bridge thus made.

In passing through the gallery access is obtained to a chapel on the right, which is immediately over the entrance vestibule to the Lady Chapel. From this chapel a very good general view of the Lady Chapel can be obtained. The bosses in the roof show to greater advantage, and it is possible to see more of the colour that remains on the walls.

This chapel is smaller than the others in the triforium, and was reduced in size when the west end of the Lady Chapel was built. The altar slab is original Norman work, and has three or four [Symbol: Cross] inscribed in it.

The pieces of old glass formerly in this chapel have disappeared, and modern ornamental quarries and medallions, by Hardman, have taken their place.

The fourth chapel has nothing of note in it beyond the window tracery.

The fifth chapel, or the one nearest to the north transept, contains a double piscina, in very good preservation.

The triforium contains a few monuments, chiefly those that have been removed from the nave. Bishop Benson's monument was formerly on the face of the buttress that passes through St. Andrew's Chapel.

The triforium seems a better resting-place than the crypt for monuments which are rejected from the nave and elsewhere. It is to be hoped that in the years to come no restorer will lay hold upon the monuments in the Lady Chapel and transepts, and consign them to oblivion in the neighbouring garden of the deanery. This was done in Dean Law's time, and may in part be the reason why the cathedral is so poor in specimens of monuments of the Queen Anne period.

The #South-East Chapel#, which is dedicated to St. Philip, contains some interesting features. The arches are of a distinctly "pointed" character, and there are remains of the two bases of pillars which supported the stone altar slab.

This chapel was restored in memory of Sir C. W. Codrington, Bart., M.P., who died in 1864. Various incidents in the life of St. Philip have been painted on the vaulting by Burlison & Grylls, but the paintings have suffered somewhat from damp. The window, which is by Clayton & Bell, is of no special interest, and represents saints, principally British, and striking incidents in the life of each in the panel under each of the figures.

Near the piscina, at the base of a pier, will be found some dog-tooth moulding. This is repeated on the other side of the chapel, but not on the corresponding pier.

Before entering the Lady Chapel, a Perpendicular arch will be noticed, with two eye-shaped openings in the spandrels. The openings are well carved on their bevelled edges. The arch is of later date than the front of the chapel, and seems to have been necessary to support the triforium above. Nothing like it exists on the other side. There is an old cope-chest in this Ambulatory.

The #Lady Chapel.#--This beautiful chapel, which was built between the years 1457-1499 by the Abbots Richard Hanley and William Farley, stands on the site of a smaller building, dating back to 1224, and erected by Ralph de Wylington and Olympias, his wife, the architect of the work being Elias or Helias the Sacrist, a monk of the Gloucester monastery. As Mr Bazeley points out ("Records," vol. iii. pt. 1, p. 14), "The only architectural evidences of its former existence are two Early English windows in the crypt, in the central eastern chapel."

Mr Waller thinks that this Early English Lady Chapel was "probably not a new building, but simply an alteration of the old east apsidal chapels on each floor to suit the 'Early English' times, just as the fourteenth-century men afterwards recased the cathedral. The inserted windows of this date in the crypt seem to confirm this view."

On the site of this chapel must have stood the chapel and altar (or at any rate the altar) dedicated to St. Petronilla, as Ralph and Olympias gave rentals to provide lights to burn thereat during mass for ever.

The vestibule or entrance to the Lady Chapel is a beautiful piece of work, and is another instance of the genius of the builders shown in making use of existing work. Special interest attaches to this chapel as a whole, as it was the last addition to the fabric by the monks before the Dissolution.

Firstly the walls of the vestibule should be noticed: the lower portions of the west wall are parts of the old Norman apsidal chapel, and are pierced by the opening for the door and by two perpendicular windows; and the west end of the chapel is contracted in breadth, as it is also in height, so as to minimise the loss of light to the great window of the choir. The shape of the chapel will be easily understood from the plan (p. 61).

The lierne vaulting of the vestibule is very delicate (the ribs, it will be noted, are run differently in the four quarters of the roof), and the pendants form a cross. These latter, at the present time, look new, but they have only been freed from the whitewash that was thick upon them. One pendant has been renewed at the end. Over the vestibule is the small chapel which is entered from the Whispering Gallery (_vide_ page 77).

The open tracery of the west end over the supporting arch is particularly graceful, especially the way in which the open lights are arranged in the central portion. The Lady Chapel is 91 feet 6 inches long, 25 feet 6 inches high, and 46 feet 6 inches high, and consists of four compartments or bays, which, as the wall of the chapel is so low, are chiefly composed of fine tracery and glass. All the wall below the windows is arcaded with foiled arches, with quatrefoils above them. The wall between the windows is panelled with delicate tracery like that in the windows, and in its three chief tiers contains brackets for figures, with richly-carved canopies overhead. Many of these canopies (like the walls) show traces of colour.

Vaulting shafts of great beauty support one of the grandest Perpendicular roofs that has ever been made. Each boss in the roof is worth minute inspection, and since the restoration (1896) it is possible to see the bosses in practically the same condition as they were when they left the masons' hands in the fifteenth century. With three exceptions they are all representations of foliage, and it would be a hard task to arrange them in order of merit.

It has been said above that the chapel is cruciform. The arms of the cross are represented by the two side chapels, like diminutive transepts on the north and south sides, with oratories above them, to which access is given by small staircases in the angles of the wall. Both these side chapels contain some exquisite fan-tracery vaulting, which is supported upon flying arches, fashioned in imitation of the graceful flying arches in the choir.

On the north side the chapel contains a full-length effigy of Bishop Goldsborough (who died in 1604) robed in his white rochet, black chimero, with lawn sleeves, scarf, ruff, and skull-cap.

The east window in this chapel is in memory of Lieut. Arthur John Lawford (1885), and is dedicated to St. Martin.

The chapel above has a vaulted roof with bosses of foliage, and there are small portions of ancient glass.

Bishop Nicholson's tomb, which was formerly in the south chapel, where it blocked up the east window, is at present in pieces in this upper chapel. It is to be re-erected in another place.

There are some interesting scribblings on the walls of this chapel. On the shelf for books is a representation of a Cromwellian soldier with a dog, apparently in pursuit of a deer. There are also scribblings with devices, dating to 1630-1634. One love-sick swain described an equilateral triangle with a [Symbol: Cross] rising from the vertex, and then inscribed the initials of his _fiancee_ and also his own.

The #South Chapel# contains an altar tomb to Thomas Fitzwilliams, who died 1579, and there is a wooden tablet, painted with an inscription to tell that it was repaired in 1648.

A window has been put up in memory of S. Sebastian Wesley, a former organist of the cathedral, who died in 1876.

In the south chapel there are scribbles, dating back to 1588 and 1604. Both of these chapels have shelves for books, but it is probable that one was for a small choir and the other for an organ.

The #Lady Chapel# is one of the largest in the kingdom, and is said, at the time of the Dissolution, to have been one of the richest. A great part of it is said to have been gilded and gloriously ornamented. Traces of the colour can be seen in the mouldings of the panellings and in the carving upon the walls.

The #Reredos#, judging from the traces that are left, must have been a gorgeous sight, and literally a blaze of colour. Applique work has been lavishly employed in its decoration. Anyone who is privileged to examine it very closely will note the writing on the stonework, which has been laid bare in the niches by the ruthless removal of the figures. At present what the present Dean, in his article on the Great Abbeys of the Severn Lands, calls its "pathetic scarred beauty," is temporarily veiled by a very modern screen. The reredos, though a ruin, has a charm all its own, and it is better to leave it frankly as it is now than to partly hide it. There are some, no doubt, who would restore it, but it is to be hoped that funds will not be forthcoming. Restoration has effectually marred the beauty of the pavement of the choir, and given us a flashy reredos there, of which the less said the better; but every one with a particle of feeling must feel that restoration and decoration of the Lady Chapel reredos would be a crime.

Bishop Benson covered the reredos with stucco, and put up a huge gold sun in front of it. Portions of this are now at Minsterworth. An engraving of it may be seen in Bonnor's "Perspective Itinerary," published in 1796, and this plate also shows the long rows of pews removed from the choir by the same bishop.

The sedilia are very fine, and worthy of careful inspection.

The #East Window# consists of nine lights, and has been terribly mutilated, partly by fanatics, partly owing to lack of care within the last century. In design the window resembles the windows on the north and south sides of the chapel. It was erected in Abbot Farley's time (1472-1479), and possibly by a Thomas Compton, seeing that in the quatrefoiled circles in the heads of the lower lights there are rebuses--a comb with TO, and CO with a TON (for Compton), as well as two intertwining initials. Much of the glass seems to have been put in after removal from other windows in the cathedral, and this makes the deciphering of this window no easy undertaking.

The tiles in the Lady Chapel are of great interest, and one cannot help regretting their gradual deterioration under the feet, occasionally the hobnailed feet of visitors, and the slower but surer destruction by the accumulations of grit under the matting on the floor. They may be best examined by turning up the matting near the Clent tablet on the south wall.

On a pattern made up of sixteen tiles, four times repeated can be read, "_Ave Maria gra' ple' Dus tecum_" i.e. "_gratia plena Dominus tecum_." On others similarly designed, "_Domine Jhu (Jesu) miserere_." On others, "_Ave Maria gra' ple'_" and "_Dne Jhu miserere_." These tiles in square sets of sixteen and four respectively were placed alternately, and separated by plain dark bricks. On others again will be found "_Orate pro Aia Johis Hertlond (pro anima Johannis)_." Some too seem to have been transferred from Llanthony Priory to the south chapel. They are inscribed, "_Timetib' deu nihil deest_," i.e. "_Timentibus deum nihil deest_." There are others in the chapel, "_Letabor in mia--et sethera_," and "_Deo Gracias_."

The monument to Sir John Powell (1713) on the north wall is not beautiful, though a good specimen of its time. It is impossible not to regret that it was ever allowed to be erected in the chapel. Powell was a judge of King's Bench, and is here represented in his gown, hood, mantle, and coif.

Other monuments are those to Eliz: Williams, 1622 (the figure is raised on one elbow); to Margaret Clent, 1623, with a touching epitaph. On the floor, near the Williams monument is a small brass, concealed by matting, to Charles Sutton, an infant seven days old. The brass contains two Latin lines modelled on the lines of Ovid's "Tristia," and run:

"Parve, nec invideo, sine me, puer, ibis ad astra,
Parve, nec invideas, laetus ad astra sequar."

Many of the slabs on the floor will repay perusal, most of them being well cut and fairly well preserved. In Brown Willis' "Survey of Gloucester" will be found a full record of all the tombstones which in his time (1727) were in this chapel, but have since been removed or re-used.

Turning to the right on leaving the Lady Chapel, the north-east chapel, which is called #Abbot Boteler's Chapel#, is the next in order. It dates from 1437-1450. The reredos should be closely examined, as it retains many of its original features--viz. statuettes, traces of painting on the shields above, and a very good piscina.

The tiles in the floor are in many cases excellent specimens, especially those with fish upon them. It seems a pity that these tiles should be doomed to disappear under the nails of sight-seers, who as a rule look at nothing but the effigy of Robert, Duke of Normandy, and go away satisfied when they have proved for themselves that the effigy is of wood.

The effigy has had a curious history. As Leland says, "Rob'tus Curthoise, sonne to William the Conquerour, lyeth in the middle of the Presbitery. There is on his tombe an image of wood paynted, made long since his death." As to the date there is great uncertainty, and it would seem that the figure and the chest upon which it lies are not of the same date. Sir W. V. Guise in "Records of Gloucester Cathedral," vol. i., part 1, p. 101 (now out of print), says, "I am disposed to assign to the effigy a date not very remote from the period at which the duke lived. The hauberk of chain-mail and the long surcote ceased to be worn after the thirteenth century," and on p. 100, "The mortuary chest on which the figure rests is probably not older than the fifteenth century ..." Around the chest are a series of shields bearing coats-of-arms, ten in number, nine of which were originally intended to commemorate the nine worthies of the world. On the dexter side: 1. Hector. 2. Julius Caesar. 3. David. 4. King Arthur. On the sinister side: 5. Edward the Confessor. 6. Alexander the Great. 7. Judas Maccabaeus. 8. Charlemagne. 9. (at the south end) Godfrey of Bouillon. 10. (at the north end) The arms of France and England, quarterly. The blazoning of 10 proves the chest to be later than the time of Henry IV.

The oak figure was broken into several pieces in the civil wars of Charles I., but was bought by Sir Humphrey Tracey of Stanway, who had it repaired, and presented it to the Cathedral.

Leland says that the duke "lyeth in the middle of the Presbitery." The inscription in the chapter-house says "Hic jacet Robertus Curtus." The plain pavement in the choir is said to mark the site of the grave in the choir, but it is open to question whether there would be space for interment between the tiling and the upper side of the vaulting of the crypt. It is to be hoped that at some future time the effigy may be moved back to its place in the Presbytery.

The next chapel--_i.e._ the north-west chapel, is dedicated to St. Paul, and is entered by a doorway, with the initials T. C. over it, in the spandrels. T. C. may stand for Thomas Compton.

The windows in the north ambulatory of the choir are as follows:--

The window next to Boteler's Chapel is a memorial erected by the dean and chapter to Mrs Tinling. The glass was designed by the late J. D. Sedding, Esq., and was executed by Kempe.

Opposite to the tomb of Edward II. is a memorial window, also by Kempe, to the late Lieut.-General Sir Joseph Thackwell and his wife.

The third window is a memorial to Alfred George Price, who died in 1880, and it represents the four great builders of the church--viz. 1. King Osric. 2. Abbot Serlo. 3. Abbot Wygmore. 4. Abbot Seabroke.

Opposite this door in the north-east corner is a doorway--Perpendicular in style--with interesting cresting and carving, giving access to the vestries and the choir practising-room.

In this, as in the other chapels, the groined edge of the Norman vaulting is carried down the piers.

The reredos in this chapel was more perfect, in point of good repair, than any other in the building, and the chapel was repaired by the late Earl of Ellenborough in 1870, figures by Redfern representing St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Luke being inserted in the niches.

At the back of the reredos are windows (by Burlison & Grylls) representing in the side-lights angels with instruments of music, and in the centre Our Lord in majesty with angels bearing crowns and branches of palm.

On the south side of the chapel is a brass tablet in memory of Dean Law, who was Dean from 1862-1884. The combination of copper, brass, and gun-metal is to be regretted, as the workmanship is above the average, and the design is good. It is a mistake to paint heraldic devices on brass.

Close by the door leading into the north transept will be seen the stone reading-desk, from which it is said addresses were given to the many pilgrims who came to the shrine of the unfortunate Edward II.

The #North Transept.#--This transept, like that on the south, consists of Norman work, which was cased over by Abbot Horton during the last years of his abbacy (1368-1373) with fine Perpendicular panelling, cleverly engrafted into the original wall. It will be noticed that the work is, though Early Perpendicular, much more fully developed than that in the south transept. Angular mouldings of great beauty are used in the place of round mouldings; the mullions run right up to the roof, which again is much richer than that in the south transept. The vaulting of the north transept somewhat resembles in character the fan-tracery of the cloisters, the junction of the main and transverse vaults being rounded rather than angular, and the smaller ribs springing from between the larger ones a little _above_ the union with the capitals of the supporting shafts. This transept is 8 feet lower than that on the south side. It is 2 feet shorter, and 1 foot less in width.

On the north side, "under the north window, is a beautiful piece of Early English work (c. 1240), which is supposed to have been a #Reliquary#."

It is constructed in three divisions, that in the middle being a doorway. Foiled openings enrich all the arches, and the carving of the foliage is very beautiful. Purbeck marble shafts are placed at the angles, and corbel heads at the spring of the arches, except at the north-east corner, where a stone shield, with arms of Abbot Parker, are substituted. Much of the figure-work on the outside has been mutilated. In the inside the roof is simply groined, with bosses, one of which in the central division is most beautifully wrought; and there are, too, small heads which, fortunately, seem to have escaped notice altogether, and are almost perfect. In Bonnor's "Perspective Itinerary," 1796, it is described as punishment cells. Mr Bazeley thinks it was part of the Early English Lady Chapel, built in 1227, which, being thought worthy of preservation, was taken down and re-erected here when the present Lady Chapel was built.

Opposite to the reliquary is a #Chapel# between the tower piers, said to be dedicated to #St. Anthony#.

From a Photograph of Miss Dawson of Cardiff]

The wood panelling on the back of the stalls of the choir shows traces of painting, representing the soul of a woman at the mouth of a hell or purgatory, praying to St. Anthony, who is depicted with his pig and a bell. Other figures are there, but they are beyond recognition. This chapel is used as the Dean's vestry, and contains some old panelling, re-used, and two old strong-boxes.

Beneath the niche, near the door leading into the North Ambulatory of the Choir, is an inscription, which is now barely legible (even with an opera-glass)--_Orate pro aia (Magistri Johannis) Schelton_; at least so Brown Willis read it in 1727. On the floor of this transept are some slabs, now brassless, under which have been buried men of note in the early days of the history of the building. One mutilated slab, 7 feet 1 inch by 3 feet 4 inches, has an inscription, of which some only is now legible in the border. From Brown Willis' "Survey of the Cathedral," 1727, it can be seen that it is to Robert Stanford.

The inscription was--

_Hic jacet Robertus Stanford quondam serviens hujus monasterii et
specialis ac munificus benefactor ejusdem qui obiit vicesimo secundo
..._

A brass to Wm. Lisle, 1723, has been inserted.

Abbots Horton, Boyfield, Froucester were all buried in this transept, but beyond crediting the stone that shows a trace of a mitre to Froucester, it is a mere matter of speculation to distinguish between the others. The stone next but one to it contains the matrix of a fine cross. The north window was filled in 1874 with glass by Hardman in memory of Sir Michael Edward Hicks-Beach, Bart., M.P., and his wife. The subjects are episodes in the life of St. Paul.

Under the west window of this transept is a curious painted monument to John Bower and his wife (1615). They had "nyne sones and seaven daughters," who are represented in perspective on the wooden panel against the wall. The tomb is barely characteristic of its date. On the top is an inscription--_Memento mori_; also, _Vayne, vanytie, witnesse Soloman, all is but vayne._

The colour on the tomb has suffered from whitewashing at various times, and the tomb has been scorched by the heat generated by the warming apparatus in the corner, to the detriment of the painted panel.

The west window of this transept was put up in 1894, in memory of Wm. Philip Price, M.P. This window is too full of detail, and the canopy work is overdone. The glass is by Kempe.

The east window contains some old glass, releaded by Clayton & Bell.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] They have practically been shortened 10 inches by their plinths
being concealed by the pavement put down in 1740. Their
circumference is 21 feet 7 inches, and the distance from pier to
pier about 12 feet 6 inches.

[2] Similar ornament in windows may be found at Leominster, Ledbury
Church, Minsterworth, Hartbury, St. Michael's (Gloucester), and in
the tower of Hereford Cathedral.

[3] The abbey at Tewkesbury is a building which every visitor to
Gloucester ought to make a point of seeing and studying. It was
built on a similar plan, at the same time, and probably by some of
the same builders who built Gloucester.

[4] The Crypt is described here because it is, as a rule, entered
from the eastern door in the south transept.